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Baby names

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

Original poster

Tell me what your name is without telling me what your name is

807 replies

BatsatHalloween · 14/10/2025 17:20

My name has a male and female variant
It was number 36 the year I was given it
It was acceptable in the 80s
It's a bit French
It's also a little bit Essex
Most people shorten it

OP posts:
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Violinist64 · 15/10/2025 10:40

Holluschickie · 15/10/2025 10:38

Maude?

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No.

Violinist64 · 15/10/2025 10:40

Userjal · 14/10/2025 22:54

A very famous female singer has my name. She’s the first person you think of when you hear my name. Fairly uncommon. I don’t think there’s ever been a period in time it’s been popular, and I don’t know anyone else with the name

Madonna?

Holluschickie · 15/10/2025 10:38

Violinist64 · 15/10/2025 10:28

My name is in a poem by Tennyson and a fairly obscure Abba song 🎵

Maude?

Violinist64 · 15/10/2025 10:30

RoamingToaster · 15/10/2025 09:08

Obama. Not the president.

Michelle. Also a Beatles song.

Violinist64 · 15/10/2025 10:28

My name is in a poem by Tennyson and a fairly obscure Abba song 🎵

Goandygo · 15/10/2025 10:26

myavocadoisgrowing · 15/10/2025 10:20

Yep!

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FWIW, I think Karen is a lovely name and all the Karens I've known / know, have been/are beautiful inside and out.
@BatsatHalloween this is a fantastic thread, but it's stopping me from doing anything 🤣

myavocadoisgrowing · 15/10/2025 10:20

Creamcakeandrhinos · 14/10/2025 20:32

Karen

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Yep!

Original poster
BatsatHalloween · 15/10/2025 09:27

Userjal · 14/10/2025 22:54

A very famous female singer has my name. She’s the first person you think of when you hear my name. Fairly uncommon. I don’t think there’s ever been a period in time it’s been popular, and I don’t know anyone else with the name

Kylie?

OP posts:
badjeans · 15/10/2025 09:09

I’m mid 30s but mostly hear my name on people n their 40s - my parents were a few years behind the trend. It can’t be shortened but has an obvious rhyme that I used to get a lot. Cilla Black butchered the pronunciation.

RoamingToaster · 15/10/2025 09:08

Obama. Not the president.

DaughterOfSqualor · 15/10/2025 08:10

Glowingup · 15/10/2025 08:01

And Eleanor Rigby is not the song with the wrong spelling but there’s one by the band who did Happy Together that’s Elenore

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yes it is. Jane Austen spells it another way.

Teachers at school didn't care though - I frequently had Eleanor Rigby sung at me ... Hmm

(I quite enjoy the song Elenore when it comes on the radio Grin )

DaughterOfSqualor · 15/10/2025 08:05

Grigoria · 15/10/2025 07:07

Elinor /Eleanor?

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Well done!

Glowingup · 15/10/2025 08:01

DaughterOfSqualor · 15/10/2025 08:00

Ha! Right book, wrong sister! Grin

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And Eleanor Rigby is not the song with the wrong spelling but there’s one by the band who did Happy Together that’s Elenore

DaughterOfSqualor · 15/10/2025 08:00

LancashireButterPie · 15/10/2025 00:48

Marianne/Marian

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Ha! Right book, wrong sister! Grin

DaughterOfSqualor · 15/10/2025 07:56

GhostOrchid · 15/10/2025 00:25

Elinor/Eleanor/Ellie?

or Katharine/Catherine/Kate - but that’s always been popular.

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Bingo! Grin damn, that didn't last long!

itsgettingweird · 15/10/2025 07:46

This is a brilliant thread 👏🏻👏🏻

StMichaelPenkevil · 15/10/2025 07:44

CharliesAngles · 15/10/2025 07:30

A very cool name 🙂

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Thank you!

CharliesAngles · 15/10/2025 07:30

StMichaelPenkevil · 15/10/2025 06:18

Yes!

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A very cool name 🙂

Cinaferna · 15/10/2025 07:27

HelloVeritas · 14/10/2025 19:42

There are 3 ways to spell my name and it was popular in the 70’s and 80’s. Lots of women who have this as their first name, have Louise as their middle name.

Sarah? Loads of Sarah Louises at my school

EmmaBridgewaterTeapot · 15/10/2025 07:19

Mine is a housekeeper who doesn't understand emotion in a book by LM Montgomery, and a moody worrier in an Enid Blyton school story. I've never met one my own age!

Grigoria · 15/10/2025 07:07

DaughterOfSqualor · 14/10/2025 23:50

Hmm. I think outing myself on MN is probably the daftest thing I'll do all week, but who's watching? Grin

Ok. My name is fairly traditional, and wasn't particularly common when I was a child (nor is now). It has several legitimate variant spellings but mine isn't the most common of those spellings. My mother was inspired by a Jane Austen novel she was reading while pregnant (no, not that one!) and the spelling is the same. It's also the name of a medieval French queen but not the right spelling. I'm mostly known by its diminutive though. (oh and the wrong spelling is immortalised in the title of a very well-known song...)

Elinor /Eleanor?

Glowingup · 15/10/2025 07:07

urghhh47 · 15/10/2025 07:01

Dr Zhivago

Lara?

Beenwhereyouareagain · 15/10/2025 07:05

MusicalAnarchy · 14/10/2025 19:34

My name is very dated but I love it.

It was a very popular name.

I was named that because it’s the feminine form of my Grandfather’s name.

My name featured in the title of a song by a hugely popular ‘60’s band and also in a song by a very popular band that started in the ‘80’s.

Michelle? Mine, too. It was so new in the US in 1960 that my grandfather referred to me as "the baby" for the first year of my life. The song came out a few years later, although he'd started calling me by my name before that.

urghhh47 · 15/10/2025 07:01

Dr Zhivago

StMichaelPenkevil · 15/10/2025 06:18

CharliesAngles · 14/10/2025 21:11

Johanna

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Yes!

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