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Baby names

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

Original poster

Confused by myself!

38 replies

confusedandcrazymother · 03/02/2019 08:12

Anna.

I remember when I was younger, I never cared for this name at all. It was a nothing name, a dated name, an old lady name.

I remember coming across a woman who had named her daughter Anna, and I felt sorry for the little one. Why would her mother give her such an old boring name?

Fast forward about 4 years, and now I think I love the name.
It’s simple, timeless, classic, elegant, travels well.

But is it boring? I’m confused by my own thoughts! I know Annabelle has taken off... but not sure about Anna.

Thanks

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ChubsyMcChubFace · 05/02/2019 22:51

Anna is a beautiful name! I love it.

thisismadness77 · 05/02/2019 21:51

It’s lovely

MerryMarigold · 05/02/2019 21:50

Oh and Anna makes me think of ballerinas or beautiful Russians, not old ladies!

MerryMarigold · 05/02/2019 21:49

I really like Anna. I know one who is 6.

I like Josie too.

FranklinTheCat · 05/02/2019 21:46

I agree, it's elegant, timeless (never dates) and travels well. Instantly recognisable but not too popular. What more could you want from a name?!

I think of it as a younger woman's name rather than a middle aged lady. Definitely not frumpy.

Bumblebeesmum · 05/02/2019 21:44

It’s a beautiful simple elegant name. My cousin is an Anna - she’s 18 & a kind lovely girl.

Lara53 · 05/02/2019 21:42

Love it

KiplingAngelCake · 05/02/2019 12:50

I love the name Anna. Was on my list for DD. Really elegant and timeless.

Sproutsandall · 04/02/2019 10:42

Teen Me would have wanted to call Dd ‘Wolfe’...so probably best Teen Me didn’t get to name her. Grin

Sproutsandall · 04/02/2019 10:39

I also have a three-year-old Anna Banana, who is half-Irish and bilingual. Grin In our case, we needed a name that worked in 3 different languages and is easily pronounced and spelt.

It might be a little boring, but as someone with a very unusual, unpronounceable, unspellable name, I’m fine with boring. Dd herself is far from boring, so...gallic shrug

Megan2018 · 04/02/2019 10:31

I think it is lovely. Really lovely.

Like you though, I'd have hated it 20 years ago! The names I liked then are just hideous now - thankfully I did not conceive in my 20's!

Joeybee · 04/02/2019 10:28

Anna to me used to give me ideas about a middle aged, plain lady.
However, I don't think that any more. I think Anna is rising in popularity again - It's short and sweet, but strong and still feminine. You couldn't judge an Anna, she could be fiesty, or girly and pricess-y, or bookish, or sporty...it's just a versatile little name.

Scandaloso · 03/02/2019 23:48

To paraphrase Marilla Cuthbert 'Anna is a plain sensible name.'

SallyWD · 03/02/2019 21:00

I love it. Simple, elegant. Pretty but not at all fussy. One of my favourite names

Parthenope · 03/02/2019 19:12

Anna is plain in the best way. Annabelle is to me a horrible, prissy, podgy kind of a name, more suited to a baby doll than a woman. I know two, and one goes as Anna and one as Ann.

DramaAlpaca · 03/02/2019 19:06

Anna is as you say - simple, timeless, elegant, classic, international. I love it. It's so much nicer than Annabelle which is overly frilly.

Laurasimone · 03/02/2019 19:02

Beautiful name. Simple but still lovely.
Personally prefer it to the longer alternatives of Annabelle etc.

MollyHuaCha · 03/02/2019 17:51

Lovely name.

HalfBloodPrincess · 03/02/2019 16:23

My nieces name. We call her Anna Banana and she loves it (she’s only 3)

Will grow with her from baby to grandma without sounding silly

shaggedthruahedgebackwards · 03/02/2019 16:04

I neither like or dislike it but view it as inoffensive if a little boring

It doesn't conjure up any particular type of person for me, nor would I class it as particularly dated or posh

I much prefer Annie personally

Fifthtimelucky · 03/02/2019 15:57

I like the name and I know 4 of them. 3 sets of parents chose the name because it worked well in different languages and cultures. In one case, both parents were English but they were living in Italy at the time. In the other 2 cases, one parent was English but the other wasn't.

TatianaLarina · 03/02/2019 15:38

I think it’s deeply boring, you were right the first time.

Not particularly posh as you seem to imply.

MikeUniformMike · 03/02/2019 15:10

I really like Anna. Annabel is ok but not Annabelle.
I like Anna because it is pretty, not likely to be shortened, not likely to suggest anything about the person (ok, I mean it's not pretentious or chav) etc.

ClashCityRocker · 03/02/2019 13:59

It's not a name I'd chose as it's not my personal taste, but it's certainly not a name I'd raise an internal eyebrow at.

I think our views of names do change as we grow up. (Thank god in most cases... I know when I was in my teens my first child was going to be called Chance....one of my friend's first born has an equally out-there name... Latter children conceived a decade plus later are James and Sarah....)

Sophronia · 03/02/2019 13:50

Love it. I don’t think it’s dated, it’s timeless.

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