“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.

Me too. I am 60 though so they’re still old fashioned names to me. Some old names stand the test of time, but I can’t get on board with a lot of them. I’ll probably find if I become a gp I’ll have gc with the fusty old names 😁

I can only think of one Charles and one Albie in my age group. There were several called James and Richard. William was a middle name or they were Billy. Harry and Henry were very dated.

I wasn't in a 'posh' area, which might have made a difference.

My hairdresser is called September which is not a traditional month as a name.

Almost all children I know with “ie” or cutesy names have a full name they can revert to. Eg Evie might use her full name of Evelyn when she is older, or use Eve. Teddy is an Edward. Hettie is Henrietta. LuLu is Louisa.

I’m aware not all parents do that but I do assume most cutesy names are nicknames when I meet children with those names, and they pretty much always are.

@Vroomfondleswaistcoat , they'll be fine because their contemporaries will have similar names.

@Thistimearound , Unless someone has told me I don't really think about it.
I can't see why someone would want to switch from being Evie to Evelyn or Teddy to Theodore.

I’m sure growing up most of us knew people with nicknames who at some point kind of re-invented themselves? Either to a completely new nickname eg I knew a Beth (Elizabeth) who became a Betty as a 30 something; or to a more adult / formal version of their name eg Billy (William) becoming Will. It’s not unusual.

I also remember all the Jennifers and Rebeccas who seemed to try out numerous nicknames during high school - from Jenny to Jenni (with a heart above the “i”) to Jennie and then usual back to Jenny or Jennifer in adulthood. Or what about when “azza” was added to named - Sharon known as Shazza etc.. I think most of them are back to Sharon now.

And it’s always interesting when you meet a childhood friend with their later in life friends and you realise you call them by a completely different name as their current cohort of friends do. Actually my childhood best friend is known by a different name by those of us who met her in school, those she met at university and those she met after university. It’s kind of nice - like 3 versions of herself she’s tried on (and not one of those 3 names is the name her Mum uses!).

I know, it's crazy to think I might be calling any (future) GC all these old lady/men names....
and equally crazy to think that all the Lisa's, Kristy's, Jennifer's, Katie's, Catherine's, Teresa's, Julie's and Claire's I grew up with (alongside the John's, Paul's, David's, Andrews and Philip's) will no doubt be deemed so old fashioned by the youth of today 🤪🤪

I will be super suprised if Mildred Muriel or Doris make a come back! Or Cecil

Sounds like we had the same classmates 😂 I haven’t come across anyone under 50 with those names. Catherine’s always a classic, there are some younger Katies (rather than Kates) about. And will never sound fusty.

It’s a traveller name in Ireland.

My headmistress was called Winifred Storm... just putting that out there

Agnes is the one I love.

But your thoughts automatically default to King Arthur anyway, don't they?

That sounds pretty mainstreamrather than atypical. I'm confused

I don't think so.

My grandad was George and it always seemed to be an old man's name to me. I didn't meet any Georges at my primary school in the 70s or my bog standard comprehensive in the 80s. Maybe it was more common in posher schools at the time.

One of my nephews (born in the late 90s) is called George. It seemed a strange choice to me at the time but I've met loads of George's since then.

One of my favourite picture books when I was little was Princess September, based on a short story by W. Somerset Maugham.

But I agree that it's not a traditional name.

My thoughts defaulted to King Arthur but the rest of our friends were stuck on the initial thought that it was an old man's name and commiserated with Arthur's girlfriend for finding a nice boy with such an embarrassing name.

The 80s really weren't like now when Arthur is a common name. He was the only person I ever came across in my childhood, teens or early adulthood who was called Arthur.

Just remembered another one, when DGS were born there was a boy being named Stanley Thomas surname D...all of us of a certain age were aghast, the younger ones didn't have a clue...

😂
Yeah I think you're right... Katie's still fairly popular and seems to have stood the test of time 😃

The first time i heard my (awful) neighbour yelling for her dog to come in,I almost rang the police

In a thick black country accent I heard 'rape!rape!'

The dogs name is raine...

The name Winnie is definitely having a moment. Has become very trendy in the last 12 months. I think it's okay but I think Winifred is truly horrific.

Is Arthur popular now? I haven't come across any apart from our newest member of our wider family....born a month ago. I couldn't quite believe it when I heard they were going to call him Arthur.... I was like whaaaat?!!...Arthur conjures up an old grey haired chap.... but what do I know?.... it sounds like it might be making a comeback. It's odd how these names go round in circles!

I'm a primary school teacher and have taught several Arthurs over recent years. It's not so popular that there are multiple Arthurs in the same class but it's definitely no longer unusual.

This name conjures up a no nonsense headtescher. Someone who doesn’t suffer fools gladly! (I’ve never come across Storm as a surname.)

@6ate9she was very old school, exactly what her name suggests! She was rumoured to have been born during a thunderstorm, hence her middle name but that may just have been a school legend!

I hear Audrey and think of Penelope Keith in To The Manor Born, which is why I like Audrey so much.