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🙄

Literally ALL of the names you listed are names that I absolutely love...so much so, that both my daughter's have 3 of those names (and they are 29 and 31, so I was obviously ahead of the curve OP 👍)

As someone has already pointed out, the names you picked are not 'old lady' names...they are beautifully, timeless, classical names, that simply drift in and out of fashion 🤷‍♀️

And as others have said...names like Pamela, Barbara, Sharon (my school friends, in fact, so I'll add 'Audrey' into the mix 🤦‍♀️🤣) these are the sort of names that would sound out of step on current class registers!

I know of an Iris and its not considered an old name. OP you are letting your opinions run away with you. If you don't like a name don't use it but don't criticise the kids who do have them.

Just like clothes names come in and go out of fashion. How is it cruel to follow that fashion like thousands upon thousands of others? Besides which I think Mary is a beautiful name. Maude? Not so much, but each to their own.

I have an “old lady name” it was in the 80’s and it’s still an old lady name now. I used to dislike it, but that’s just because it was more unusual. Now I don’t mind it, and tbh always received compliments about it. It’s a name mentioned a few times in this thread, and is often suggested as an old fashioned name, which it is.

Not everyone is always going to like what you call your kids, such is life, and what I think is terrible , is someone else’s favourite.

I'd rather my child be called Arthur, Malcolm, Edith etc than Mason, Aidan, Jayden, Kayden or Okayden like every kid in my area the past 5 years. It comes down to personal taste

@Amandalockwood1007

Yes but it’s not offensive for someone to say to a child “your names American” they would probably like it. if someone was to say “your name sounds like an old woman” that would make them feel weird and left out think its mean *@Itsnotdeep*

‘Old people names’ have been in fashion for ages. That means today’s children will associate them with their own age group, not elderly people.

Are you quite old yourself OP? The only person I know to comment negatively about these names are old enough to remember them being the names of their contemporaries or parents.

Mary is timeless - literally biblical.

I can't bear frumpy, geriatric names either, but it's up to the parents isn't it. Not my business.

Maude is grim (makes me think of toads for some reason) but I can’t see anything wrong with the other names that you mentioned even though I wouldn’t choose any of them. I don’t like the name Alice but I don’t think it’s an ugly or embarrassing name, I just don’t like it. It’s a perfectly nice name for a child. So many children now have the names that we thought of as old person names when we were kids that they have become of their generation too. They won’t find them weird at all. I admit I do find it weird meeting women in their 20s called Molly because I always thought of that as an old lady name, then remember teaching lots of little girls called Molly 15-20 years ago called Molly and wondering how it was going to work as they got older because it’s so ‘cutesy’. Still find it weird on that age group but there’s loss of them so it’s not weird to them.

For the posters saying ‘better than XYZ name trend I don’t like’ (usually against more modern names), I think that misses the point. There are name trends that people do and don’t like and it’s just a matter of taste, not that one is objectively better than another. You don’t need to make petty digs at names other people have chosen for their children because someone has criticised names that you like. No one can guarantee what their children will think of their names by the time they are old enough to have an opinion. People name their children names that they love in the hope their children love their names too

Would you prefer Chantelle, Kylie etc? Fanny would be the only name I'd ever rule out as an old name.

Yeah you picked the wrong names 😂… those are back in fashion because they’re from long enough ago where all the originals are dead/dying (sorry)

Right now it would be cruel unusual to name your child Karen, Sharon, Christine, Kevin, Keith etc…

I literally would not bat an eye lid at the names you’ve written.

So, really, OP, you mean you will voice this opinion to your DC who will then repeat it in school to children with similar names. You will instigate this bullying because you dislike these classic names.

@SeasonFinale

I am wondering whether OP ever bullied someone because of their name because what a strange thing to think of.

Does that mean popular Mabel should change her name?

I'm not keen on this name either.

Was it a rag doll in Play school perhaps or something like that.

@woodhill

That was possibly Hamble. (Play School)

Yes, you're right. Don't know why I think that, maybe from a book

Maude is just awful!

As is Doris.

Auntie Mabel in "Come Outside" in the 90s hence the connotation for me

@BiscuitLover3678

But they’re not old people names. To their generation they are young people names. 😂 don’t you see?

Exactly. It’s what our grandparents were called.

Their grandparents are called Laura, Dave, Donna, Steven, Julie, Ian, Linda, Kevin.

Iris, Edith, and Maude are gorgeous names 😍 A child won't think "that's an old lady's name." They'll think "that's the name of many of my peers.' It won't even seem like an old lady's name to them because names work in cycles, go in and our of fashion. To them it will just be a familiar name. I knew loads of Elizabeth, Sarah, Leah, Rebecca, Naomi etc, all ld these are ancient biblical names. As a child, I didn't think "Haha, your name is ancient!" I just thought "Oh, another Naomi. I know a few already."

What's the alternative, anyway? We just refuse to reuse names and keep making up new ones?

@MeatyRvita

Old fashioned names like the ones you mentioned have been popular for ages. Love the names like Maud, Mary, Edith. If I ever have a girl I’m using the old lady name ‘Marigold’ even though I’m sure you will hate it OP I personally dislike American type names like Jaxon, Taylor, Riley etc.

Marigold doesn’t make me think of old ladies, it makes me think of rubber gloves!

but heard a little Gertrude last month

I know 3 Gertrudes. Two in their 20s and one late 40s. One of the younger ones has German family and it’s shortened to Gert. The other two are Trudy and Trudie.

Doesn’t it also work the other way though? I mean, imagining an 80 year old Poppy or Jordan seems jarring too, doesn’t it?

Names go in and put of fashion 🤷🏻‍♀️ just give your child wtv name you like

I was the only person in my whole school with my name. A few years later it became a super popular name!!!

I do disagree with the American tendency to butcher name spellings