Are your children’s vaccines up to date?

Set a reminder

Please or to access all these features

Baby names

Find baby name inspiration and advice on the Mumsnet Baby Names forum.

Shirley or ?

125 replies

ClaraBean · 02/07/2022 08:19

Thanks for all the opinions on my other thread 😄
Dh and I have continued to ponder and have decided Susan is no longer on our list, but we have added a couple of others that we are now considering. So our updated list is
Shirley (my favourite for years)
Bernadette (Bernie or Ettie for nn)
Marjorie
Magnolia

Dh likes nn Madge for Marjorie 😄

OP posts:
Are your children’s vaccines up to date?
Luredbyapomegranate · 02/07/2022 23:06

I do think you are on a wind up OP?!

They are all terrible. Go back to Susan

Shirley is depressed and 74
Bernadette is depressed and 74 and deeply repressed by her Irish Catholic upbringing (Bernie is epic levels of hideous)
Majorie will be Marge(rine)
Magnolia is is the world’s blandest paint

How about

Susan!

Margaret / Marguerite - Maggie or Ettie as a nn
Millicent
Lois
Lena
Zoe
Amy
Jean
Patricia
Jane
Marian
Audrey
Vivienne
Marie

KnittingNurse · 02/07/2022 23:28

Hate to say after the reaction here but I have a Shirley and I still love it and it suits her perfectly (now 8).

RightOnTheEdge · 02/07/2022 23:31

They are all terrible but definitely not Magnolia. I know it's a beautiful tree but the first thing I thought of was the paint.

thelittlestbird · 03/07/2022 09:50

Honestly, people are so fucking rude.

Merryclaire · 03/07/2022 10:11

I like Marjorie best, followed by Bernadette.

Sorry to say but I don’t think your daughter would thank you for Shirley!

Luredbyapomegranate · 03/07/2022 13:30

thelittlestbird · 03/07/2022 09:50

Honestly, people are so fucking rude.

It’s a fucking naming thread, people are being asked for their fucking opinions 😁

SashaMannDeservedBetter · 06/07/2022 12:04

Oh dear no, all these names sound like a knitting circle gathering ..

SycamoreTall · 06/07/2022 14:29

Margery is nicer spelled like this - kind of mediaeval and cool.

Otherwise, Susan.

marshallzumarubble · 07/07/2022 16:22

I am loving these reactions - so unbelievably shortsighted.

I am an etymologist, specialising in naming trends, and we are perhaps a decade off Shirley rising, OP is just ahead of the curve!

Shirley peaked in the mid 1930s, and we usually base patterns on a 100 year cycle (roughly great-grandparents). Give it ten years and there will be a fair few Shirleys, Ritas, Jeans and Joans. Susan is probably a little further on, and Barbara, Jacqueline, Patricia probably 2040s. Of course things change - Audrey hitting the top 500 in 2012 was sooner than expected, and some names do disappear (thinking of you Gertrude!).

Oh, and unless a name is highly associated with something horrific (a murderer) or something that could be construed as embarrassing (a brand name of a hygiene product) then they aren't really cruel. Just different. And, generally, people see the gorgeous baby, and the name becomes them and nothing more is thought of it!

KirstenBlest · 07/07/2022 16:52

Those names don't seem dated to me. I think that the name threads tend to list names that are very popular now, and if the OP asks for unusual name suggestions the responses are things like Orla, Maeve, Freya, Theodore, Arlo etc and they are not uncommon at all, and they will date badly as they became very popular quickly.

felineweird · 08/07/2022 16:54

All awful unless you are giving birth to a 70 year old

TreePoser · 10/07/2022 08:28

marshallzumarubble · 07/07/2022 16:22

I am loving these reactions - so unbelievably shortsighted.

I am an etymologist, specialising in naming trends, and we are perhaps a decade off Shirley rising, OP is just ahead of the curve!

Shirley peaked in the mid 1930s, and we usually base patterns on a 100 year cycle (roughly great-grandparents). Give it ten years and there will be a fair few Shirleys, Ritas, Jeans and Joans. Susan is probably a little further on, and Barbara, Jacqueline, Patricia probably 2040s. Of course things change - Audrey hitting the top 500 in 2012 was sooner than expected, and some names do disappear (thinking of you Gertrude!).

Oh, and unless a name is highly associated with something horrific (a murderer) or something that could be construed as embarrassing (a brand name of a hygiene product) then they aren't really cruel. Just different. And, generally, people see the gorgeous baby, and the name becomes them and nothing more is thought of it!

I agree, I find this thread so interesting. My DD is 19 and 20 years ago, the names I was suggesting got similar reactions, and yeh, mn was around 20 years ago!!! What a thought. I liked names that got slated on here and they have ALL become much more popular. So I wasn't wrong, I was just sensing the curve around the corner better than average.

Merryclaire · 10/07/2022 08:55

marshallzumarubble · 07/07/2022 16:22

I am loving these reactions - so unbelievably shortsighted.

I am an etymologist, specialising in naming trends, and we are perhaps a decade off Shirley rising, OP is just ahead of the curve!

Shirley peaked in the mid 1930s, and we usually base patterns on a 100 year cycle (roughly great-grandparents). Give it ten years and there will be a fair few Shirleys, Ritas, Jeans and Joans. Susan is probably a little further on, and Barbara, Jacqueline, Patricia probably 2040s. Of course things change - Audrey hitting the top 500 in 2012 was sooner than expected, and some names do disappear (thinking of you Gertrude!).

Oh, and unless a name is highly associated with something horrific (a murderer) or something that could be construed as embarrassing (a brand name of a hygiene product) then they aren't really cruel. Just different. And, generally, people see the gorgeous baby, and the name becomes them and nothing more is thought of it!

While it’s true names have about 100 year cycle, there are loads of popular names from the 1910s and 1920s that haven’t made a comeback as they just don’t sound good to our modern ears.

Eg Doris, Irene, Eileen, Jean, Gladys, Doreen, Vera, Winifred, Ethel, Edna, Phylis, Elsie, Hilda, Maude, Barbara, Patricia, Sheila, Brenda - could go on.

So, yes, looking to the past is good for inspiration but there are plenty of exceptions. Not every name will get a revival!

PancakesWithCheese · 10/07/2022 09:00

@Merryclaire Elsie is incredibly popular!

There are quite a few Maude’s too. Although I don’t like it at all. And I know a Winnie.

Candleabra · 10/07/2022 09:03

Isn’t it funny how even names you think will never come back into fashion still do.
When I had my daughter everyone was calling their kids Sophie, Lauren, Jessica etc

TreePoser · 10/07/2022 09:32

@Merryclaire I don't think you have the knack for name prediction tbh.
Some of the names on your list are already back.
Others, well, although I don't know if I see Brenda coming back I do see names ending in 'da' coming back. That frilly soft sound is so over that in a decade I predict names like rhoda, glenda, Zelda coming back. Stronger sounding names.

Totally agree with @marshallzumarubble that names like Rita and Jean are ''next up''. They have that old hollywood glamour vibe.

Merryclaire · 10/07/2022 09:47

TreePoser · 10/07/2022 09:32

@Merryclaire I don't think you have the knack for name prediction tbh.
Some of the names on your list are already back.
Others, well, although I don't know if I see Brenda coming back I do see names ending in 'da' coming back. That frilly soft sound is so over that in a decade I predict names like rhoda, glenda, Zelda coming back. Stronger sounding names.

Totally agree with @marshallzumarubble that names like Rita and Jean are ''next up''. They have that old hollywood glamour vibe.

Perhaps I’ve added a couple that just I don’t like, but most of them are unlikely to be more than occasionally used.

I’ll eat my words if I ever see the likes of Ethel and Phyllis in the top 10 - or even 50 - but I think I’m safe.

Definitely agree people are getting more tired of the frilly names in an anecdotal sense, yet they are still hugely popular when you look at the top baby name list for last year.

marshallzumarubble · 10/07/2022 11:10

Merryclaire · 10/07/2022 08:55

While it’s true names have about 100 year cycle, there are loads of popular names from the 1910s and 1920s that haven’t made a comeback as they just don’t sound good to our modern ears.

Eg Doris, Irene, Eileen, Jean, Gladys, Doreen, Vera, Winifred, Ethel, Edna, Phylis, Elsie, Hilda, Maude, Barbara, Patricia, Sheila, Brenda - could go on.

So, yes, looking to the past is good for inspiration but there are plenty of exceptions. Not every name will get a revival!

As I said, some don't come back. From your examples, ones that should have come back but seemed to have missed their window would be Gladys, Ethel, Phyllis, Doris and Hilda (although I know a lot of cats and cars being called Hilda!). We have seen Ettie come back hugely so perhaps parents are skipping the formality of Ethel. I am always surprised Doris isn't bigger, it has a lovely sound and meaning and diminutives that sit with modern trends (Dorrie, Dory, Rissie).

Elsie is huge - number 19 in the 2021 stats and it has been in the top 200 since 2018. Vera is also rising fast, up 700 places in the last 8 years or so, likewise Winifred and especially Winnie which is just outside the top 200.

We are slightly ahead of times with Irene, Jean, Doreen and Brenda, all peaked in the mid to late 1930s. And Barbara, Patricia and Sheila are firmly 1940s names so I am expecting grandchildren with those names (and perhaps Roger and Brian for a boy😬).

I think we possibly see more name extinctions due to more creative naming trends nowadays. There is a much wider pool of names in use so what is in the top 10 now doesn't have the same amount of children born as it did 10, 20, 30 years ago. It is much easier to have a slightly more unusual choice. We are also more adventurous with names, especially girl names, as well as more global. We are happy to use nicknames as given names, use words or surnames as first names and look at culture and history when considering our choices. Names now are a reflection of who the parents are - their tastes, their culture, their background - not just a method of distinguishing someone from another person.

TreePoser · 10/07/2022 11:20

So many more names are used now that staking a claim on a name not coming nack in to the top ten doesn't mean it hasn't come back!!

@marshallzumarubble interesting job, i would love this!

SpaceJamtart · 10/07/2022 11:44

Thats fun to know, mine and my partners grandmothers were Hilda, Irene, Patricia and Shirley and we had a dicussion when we knew we were having a girl, that its a shame all our grandmothers had such hideous names or maybe we would have used one of them. But even as a middle name they all sounded awful.

ImperioMarch · 10/07/2022 11:48

Shirley is a million times worse than Susan. Susan can at least be the slightly cool Susi.

SpaceJamtart · 10/07/2022 12:14

Sorry that was meant to be a reply to @mmarshallzumarubble

DuchessOfSausage · 10/07/2022 13:27

@ImperioMarch , Susi isn't cool. It's like the Su or Soo spellings of Sue - naff.

ImperioMarch · 10/07/2022 16:01

DuchessOfSausage · 10/07/2022 13:27

@ImperioMarch , Susi isn't cool. It's like the Su or Soo spellings of Sue - naff.

Tell that to Suzi Quatro

TreePoser · 10/07/2022 19:34

I like Susie, thought that its revival might come sooner than it has done when Sophie was so over used. I think it will come back within 10 years. Soo isn't great but a lot of very popular names don't shorten that well.