"Old Lady" names which should never see the light of day ever again

Jenai, your name is freaking me out, as it was a hilarious in-joke amongst me and my friends in French lessons at school twenty years ago.

You too?

I know a Cora, an Edith, two Mabels, a Nora and probably several other girls with names listed here - all of whom are primary school age or younger.

There is nothing wrong with Phoebe or Lily or Evie (all of which some might have considered too old-fashioned not long ago) but they are two-a-penny. There's nothing wrong with choosing a name which is two-a-penny either.

What I hate though is spiteful lists like this.

I have at least 6 of these on my names shortlist!

my faves girls name has always been AGATHA(yes I can hear your gasps of horror) but when we had our dd my dh pint blank refused to let me call hr that :( so settled on PHOEBE instead which was old-fashioned name but now v popular thans to friends!

I know a Ruby, an Amelia a Nancy and an Jessie.

My gran was Hetty and my family were all when my cousin called his DD after her. His DD (nearly 3) was born only a few weeks after her death and I guess he (my cousin) wanted to remember our gran in this special way.

Interested that no one has mentioned Hetty so far. Maybe its not that awful.

I personally prefer some of these lovely old names to some of the new fave names that are about. For example, my next door neighbour's teenage daughter is called Chanelle (not sure of spelling), but urgh it is a horrid name.

And I don't like many of the names that were popular when I was a kid like Claire, Karen, Rachel etc, they all seem a bit boring. I much prefer traditional names, although I must admit I would go for names such a Gertrude or Mavis, simply because I don't like the sound of them, not because they are old fashioned.

I know babies called Edith, Freda and Mabel. Am thorowing a Brenda into the mix. Baby Brenda anyone?

I was in the park the other day with my dc's and a little girl going by the name of Linda...

We (me and BF) have christened a certain section of M&S as 'the Mavis section'.

(it's Fanjo so i can't really complain)

my name is Fanny ...

KIDDING

i'm amused to see my middle name feature in several of these entries - and my sister's middle name! . thank goodness we've both got sensible first names.
The one that shot into my head as being really old lady-ish is Beryl. just hideous. and Fanny- unforgiveable.

Yes, and what about the MUMS with names on this thread..."vomit, vomit" not very nice to read about ones own name.

On my hubby's side there is MIL Marion and Great Aunt Maude, who to be honest I always refer to as 'Great Aunt Maude' in full as it somehow seems to fit- she's a wonderful old battleaxe who likes her gin and horse racing . MIL hates her own name but it's family one so she's stuck with it.
I am interested to know whether we will still see a lot of Susans, Sharons, Traceys, Caroles, Deidres etc which were really popular for my mum's generation (I am 30).
I must say though, as someone with a bit of an unusual name myself, I am adamant that our unborn DC will have a straightforward, simple name that everyone can pronounce and spell- boy or girl!

I'd love to love my gransmothers' names, I've tried. I can't. They were Joyce and Phyllis.

I really dislike Beryl, though.

frogs Thank you, I finally know how to spell Dymphna, that was one of my great aunts names.

I actually like some of these, but then I adore films from the 40's and 50's.

I like the 60s/70s names: I have an Angie.

You can literally see the smile drain off people's faces when you tell them what her name is

"they are not fashionable now an never will be"

Of names that have been mentioned on this thread as "old lady names which should never see the light of day again" plenty are inside the current top 300.

Ruby (#2)
Amelia (#9)
Faith (#80)
Martha (#81)
Evelyn (#89)
Beatrice (#132)
Hope (#155)
Elsie (#179)
Nancy (#184)
Jessie (#250)
Constance (#264)
Edie (#276)
Edith (#284) (and Edie #276 in its own right)

What is the point of saying "sorry, but vomit vomit vomit!" If you were actually sorry you wouldn't say "vomit vomit vomit!". If on the other hand you think it's fine to say "vomit vomit vomit!" then why think the parent of a child with the name you are vomiting over will be any less offended because you tag a meaningless "sorry, but" onto the front? Remember that almost every name you can mention will have a parent of a child with that name on Mumsnet somewhere.

Muriel
Mavis
Ethel
Phyllis

Just a couple of 1960s names that may or may not make a comeback:

Deborah
Susan

Onebatmother - Susan and Joy are lovely

I've had enough of the granny names trend (yawns) - I prefer 1960s or 70s - much cooler IMO.

DO you think our children will think names such as Brenda or Barbara are cool? Are all names cyclical or are there some that fall out of favour for ever? (Beryl ought to be, imvho, along with Vera)

My dd's have names that were previously thought of as old lady names that are now back in vogue - dd1 top 10 and dd2 top 50 with spelling variants that are higher up the list.

I'd LOVE to have a peek into the future and see what their children will be called.

When I was younger I couldn't imagine anyone wanting to call their children Nellie or Dorothy or Mabel, but now I think they are all lovely names.

fimbow - i just cringed at the thought of being introduced to 'our little marjorie!'

I know at least one of most of these old lady ones. 1960s/70s names are the ones which would make you blink rapidly if you were to meet a 5 year old with one:

Susan
Brenda
Sharon
Tracy
Barbara
Sheila
Shirley
Joy
Pauline

And doubt Doreen, Maureen or Noreen will ever see the light of day again..