What’s your favorite ugly old fashioned woman’s name?

Hazel

Griselda

I think Hazel is back. So is Agnes.

Wanda

Dorcas

You may find this thread of interest.

My cousin (white) named her daughter (half black) Hortense after our great grandmother. Can you imagine being some poor black girl named Hortense?

Edna

As in Edna Turnblad

Myrtle

Ethel is the ugliest name ever invented.

Maude

Bernadette

I'll see your Ethel and Dorcas (although that one is pretty good), and raise you a BERTHA.

Muriel

Ermengarde, Lavinia

Carrietta

R10, the name Ethel was originally a shortened form of the even uglier Etheldreda, an Anglo-Saxon name derived from Æðelþryð or Æthelthryth, the name of a Northumbrian queen and saint. In Anglo-Norman, Æðelþryð evolved into the name Audrey. Can you imagine an ugly name like Ethel and a pretty name like Audrey having the same origin?

R17 Allegedly Vivian Vance agreed to do The Lucy Show only if she could use her real name because she hated the name Ethel.

Etheldreda the Unready

Trudy

A good friend in college was named Bernice. She hated her name and always talked about someday changing it. Well after many of being out of touch we reconnected when Facebook was all the rage, and I was saddened to learned she had changed her name to Tiffany. An ugly old-fashioned name gave her character, but her new name just made her seem trashy.

Bertha. End of thread!!!

R22, if Bertha didn’t end the thread at R13, it won’t now at r22.

Mildred

My choices are definitely old fashioned and definitely no longer very common, but I do not find them ugly, although others might....

Marcella

Olive

r25 - i like both of those names. They sound old fashioned yet classy.

Bertha. Big Bertha Butt. One of the Butt sisters.

On a side note… I’m indifferent to the name Rita, but Saint Rita sounds like the patron saint of old school taxi dancers and bar girls.

[quote] Olive

Cute. For a cat.

a is a name that gives one pause.

The name Susan has always seemed so colorless to me. Like, I have no associations with it at all. When I hear the name Susan I just imagine a blank void.

(You know there used to be debate over Gladys because half the country at one time believed the pronunciation sounded more like Glad-sea.)

Mavis (she brings home the bacon,.)

Ida (you know she's a ho.)

Lilith (it's not all about eve)

Amelia (she's high)

Winifred (it's a diff'rent world than where you come from)

Marguerite (she's salty)

Celia (Gluten free)

Virgie (she's only half a slut.t)

Hilda (Why wouldn't you put feathers on a wall?)

Opal (If Diamond might be a stripper's name, then Opal is a notary.)

Lela (she's got one eye on the prize.)

Miriam (Muriel is kind of ghetto, Miriam is more upper middle class bitch.)

Marion (she can keep the name when he transitions.)

Dorothea (Dorothy becomes Dotti but Dorothea becomes Theatrical)

Marjorie (The Woman at the Washington Zoo)

Jo (Lesbian shebopping from the age of Little Women to The Facts of Life)

Anita (tis the name of drag queens.)

Camille (Future Butch)

Arlene (the trailer park queen)

Gina (the bisexual)

I have never known a nice Susan. Susan and Karen could be interchangeable to me.

r30 You've just described "Suddenly Susan"

Fanny - I actually knew one, born around 1925

Eunice - one of the Kennedys

Lucille - Lucy's back but I don't think Lucille is

Beulah - just weird

Ok I guess but very dated: Barbara, Diane, Sheila, Ramona, Pamela, Donna, Jean, Norma, Beverly, Betty, Cheryl, Marie, Gloria, Peggy

Cybill Shepherd named her daughter Clementine, but why? Better than Apple or Peaches, I guess

I'm surprised Harriet and Mabel are in style again, but you never know

[quote] r30 a is a name that gives one pause.

Oh. The system removed a banned name and substituted ’a.’ It’s a female variant of a man’s name beginning with [bold]E[/bold]

Just as happy not to see it, actually.

[quote]R34 Cybill Shepherd named her daughter Clementine, but why? Better than Apple or Peaches, I guess

She’s from the south, and they’re all… wacky.

But maybe she liked this song:

[quote] The name Susan has always seemed so colorless to me. Like, I have no associations with it at all. When I hear the name Susan I just imagine a blank void.

I imaging rotating to face the camera.

[quote]R34 Ok I guess but very dated: Barbara, Diane, Sheila, Ramona, Pamela, Donna, Jean, Norma, Beverly, Betty, Cheryl, Marie, Gloria, Peggy

Betty aside, no to all these.

Betty will always seem sort of fun to me because of Betty Draper on MAD MEN, plus (the re-spelled) Bettie Page and Bette Davis.

Speaking of Bette Davis, the name Joan is dreadfully boring. It should be filed next to Ann and Carol. Like, names to use when you can’t come up with anything special.

Lisa teeters on the edge of that file, too. But not AS bad.

r34 tv babysitters

Prudence.

Esther.

Ruby

I hate Joan as well. A fan magazine had a contest to give a name to new actress Lucille Leseur (sp?) and they picked Joan Crawford. Joan hated the name and wished it could be Joanne, but the studio made her accept the fan choice.

Joan is just like… the stodgy secretary of the PTA. Her nails are the only nice thing about her.

Does a boring real estate job.

Joan.

Mildred is worse than Joan. In a different way. It’s vividly awful.

You can see why Joni Mitchell adjusted it - and there are some other Joni, Joanie's I can't remember off hand - maybe I'm thinking of Happy Days lol. Joan Baez kept it though.

Oh, and I knew a lady named Ethel (probably born in 1920?) She named her first daughter Myrtle Yvonne and told me one day that she always thought Myrtle was just the loveliest name of all. But her daughter went by Yvonne. Her other three daughters were Becky, Rollyns and Peggy.

Maxine is kind of sleazy.

[quote]r46 I knew a lady named Ethel (probably born in 1920?) She named her first daughter Myrtle Yvonne and told me one day that she always thought Myrtle was just the loveliest name of all.

Poor dear. I wonder if she was touched in the head.

Myrtle is a kind of flowering bush, but that’s still no excuse.

[quote]R47 Maxine is kind of sleazy.

Definitely a manicurist with brightly dyed hair. Or a waitress.

Clarabelle

Hope denotes someone about 5 feet tall.

There is a crop of ugly names that will soon replace Peggy, Joan and Betty.

Stephanie, Madison, Haley, Kaitlyn, Tiffany, Kimberly, Kelsey, Melissa, Brianna, Jasmine, Danielle, Courtney, Nicole, Jennifer, Kayla, Hannah, Megan, Taylor, Ashley, etc. will seem very dated in a few years.

a

Velma

Does Bridget count? I rather like it.

Mavis

Ova.

Gladys was my grandma’s name. I love it.

Viola.

Euphemia

My grandmothers were Helen and Carrie. Carrie's sisters were Eunice Earline, Lula Bell, and Pearlie Ann.

Ruby is popular again and it’s a pretty name

Beatrice and Eunice are hideous.

I had Great Aunts named Edna, Pearl, Rose and a Eula somewhere in the family.

A native American ancestor was Sookie Feathers.

Helga

Jewel

Gertrude.

Shirley

Laverne

Bessie Elsie Myrna Bernice

[quote]Laverne

Don't forget me!

Phyllis

Whatever op’s name is

Hmmm r7 that kind of reminds me of a movie...

Hilda

Irene

Evelyn

Cassandra

Evelyn has been revived

Dorothy

Frances

Bernadette

I think Cassandra (Kassandra) is a great name, always have.

Phoebe. Just....no.

Meryl

Mamie

My mother's name was Gertrude and she hated it. She and my father separated for a few years, and she lived alone and got a paying job for the first time. She introduced herself to all the new people in her life as Trudy.

Personally, I love almost every name mentioned in this thread and would love to see them come back.

I have an Aunt Eugenia. My grandfather had sisters named Mary Edith, Agnes, and Myrtle. Funny how Mary which was the most common name for 1000 years has disappeared.

I had a relative who was named Birdie but changed her name to the more sensible Anne.

Euphemia

Lavinia

My grandmother Mary Lovie had 7 sisters: Sallie Mae; Mattie Gee; Frankie Lee; Ercell; Alpha Omega (who they called "Migger"); Flora; and Christine.

I have a Hazel, a Hortense and a Joyce among my relatives. FYI: Hydrangea plants are also referred to as Hortensia.

I think Mary was so popular because of Mary, Queen of Scots, maybe?

Eugenia is forever ruined for me because of that psycho bag of bones YT "star." Shocked she hasn't kicked the bucket yet.

Pearlie Sue is now the name of the main character in my next mid-century Harlequin romance between a dashing and rich Southern tobacco plantation owner and a lowly and poor, mousey town girl who wears glasses and works two jobs to make ends meet: one as a hard-working waitress and another in the slaughter house. She considers becoming a "lady of the night" temporarily to make a bunch of cash so she can leave this little town and escape to the bright lights and big city when she meets the plantation owner.

Mary was popular because of Mary Mother of Christ.

Opal

Beyonce

Solange

[quote]I think Mary was so popular because of Mary, Queen of Scots, maybe?

I love that, R86. Thanks for the laugh.

But it could have been Bloody Mary, the first queen of England, Mary Tudor.

Well, I think she was the first queen - I don't know much about the really early days of Queen Boudica and possibly others. But was England really a country then?

La Quisha

* btw, I know Mary wasn't popular because of Mary Tudor - I'm just being silly.

Another name that's been revived is Lillian. This really shocked me. It was already an ancient name in the 1970s.

Some more ugly old names imo that I don't think have been mentioned - Joyce, Elaine, Denise, Thelma, Carol, Tammy, Ernestine, Lois, Louise, Marjorie, Rhonda, Martha, Arlene (or anything with 'lene' or 'line' on the end)

And. don't think Crystal will age well. And I don't like Helen but most people seem to.

Beulah

Rhonda. God that is an ugly name.

The last Rhonda I knew worked for the police department as a higher up (I worked for the city manager's office at the time, and she started attending our meetings because of a shituation that was happening at the time).

This woman (who was around mid 40s at the time) wore extremely tight clothing to accentuate her ASSet and thought she was the hottest thing since sliced bread that was prematurely cut right after being taken out of the oven. She was a bit of snickering-stock and considered a bimbo, despite her very high opinion of herself.

So now, Rhonda (to me) = big-assed, blond, biggety bimbo.

One of our neighbors had a daughter named Revonda which was a combination of her parents names Don and Vera.

Murie....

Never mind.

Fanny

On the BBC show Ghosts one of the characters is named Fanny Button which is a joke because in the UK fanny means pussy.

Every "Joyce" is a bitch. A woman told me that.

In my family the names Stella and Violet have been revived by their mothers . Growing up , there was a Violet who was a wacko welfare witch and Stella on the corner got busted for running a bawdy house !

In my family we had these old names:

Amelia

Lourdes

Maria

Marjorie

Beverly

Jane as a middle name for one aunt.

Marilyn

Juanita

STELLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLAWWWWWW!!!

My mother was Dorothy

Her mother was Ethel

Her grandmother was Calliope

Guess I lucked out with William...

R99, I met one and can attest to that. Also, April might be one too.

Jean

June

Linda, Susan, Suzanne, Janet, Janice, Kathy, Karen, Sandra, Paula, Nancy, Lisa, Lynn, Pam, Teresa, Vicky - 1966 cheerleader names.

1970s - Laura, Michelle, Robin, Jennifer, Jessica, Katie, Julie, Stephanie, Wendy - Heather, Tiffany, Sarah, Hannah, Kimberly, Lauren - which might be a bit later.

Dolores, Marjorie/Margie, Patsy, Betty/Betsy, Carolyn, Barbara, Diane - 1950s? Irene, Ruth - 40s, if not older.

Are they all dead names now? Is even "Ann" over the hill? and I'm getting way too into this lol.

Katie is still popular.

Helen

Carol

Cecilia

Katie is usually short for Katherine.

Sarah is a classic name and still in use.

Names that never go out of style:

Rebecca Sarah Catherine/Katherine Julia Laura Caroline Rachael Anna

Sort of agree but Rebecca and Laura, especially, are getting a bit tired.

Norma.

Doris

Vivian

R15- Don't forget Lottie and Henrietta

Euglena

Gwendolyn

Erna

Roberta

Edna

I do like some old fashioned names. Stella, Lorna, Millie.

How one could live as an overly straight laced Prudence, Hester or Dorcas I don’t know.

And Rachel sounds like a whiny nag.

Agatha

Eleanor

Eleanor is in the top 20 most popular names.

Agnes

Prunella

Francine

I'm guessing because parents love calling their little girl "Ellie." Because Eleanor sounds like an old biddy with a freshly coiffed, once-a-week, short, white puffy hairdo.

Dorcas has to be the most awful.

[quote]Every "Joyce" is a bitch. A woman told me that.

That's true. Also "Megan"...any spelling.

We used to call people "a dorcas" to indicate they were an idiot in high school in the 80s. Just as bad was "a Bertha" who was ALWAYS a tall, big-boned, fat girl who was inevitably clumsy and awkward as well.

R1 I agree. My best girlfriend was known as 'Haze' -- we never knew her name was Hazel.

Sylvia

Myrtle

Wilma

Ethel

Clara

Esmerelda

Hagatha

My mom had a friend named Eunice and I didn't know any better so I always took a message when she called that "Unis called".

Lilibet

How dare you!

Myrna

Samantha

Mulva

Gency

Magda

Sardonyx

Cornelia

Sophronia

Luz

Amaryllis

Pearla

Gipple

Myra

Hortense

Marvel Ann

Eulalia

Fergie

Flavia

Eartha

Mildred

Gwynyfryd

Verna

Theodosia

Adelheid

Zenobia

Deidre

Thelma

Iola

Dora

I went to school with a Hilda, a Daisy, and an Ada. Little girls with granny names.

My friend’s mother was Lulabelle.

The name Dorcas reminds me of fish, I guess because dorsal fin plus Orca the whale. The name Selma reminds me of salmon, and Thelma makes me think of tuna fish.

Goneril

Regan

Cordelia

/s/ Mr. & Mrs. Lear

Goneril sounds contagious.

Deliverance is due for a comeback.

Opie. (OP. Get it?)

Hagar, Bathsheba

Yesterday a nurse gave me my Covid booster shot. No pain. I asked her what her name was: "Lillian." I thought that was a nice name. I'd estimate she was in her late 30s or 40s.

Irma, Ursula, Enid, Matilda, Elna, Edith

Cuntasia

Phyllis

Jemima

Rose of Sharon

Agrippina.

My name is listed in here!

side note, my Nana's first name is pretty much not even a word. Google flat out refuses to recognize it and when I put it in quotes the only time it comes up is... my Nana's name. It's really ugly too so I am glad.

Hildegarde - I love the nickname Hildy, probably from watching [italic]His Girl Friday[/italic]. Recently I took a quiz about popular girls' names in the USA. I realized I was quite out of touch; still, I don't see a comeback coming for Hildegarde.

Florence

Helen

Hildegard, Ermengard, Asgard, Friedegard, Dietgard, Edelgard, Lutgard, Wendelgard

Drucilla

Clotilde

Roweena

Bertha

Greasefira

Marjorie, as in the grotesque creature EmpTy Greene.

^EmpTy Taylor Greene

"Hortense" makes me dry heave.

Belva

Lindzebelle

Georgette

Hilda

Irene

Alvina

Beatrice

Henrietta

Shantel

On Reddit, someone put up a picture of a young black girl in the 1930s named Mozella. I looked on the 1940 US Census thinking there could only be one of them, but there were 1,764 women named Mozella in the US that year.

Desdemona.

Berenice.

You don’t meet too many Veronicas these days.

Brunhilde

Merkin

Brunhilde, Gunhilde, Ragnhilde, Reinhilde, Kriemhilde, Schwanhilde, Alfhilde, Åshilde, Alvilde, Audhilde, Borghilde, Magnhilde, Torhilde

Åshilde Is my new favorite now.

Seems we always do ugly women's names on these threads. What about the men?

Rufus (I actually knew one). Hubert, Buford, Claude, Clyde, Bernard, Harvey, Luther, Marion, Carroll, Leonard, Percy/Percival, Buster, Nigel(Sam Neill's real name but he hated it so much he changed it)

I've probably left out some.

R130 a dumbass

r187 GFY

[quote] Beatrice

I actually like this name.

I knew a few older ladies named Dixie. I imagine that name is canceled now.

What is Trixie short for? Patricia?

[quote]What is Trixie short for? Patricia?

Patricia or Beatrice.