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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To think its an old fashioned name!

324 replies

Mammyloveswine · 20/05/2022 22:54

Talking with a colleague lately about common names from the 80s and 90s... the usual., Sarah, Laura, Becky, Lydia, Lindsay, Louise, Emma etc..

We then got talking about more unusual names we went to school with "Hester.. Paula..Hermione (way before Harry Potter 😂).."

I just cannot imagine a baby or small child being called Paula! I can't even imagine a person my age (30s) being called Paula!

Any other names you just cannot imagine as a baby/small child?

OP posts:
WeBuiltThisBuffetOnSausageRoll · 21/05/2022 00:31

Ian - who'd name a baby Ian?

If he started a cult, his followers would be Ianians! Grin

Baby Eric

I was about to post the same.... but then I remembered: Simon Cowell's young son is called Eric, so that's probably brought it back to the fore, to an extent.

FelicityFlops · 21/05/2022 00:33

Oh and one of my husband's names was Wolfgang...
His mother was Isolde, but we don't go Wagnerian.

Bonjovispjs · 21/05/2022 00:39

I like my name, I was named after the song Hey Paula, I know a little boy called Walter!

Viviennemary · 21/05/2022 00:44

I like the namd Veronica. Last one I heard of was well into her nineties.

LocalHobo · 21/05/2022 00:44

It is strange how there are many baby Olive's but I have yet to meet a baby Beryl, they seem similar names to me.
I have, in the past 4 years, met Kevin, Alan and Barbra, all under 5. Not in the UK though.

Threetulips · 21/05/2022 00:44

I’m going to throw in Hilda

OwlinaTree · 21/05/2022 00:45

Karen, Nicola, Debbie, Susie, Dawn, Gillian, Julie, Elaine, Lorraine, Beverley, Deanna, Nadine, Tamsin, Samantha, Alison, Jocelyn, Christine, Janet.

I know all of these people except Deanna 😂born in the late 70s.

The name I can't think of for a baby is Bernard 🤣

Notimeforaname · 21/05/2022 00:47

they also went to nursery with a Barbara.

That's horrendous 🤣

AuntTwacky · 21/05/2022 00:47

Kevin
Keith
Karen

overorunder · 21/05/2022 00:50

Doris
Queenie
Valerie
Vera
Irene
… names of grandmothers etc in my family that haven’t come back (unlike Olive and Dorothy)
ditto
John
Conrad
Denis (but Arthur and Stanley are trendy).

so strange

SammyScrounge · 21/05/2022 00:52

Agatha
Agnes
Clarence

MrsMoastyToasty · 21/05/2022 00:53

There's always some names that buck the trend of a particular era. I have a relative called Sharon who was born just after WW2. Any others I know were born in the late 60s/early 70s.
I've also met a Janice, a Una and a Sheila who were born in the 70s while I think of those as wartime names.

boronia · 21/05/2022 01:03

Beryl
Barry
Wendy

Pickabearanybear · 21/05/2022 01:06

This reply has been withdrawn

Message from MNHQ: This post has been withdrawn

MuchuseasaChocolateTeapot · 21/05/2022 01:11

Kevin, Trevor, Malcolm, Carol, Paul, Darren… I can’t think of looking at a baby and thinking what could be the most beautiful name I can think of? Nigel?

CustardySergeant · 21/05/2022 01:35

I had an aunt called Gladys and my mother was called Doris. I can't imagine a baby with either of those names, but it was obviously acceptable 100 years ago. I don't think those names will ever come back into fashion. As for boys names, does anyone know a Cyril, a Cecil or a Percival/Percy? Surely not.

Clarinet1 · 21/05/2022 02:18

Recently there seems to be a revival in flower names for girls - Lily, Rose, Daisy, Violet which you would never find in my generation (born early 60s). Also in a youth group I’m involved with we have a Mabel.
I’ve also noticed an increase in biblical names for boys - Sam, Ben, Matthew even Isaac much more popular than they used to be.

80sPaula · 21/05/2022 02:43

YABU 😂I know it's not in fashion but I don't think it's quite shock horror level old fashioned either. Personally find it stranger to hear of baby Emmas and Lauras when every second girl my age was named one of those, the few Paulas I met have been of various ages - including younger than me!

Mamai90 · 21/05/2022 02:52

I can't even imagine a person my age (30s) being called Paula!

All the Paula's I know (4) are in their 30s. Are you sure you're not mixing it up with Pauline? I don't know any Pauline's under 60.

romany4 · 21/05/2022 02:54

I have nieces Patricia and Carol.
Both early twenties. And beautiful

stopthepain · 21/05/2022 04:06

Popular 1940s and older names are really in vogue at the moment. Primary school classrooms are a weird blend of (something)den/son or Great Great Auntie names. Think Ivy, Elsie, Ava etc. Traditional boy names tend to stay in fashion. Girls names keep changing.

1960s-1990s aren’t all that popular right now. I’m a mid 90s baby and my parents were born in the 70s. I wouldn’t name my dc any of the most popular names in those eras 😄

SomersetONeil · 21/05/2022 04:10

My 11YO DD plays tennis with a Paula!

But she pronounces it like the bear (polar), so when I inadvertently pronounce it the traditional way, DD rolls her eyes and corrects me.

It is such an unusual name for a tween.

Bit then DS has a highly out-of-step name for his age. As do I.

Dishh · 21/05/2022 04:27

I know of a teenager named Phyllis.

autienotnaughty · 21/05/2022 05:03

I remember in my teens it was impossible to imagine Elsie, Harry, Freddie, pearl. They were all grandparents names. All common now. Names from my era would seem strange now - Sharon, Tracey, Kelly, Karen, Deborah, Claire , Paul, Darren, Simon

ChocolateHippo · 21/05/2022 05:05

Sally090807 · 20/05/2022 23:41

A few names from my family
redvers
gwendoline
maud
percy
walter
frederick

i cannot imagine any of them being used for a babies name except Fred

Of your list, I know a young Frederick (3) and a baby Maude (with an 'e') and Walter.