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Original poster

Why do some people not like this name?

75 replies

bluecars · 02/10/2012 11:21

I really like the name Millie but have noticed it doesn't seem very popular in some quarters on this board. Can someone let me know why this is? Is it just a personal taste that people don't like it or is it perceived as so-called 'chavvie' ?

I don't want to give DD a name that is looked upon negatively or will sound dated quickly. Please be honest as I'd really like to know!

Also is Millie very popular and how many Millies do you know?

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ViviPru · 02/10/2012 11:23

For me it's just a bit magnolia. Inoffensive, but not particularly inspiring. I know of one. Short for Amelia.

delilah88 · 02/10/2012 11:23

It is cute as a nickname. People probably don't like it because it doesn't seem fair to give a child a name that is so thin and unserious. She will much prefer, when it comes to getting jobs and making her way in the world, to have a longer more formal name that is affectionately shortened to Millie.

mayanna123 · 02/10/2012 11:23

Perhaps because these cutesy names have become quite 'trendy'/'faddy' - Millie, Tilly, Evie, Poppy, Ellie etc. and people think that they are going to fall out fashion soon and perhaps sound 'dated'.

seeker · 02/10/2012 11:23

I know one- short for Millicent.

mayanna123 · 02/10/2012 11:24

And there ARE far more elegant, classic, feminine names out there (imo Smile).

Annianni · 02/10/2012 11:25

I know 4 millies/amelias.

delilah88 · 02/10/2012 11:26

Yes. Like why not call her Milena shortened to Millie? Then she can choose other nicknames Mils, lena as she grows up.

wannabedomesticgoddess · 02/10/2012 11:26

Where I live (N.Ireland) milly is a slang term for an inner city, tracksuit and gold hoop wearing chav.

juneau · 02/10/2012 11:27

I just don't like shortened nicknamey names. I think it's fine as a nn that you use at home, but Millie, Evie, Tilly, etc will all sound really dated in another ten years and what's cute for a little girl can sound rather simpering for a grown woman.

FunnysInLaJardin · 02/10/2012 11:27

I like it. I know one Millie, but two Amelies, two Emilys and two Tillys all in DS1's Yr2 class, so it is quite a popular type of name I think.

YoullLaughAboutItOneDay · 02/10/2012 11:29

A lot of people look down on super popular names (It is at no.35 for England & Wales). Especially those that seem to be popular amongst lower income/working class families as well as naice middle class families. This is, of course, horribly snobbish and wrong. The 'c word' does get bandied about.

Personally Millie isn't my taste. I find it a bit cutesy and twee. But I have very classic taste in names and love plenty of names I have seem bashed on here. If you like that style of name, I think it is nice.

Birdies · 02/10/2012 11:31

I think it's a lovely name for both children and adults. I don't know anyone with the name even though its fairly popular

stifnstav · 02/10/2012 11:34

Its my friend's dog's name. And my neighbour's dog's name.

AnAssumedIdentity · 02/10/2012 11:40

I really like it but I was brought up in Belfast - home of the wee millies as domesticgoddess has already said.

EdMcDunnough · 02/10/2012 11:45

I kind of think of it as part of that trend for shortened, old fashioned names a few years ago.

Milly and Molly and Tilly and all the similar sounding ones...it was a fashion and it felt like every child anywhere was called something that sounded similar, for a while. And I think it just got a bit, well, boring.

In its own right it is a nice enough name.

badtime · 02/10/2012 11:46

Yup, domesticgoddess and assumedidentity said what I was going to say. It's almost a synonym for 'chav' in parts of NI.

EdMcDunnough · 02/10/2012 11:46

It's like Isabella - that was the same, every other baby girl seemed to be called it, and though it is a great name, it soon got a bit boring.

That's why people are always trying to come up with something a bit less usual I suppose. It makes life more interesting.

MrSunshine · 02/10/2012 11:48

It's dullsville.

HoratiaWinwood · 02/10/2012 11:52

It is inoffensive but ubiquitous.

There are so many nicer names IMHO.

Teamthrills · 02/10/2012 11:54

Some of these names are getting so dull. Every other new baby I know is called Isabella, Evie, Eva, Poppy, Milly, Molly etc etc. Would love to hear of some more original ideas!

There is a Milly (and a Molly & and Olly) in ds's class. I also know another one that is short for Millicent.

HappyHippyChick · 02/10/2012 11:55

My cat is called Milly, so is my niece. My cat is older than my niece...

donnie · 02/10/2012 11:56

loads of millies about atm.

MumGoneCrazy · 02/10/2012 11:56

I know 4 - only one of them is a shortened version of their full name

DontmindifIdo · 02/10/2012 11:58

I don't like in the same way I don't like 'cutesy' names for boys too (like 'Alfie', 'Charlie' rather than Alfred, Charles but being known as Alfie, Charlie IYSWIM).

In my experience, the people who have given their DCs these names are the sort of people who have only thought about naming a baby, naming a cute toddler, not a 20-something, certainly not a 40-something. They haven't thought about naming a grown person who'll have this name for the rest of their lives. These also tend to be the parents who find the teenage years such a trauma, they don't seem to have ever planned for their DCs to actually grow up... Grin

Give a 'proper' name and use nicknames for family.

YouOldSlag · 02/10/2012 11:59

Yes. Like why not call her Milena shortened to Millie? Then she can choose other nicknames Mils, lena as she grows up.

Milena sounds too much like Melena- which,I was reliably informed by a former nursing colleague, is a stool with blood in it.

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