Diana

[swanandduck]

A friend of mine has just had a baby girl and called her Diana. It just got me to wondering why there aren't thousands of 'Dianas' in their late twenties and early thirties named after the late Princess? She was so popular you would think there'd have been an explosion in the name's popularity it the 80s and early 90s.

I am just about ready for it now, 14 (?) years after her death.

Apparently a lot of girls got it as a middle name but it had low popularity as a first name. I think it might have been because it was a lot to live up to (to begin with) and then it was too sad.

But time marches on, not to sound flippant it's usable now imo

I like it very much, but it's the sort of name you associate with a grown woman, rather than a little girl. Might be why few people have chosen it.

I think it's a lovely name.

I wonder if it's due a huge revival - if there is some big silent agreement that it's ok now. Grace is no longer associated with car-crash princess, but I imagine it was unusable for many years for precisely the same reason.

I have it on my list for DD due in March.

I think it is a horrible name and associate it with that famous manipulative twister who died. I doubt this will be a popular posting.

I wanted Diana for DS3, almost 3yo.
Would have been a trendsetter, I suppose!
Most the Dianas I've known have been perfectly sane & nice people :).

I agree with kreecher, horrible name.

I'm TTC DC2 at the moment and have been thinking about Diana. I think it's a beautiful strong name. But I'm not sure about 'Di' the inevitable nickname.

Really dislike it, sorry OP

I like it very much, but it's the sort of name you associate with a grown woman, rather than a little girl.

So maybe that is a good reason to pick it - since they will spend much longer as a grown woman than little girl.

I always think it is a shame to saddle someone with a little child name - think how they will be when they are a boss of a big company !

I agree with Kreecher.

I associate it with (a) thick princess or (b) nazi sympathiser.

Diana - the goddess of the hunt, being associated with wild animals and woodland, and also of the moon in Roman mythology. Diana was known to be the virgin goddess and looked after virgins and women. She was one of the three maiden goddesses, Diana, Minerva and Vesta, who swore never to marry.

Along with her main attributes, Diana was an emblem of chastity.

Sounds like it would be a good name for a potential nun :)

FIL's wife and sister are both Diana's. My brother's wife is the same name as mine, and a nephew has the same name as my BIL to add to my confusion. I am in danger of getting as confused about names as my mum is.

Don't like it at all as a name and I don't like the connortations of it either, nope

Same as Sarsaparilllla.

I think it's a great name. Love Dinah too. In fact I might well add Dinah to the shortlist. Diana just earned me a funny look when I suggested it to dh.

Not keen on the name, but mostly don't like the images it brings up - couldn't stand "the people's princess". sorry!

Lovely name x

I agree it's surprising that loads of baby girls born during the year of the royal wedding weren't named Diana. They'd all be around 30 now and I haven't noticed any great prevalence of the name among that age group. Maybe it was considered a bit too posh and lady of the manor type of name?

Personally I think it's quite pretty but would never use it for a dd. Even now, if someone talks about 'Diana' people usually know that they're talking about the dead for many years princess.

I don't like it, I wasn't a huge fan of Diana, but that aside I don't like the name itself.

Dinah I do like, but that's a completely different name!

My mum was a Diana.

She spent her life correcting people who insisted in calling her Diane, regardless of how she introduced herself.

Dinah was the name of one of my cats, its a character in the Torah. I was forever correcting the vet, who spelled it "Diner".