“Imagine having a gorgeous new baby and calling her Winnie!”

[princessposy]

I remember giggling about this with a school friend when we were about 12/13. We were talking about what our grandmothers were called. Mine was Winnie; hers was Elsie. Circa 1993, we found it hilarious someone would call their babies Winnie and Elsie.

Just had a day out with the same friend and guess what her DD is called

(I doubt she remembers our conversation!)

I wonder if our DDs will find it hilarious someone once called their babies Jennifer, Laura and Michelle … probably.

I remember when I started a new school in 2003 there was a boy called Arthur in my class, born around 1990. I honestly thought he was joking because it was so old fashioned! Now it’s one of my favourite names 😆

I remember thinking Elsie was such an old lady name too.

I went out with a guy called Alf when I was 18 and he was 24 for nearly 3 years in the late nineties/early noughties. He hated it and used his middle name John. Now loads of people name their kids Alfie.

We all laughed at my friend for liking the 'granny' name Lily at university. By the time she had a daughter in her 30s, Lily was so popular as to be a bit boring and she didn't choose it! Names go round in circles. I fully expect names like Sarah, Alison and Jenny to come back in before long.

Ripped the piss out of "Margot" being a school friend of my mums, now I sincerely say it's a gorgeous name when I meet a baby Margot.

Tbf I don’t think Winnie is a nice name, same as Nellie. Winnie reminds me of the obvious honey loving bear and Nellie of the elephant.
i just don’t like either of them but some names are cyclical and people end up using a much loved granny or grandad’s name hence you get these rather ‘old fashioned’ names.
I do think it’s a lovely way to keep the names going and hopefully people use them because they have fond memories or loved the name and it’s a nice way to honour a special person rather than out of a sense of duty!

There is an English actress who called her son a very silly name. I won't say it but it sounds a bit like Monster. I remember thinking just how sad it was to bring a miracle of a new human into the world and that be the name. I'm sure he grew into etc etc but it felt so unworthy

When I was at uni (late 90s) I worked in a clothes shop which had a lower floor and no lift. A lady with a pram told her little boy (aged about seven) to stay with the pram while she nipped down to pick something up, and I said I’d keep an eye on them both. I asked the boy what his baby’s name was, and he said Ron - I thought it must have been John, but when the mum came back she confirmed it was indeed Ron. I remember thinking what an odd name for a little baby it was then. My dad had a mate called “big Ron” who was a very fat man, and I just associated it with him.

I heard the name Tanner for the first recently . Just contours up a picture of leather being treated. 😩

I was born in the late 60s. I remember at primary school, my name was a very ordinary name that nobody ever commented on while my cousin was called Megan. I felt sorry for her having the sort of name that made everyone think of an old Welsh auntie. By the 90s it was very cool and popular whereas women with my name are now in their 50s and 60s, it will soon be an old lady's name and probably won't be popular until after I'm dead.

At university in the 80s, one of my friends had a boyfriend called Arthur. She felt so embarrassed whenever she had to tell anyone what he was called as it was universally derided as an old man's name.
Most people's first thought on hearing it was Arthur Fowler in the early East Enders. Personally, my first thought that it was a romantic name because of King Arthur but I'm autistic so my thought processes are often atypical.
Of course, Arthur is now a very popular name for little boys.

That is one name I can never understand the appeal of, the closeness to maggot is so off putting.
It doesn't sound too bad but written down its awful

Perceptions around names change as they go in and out of fashion.

Imagine calling a child Karen now. It's an inoffensive name that's been hijacked as derisory term. When I was younger we thought people named Rupert and Jasper were comedy characters who were posh. I remember a friend and I wondering what her prospective parents in law could have been thinking when they named her future brother in law Felix. All of these names are unremarkable now.

Winnie - that makes me think of The Wonder Years, but the only real life Winnie I knew had it as a middle name and would be over 100 if still with us

Someone at uni had a boyfriend called milo 20 years ago. I remember thinking what an absolutely awful name. It sounded so pretentious to me. Since then I’ve known one more baby milo but I still don’t like the name, I’m just old fashioned these days!

Lots of old people names are fashionable now but not Winnie. I don't think it ever will be.

My friend called her baby Neddy. I still think it was an unusual choice and it’s definitely not a baby name.

This is one of those 'surnames being used as a first name', which seems to be a current trend; Cooper, Maddox, Jackson...
Not my taste, but each to their own

Oh, I work wirh children and there here are certainly a few little Winnies, and i have recently come across an Eleanor whose mum calls her 'Nellie', and also a 'Nell'

I remember thinking the name Olive was literally the most disgusting and embarrassing name ever (it was my great aunt’s) -lAlso had a friend at school called George which we all thought (early 90s) was hilarious as it was so bad 🤣 now two completely standard names for kids / young adults.

As a teacher, I’ve encountered far worse names.

I still say this now as an adult. Imagine being pregnant for 9 months and calling your baby…
I won’t say which names so as not to offend!

Awww I know a baby Winnie and I think it's the cutest little name. I like all the old fashions ones, Elsie's and olives all cute

My friends baby is Winnie and I absolutely love it! There is a v cool and bwauyinterior designer in her 20s who is on TV called Winnie too!

The old fashioned traditional names are much better than the modern made-up names of people desperate to be ‘unique’. If nobody else has a child named the same as yours it’s because nobody else likes it and it’s a terrible name, it’s nothing to boast about having a ‘unique’ name. Poor kids being used as fashion accessories rather than people in their own right.

Many celebs. All their kids silly names - colours - places - animals etc

i agree my opinion on Winnie has changed
originally i would have been aghast but now i quite like it

I’ve heard a couple of Winnie’s. Not loads, but have met a few baby Winnie’s.

It does rather make me think of the noise a horse makes though. But it’s true. I don’t think of white haired ladies when I hear Iris, Elsie and Ada any more.