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🙄

@MiddleEasternMummy

It is totally a question of different peoples taste . Personally these names aren't so bad at least they are actually names whatever era they are from . I can't stand made up silly names with ludicrous spellings where the child is literally going to be asked how to pronounce and spell their name for the rest of their lives . Also just to add anyone planning to name their child with a ridiculous spelling please it's not cool it's cruel ffs .

There was a Jennipher and a Nichole (sisters) on an episode of below deck, both in their 40s/50s. Wtf.

My 7yr old DD is Delilah Edith, if she was a boy she would have been Wilfred nn wilfie

Notice OP has scurried off...

@MyLifeNow20

My 7yr old DD is Delilah Edith, if she was a boy she would have been Wilfred nn wilfie

Beautiful names. All of them.

I personally cannot bare the really made up modern names...deliberate wrong spelling and double barrelled second name ...absolutely awful!!

I have to agree with previous posters that Maud, without e, is wonderful name.

I think this all boils down whether or not we find old name pretty, example Alice VS Gladys, everyone would like Alice while Gladys is really unsavory.

The only one of those listed names that I really dislike is Maude, with or without the "e" on the end. To me it is an ugly name.

When growing up, I had a great aunt with the name Maud. She was born during the late Victorian era. She absolutely loathed the name, found it ugly and made no secret of that. I think she'd have changed it if she could but the information on how to do deed polls wasn't anything like as freely available then as it is now.

Maude is such a plain name and envisages a little fair girl with those really short bobs and a floral dress

@MyLifeNow20

My 7yr old DD is Delilah Edith, if she was a boy she would have been Wilfred nn wilfie

Absolutely lovely!

In none children naming news, I got myself a "cuddly" sloth last month and s/he'd remained unnamed, I have a total of three "cuddly" things which lounge around on my bed, Timmy a very little beany type sheep given to me by a friend who also has a Timmy. A not at all looking like a crappy cuddly thing, a black rabbit called Django and now a sloth who it became clear is female and is now called Norah.

I have two cats. I am a totally stereotypical "spinster". I don't spin though, perhaps I should call myself a knitster.

Not an old persons name but this reminds me of a colleagues DD who has named their baby Ermintrude, but I guess its just a name and no more a cows name than the name Daisy is :)

Gosh I’d rather any of those names to some of the awful girls names out there! There’s a thread on here where someone is considering Goldie and Honey for their poor child!

I think Iris in particular is a lovely name! Far better an older name than one of a million insipid -e names - sophie, Evie, Lexie etc

I don’t get why people don’t think about their children having to be grown ups not just babies with cutesy names!

I think you're a bit out of date op as I know a lot of under 5s and those names are very popular, they really don't sound old fashioned at all, if anything they feel quite of the moment, particularly Iris. I do also know a Barbara and a Peggy and I think they have more of an old fashioned vibe but their mums are so fashionable I think the names sound quite cool and fresh.

Names are subjective.

I db't think your examples are unusable at all! In fact one or two were in our list for if our son had been a boy. These things go in cycles. I am known as Lizzie in real life; my Latin teacher was really shocked and said to him that was an old lady name and all the girls were called Betty when he was young. To me, Betty is a classic 'old lady name' and it's the one shortening of Elizabeth (aside from Liz) that I hate to be called.

See, I know two young Bettys... and Lizzie or Liz I would association with someone my age or older! Beth could be any age.

With Catherine/Katherine: Cathy or Kathy would be 50 or over. Kates and Katys/Katies tend to be 20s-40s. The two young Katherines I know, who are teenage and about 10-ish (and they all seem to have a K these days) both go by Kitty.

It's interesting how even shortened forms have trends.

@Kokeshi123 exactly! I don't know what age you are, but I'm 35 so already the fashion is going around again and Lizzie is an 'older' name (although it's incredibly rare anyway tbh). To me growing up Bettys tended to be in their 60s/70s, and Liz tended to be more common for when in their 40s/50s. The younger Elizabeths tended to be Libby or Lisa. Now I see many people opting for Eliza as a stand-alone name rather than using Elizabeth and shortening it.

And I agree re Catherine/Katharine etc. Thanks be if my nieces is Catherine and I think her friends call her Cat, she uses her name in full n the family. I've also seen Kitty given as a stand-alone name recently.

Other names I think are harder to use but not 'cruel' as op suggests. While Edith and similar names have come back, some like Hilda (my middle name, which I love) and Edna (another family name) are still quite harsh-sounding to current ears and are rarely used. It's all very interesting!

They are lovely names, if someone was nasty enough to say your child's name sounds like an old woman's, all you have to say is well it's not your child so not your concern and one day she will be an old woman. X