At what point is it actually cruel to give your child an old woman/ man name

[Amandalockwood1007]

A lot of names are coming back from the 20s/30s and some of them are okay for 2022 like Alice, Elsie. But certain names sound so terrible to saddle a child with in this generation for example Edith, mary, iris, Maude etc. I just can’t help but feel awful for the children who will probably be bullied for having “old people names” when does it become mean to give a child a name with an time stamp on it from the 1800s🙄

Elsie seems much more 'old lady' in an unappealing way than Mary or Iris! It's all perception. I can't imagine calling a baby Elsie, Maude, or Ethel, but the younger generation don't have the associations that I do.

@Exhausteddog

To me names like Agatha, ada, Marjorie, Bernard, Geoffrey, Brian, Gertrude, don't suit a small baby or child... (I don't think my own name does) but at some point someone did (or still does) Also young children will probably not know any older people with those names so won't think of them as old people names, just simply a name they might not have heard of before.

Some names seem to transcend age - Jack, George or James could be 4 or 94!

but people are babies and children briefly then adults for most of their lives

I think old names are beautiful.

Both my daughters have old names, but not ones that have disappeared and made a comeback. Both traditional names that have always been around.

I think ‘made up’ trendy/celebrity style names are cruel!!!

looks like the OP isn't coming back

This is crazy thread…. My dds a Florence which is a very old name…

Strangely enough I stumbled upon a thread yesterday quite similar where people were saying "old lady" names that couldn't possibly become popular again. The thread was from 2010 so I didn't resurrect it but I found it funny how dated it was as 90% of the names on the list are now incredibly popular, and included the ones the OP has slated here.

"Old lady" names for children born now will be 1970s type names as those people will be in their 60s/70s when these children become adults.

I love the older style names, and I'm gutted I used some on pets years ago now I have a baby to try and name!

I also think children don't have the awareness OP thinks they do. Looking back, I was at primary school with children who had classic names, trendy names, made-up names, names from other cultures that aren't common here...to me that was just what the person was called. I had no idea of the connotations of any of them. The names you hear at school every day are normal to you.

Absolutely love that name 💕

"Old lady/man" names for our children will be names like Sue and Steve not Edith and Mary.

This is not going well for me. I have an old lady name and a grandparent name but it would be cruel to use it for a baby now because it's not old enough

I love Edith, Iris and Maude. In fact my DDs middle name is Maude. It's subjective, like so many choices in life.

@Clarissa76

"Old lady/man" names for our children will be names like Sue and Steve not Edith and Mary.

A bit premature. Those were chart topper names in the late 60s. They'll be old people's names in 20yrs.

Referring back a few pages, I once knew a charming and clever French girl named Muriel. She really was lovely - a student teacher, and rather gifted linguistically.

OK, perhaps the name sounds more glamorous in a French accent, though it's still pretty in English-language local accents that can easily pronounce the '"u" (as in French 'mur' or Scottish 'puir') sound . And it has a nice meaning : 'from the sea'. In addition, it's really old - thousands of years - and from "Celtic" languages, just like the very fashionable Niamh today.

Context - and fashion - is everything in baby names.

A bit premature. Those were chart topper names in the late 60s. They'll be old people's names in 20yrs.

So the grandparents of todays children, just like Alfred and Enid were for us.

Edith, Mary, Iris, and Maude are all pretty middle of the road names now so I can't imagine anyone finding them surprising choices.

I do wince a bit though when I see people trying to look for obscure 'vintage' names and going for things like Cecil and Beryl.

I do think all the Edwardian servant names and well-to-do Victorian names have been given a thoroughly good airing at this stage though. If it hasn't come back at this stage there's a good reason.

My grandmother, who I never met due to her dying leading to my mum conceiving me due to all the sadness and life's too short, or something, was called Nora. She had a pet name which I got and was so grateful that I hadn't been called Norah- Norah Batty and all that - but now think it's an absolutely lovely name. That's in part because of Nora Barnacle, Jame's Joyce's missus who was a beautiful and talented woman in her own right. Also, my grandmother was beautiful too, so if I had a girl now I'd definitely consider it as a name but I'd stick an h at the end because I'm a pretentious twat.

Very popular in Ireland (where my family are from) was Noreen which was a diminutive of Nora with een being a loving way of saying little. I often call my boy cat my maneen.

Firstly - the new generation won't have the same association with the names of your generation so I doubt anyone will get much teasing in school over such names. Secondly - why is it so ok to be so agist? What's actually wrong with an "old lady name" or an "old man name" anyway? A lot of people like to honour grandparents etc and a lot of the names of previous generations are nice - it's just that the intervening generation likes to differentiate itself from its parents...because noone likes to be like their parents it seems. But that's not the same as the next generation down. Third - any name will sound like a young person's name on a young person. I knew an Edith as a teen who was supercool and that was a while ago. I thought her extra cool for having an unusual "old lady" name as it sounded more characterful somehow.

Fourth - you are unreasonable because Iris is just a beautiful name of whatever era!

I do draw a line at Mildred though. As it always sounded like milldew to me. Or Edna.

I don't mind Edith - Edith Beauman

Mildred reminds me of that dreadful 70s sitcom - George and Mildred

A friend has chosen Margot for her new-born, which shows names do go round in generations

I'm surrounded by little Margots. That one has really shot up in popularity.

@PriamFarrl

A bit premature. Those were chart topper names in the late 60s. They'll be old people's names in 20yrs.

So the grandparents of todays children, just like Alfred and Enid were for us.

If in your world everyone in their early 50s is a grandparent but that still doesn't make them "old". That would be 70 plus.

I think it depends on the community.

We have a lot of little Kevins, Christines etc in our Chinese migrant community.

I agree, iris over Elsie every day of the week. I don't understand why Elsie has had such a revival.

A friends grandmothers dying words were literally “why the hell did you call her Elsie”