Most retro/dated name you've heard recently

[atthewelles]

I heard a woman in the park calling her little girl Madge. I haven't heard that name in years and years. I also know of a little toddler called Sheila.

Just wondering if any of you know any children with names that you thought had died out completely.

There's a definite split between 60ish names, which for me would be Mike, Dave, Richard, Steve, Sandra, Linda, Carol, Diane, and 70s/80s names I remember from school: Lee (lots of these), Darren, Scott, Neil, Paul, Julie, Debbie, Louise, Sarah, Joanne, Claire, Karen, Natalie, Rebecca, Rachel.

I genuinely don't know any little ones or babies with any of these names.

Have just checked the 2011 baby names table and Alan is at no.199, with 263 baby boys given that name! So not so unheard of as we might think

Top 100 baby names for 2012 on Netmums

My friend called her daughter Agatha, nickname Taggie. I was lost for words...

Like the blanket?

I have a Stanley, my eldest sons name hasn't been mentioned I don't think but it's not very common.

Other choices for the baby were:

Frederick/Freddie
Solomon
Herbert
Theodore
Sebastian.

As much as I love Stanley, I wish we would have called him Freddie, but DH and I couldn't agree on names at all.

Oh love the homage to Jilly Cooper with Taggie: Agatha.
I named new dc3 Nancy, which seems to be a marmite name like my first DC has- common 'diplomatic' responses like 'oh the old names are coming back' and 'oh interesting' ;-)

I had forgotten, as dc2's name usually gets a "ooooh lovely"

My DS in Year 5 has a Rebecca and a Rachel in his class, Snazzy.

We also know three Lees, aged between 6 and 9, in Ireland.

CremeEgg It's interesting how it varies across Britain and Ireland regionally! I know slightly older Rebeccas and Rachels (in their teens) but they're not being used for under 5s round here. I actually think both are pretty classic but went through a period of intense popularity followed by a backlash.

Rebecca and Rachel not unusual in Scotland...

wewereherefirst that's throwing down the gauntlet .

Slightly OT but just looked at the NM link and their page about popular names in 2013 - admittedly this comes from Nameberry. They reckon The Hobbit will inspire names, maybe not Bilbo but Thorin? I can't see it myself. I'd rather have Debbie, Mike or Carol any day.

I have a two little girls Martha and Nancy. Why should you follow the flock?

rexie don't you think Martha and Nancy are quite popular names now?

Martha and Nancy are pretty on-trend, not dated.

I think of names like Sandra, Deborah, Margaret as unusual now.

There's definitely a variation in popular names between Ireland and England. Names like Rachel and Rebecca only really caught on here in the 1980s and are still quite popular. Most Sarahs and Emmas would also only be in their very early thirties and younger and both names are still quite frequently used for babies nowadays. Sophie would also be a relatively new name here but has reached saturation point at this stage - as has Ella.
'Old lady' names aren't really that popular here. I know of one Edie but no Elsies, Violets, Evies or Millies. And Olivia isn't particularly common here either.

Donkeys

I know lots of Evies, Ellas and Millies

My husband was aghast that his so 70's sainted name is rising in popularity again!

DD2 8months, is Nancy - when we registered her, the registrar(the only one for the area) hadn't registered a Nancy in 14 years.

Since then have met another in the Doctors waiting room, and a 'friend' also used it for his DD.

I think when the ONS stats are released, it will have made quite a big jump.

At least these names are better than the modern ones people are using. There is an Armani by me and sorry to offend but i don't like it. I know a little girl called Flower and it has always suited her - she has always been a tiny dainty little thing and it seemed to suit her. There are a few Maisie's around. Dd has a Lois in her form. And there is a Matthew (which i thought might have disappeared) and a Jonathan. Plenty of Freddie's and Edward's though. William is popular. Even a Mark. Just remembered a Timothy. That seems ancient!!

Not up north Bealos! Only know of one other Martha and have yet to meet another Nancy.

I know a nANCY who is older than David Cameron's.

MARtha is popular near me. There are about five under 9 in my children's school / My local area. I think it is paving the way for Mary/, mary will be used more soon.

bealos, i agree, those names are on trend, not retro.

to me retro is something that just has NOT come into fashion yet. a name that is 15 years from being mainstream/contemporary as opposed to five.

Snazzy, I know! I find it fascinating. To comment very generally, I think several names that are seen as 60s/early 70s in the UK were common or at least not rare among my contemporaries in Ireland- e.g Janet, Janice, Susan and Gillian. I was born in 1978. Names such as Lisa, Karen, Joanne and Michelle were still commonly used well into the 80s too.

I think also the fact that it's a Catholic country had a big influence back then, so saints' names, such as Mary, Margaret, Catherine, and even the likes of Philomena and Ursula, were still used, albeit declining in popularity. I know three Margarets younger than me, for example.

Wow,ok,all these Marlenes! None of the ones I remember pronounced it the pretty German way though.....almost sounds a different name.

I know a baby Thorin. I didn't know it was from The Hobbit.

I also know a two year old Marlena, and a relative is expecting a dd in the spring who they plan to name Nancy (and they are up north, rexie)

If ds had been a dd she would have been a Simone. When I posted on here about that name, everyone shrieked "too eighties!"

Oooh this thread is not good for me. I have been toying with 'Barbara', but had dismissed it as too odd. Maybe I'll keep it on the list!

Wewereherefirst - are you me?!?!
I LOVE Freddie but DH insisted on Stanley - your list is the same as mine!
What are your favourite girls names?

I would add: Ralph, Ned, Ted, Billy, Maud, Agnes and Agatha to the list...