Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
What we're reading

Find your new favourite book or recommend one on our Book forum.

Original poster

The wrong era names....gaargh

119 replies

Mortgageportgage · 25/07/2023 20:25

I'm reading a book set in the present time. The young teenagers are called Andrea and Janet. It's so confusing as I keep thinking these are the mothers not the daughters. I'm 40 and don't know a Janet or Andrea my age, let alone 25 years younger. Why do authors do this?

OP posts:
Nothingbuttheglory · 25/07/2023 20:27

What country is it set in?

GenieGenealogy · 25/07/2023 20:30

That is odd. I am 50 and know Andreas and Janets of my age. Not younger. Although Honey's 16 year old daughter in Eastenders is called Janet.

Hazeltrees · 25/07/2023 20:33

Which book is it?

Original poster
Mortgageportgage · 25/07/2023 20:34

@Nothingbuttheglory it's set in Englad.

@Hazeltrees it's a Martina Cole, Damaged. I've never read her before but picked it up at the book swap. I think it'll be my last book of hers as the names are doing me in!

OP posts:
SiouxsieSiouxStiletto · 25/07/2023 20:38

Are you sure it's set in the present day and not 1982? Wink

Brintons · 25/07/2023 20:40

That would annoy me too. I'm 50 and have known Andreas my age but no Janets. I would associate Janets at least 15 years older than me.

toastofthetown · 25/07/2023 20:40

Names being incongruous is a huge bugbear of mine. It really pulls me out of a book. I hate it more the other way, with Uncle Arlo and Granny Harper.

QueSyrahSyrah · 25/07/2023 20:40

Nothingbuttheglory · 25/07/2023 20:27

What country is it set in?

Was wondering the same until I saw OP's update. I know a few Romanian Andreas that are my age (40) and much younger. The only British one I know is older.

Maybe one 'older' name wouldn't be as strange, but two would bother me too I think.

Binfire · 25/07/2023 20:41

Oh yes this really bugs me too, if I was really enjoying the story I would carry on but otherwise I’d be tempted to leave it!

Original poster
Mortgageportgage · 25/07/2023 20:41

@SiouxsieSiouxStiletto I did wo der, but they are doing make up tutorials from TouTube, Janet and Andrea, so it can't be more than a few years old. I've just checked and it's 2017, so ok 5 years ago, but I didn't know any 13 your old Janet's then either 😂

OP posts:
Original poster
Mortgageportgage · 25/07/2023 20:43

There's a gang of 4 girls, Andre, Janet, Kylie and Destiny.
The Destiny is so incongruent with the rest.
I may have to give it back to the swa shelf unfinished!

OP posts:
W1h · 25/07/2023 20:45

I know Andreas my age (40) and young, I think that's not a classic name than a dated one.

Don't know any Janets younger than about 50 though

Cattenberg · 25/07/2023 21:11

I’m 41 and I’ve never met a Janet or an Andrea my own age. I know a Kylie, and before I met her, I just knew she was born in the late 80s.

Occasionally, I meet someone with a name from another era (eg. a 30-year-old Margaret and a 60-year-old Jessica), but a fictional world full of anachronistic names is very jarring.

I suppose some authors stick to their comfort zone time-wise, just as some people stick to the fashions of their youth.

I’ve also read fiction in which a group of 25 to 30 year olds are called, say, Ava, Luna, Isla and Harper. Not very likely. I assume the author was trying to sound trendy i.e. ahead of her time!

Midnightpony · 25/07/2023 21:14

Oh I hate that!
I also hate when I women of different generations have the same kind names so for example a granny, mother and daughter being called Sarah Emma and Laura. Or Charlotte Elizabeth and Harriet. Who is who?
In real life the granny would be Margaret, the mother Emma and the daughter Becky

xxalhxx · 25/07/2023 21:18

Mortgageportgage · 25/07/2023 20:25

I'm reading a book set in the present time. The young teenagers are called Andrea and Janet. It's so confusing as I keep thinking these are the mothers not the daughters. I'm 40 and don't know a Janet or Andrea my age, let alone 25 years younger. Why do authors do this?

Sorry nothing to add to this whatsoever I just found what you said true and funny lol🤣🤣🤣

Midnightpony · 25/07/2023 21:19

I also read a blurb once for a romantic historical "novel" where the 17th Century Englishman in Ireland was called something like Connor or Brandon. And the heroine was maybe Erin or Lauren.
Completely anachronistic and no aristocrat would have called their son an Irish name.
I kept my 99p and bought a different book!

StopFeckingFaffing · 25/07/2023 21:22

This would annoy me too

I read a book a while ago (can't remember what it was called), it was set in the 1980s and had 2 young girls called Tilly and Grace, it really annoyed me for exactly the same reason!

garlictwist · 25/07/2023 21:52

StopFeckingFaffing · 25/07/2023 21:22

This would annoy me too

I read a book a while ago (can't remember what it was called), it was set in the 1980s and had 2 young girls called Tilly and Grace, it really annoyed me for exactly the same reason!

I was born in the 80s and am called Grace. And my sister (born 1989) is Tilly!

StopFeckingFaffing · 25/07/2023 22:08

Lol @garlictwist , maybe the author is a family friend 😆

Your parents were clearly ahead of the curve when it came to choosing names!

EverybodyLTB · 26/07/2023 00:31

Omg I get this all the time, wrong names drive me crazy - I don’t know why I get so worked up! We started the Harry Potter books on audible from the beginning again recently. Dudley’s friends are called something like Gordon, Piers and Malcolm 😂 The Weasleys and their different accents in the films sets my teeth on edge, too.

That thing with Lily Allen set in Margate (underwhelming) the sisters were called something like Mel, Trisha and Claire and it really jarred for me. I’m sure there’s worse out there, but these ones really irritated me, especially as I didn’t enjoy it but watched it anyway. Don’t get me started on the wildly different accents. Torture!

IncongruousNames · 26/07/2023 08:14

I'm an Andrea that's 40. I know a few others of a similar age but not any younger.

bookworm14 · 26/07/2023 14:14

This really irritates me. The Georgia Nicholson series by Louise Rennison, which was written and set in the late 90s/early 00s, has teenage girls called Jackie, Pamela and Alison. The author was a teenager in the 60s and clearly used the names of her classmates! You also get a lot of chick lit type books featuring 30-40 something women called things like Evie/Edie/Lily when these names are more likely to be found on small girls. 40something women in real life are called things like Sarah, Becky, Emma, Jenny etc. Of course it’s entirely possible I’m taking all this too seriously.

KatherineSwynford1403 · 26/07/2023 14:19

I know a 20 year old Andrea.

KatherineSwynford1403 · 26/07/2023 14:22

bookworm14 · 26/07/2023 14:14

This really irritates me. The Georgia Nicholson series by Louise Rennison, which was written and set in the late 90s/early 00s, has teenage girls called Jackie, Pamela and Alison. The author was a teenager in the 60s and clearly used the names of her classmates! You also get a lot of chick lit type books featuring 30-40 something women called things like Evie/Edie/Lily when these names are more likely to be found on small girls. 40something women in real life are called things like Sarah, Becky, Emma, Jenny etc. Of course it’s entirely possible I’m taking all this too seriously.

There is an AIBU post about this ~"Female character names in fiction - unrealistic " about cutesy names and the most popular names that were actually around at the time, exactly like you say.

bookworm14 · 26/07/2023 14:31

I will have to look for that thread!