Deborah?

[firefly374]

We already decided my little girl's name will start with D, it's a sort of family thing. But beyond that, we haven't decided much, because I'm SUPER indecisive, I never want to give up on a name, and my husband and I can't agree. One name that I like is Deborah, I'm usually a fan of the classics, but I worry that this is just too old fashioned. What do you think? Also, can anyone think of any nns for Deborah other than Debbie? My husband doesn't really mind Deborah (although it's not exactly his fave), but he hates the nn Debbie.

Deborah is my middle name.
It got a few raised eyebrows when I was at school but I think bring it back! Names like florence and Elsie are back so I feel people will start bringing back names that were popular in other times. I have met a baby Lisa.. and a baby Sharon!!
If you like it go for it, nothing wrong with Debbie for nn either!
Agree with PP maybe Debs?

I love Deborah. It's too solid a traditional name ever to be old-fashioned in my mind. I love Bee for a nickname, since it means bee. I don't think Debbie is inevitable, though I do think people will try it. I know an adult Deborah who corrects anyone who tries to call her Debbie. She is always Deborah and it works fine.

I really like it. It is classic Biblical, like Esther and Judith and I think it's really cool in my head but, out there in real life, I don't think its time has come back around yet.

I do think the fashionable names are moving away from Edwardian into 1930s - 50s, so Pamela, Penelope, Marnie etc. (But not so much Janet and Susan). They haven't arrived in the 1960s-70s yet, which is where Deborah sits, along with Jackie and Melanie, unfortunately.

Oh Bee is a great nn! (People will think she's called Beatrice but that's ok).

I must say that Deborah is a lot nicer and more dignified than some of the suggestions on this thread.

The other 'D' I think is worth a revival is Diana. (Definitely not Diane). I'd hoped we were far enough away from the popular dominance of Princess Diana as the immediate association for that name. I think that is true, for the future.

No, automatically thought, “it never suited ya”.

The real Deborah of Disco 200 fame was a fantastic person, whether or not her name suited her.

200? 2000!

Debroah is lovely, imho. Ditto Debbie or Debs.
I am not a fan of Dora, though, or Deedee or Bee. Eventual adult not always 2yo person.

Deborah is there with: Ruth, Judith, Esther, Sarah, etc, for me - it just got popularised in the 60s but look beyond that demograph and it's a classic.

Yes, I'd like to think it could be detached from its 60s associations and reinstated as a classic.

DeeDee to me is awful, very 'try hard' retro American teenager.

My friends have just named their baby daughter Deborah! They are both artists and have excellent taste in everything so in my head Deborah is a super cool name - although I have always liked it. She's not got a nickname yet, she's just Deborah. I think it's awesome.

“Your name is Deborah, Deborah / It never suited ya”

It’s probably in the wave of names due to come back so you will probably find that it’ll explode in popularity when your DD is about twenty. Dora makes absolutely no sense as a nn though.

I actually like it! It feels kind of retro in a nice way. I’d much rather hear of a little Deborah than another Ava or Isla.

I really like it and know two Deborah's who are never shortened. Only on Mumsnet could it be called old fashioned and then have Deirdre or Dilys suggested as cooler alternatives!

I would use Dora as a stand-alone name personally, but I don't see why you can't use it as a nn if you want to. I can see where it would come from. Also think Deedee is cute.

Damaris

I never know how to say it tbh I find it awkward to say, I don't know whether to say 3 syllables or 2. Deb-o-rah or Deb-rah? I think most people I know say Deb-rah, then I look at the spelling and it doesn't look like it should be that, that's another thing I don't like. My brain doesn't like it. Also my own name is kind of like that but people would hear it and misspell it which I hated.

Maybe I should've said "dated" not old fashioned. To me Deborah doesn't sound old fashioned in the same way as the "old fashioned"/vintage grandma/great grandma names that are back/coming back in fashion, popular and a lot that I like, even very uncommon ones that others really don't like... and it's not something that sounds current either, or a widely used or timeless classic, or whatever, I don't know what I'm saying. It's in a strange place for me. It might sound more appealing in the future. Weird how some names you disliked and even hated a few years ago you can end up liking and even loving (for me, some of these grandma/great grandma ones), and these names and others like them from the same era become popular with other people too. And it's not just if they're on a t.v. show or celebrity name or something. I keep reading/hearing that name popularity is in cycles or waves around 100 years. I don't know. Maybe it's not old enough yet. Or has a certain image, it can be hard to take out of context from your life, society/culture, t.v. film, people you know, widely used name of a certain era/age and associations you have with that era/age, some names I find I have to put in effort to make them become a blank slate and just think of the sounds of the name, and put in effort to get a different feeling and image from it. OP sorry for this essay.