Let’s talk about Ann…

[KAM4]

Just for context I’m not pregnant but did have a baby this year so often think about baby names still. My middle name is Ann (I know it’s a common middle name for a certain generation) and I have aunts on both sides (one Anne & one Ann).
I find it funny to think of both my grandmothers choosing such a simple, one syllable name for their new baby girls when we give names such time and thought now, to choose something so simple (& at the time, common, seems so odd). It makes me wonder if Ann as a name is dead?
I do occasionally hear of names like Mary, Catherine, Margaret (Maggie) for babies but never of Ann.
I think of glamorous actresses like Ann Margaret and think it sounds classic & cool double-barrelled but am I wrong to think it’s just too simple to make a modern comeback on its own?
PS: I know Annie and Anna are still popular but they have that extra syllable so are different to me.
PPS: no offence to any Ann/Annes out there, it’s my middle name also so I feel it’s partly my name too!

I always think people choose Ann when they don't have the wit to choose anything better , has there ever been a more dull name .

I am 46 and there was an Ann in my class at secondary school, it felt “old” to me at the time but my name is equally classed as old in my opinion and it winds me up that I was named after my mum which I don’t get, first born child and a million names to choose from and I got my mums. There was one other in my year in secondary school which had around 200 girls per year.

I’ve used a nickname/shortened version of my name for years now and I hate telling people my name. Parents were 20 and 21 when they had me and I once asked them what else they had in mind name wise and they said “Claire for a girl or Andrew for a boy” my brother Andrew is 18 months younger than me.

if anyone is interested in what my name
is it’s Elaine, shortened to Lainey.

Agree, it is so dull.
Are you the poster that once said it has all the impact and imagination of the word “the”?
(One of my names is Ann, so I feel entitled to hold this opinion.)

i think Ann is the quiet pale girl who never has an opinion, a meltdown and always defers to the boys or the adults. Like Ann in the Famous Five.
Just as my parents would have liked me to be.

I love Ann or Anne as a name. Annie as a nn when there are small and then they can use the short formal it when they are older if they want to.

I think Anne is currently a bit more common than Ann, at least in Scotland - maybe because Ann is mainly an English language name, while Anne also exists in various other European languages.

I disagree that "Famous Five" Anne never has an opinion - when you read the books now, it kind of jumps out that Anne is the only one calling George out on her "I'm fab so I'm a boy" shite. Yeah, Anne's "nice" and polite and non-confrontational (so is Dick - how's that for a name that's fallen out of favour?) but she's not a total pushover at all.

The lowest-effort name ever. Ann. Just a syllable. Couldn't even be bothered adding an "e" for flair.

A lot of other names fall into the same category, though - for example Lee, Eve, Fay, May, Mae, Bea, Dee, James, Jay, Kay, Kai, Jan, John, Joy, Rex, Roy, Max, Guy, Ash, Bay, Haf, Hugh. Some people like those kinds of names.

One of my daughters is Anne - at the time DH and I had huge trouble choosing a name (all my daughters have 3 names, and my choice is her second name) - Anne is my middle name and a name on his side of the family. We went on to have twin girls after that, who we managed to find names for with a lot less difficulty! My Anne is 35 - her DP always calls her Annie. She was the only one at her school, though - there were others called Anna or Hannah, but she was the only Anne.

@MirandaBlu , the spelling Ann is common in Wales. The name is Hebrew in origin, from the name Hannah.

Have you been on the naming section before. Being called boring is not the worst of it.

Ann is seen as a dull name. As are many other names. The point of the section is to get strangers to tell you their own opinions on names. If people were polite about every name this whole section would be frankly pointless.
One of my kids has quite a dull name according to loads of people, I know that but love the name despite that perception.

@Moonshiners , I don't think Ann is boring. The Anns and Annes I know or are definitely not boring.
My DC have 'boring' names, and they weren't given names with 'nn' options, which of course they need.
Neither DC is a high court judge, but the names would have been acceptable if they were.

You can use any one of your names as your first name . But like you said it's probably too late now to change . I think a lot of people use their second names in the workplace . My driving instructor used his middle name when dealing with customers.

Each to their own. I find it very dull name. I'm sure you find other names dull that other people like.

@Moonshiners

Errr yes I have. I've been here since practically MN started.

she didn't just call it boring though as you well know. She was rude, even beyond this topics regular rudeness.

There's a mile wide gap between just being polite & lying saying it's lovely & saying what she did.

“I disagree that "Famous Five" Anne never has an opinion - when you read the books now, it kind of jumps out that Anne is the only one calling George out on her "I'm fab so I'm a boy" shite. Yeah, Anne's "nice" and polite and non-confrontational (so is Dick - how's that for a name that's fallen out of favour?) but she's not a total pushover at all.”

That's interesting, I don't remember it like that at all. Of course, it was literally over 50 years ago that I read any..
Has it been altered for a modern audience, like so much Blyton?

I don't dislike it, but there's no denying it's boring and it seems a bit "incomplete" to me.

No preference of Ann / Anne.

Not keen on Annie as it's a bit twee.

I do like Anna.

I think it will come back one day. Another pretty ne is Heather-due for a resurgence possibly?

Ann is a totally different name to Anne IMO. Such different vibes and the Anns I know are far more willowy in looks and abrupt in personality (lovely though!) than any Anne could ever be!

Ann is a totally different name to Anne IMO.
IMO too.
Same goes for Fay/Faye, Ciara/Kira/Keira, Annabel/Annabelle, Isabel/Isabelle/Isobel etc

I'm an Ann and my older brother is Andrew.

I've known a family with that combination, Have you got another brother called Alan by any chance?

I the past in Ireland it was very Catholic.
So many women of a certain vintage were called Mary in honour of the Roman Catholic Mother of Jesus, Our Lady- Mary.
If they weren't calked Mary it seemed like they were called Anne or Ann after Our Lady's mother Anne/Ann.

The roll call in primary schools all over Ireland in the 40's, 50's and very early 60s would be full of Marys and Anns/Annes. 😀

I think it will have a revival in around 10 years as spare simple elegant names become fashionable in response to all the cute frilliness and milk maid type names we've had for decades now.

I think Anne, Jane, Susan, Mary, Ruth etc will soon be regarded as very cool.

Beautiful in their simplicity.

I've got a 6 year old Anne Margaret. People compliment her on the name all the time.

Anne is a classic - definitely due a comeback. I vastly prefer Anne with an E.

That's beautiful.

You are ahead of the curve!

Yeah, I think there are a few names due a revival, Jane and Wendy being my bets.

I like Helen as an example of a classic name.
Any Helen I knew was lovely, which helps one to favour a name.