I was given a very ‘old lady’ name in the early/mid 70s. I was named after my paternal grandmother who had died before I was born.
My middle name was after my maternal grandmother - it is a simple, one-syllable name. My parents were really back and forth about giving me my first name. They ended up going with it, on the basis that I could always opt for my middle name, if I really disliked my first name. That’s how ‘out there’ they thought it was.
Not long after I was born, so my Dad says, a load of old ladies with my name popped their clogs and they appeared in the obituaries. My parents really thought they’d made an awful mistake lumbering me with this name.
I admit, I didn’t like it at all growing up. I was never able to buy any plastic tat with my name on it (a big deal when you’re 7). And every time I was introduced to a bloke of a certain age (it was always only blokes, and always of a certain age), they’d chortle and say ‘necessary on a bike?’ like they were the first person to think up that tedious joke.
Fast forward 20-odd years and I got together with my first serious boyfriend who absolutely loved my name (said it’s the ‘name of beautiful women’), and it was an absolute revelation to me.
Then, suddenly, little girls started being born and given the name (or one of its variations - there’s the Scottish, French, Spanish and Italian spellings).
And now the name appears in all the ‘is this name too popular?’ threads.
So my parents were just a generation ahead of their time.
In short - I disliked the name growing up. But I love it now. I love that connection to my grandmother I never got to meet (and who I look just like). And I also love not having a somewhat tired/dated name from my generation.
If you go down this route, you have to be strategic, though. Theres’s really knowing which names are going to take off again, and which are going to sink like a stone….