People's negative comments

Matilda is a lovely name btw.

As you have already chosen the name they are being rude.

How odd. Matilda has been back in fashion for ages! It's lovely.

Also, the vast majority of names work on a 100 year cycle, so at any given time a substantial crop of the currently fashionable names will have been the names commonly used around a century prior. At the moment it's likely the last strains of the Ethel, Elsie, Stanley, Archie type names. The Barbaras and Peggies and Erics and Brians are up next (indeed are already starting to creep in). People of a certain age will associate any incoming crop of names with parents, aunts and uncles, their former teachers etc and so they will seem hideously passé when their grandchildren get given them! The same will happen to us when our grandchildren are called things like Neil, Nicole and Alison.

My cousin had a Matilda Rose but she is 22. They were clearly ahead of their time , as they also have 21 year old's Harry, Evie and Flo.

I've literally never met anyone in my life whose insulted another person's baby name to their face... that is so weird?? Incredibly insulting and brazen. Matilda is lovely and literary -- you've done your job and given your child a good name. Rest easy now if you can :)

Also just to add, a woman who works for my mum who is horrible called her twins m_ and Matilda after being horrible to my mum at work all year, so stealing names also isn't great, both names are my siblings names which is just creepy

My sisters name is that, shes young, spelt the correct way, I think the problem is if you spell it that way it's obvious it's due to the Roald Dahl book. My sister is known as Tilda, Hilda or Mattie so not the end of the world just pick the nickname now.

Love the name Matilda!! There’s a few nickname options too

Ugh I hate people.
I have had some negative comments about my daughters name, her name is Clementine. Again, she gets the 'granny' comments or I had someone say its child abuse for me to call her that! Let's just say he wasnt very favorable and I told him where to shove it Haha. Matilda is such a lovely name, my cousins daughter is called that name, she is known as Tilly. Maybe Tilda as she gets older :)

Honestly people have opinions, whatever, I just wish people would keep their mouths shut! Just smile and nod if you dont like it! I dont like a lot of names but I have never said anything negative about their choice, because its theirs. Honestly if people can say something negative about a name so inoffensive like Matilda there is literally no hope for them Haha.

Oh Matilda is lovely!

I would either say “oh that’s a bit rude” .... or “it’s a good job we all don’t like the same things in life, where would we be?” Or if you’re REALLY brave “oh I was going to call her .. but I don’t really like it after all” 🤣

Then smile sweetly and enjoy your beautiful, gorgeous Matilda!

I would just say something like, well luckily she’s not your child so.... sometimes people need reminded that they aren’t centre of the universe.

It's very pretty. Isn't there a movie of that name? Ignore the rude people giving you their opinion that wasn't asked for.

Good grief. It’s hugely popular. Have these people been living under a rock? Dd has three close friends called Matilda Rose (primary school).

Ignore them, they are just being thoughtless. Matilda is a lovely name and has great nn's Tilly and Mattie. Not everyone will like your child's name as names are so subjective. I've had people turn their nose up at my child's name on occasion and I just think they're either rude or ignorant and I really don't care.

I don't know any old ladies called Matilda but I do know of plenty of under 16s.
One of my sons has a very old man name. We have had plenty of comments from the older generation but I point out he will be an old man one day! People think my other son has a 'modern' name but it's actually really old fashioned just pre the oldies of today!

Tell them they are out of date. Matilda is trending. But even if it wasn't, you might have named your dd for a favourite grandma. I love Mattie for a nn. Tilly also.

I think you should tell people who are being rude that they are rude. I'd be polite about it but I would tell them that some people might be really offended and upset if they rude about a babies name and that anyone who has any social awareness would know that.

You tell them calmly and in a matter of fact way.

Why brush it off and let them get away with it. It might genuinely really upset someone else.

I love Matilda. If we’d had a girl, we would have called her that. Matilda is pretty high up the names list, somewhere in the top 20 I think so it’s obviously popular. People like that are just rude. Either ignore or say you don’t think much of their name either!

I remember someone called Pauline saying my son's name was old fashioned. It's Max and I love it.

I like it. Very common in Australia too not an old lady name there!
Nn Tilly is cute too.

Well, overwhelmingly - because names go round in cycles - huge numbers of babies have "old lady names", because they come back into fashion.
My Grandmother was horrified at my name (in the 1960s) as it was a name that her Aunts, Great Aunts and Grandparents and their peers had been called. I've never been in any group of people of a similar age without there being someone else with my name.

Virtually every baby born over the last 10 years or so that I know, has been given an "old lady" or "old man" name to my ears. Give it another 20 years and people will start having the names of my peers again, and I'll be a bit when I first hear them as I'll think of people being 'middle aged' as I'll still perceive myself at that point .

People aren't meaning to be rude, they just don't always think, before saying something outloud.

Ignore them. They obviously just don't know any young children. Matilda is a very popular name (for good reason. It's lovely).
I've mentioned this before but I remember my mum telling me (whilst I was pregnant with our eldest. I'm sure she was fishing) that her friend's daughter had just had a baby called Ruby May and her friend had cried for a day because it was so horrible and old fashioned. Within a few months I had met about fifty ----thousand Ruby Mays.

Matilda’s a lovely name! What’s wrong with people?

Its a cool name - she will enjoy it

How very rude!

Use the old favourite "did you mean to be so rude?"

It's a lovely name by the way. Perhaps they're really jealous of your excellent taste.