Active discussions

Help protect children from gaming harms.

Take our survey

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Baby names

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

Original poster

Girls names, are these a bit too "old lady"?

142 replies

Pickledegg · 20/03/2008 22:11

Florence
Clara
Elsie
Celia / Cecelia
Mabel

This is my shortlist of girls names. I love them (obviously!), but some people have said they're a bit too "old lady".

What do you think?

Any you particularly like /object to?

OP posts:
Are your children’s vaccines up to date?
Set a reminder
New posts on this thread. Refresh page
EffiePerine · 27/03/2008 09:15

Cicely is lovely but off my personal list as difficult to say with a lisp

Meandmyjoe · 27/03/2008 09:13

Love them all except celia, sounds a bit spiteful (in my opinion!) sure lots of others like it though. It's tough naming kids isn't it?!!

stanleysmother · 26/03/2008 20:58

Love them all but prefer Cecilia or Cicely to Celia.
If I'd had DDs they'd have been Florence and Mabel..as it is I have Stanley and Wilfie..ho hum!

branflake81 · 26/03/2008 14:08

I am really surprised that so many people like the name Mabel.

AHLH · 26/03/2008 12:01

Love Elsie. Thinking about it myself

nametaken · 25/03/2008 21:49

I only like Mabel

Ineedsomesleep · 24/03/2008 16:14

love them all, the only one I'm not sure about is Elsie.

Favouites are, in no particular order

Florence
Celia
Cecelia

Also love Clarabel and Cicely

and you're right pickledegg, Flo with a Lancashire accent would be really funny.

DD is Emmeline and we've had loads of comments about it being old fashioned but we love it!

I didn't realise Florence or Elsie we getting popular either. Round here it seems to be either Ruby or Evie.

Esn't Tracy Allman's dd Mabel?

MadameCh0let · 24/03/2008 13:26

Alice and Celia have the same letters. WOuld that make a sweet sib set, or a cheesey one?

micegg · 23/03/2008 15:59

I like them all.

slinkiemalinki · 23/03/2008 15:44

I love Florence and Celia. Cecilia could be seen as a bit Atonement/Keira-inspired, not so good. My nan (86) is Elsie Margaret and has always been embarrassed of Elsie (thinks it's common!) and has always gone by Margaret. SO I could never use it for that resaon!

devonsmummy · 23/03/2008 11:04

LOVE Mabel and quite like florrie but not florence

not keen on the others

lentengrrl · 22/03/2008 18:01

lovely, all of them.

MrsJohnCusack · 22/03/2008 17:58

that's it Klaw, it's honouring my pets
quite often people seem to say they won't use a pet's name because they 'just' belonged to a pet & they wouldn't want their child named after a dog. I understand your point a lot more! (I am very soppy about my pets)

NoNickname · 22/03/2008 14:06

Oh I love Mabel - everyone seems to be saying they don't like it though.

It reminds me of that lovely US sitcom "Mad About You". Paul and Jamie can't think of a name for their daughter and her Mum suggests Mabel, saying it means "Mother Always Brings Extra Love".

Klaw · 22/03/2008 14:06

God forbid Nigel ever makes a resurgance

I can still hear my mum mimicking the neighbour who called into the garden for her son

Niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii-gel (imagine it high pitched)

Niiiiiiiiiiii-gellllll

Klaw · 22/03/2008 14:02

MrsJohnCusack, I see your point but for me I couldn't use Ella because that was my beloved late cat's name and, just as I wouldn't name a child after a previous child I'd lost, I couldn't use it again, iyswim?

Maybe I should think more like you and honour a much loved pet by using the name again....

My Ella was such a beautiful cat with such a lovely temperament and character that Ella is now a very beautiful name to me. I do still miss her nearly 3 years on

AbbeyA · 22/03/2008 12:02

In my family, I dislike all the names that were used from about 1900 to 1930. There was Elsie, Doris, Ethel, Winifred,Violet, Freda, Clara.
I much prefer the beautiful names that were there in the generations before, Sarah, Louisa, Rebecca,Emily,Emma,Kate, Elizabeth,Martha and Annie.

MadameCh0let · 22/03/2008 10:48

Ellen backwards is Nelle. That's quite nice if you look at it that way. But I still prefer Ellen tbh.

There was an Elsie in my DD's 'music class' 4 yrs ago.

LynetteScavo · 22/03/2008 10:31

I love all those names. I don't know why Elsie isn't more popular atm.

PeatBog · 22/03/2008 10:18

Sorry, didn't mean to diss Mabel! just that all names have different connotations and for me it means rather lazy and greying labrador ...

But I'm sure everyone was saying the same sort of thing about Alfie a few years back and now the playground is heaving with them.

meglet · 22/03/2008 07:55

they are all lovely. But I love Mabel best .

teabreakgirl · 21/03/2008 21:50

Just looked at my post. looks like Im shouting in a bad way. Sorry! Am impatient for freinds dd3 to arrive but in a good way! They live in Australia.

fingerwoman · 21/03/2008 21:48

I love them all, they're fantastic.

my dd (if I have one) is going to be Mavis

teabreakgirl · 21/03/2008 21:46

All lovely names. Dixie suggested Esme too which I love. My friend called her dd2 Esme. DD3 is due NOW (Still waiting) she will be called Heidi.

CantSleepWontSleep · 21/03/2008 21:38

Elsie and Mabel are a bit old lady IMO, but not the others.

Swipe left for the next trending thread