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Baby names

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

Original poster

Is every girls name in popular usage twee?

59 replies

Maximajensen · 28/07/2023 09:55

I feel like 99% of currently popular/ vaguely popular girls names are twee.

  • Top 10: Amelia, Olivia, Ivy, Ava, Evie, Freya
  • Vintage/ retro names: Mabel, Elsie, Edie, Bonnie, Ada
  • Frilly names: Arabella, Aurelia, Liliana, Viviana
  • Even some names adopted from other cultures in an effort perhaps not to be cutesy: Penelope, Sylvie, Clementine
  • Nickname names: Lottie, Mimi, Gracie
  • Anything ending in an “ie”

obviously lots of overlap here

Not twee:

  • Feminisations of male names: Albertine, Thomasina, Edwina, Maxima
  • 4 letter international sounding names: Naia, Mina, Sanne, Anna
  • Most names in popular usage throughout the second half of the 20th century: Karen, Rachel, Claire
  • Most but not all “classic” (royal or literary names)

thoughts?

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mosiacmaker · 28/07/2023 18:07

however my name is of a similar ilk to Albertine and I’m pretty sure I’ve missed out on some potential boyfriends and friends because of it, life would have been MUCH easier as an Ava 😂🤣🤣 I’m going to
give my daughter a name that is sexy and competent and badass AF to see her through her years.

mosiacmaker · 28/07/2023 18:02

I do think you’re right about the “a” and “ie” endings but it’s kind of hard to avoid as that’s literally how names are feminized!

Olivia isn’t twee thought, I find that to be nice and robust sounding. I think anything with 3 syllables (Clementine) is usually not twee.

More than 3 (think Valentina) is maybe a bit OTT but also not what I would consider “twee”. (I do secretly love Valentina though)

Twee to me is silly nothing sort of names. By the time you get to 3 syllables you start getting some substance and it can’t be twee.

I do wish people would name their daughters something that they could be president with though! People can always have cute nicknames if they want but I think it’s helpful to have something serious to fall back on.

Original poster
Maximajensen · 28/07/2023 17:55

ChildrenOfRuin · 28/07/2023 16:19

I definitely see Violet as more twee than Albertine. Although both flower names, people’s problems with feminisations often centre on the fact that they’re not “pretty” or “sweet” enough, but rather just male names with a suffix tacked onto the end.

Albertine’s a flower???
I’d always assumed that it was a feminine version of Albert.

It is both a French feminine version of Albert and a type of Rose

OP posts:
Original poster
Maximajensen · 28/07/2023 17:54

Starchipenterprise · 28/07/2023 16:53

I don't agree with you OP, which was not helped by the fact that your OP is incomprehensible

Lol - which part?

OP posts:
Starchipenterprise · 28/07/2023 16:53

I don't agree with you OP, which was not helped by the fact that your OP is incomprehensible

2bazookas · 28/07/2023 16:37

Can't wait for the old names to come back, Audrey, Brenda, Doreen, Doris. Derek, Roy ,Bernard, Roger.

ChildrenOfRuin · 28/07/2023 16:19

I definitely see Violet as more twee than Albertine. Although both flower names, people’s problems with feminisations often centre on the fact that they’re not “pretty” or “sweet” enough, but rather just male names with a suffix tacked onto the end.

Albertine’s a flower???
I’d always assumed that it was a feminine version of Albert.

Original poster
Maximajensen · 28/07/2023 15:15

GEC44 · 28/07/2023 15:14

Claire, Karen and Rachel are not twee Hmm

Not in the slightest. Precisely my point

OP posts:
GEC44 · 28/07/2023 15:14

Claire, Karen and Rachel are not twee Hmm

Original poster
Maximajensen · 28/07/2023 15:11

TeleTropes · 28/07/2023 10:15

Albertine, Thomasina, Edwina,

all “twee”.

Grace, Phoebe, Evelyn, Alice, Violet all on top 50 names and I think are strong names and not sickly sweet. I’d go as far as to say Amelia and Olivia are not twee either.

I do agree that “ie” and “a” names can have a tendency to sound cutesy though.

How would you define twee here?

I definitely see Violet as more twee than Albertine. Although both flower names, people’s problems with feminisations often centre on the fact that they’re not “pretty” or “sweet” enough, but rather just male names with a suffix tacked onto the end.

Violet was my second choice for a girl. In my view, you can either go along with the twee naming trend, or you can give your daughter a pretty wildly different name which means she stands out and perhaps is automatically assumed to be of a different generation. So I’m not knocking people’s choices, I’m just pointing out quite an obvious trend.

OP posts:
Original poster
Maximajensen · 28/07/2023 12:06

Opinions on names are never objective though… most things in life are subjective. But we form subjective collective opinions. Many people might agree that the name Blaise is modern sounding but it’s a historic saint’s name. Humans can’t help but stereotype it’s part of how we process the world!

OP posts:
TheBitchOfTheVicar · 28/07/2023 11:49

There is nothing objectively twee about names like Mabel and Ava. You're ascribing subjective perceived (hipster?) characteristics of the people who might choose such names to the name itself. Stereotyping, basically

Brexile · 28/07/2023 11:47

TeenDivided · 28/07/2023 10:13

I think you'll have to define twee.
How are Ada and Penelope 'twee' ?

Penelope Twee was a model in the 60s. 😀

Original poster
Maximajensen · 28/07/2023 10:31

Dombasle · 28/07/2023 10:28

Most parents to be or new parents of a daughter imagine their baby as being a sweet and cute child and therefore want a name to reflect that

No one think that in 18 years time their daughter could be a fifteen stone Goth so they had better call her Gonk just in case.

This is an excellent point. Most of the names I thought of when naming my daughter fell under the cute category. A name like Maureen is not twee IMO, but I couldn’t picture it on a baby or child

OP posts:
JenniferBarkley · 28/07/2023 10:28

I agree, I don't like a lot of girls' names atm. A lot are the anonymous vowel-consonant-vowel Eva-Ava-Evie-Ella-Ellie-Ada-Ivy type that kind of blend into one, or else too frilly for my taste.

I have two DDs and won't post their names as it would be outing, especially together, but they're well known (well, one is Irish so it's well known here if not the UK) but not popular atm. There are plenty out there!

Dombasle · 28/07/2023 10:28

Most parents to be or new parents of a daughter imagine their baby as being a sweet and cute child and therefore want a name to reflect that

No one think that in 18 years time their daughter could be a fifteen stone Goth so they had better call her Gonk just in case.

RegainingTheWill2023 · 28/07/2023 10:24

Definition of "twee" - excessively or affectedly quaint, pretty, or sentimental.
It's a judgemental term.
If you were simply interested in trends in names you could have asked about quaint , pretty or sentimental names. But you chose to use a pejorative term.

Wintersgirl · 28/07/2023 10:22

TeenDivided · 28/07/2023 10:08

You've pretty much used a circular argument.

twee = Anything currently popular = twee
not twee = Anything not popular = not twee

The word Twee doesn't mean popular, it means sickly sweet and over sentimental..

Original poster
Maximajensen · 28/07/2023 10:22

TeenDivided · 28/07/2023 10:13

I think you'll have to define twee.
How are Ada and Penelope 'twee' ?

Like names that would be given to a series of dolls

OP posts:
RegainingTheWill2023 · 28/07/2023 10:19

My "thoughts" are that it's a matter of perception.
You perceive these names as "cutesy" or a little "sickly" but lots of other people perceive them as attractive names.
Why the need for the judgemental approach? Seems weird and unnecessary.
I've seen people wanting "strong" names for their daughters as if Maisie or Poppy can't be strong women. That's illogical. Parents should simply choose names they like. End of.

Reugny · 28/07/2023 10:19

Maximajensen · 28/07/2023 10:10

Not really, a name isn’t automatically twee because it is popular IMO. I think that all the names that are popular at the moment happen to be twee

Show quote history

Lots of the names that are popular today where popular in the late 19th and early 20th Century.

Basically they are historical names. Some of them are the names of famous people e.g. Ada and if people go back through their family trees they are likely to have a relative with that type of name.

My own DD who was born in 2018 has the name of lots of people's grandmother and great-grandmother Europe wide. (It isn't on your list.) I didn't realise it but she has the name of one of my deceased neighbours who would be in her late 90s if she was alive.

So in short you are saying historical girls names that have come back round in fashion are twee.

Original poster
Maximajensen · 28/07/2023 10:16

ChildrenOfRuin · 28/07/2023 10:02

It’s just a matter of personal taste 🤷‍♀️
Presumably most parents using those names would disagree.

Maybe! Although a nickname I use for my own daughter is in there

OP posts:
TeleTropes · 28/07/2023 10:15

Albertine, Thomasina, Edwina,

all “twee”.

Grace, Phoebe, Evelyn, Alice, Violet all on top 50 names and I think are strong names and not sickly sweet. I’d go as far as to say Amelia and Olivia are not twee either.

I do agree that “ie” and “a” names can have a tendency to sound cutesy though.

TeenDivided · 28/07/2023 10:13

I think you'll have to define twee.
How are Ada and Penelope 'twee' ?

Original poster
Maximajensen · 28/07/2023 10:10

TeenDivided · 28/07/2023 10:08

You've pretty much used a circular argument.

twee = Anything currently popular = twee
not twee = Anything not popular = not twee

Not really, a name isn’t automatically twee because it is popular IMO. I think that all the names that are popular at the moment happen to be twee

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