Michelle, Deborah, Angela

[Chl80]

Yes I like retro unfashionable names!
These three are on our list. What do you think?

Of those three - Angela

Sound like my year at school: Sarah x3 Joanne Joanna Diana Alana Andrea Amanda Rebecca Tara Rachel Anita Fiona Tamsin Julia Tina Melanie Anna Deborah Claire Lisa Samantha Nancy Stephanie Tracy

I say Deborah as Deb'ra. I have heard it said as Deb-ora, particularly among the elderly.
Angela is usually shortened to Ange.
Michelle is a mum's name.

I like Sandy, which is probably a granny name by now.

Of the following:
Joanna
Laura
Rebecca
Amy
Claire
Natalie
Caroline
Heather
Rachel
Vanessa
most are classic names that haven't dated.
Rebecca, Amy, Claire and Rachel were hugely popular in the 70s and 80s so seem little dated now, but they're nice.

If you call her Michelle please never let anyone call her Meesh and Shelly gets old when you're over 10. Close to the bone for me, I actually don't hate my name, it's of my generation, but wouldn't pass it on to a child

I know a Deborah, people pronounce it Deb-ur-ah.

I'm Deborah but am always called Debbie or Deb/Debs. My dad named me after Debbie Harry but put Deborah down on my birth certificate in case I married a prince. He said that princess Debbie wouldn't sound right

Michelle became popular in the 60s, probably aided by The Beatles.
Angela - Angie Dickinson,
Deborah - Deborah Kerr.

These are names of people in their 50s now.
Celebrity-inspired names tend to date.

Angela was popular long before Angie Dickinson! My grandmother was called Angela, it was one of the Queen Mother's names, it was in PG Wodehouse etc etc. Not just a random celeb name!

www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsdeathsandmarriages/livebirths/articles/babynamessince1904howhasyoursperformed/2016-09-02

I think Angela is a pretty name, but it peaked in the mid 1960s, as did Deborah. Mchelle peaked in the late 70s.

Angela

I like Deborah, not keen on the others.
Joanna
Susan/Susannah
Natalie
Lindsey
Caroline

I find Angela very harsh sounding and it reminds me of Angie Watts!

I like all of them.😄

I love Susan, Janet, Lynne.

Of all the beautiful names in the world..these three? 😟

Yes they are very 70s/80s aren't they? But too soon for a revival I think....

Having said that, when you objectively look at the name Michelle, it's actually quite pretty.

I have one of these as a middle name - still not keen sorry. That said they will probably be the height of fashion in a couple of years!!

I really like Angela, and Deborah too. Not keen on Michelle - it has a downmarket vibe to me that Angela and Deborah don't have. Michaela?

Nope. I'm just not ready for 80s names to come back. I think it'll be 20 years before these names are palatable again!

I’m a Deborah and I LOATHE my name. I’m 40 but it makes me feel 60 and like a big frump. Awful.

Deborah and Michelle are DEFINITELY not ready for a comeback. Angela is better and passable.

I like Deborah and it's rare enough now to be quite an interesting choice. For some reason I think Debbie as a short form suits an adult better than a child - I'd stick with Deborah while she was little.

Michelle I've always thought of as a very cheerful sounding name somehow. A lot of names with French feminine endings like -elle, -ette, -otte have that feel for me. I think people might comment that it seemed old-fashioned at first, but to me that's not a deal breaker, and they'd soon get used to it as your child's name. It's not as if it has a horrible meaning or associations.

Angela is the one I really can't imagine using, but that's only because I'm not religious at all, and I feel like it might be disrespectful to use a name with an obviously religious meaning. (I really like Christian as a name too, but could never use it for the same reason.) Angela is a pretty enough name in itself.

I think Deborah is probably the least dated seeming of the three, because it has such a long history, and will probably come in and out of fashion lots more times over the next few hundred years!

I can't even... 😂

Angela is ok. Not keen on the others. There are better retro 70s names. Zoe? Alison? Caroline?

Melissa is loads nicer than michelle