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Baby names

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

Original poster

Too old-fashioned?

61 replies

phoenixrose314 · 13/07/2012 18:22

Feeling really upset... wanted to call my baby Penny if it's a girl, after my favourite nan who passed away right before I met my hubby. She was an amazing woman who raised me for the first five years of my life, and she meant the world to me. I love the name, especially on a cute little girl, but when I mentioned potential names a while back (before I was preggers) to my friends, more than one of them pulled a face and said that they hoped for the baby's sake I went with one of the other options...

What do you think? Should I just go with my gut feeling that I love the name Penny, or should I listen to my friends and think of some more options? Is it really too old-fashioned to be given to a little baby?

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1805 · 15/07/2012 18:37

I know a 6yr old Penny/Penelope. Doesn't strike me as old fashioned at all.

CecilyP · 15/07/2012 12:28

In defence of the main friend who made the offending comment, she is extremely autistic and doesn't exactly get the social convention of lying to appease a friend's feelings!!

Honestly, no-ones lying on here to spare your feelings. Posters are genuinely positive about your name choice.

PurplePidjin · 15/07/2012 10:34

I'm a 30yo one, there aren't many of us but we're pretty scattered in age! There was one other at my senior school, several years above me. I think another might have been starting as i left?

FWIW i have the long version on my bc but have never been called it and don't answer to it in consequence. It's no hassle to tell people I prefer the nn, many then shorten to three letters anyway :)

user12785 · 15/07/2012 10:28

Love it, go for it, and don't tell anyone in RL what you have chosen until your ds arrives! My mum turned her nose up at one of my choices, in fact she said "oh, I don't think so", so I just went quiet on the subject for 6 months then called ds that anyway! She now completely denies she ever did it, and loves his name. (Which is a perfectly normal English name, btw!)

FormerlyTitledUntidy · 15/07/2012 10:22

It's a lovely name, and probably going to have a bit of an increase in popularity since Kourtney Kardashian just named her new baby Penelope :)

GemmaPomPom · 15/07/2012 10:18

It's a lovely name! Ignore people. You could pick the nicest name in the world, and people would still pull faces. I know it was said upthread, but you really shouldn't mention your chosen name until it is a fait acompli. We are not telling anyone the name we have chosen for our DD.

ChippingInNeedsCoffee · 14/07/2012 23:21

Anything you say about a name when someone isn't even pregnant is fair game Grin

It's not a name I would have considered - but as I was reading your OP I could just see a cute little toddler running around :) and it's a name that suits a baby/toddler/child/teen/adult - but the main thing is, it's after your Nan and you love it - don't hesitate to use it!!

When is she due?

Badgerina · 14/07/2012 23:14

Gorgeous name. Go for it. I love the family connection too. Very special Smile

PuggyMum · 14/07/2012 21:00

I love Penny too and wouldn't say old fashioned at all.

X x

AnitaBlake · 14/07/2012 20:53

Am really taken with Penny! Just pit it DH and he agrees too!

Springforward · 14/07/2012 20:51

Penny, for Penelope, is a beautiful name, and if I ever had a DD would be my first choice!

NoComet · 14/07/2012 20:33

Penny is a lovely name.

the only Penny I know is 47 ish.

Original poster
phoenixrose314 · 14/07/2012 20:18

In defence of the main friend who made the offending comment, she is extremely autistic and doesn't exactly get the social convention of lying to appease a friend's feelings!!

OP posts:
3boysgirlontheway · 14/07/2012 11:48

I know a 12 day old Penny, it's a beautiful name.

MrsHuxtable · 14/07/2012 11:31

It's a lovely name and made special to you by the meaning you attach to it.
And even if it was old-fashioned, so what?
We used a name for DD that a lot of people in my home country consider old-fasioned and pulled their nose up at. It caused a massive argument between me and my mum but we used the name anyway. It was what we wanted and now DD is here, noone cares, it's just her name and that's that.

Go for it!

CecilyP · 14/07/2012 10:37

OP, I think your friends' reaction must have been quite strange. All the posts on this thread have been very positive about the name.

LilQueenie · 14/07/2012 02:35

I really like it. Lots of people told me they thought our chosen name was stupid...we did it anyway as it meant so much.

NadiaWadia · 14/07/2012 02:25

Lynette's young daughter on 'Desperate Housewives' was Penny, wasn't she?

Nothing wrong with it, it's a cute name and Penelope seems to be back in fashion anyway. Your friends need to keep up (and butt out!)

SLVC · 14/07/2012 02:19

It's a fab name. Penelope is cool, Penny is cute, and most importantly you have a wonderful reason for naming her. Lovely.

PebblePots · 13/07/2012 22:04

Go for what you love & means something to you. I love penny. You won't regret it but might regret not choosing it.

CecilyP · 13/07/2012 21:50

I don't think it can be too old-fashioned because it has never been particularly in fashion. Penelope was probably a bit more popular in the 1950s, but it was never all that common, so you can't really put an age to anyone called Penny or Penelope, so if you like it, go for it.

RIZZ0 · 13/07/2012 21:18

Penny is very sweet! She will become her name and you won't look back.

People made a few faces about my daughter's old fashioned name and didn't think it was pretty enough, but we stuck to our guns and now get lots of compliments on it.

MrsBranestawm · 13/07/2012 21:17

Put Penelope on BC and use Penny as nn. It's a lovely name imo. There's one in my family. Not too popular but not too weird either.

Selks · 13/07/2012 21:11

Penny is a lovely sweet name (without being overly sweet)

Not so keen on Penelope. If Penny is your choice, go with that.

MammaTonic · 13/07/2012 21:11

Ha! Find new friends! Penelope and/or Penny is 100% totally gorgeous and not old-fashioned at all.

I prefer to say 'classic'.