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Baby names

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

Is Linda due a comeback?

60 replies

RainbowRedPanda · 07/03/2024 04:10

My aunt is called Linda (nn Linny) and I just love it. It kind of fits with the trend for old fashioned names but is it not old fashioned enough yet?

Tbh I haven't checked it's position on the baby names ranking...I've never heard of a baby Linda/Linny though. Yep, there were only 18 baby Lindas in 2020 so not popular!

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MaloneMeadow · 07/03/2024 15:36

No! Old fashioned classic names are coming back. Linda is certainly not classic, it just screams 70s!

DrearyLane · 07/03/2024 12:12

Another 15-20 years, I reckon, when the baby boomers’ grandchildren are having their own children.

(on the basis that Arthur/Mabel/Evelyn/Jack were old people names when my generation were at primary school and now we can’t move for them)

NoelJo · 07/03/2024 12:07

I think it’s a pretty name in the same way I think Pamela or Angela are pretty names but I would not use it for a baby. It’s definitely too soon and I associate it with 60+ year olds.

IamaRevenant · 07/03/2024 10:41

I like it! Possibly due to having lived in Portugal for a few years as a teen where 'linda' means 'beautiful' so that's the first thing I associate it with 😁 . I also do just think it's nice sounding as a name in its own right, unlike some more old fashioned names that have had a resurgence in recent years.

peachescariad · 07/03/2024 10:41

Personally I hope not - to me it's right up there there with my past 1970s classmate generation of Michelle, Beverley, Angela, Debbie, Julie and Tracey.

Teddleshon · 07/03/2024 10:38

I think it will be back. Like Tracy it was originally seen as incredibly chic! Nancy Mitford’s heroine was Linda and Tracy Lord from High Society.

ScierraDoll · 07/03/2024 10:36

It's a lovely name.
A proper name
Go for it

Thedance · 07/03/2024 10:35

Fashion is odd. The names that are popular now would have been seen as very old fashioned when I was young. Names that were popular when I was young like Linda, Susan and Tracy are seen as old fashioned now as do names from just children's generation.
I think to be fashionable names have to skip a few generations so names fashionable now are names that were popular in their great, or great grandparents time.

ItsallIeverwanted · 07/03/2024 10:34

Plus Linny is a pretty short name, so Linda (Linny) seems nice to me.

ItsallIeverwanted · 07/03/2024 10:34

I think Linda is a pretty name in it's own right, light and airy. I also know an Angela and initially it sounded funny, now I think of Angel/a, again, it's a pretty name.

Much better than Doris or Violet or IMO in that they are pretty sounding names. I wouldn't worry if they sound 'old-fashioned' as everything sounds old fashioned to older people and the younger ones won't care. They won't even remember the glamorous Linda Evans off Dallas!

Esgaroth · 07/03/2024 10:28

Immediately thought of this. Annoyingly it's someone filming a screen but I couldn't find a better clip. Linda is an adult woman who works in human resources and says stuff like "Mondays..."

AuntieStella · 07/03/2024 10:11

I nearly added Gillian/Jillian/Jill to my list, but I thought it was long enough already! Suzanne/Sue is definitely same era (and back in use via the more Biblical Susannah)

ZoyaTheDestroyer · 07/03/2024 10:10

It will come back but we are probably 15-20 years away from its renaissance.

Pocketfullofdogtreats · 07/03/2024 10:08

AuntieStella · 07/03/2024 09:51

I wondered if it might find its way back via Belinda

I think there will soon be a shift in "granny chic" to the names that are common in women aged 60-75. Sharon and Tracey (and Michelle) might be a bit much, but I think names like Deborah, Amanda, Samantha, Pamela, Joanne and Angela will start cropping up

You've named many of the members of my WI group, apart from Anne and Sue, of which there are many. Also Jillian, Carol, Linda, Celia, Margaret and Norma. I doubt this is outing - doubtless all WIs are like this! I like Jill the best out of those.

DanceToThisBeatForevermore · 07/03/2024 10:06

I’ve always loved Linda because of Evangelista! Just associate it with her gorgeousness.

MaggieFS · 07/03/2024 10:05

No,it's not there yet, it's a generation after the current plethora of Evies, Elsies, Graces, Bettys and so on.

Pocketfullofdogtreats · 07/03/2024 10:02

downsizedilemma · 07/03/2024 09:53

I love it. Also Barbara, which I think is in the same ballpark. I absolutely love the name Sharon (rose of) too.

It's funny how Barbara seems 'normal' now, along with June, thanks to Victoria Coren- Mitchell. But (rose of ) Sharon is pronounced Share- on, I believe.

downsizedilemma · 07/03/2024 09:53

I love it. Also Barbara, which I think is in the same ballpark. I absolutely love the name Sharon (rose of) too.

AuntieStella · 07/03/2024 09:51

I wondered if it might find its way back via Belinda

I think there will soon be a shift in "granny chic" to the names that are common in women aged 60-75. Sharon and Tracey (and Michelle) might be a bit much, but I think names like Deborah, Amanda, Samantha, Pamela, Joanne and Angela will start cropping up

Pocketfullofdogtreats · 07/03/2024 09:47

I think Lynne sounds more classic. Maybe it's too soon for Linda, but it's not as bad as the trend for surnames for first names, like Mason and Parker. There's also Lyndy or Lynsey, but I suppose they have a similar vibe. I don't like them, or Belinda. But there you go. DD would've been Scheherazade if I'd my way :) Linny is alright.

gluenotsoup · 07/03/2024 09:46

No

valorie · 07/03/2024 09:40

I really like it.
Belinda too.

anunlikelyseahorse · 07/03/2024 09:37

It's a nice name, but after seeing the sketch on 'class dismissed' where Linda, was a somewhat hapless PA/ administrator, gets the IT equipment stuck on her name, I'd give it a swerve!

UtterlyOtterly · 07/03/2024 09:17

I love it but I am of the generation when there was at least one Linda in every class at school.

Lindy might be a possibility, either as the full name or as a nickname for Linda.

daisypond · 07/03/2024 09:06

I really like Linda. It has a nice sound and I like the simplicity. It means beautiful in Portuguese and is less obvious than Belle or Bella. You could also use it as short for Belinda or Rosalind etc. I’m not keen on Linny, though.

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