Active discussions

Help protect children from gaming harms.

Take our survey

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Baby names

Find baby name inspiration and advice on the Mumsnet Baby Names forum.

Original poster

Dorothy / Ruth?

57 replies

tummytickler · 06/03/2011 08:12

Just mulling these names over really.
What do you think?
We were going to call ds Dorothy, but he was a ds so we thought it would not suit him! We haven't put it our list this time, but now I am thinking about it again.
Also thinking about Ruth. Not sure if I like it enough to use it as a first name, but there is something very appealing about it.
I have 33 weeks to make up my mind so not urgent!

OP posts:
Are your children’s vaccines up to date?
Set a reminder
New posts on this thread. Refresh page
Pachelbel · 04/04/2011 01:22

My middle name is Dorothy, and I must say that I'm pleased I rarely have to use it.
Any time I do, for example when filling in forms with my full name, I always get a snigger or comments about whether I own any red shoes!

Funnily enough, my first name was very almost Ruth but my parents had a change of heart last minute, and I'm kind of glad they did.
It's not a bad name, it's just so many people in various areas of the country pronounce 'th' sounds as 'f' sounds.
I for one would hate to be associated with part of the structure of a building....

If they's been cruel enough to call me Ruth Dorothy, I dont think I ever would have forgiven them...

ValiumSoltera · 01/04/2011 21:42

I love Ruth, snot dull at all. tis beautiful and unusual.

womma · 01/04/2011 20:08

Ruth is a dull name

Dorothy is great though

elliott · 01/04/2011 18:34

Northernrose, how bizarre, I am a Ruth and my dear late mother was Dorothy! I bet you are in you midforties too ! I have to say, much as I loved my mum i am not keen on the name for a child of today- I love my name though and slightly mortified by some of the negative reactions to it! I have to concur about its challenging pronunciation though - I've never yet been to a european country that could manage it!!

Ruthie32 · 01/04/2011 18:26

Haha! hacking up a furball??? Hmm

I like being a Ruth and like being called Ruthie too. I hate Ru but only one person has ever tried calling my that and I sometimes get called Ruthless but that doesn't bother me
Not great if your surname starts with Sh as my maiden name does though

UndiscoveredApprentice · 01/04/2011 18:21

Ruth is lovely.

Being silly, I instantly imagined being a friend of Dorothy!

pinksunset · 01/04/2011 17:42

I am a mid thirties Dorothy, named after a family member and never met another my age ever. Hated it as a child but really don't mind it at all now. Nn Dottie as a child and tend to be Dot these days, never introduce myself as that but seems to get shortened to that regardless. Nice to see it is making a come back, maybe I will meet one one day who isn't old enough to be my Granny!

exoticfruits · 31/03/2011 22:31

Ruth

ValiumSoltera · 31/03/2011 22:18

I prefer Ruth

IWouldNotCouldNotWithAGoat · 31/03/2011 22:06

Ruth sounds like the noise a cat makes when it's hacking up a furball.

CharlieBoo · 31/03/2011 12:33

Love Dorothy...the nn's are so cute!

My dd is Daisy but we call her Dotty a lot of the time...I don't really know why..just started as Dotty Daisy and now just Dotty..(she is a bit of a loon though).

LiquoriceLila · 31/03/2011 12:29

Sorry but both names are awful

BrigitBigKnickers · 31/03/2011 08:10

Both my Granny and Dhs nanna were Dorothy so I always imagine an old lady when I hear this name. My Granny hated her name so much she was known by a NN similar to her surname.

Ruth is lovely though.

Bubbaluv · 31/03/2011 07:40

Strewth Ruth. Sorry - gives me Home and Away flashbacks and otherwise sounds like a maiden aunt in a brown cardigan.
Dorothy, it better but a bit dated.
What about Penelope?

hester · 31/03/2011 07:33

I like Ruth.

freyamalaya · 31/03/2011 07:31

Sorry don't like either but Ruth is slightly better than Dorothy which is just awful.

ragged · 31/03/2011 07:26

I prefer Ruth, but I do know a very nice elderly "Dot".
Any child can make the name their own.

IWouldNotCouldNotWithAGoat · 31/03/2011 05:35

Ruth is slightly less horrible than Dorothy. A baby called Dorothy? Really?

blueberrymoon · 29/03/2011 23:24

Love Dorothy - my Nan's name and she was the best!! :)
Never been keen on Ruth at all, sorry!

Greenwing · 29/03/2011 23:17

Ruth is lovely and will suit her at any age IMO.

Dorothy's meaning is lovely but it sounds rather old ladyish despite the Wizard of Oz. I suppose the 'friends of Dorothy' gay thing may cause a snigger or two from some.

growing3rdbump · 29/03/2011 20:29

I like Ruth best of the two.

emsyj · 29/03/2011 20:28

DD is a Ruth. We wanted something unusual but well-known IYKWIM. It is very unpopular at the moment, but think it may be due a revival.

Himalaya · 29/03/2011 20:23

Love them both. They are both quite soft names so I think they need to go with a 'hard' surname - something with C or K, T in it.

Rhubarbgarden · 29/03/2011 20:17

Love both, and they would be on my shortlist but for the foreign in-laws having pronunciation issues with 'th'. Gutted.

pilates · 29/03/2011 16:33

Not keen on either