Names so old it’s cute again

[Artsybaby]

Personally I like elegant names like Genevieve, also Mary, that never stopped being popular.

Does anyone know any names that used to be considered “old lady names” but are coming back.

my husband is French and he likes Monette after his grandmother

Aurelie
Bonnie
Constance/Connie
Clementine

Well lots- look at names that were popular 100+ years ago. Probably some of the more ‘up and coming’ I think:

dorothy
esther
stella
daphne
june
enid
edith
nora
winnie
betty
josephine
ida
pearl
audrey
agnes
sylvie/a
bridget

Don't we use the names from our grandparents generation? There are loads of Ada's, Edith's and Mabel's around. I'm waiting for the names from the 1940s to come around - Sandra, Pamela, Linda, Carole. Or Nigel, Kenneth and Gerald. These are the names that my children will use! (and I'll have to just nod and say, yes dear, like they did when I suggested Albert or Edith).

I wanted to call my last dd Deborah or Julia - both lovely names I think. (her name is on this thread).

When I was at school in the 60s, it was all Debbie, Jackie, Tracy, Sharon and Julie.

Grandmas were called Elsie, Mavis, Madge, Mabel, Doris, Deirdre and Ida.

Mums were Maureen, Kathleen, Noreen, Sheila, Dorothy, Shirley and Joyce.

Don't miss any of those.

Elsie is definitely a little girl's name now, in the top 10. And Mabel very popular.

Dorothy of your mum names is on the rise too.

I know Julie and Sharon are too dated to use now (and not old enough) but I think they're both beautiful. Not a fan of Debbie/Deborah or Tracy though. I think all of those names in your first bit will take a while to come back.

In the 70s it was endless Julie and Susan. Plus Elaine, Elizabeth shortened to Liz, Christine, Ann, Patricia, Helen, Annemarie, Angela, Cathy, Joan, Mary, Barbara, etc.

There were four Julies in my class of 23.

Grandmas were Winifred (never Winnie - she hated it but liked to sign off as "Wyn") and Mabel. DM and DMIL were Joan/Margaret.
Both myself and my sister have names maligned due to public health messaging/social media.
We would have gone for Esme if we hadn't had boys. Grandpas were Alfred and Basil.
I think Florence and Elise are Frenchish?

Kitty
araminta
celeste
joan
constance

epic names

More 60s/70s to get ahead of fashion with - Shirley, Janet and Gillian. A personal favourite of mine is Claire.

My baby granddaughter has Alma for her middle, named after my mother. I’ve now heard of a couple of other babies with that name which surprised me as I thought it rather old fashioned.

I mean it’s because it takes a certain number of generations for names to stop being associated with a past generation.

So today’s 20-35 year olds (majority of new mums) didn’t know the Edith’s, Ivy’s, Ada’s, Mabel’s etc because that was our great grandparents names. Few will have any memories of that generation.

The names that came after are our grandmothers names and so they seem old - Shirley, Barbara, Betty, Ruth, Irene. And our mothers names seem mumsy - Tracey, Deborah, Sandra, Karen, Stacey, Anne.

But in the coming generations they’ll likely come back too to be followed again by the Rebecca’s, Hannah’s, Sophie’s, Bethany, Jess’s of the 90s.

For girls, I have soft spots for Camilla, Clarissa, Elizabeth, Eloise, Eve, Felicity, Florence, Hannah, Honor, Joy, Leonora, Mary, Miriam and even Virginia (though I'm not sure a daughter would thank me for the latter). I also like the Welsh form of Mary (Mair), but I haven't heard of one of those in person yet.

For boys... well, I only like a few names, anyway! Aubrey, Edmund, Henry and Victor. John is a good solid name, too.

While teaching, I came across Rosa, Kitty, Kathryn, Vincent and Peter. I was not as much of a fan of Derek, though it always raised a smile when he got called out for certificates in assembly. One expected a 50-year-old to rise from the audience, not 5-year-old Derek!

I came across a baby Caroline, which surprised me, and a friend has a young Hector. It made him sound like he popped out in a flat cap and a pair of tweed plus-fours, but he's lovely!

I know Elsie and Mabel are popular now, thank you. I think they’re both frightful. There are plenty of classic names that have never been out of fashion without using old-lady names.

It's clearly a matter of personal taste.
Personally, I find Gwendoline, Daphne and Marjorie far more attractive sounding than Deborah, which sounds harsh and frumy to my ears. I think Gwendoline sounds beautiful.

Joan, an epic name !
Ah now, @littlebilliieyou’re having me on.

I agree stick with Monette it is a beautiful name . Very unusual

I just base my taste on how I’d feel having the name myself. I’d be happy being called Deborah or Debbie. I would really detest being called Marjorie. I don’t have daughters (only sons) so never went through the girl name choosing. I’ve no idea what I would have finally chosen but I would have spent a lot of time agonising over the final decision (because I don’t like my own name).

I really like names that end in ette. They always sound charming and elegant to me.

Monette is beautiful

Yes you are spot on.

I like the name Jean - probably because of the gorgeous Jean Shrimpton -but understand it could be seen as awful. I also like May. Reminds me of blossom and skipping lambs.
actually if you can think objectively, Sharon is a beautiful name but clearly negative connotations especially from 70s/80s when it was seen as “common” / Essex (Birds of a Feather etc if you are old enough to remember ).

I like the above because to me they are nice words. But Mabel and Ethel, for example, to me are ugly sounds. It’s all very subjective.

Beverley?! That's a middle-aged name.

Very fair. Tricky though because what I would choose to be called is different to what either of my DDs would chose. My DSs apparently like their names and apparently can't think of any other name they prefer to their own but I think that's probably just boys caring less about these things!

Just read a (modern) book where the heroine is Ada but was short for Adeline which I do really like and it grew on me. Her sister was Elodie and I do love that straight off.

Jean Shrimpton was the most gorgeous model of them all. I don’t really like Jean for a girl but quite like Gene for a boy, which doesn’t make much sense really.