Lily

[Flumpyflumps]

Isnt it just a really nice inoffensive name? Surely no one could have anything to say about short floral names?? I'm just checking before its official...
Speak now or forever hold your peace (or whatever the saying is) ha ha

I love this name! So much so I don't mind that my DD has either been known as Little Lily or Lily J throughout nursery. She doesn't seem to mind so far herself

I don't think it's a childish name at all. Nor do I think it's the new Tracey Odd thing to say.

Are Grace, Olivia, Emily and Isabel going to become the new Tracey too, just because they are now ridiculously popular (most of them more so than Lily)? I can't see it, as these names have been around for centuries, and have remained classic, although they have waxed and waned in popularity.

In my class there were 4 Sarahs, 4 Lucys and 4 Emmas, but those names were never, ever on a par with Tracey!!! They might have seemed pretty meh but were still classic and timeless.

It's people who opt for 'trendy' names who are at risk of the Tracey-type connotations

Can I go back on the word girly? I was the one who said that, and I like a name to be feminine. Some of my favourite names would be names like Elinor, Marianne, Louisa....... so it's not "internalised sexism". It's that I think a person needs a stronger name! L is a pretty sound. Two elle sounds together is very soft. It doesn't have enough IMPACT imo.

That's why I suggest Libby. It's still pretty but it has a bit more backbone.

Of course all of this is just personal opinion! but my comment about a name being too girly was analysed by a few posters, so I am explaining that it is not internalised sexism, no way. A woman needs a strong name just as much as a man imo.!

Parents who chose Tracey for their daughters in the 60s and 70s presumably did so beacuse they thought it was a lovely name. As was said earlier, it was seen to be quite 'classy'. I'm sure they'd have been annoyed to think that 30/40 years later it would become name with such a naff image.

It's just my personal opinion but to me Lily is different to Grace, Olivia, Emily and Isabel as I know people of various ages with these names whereas the only Lilys I know are lots of very young ones and one very old one. I think once you add up all the Lily's and Lily hyphens they are in far bigger numbers than Isabelle, Ava etc.

I don't know what the male equivalent of Tracey is, but take boys' names that are ludicrously popular now, like Henry, Thomas and William. Does it make them less classic because they are popular?

The male equivalent of Tracey might be Jason/Wayne/Dean?

There have always been lots of Thomas', William's etc.so to me they aren't a proper comparison at all. Alfie and Archie are the new Waynes and Dean.

Tracy came out of nowhere. Lily did not. I think if any name (in my book, just my opinion here) compares with Tracy it might be Freya, although it is an extremely pretty name. It also seemed to come out of nowhere. I really like the name though. Just saying that that might have put me off it if I were really analysing things. But it was Viz that really 'ruined' tracy I think, So really nobody can look into the future and see what name will be singled out for ridicule by somebody in the public eye . wrt 'Lauren' and Catherine Tate. I don't thinkthe name Lauren is ruined, far from it, but Catherine Tate might have thought, ok, what's a typical name for a teenager hanging around on the train with her mates and chewing gum and looking bored, and Lauren popped into her head.

Well the name Lily has been around just as long as those others! Tracey was a very modern name.

It might come down to your personal experience as I am the opposite to you...we have known several Lilys of different ages, whereas all the Graces, Emilys, Isabels are all under 10.

And you may be wrong about adding up all the Lilys. It might be a close thing but how about if you add up all the permutations of Isabel/ Isabelle/ Isobel, Isabella, Isabella-May, Isabella-Rose etc etc? And Gracie, Gracie-May etc etc?

They are popular names too nobody denies it! But for me they just a bit more strength to them.

I dont' want to sound smug but I'm so relieved that we rarely meet another child with the same name as my dd. It sounds familiar and normal but there aren't many. My head would be spinning if every time we stepped out i heard her name called out by other mothers!!

Yes but Lily hadn't been used for decades upon decades until this recent army of Lilys arrived. It's in the position of being both an old fashioned name and a very modern name.

Maybe Isabelle is Sharon to Lily's Tracey!

Yes, no one really knows what name will have what image in 20 years time. There might be a serial killer called Lily or on the other hand Will and Kate might have a Lily. In the end all you can do is pick a name you really like and hope for the best.

I have never known an adult Grace (bar Grace Jones!), for example, so we'll agree to differ on that one!

But we can definitely agree re your last sentence! I absolutely agree that you should choose a name you love and bugger everything and everyone else. You'll never find a name that is universally liked and trying to plan for future eventualities...well that way madness lies.

I personally chose names that we loved the sound of and we have never wavered, regardless of popularity. We went in with our eyes open by choosing popular names for 2 out of our 3 kids, which must be a hell of a lot easier than choosing an 'unusual' name (Oscar, for example) that then explodes in popularity overnight!

I think I have to disagree about the longevity of Lily; it might have been a novel name in Victorian times (when the vogue for flower names brought it to the fore - think Lily Langtry) and has been in regular use for a century, in top 500 for last 3 decades and top 150 for about 15 years.

And I don't think Isabel is Sharon either; it's been in regular use across Europe for centuries. The brief blip from about 2005/10 (it's falling down the stats now) won't really be apparent over a lifetime ITSWIM, especially in comparison to Evie (less previous use, combined versions more numerous that Isabels).

I think all the cutesy names that have become mega popular over the past few years - Lily, Milly, Ellie, Poppy, Molly, Maisy, Evie - are going to sound dated as they fall out of favour again. Whether they are perceived as Sharon and Tracy now, only time will tell.

And of course all the parents of Lilys are going to suggest (and hope) that the name will not date .

I can't believe it's popularity.

I hate it, sorry. Too many bad memories

My Nan was Lillian - born in 1919. I'd have liked to have called one of our DDs Lily after her, but there are soooooooo many now, it would have de-personalised the name IYSWIM. It was a serious contender for DD2 (born April this year) but it just didn't have the same impact as the name we gave her.

I don't know any grown up Lily's, it's in the same vein as Ruby, yes its an old name but to me it's not classic or traditional, it's become very trendy very recently. It was out of favour for decades! Anyway, here every other girl is called Lily, far far more popular than Emily, Isabelle or Grace. Emily in particular is absolutely timeless!

I knew two when I was growing up. Both were teased rotten. One was Lily Savage and one was Fag Ash Lil. Both started using their middle names, one changed it by deed poll as soon as possible. These women would be nearly 50 now.

Lily wasn't very commonly used as a name when it was originally in vogue. It was usually a nickname for Lilian which I will refrain from commenting on

My daughter's a Lily in the 10 years she's had it I've never once questioned whether it was the right thing to do even though it's now so popular it's a beautiful name. I'm thinking of Elsie if the one I'm pg with now is a girl, it has a similar ring to it.

Jins it was also a popular nickname for Elizabeth, but yes, I guess not many girls would have been christened Lily, in the same way that no boys would have been christened Harry, Jack or Charlie as they are now.

I used to love the name Emily but there are sooooo many hundreds of them everywhere you turn now that however timeless the name it will be appallingly meh in 20 years time It will be the equivalent of Sarah (another 'timeless' name that peaked and was then went into sharp decline). It has become way too over-used (how many years has it been in the top 3) and I bet you it will go into decline before too long. Same with all the names that have consistently been in the top 5.

But that's what it's been like forever. Names, like all fashions, are cyclical, and each generation thinks it reclaims old names as their own!