Could you ever name your child after your mother? Pamela, Teresa, Denise, Brenda, Carol, Barbara, Sandra etc?

DD has my late mum's name as a middle name. I considered it as a first name but it doesn't go well with our surname , so we discounted it. It still sounds odd as a middle name if you say all three names together, but that almost never happens.

Our kids will use these names for our grandchildren and we will hate it!

My friends grandmothers last words were "why the hell did you call her Elsie"

Great thread! My mum is called Janet, which she herself dislikes, and I would never use. I have certainly never met a child called Janet, and would be extremely surprised if I did!

Well, I'm a bit old to be choosing names now ( next baby in our family will be the child of either my dcs or dniece/nephews) but no, I didn't choose either my dm name or MIL name if we'd had girls. But, neither did we choose names from my grandparent's generation, which are the names that are popular now - George, Harry etc. Based on the names I see on children at the school where I work, I feel that there's a definite cycle and suspect that possibly children born now may be given names that were more popular in my mum's generation. Some are already creeping in - Ava, May,/Mae, Rose, Betty.

My DH's Grandmother and Mother totally and utterly assumed that any daughter of mine would be called by the Grandmother's name (not awful, pretty unusual today but quite classic), as that is what my Sil would have done had she had a daughter (she didn't, 2 boys). I was given no say in the matter! Needless to say I smiled sweetly, and announced my daughter's unusual name with a big smile on my face and full support from my DH. The look on their faces.....priceless!

I actually love the name Sheila. I don't have English relatives, though, so don't directly associate it with older people. I love Susan, too. And Rita.

My 5 year old DS is named John. Not named after anyone, just because I love it. Desperately wanted to name DD Veronica, but ExH wouldn't have it.

My mum was Ruth and I really wish I had used it for dd. My grandma was Sarah and my middle name is Sarah so I gave dd Sarah as a mn too.

David Mitchell and Victoria Coren Mitchell named their daughter Barbara.

Apparently the "ine" sound on the end of names is considered classy in France.

My mum was called Pauline and died suddenly recently. If I was having a girl I'd be using it as a middlename. I'm having a boy so Paul will be his middlename.

Spam reported

I give you Pauline. That's a name that should die. She got ripped off amongst her many sisters.

Sorry Mom but I don't think Sharon is ever coming back...

My lovely mum was a Susan (always Susan, never Sue).

She died when I was 22 so will never get to meet any children I have (hypothetically currently!) But if I have a daughter one day I would love to use the name Susannah. So not quite naming after, and not the 'classic' name in this sense, but I like the idea. I like the fact that Susan is a part of Susannah but not its whole (if that makes sense), just as my mum will always be a part of any children I have, despite never meeting them (in the sense that the way she and my dad brought me up will in turn be a part of my children through the influence on how I will choose to bring them up).

I may have thought this through too much.

I like Pamela, Jacqueline and Karen. Would use any of those.

I also like Diana.

My mum's name is Elizabeth, which I think is classic and timeless.

DS goes to nursery with a Marjorie.

My DM is Marilyn and I haven't heard that back yet, but some of her siblings names are. I saw a thread the other day considering the name Dennis Rex

My mum gave me her own name. So we have exactly the same name (I didn't change my surname when I got married).

I love the name but I still think it's a weird thing to do.

My mum is Helena, which is OK, not sure if I'd use it. Her middle name though, is Theodora which she hates... I rather like it!

MIL - Margaret Theresa - meh

GM's - Violet and Catherine. Wanted Violet for our youngest DD but no one else liked it!

Generally your own Mum's name will sound 'old fashioned' to people giving birth now, or at whatever decade they gave birth. However, in time, all names come round again. I am in my 50s now, and the vast majority of names being given to babies in last 10 years of so sound really old fashioned to me, because I'm an older generation than those giving birth now..
When my Mum told her Mum what she wanted to call me, my Grandmother was horrified as she thought it very old fashioned, but my name is really common in my generation.

So it goes on - it is cyclical.

My mum's name is Elizabeth (she's older than any of those stats though!) and I like it very much. If I had a daughter I might well have used it as a middle name. I think it is pretty timeless though and some of the names of people she knew of about the same age, like Wendy and Shirley, would be a lot more difficult for a modern young woman to live with.

Come to think of it, why can't every name be "evergreen"? Just a point of interest: why don't you get a good mixture of all names, in every generation?

My mum is a 1960's Mandy. Not short for anything and I just couldn't use it even as a middle name!

My DSis is Joanne and we always call her Jo. I wanted to use that name for my DD2 but as my DSis had always had weight problems we didn't because I could see my DD being 'little Jo' and DSis being 'big Jo'. We used it for her middle name instead!

I did.

Luckily, mum has a pretty exotic name, quite unusual.

My mum was horrified. She didn't have the same reaction at all when DS got dad's name. Was pleased actually...

I know a Shauna Marie Lorraine whose name incorporates both her grandfathers' and grandmothers' names.

I love Rita, Teresa and Joan. Two of those names are dear cousins of my mum's, lovely ladies. I considered Joan for DS.

I also love Tess, as an alternative to Teresa.