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Does your name date you?

Messages
17,196
Location
New York City
Parents' names (can't get more dated than these): Herbert and Shirley

Grandparents' names (mixed bag, one classic, one marginally classic, two definitely dated): Mary, Nathan, Leo, Beatrice

I only knew one contemporary in my entire life who had the name Herbert and never knew a Shirley within twenty years of my age bracket.

I have known several Mary's, a few Leo's, a Beatrice and no Nathan's within two decades of my age bracket.
 

LizzieMaine

Bartender
Messages
33,728
Location
Where The Tourists Meet The Sea
There was a pop tune in 1939 called "Shoot the Sherbert to me, Herbert." Can't get more hepcat than that.

Parents -- Floyd and Patricia

Grandparents -- Clifford and Winona, Irving and Florence.

Great-Grandparents -- Clifford and Winifred, Clara and Elmer, Lachlan and Carrie, Samuel and Florence.

Grandmother Winona's kerosene stove -- Florence.
 

skydog757

A-List Customer
Messages
465
Location
Thumb Area, Michigan
Our local television station runs a list of obituaries after the news each day; I tend to watch for names that are no longer in common use.

"Well, that's the last 'Agnes' I'm going to see."

"So long, Eunice, Dolores, Betty, Beatrice . . ."
 

ChiTownScion

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,247
Location
The Great Pacific Northwest
There was a pop tune in 1939 called "Shoot the Sherbert to me, Herbert." Can't get more hepcat than that.

Parents -- Floyd and Patricia

Grandparents -- Clifford and Winona, Irving and Florence.

Great-Grandparents -- Clara and Elmer, Samuel and Florence.

Grandmother Winona's kerosene stove -- Florence.


Had an Uncle Herbert: great guy. He was "out" (at least as far as the family) long before it became fashionable. Always kind and gentle.

Parents: John and Elizabeth*

Grandparents: John and Marie, Joseph and Elizabeth**

Great- Grandparents: Nikolaus and Anna, Unknown and Carl, Martin and Unknown, Kathleen and Emmett.

* Went by "Betty."
**Went by "Dolly" (Don't ask me why.)

The only one who went by "Lizzie" in the family was a grand aunt through marriage. A real character, by my memory and all family accounts. A heart of gold, but she scandalized some of the lace curtain Irish types in that branch of the family.
 

GHT

I'll Lock Up
Messages
9,777
Location
New Forest
Names from the past all seem to have a biblical or saint's name connection. As society has become more secular those names from the past have lost favour. Names such as Sky, Summer & Troy were unheard of in my boyhood, however, when the British Press had a fine time mocking Victoria & David Beckham for naming their first born, Brooklyn, because that's where he was conceived, they were brought down by someone who posted on social media that Rudyard Kipling was so called because he was named after the village of Rudyard, where he was born, or maybe conceived.
We never had family names as first names, that I can remember. Now it's quite common to have Taylor, McKenzie and such like.
My parents are:
Hilda & Percy.
Maternal grandparents:
Clara & Leo
Paternal grandparents:
Herbert & Dorothy, but known all her life as Peggy.
My parents named their four children.
Robert, Hilary, Clare & John.
Clare had three children:
Laura, Paul and Stephanie.
Laura's daughter is called:
Demi-wave. I kid you not. Granddad referred to it as: Semi-detached.
John had one child: Sophia.
Robert & Hilary have no children.
 

EngProf

Practically Family
Messages
608
My dad was born in 1919, so he was named "Alvin" for Sgt. Alvin York. Not too many of those these days...
His middle name was Robert, as is my first name. That apparently is a family tradition, and as some have said, Robert is forever...
One of my cousins did some genealogical research and our earliest known American ancestor was named Robert, back in the late 1600's.
 

GHT

I'll Lock Up
Messages
9,777
Location
New Forest
His middle name was Robert, as is my first name. That apparently is a family tradition, and as some have said, Robert is forever...
One of my cousins did some genealogical research and our earliest known American ancestor was named Robert, back in the late 1600's.

From the Germanic name Hrodebert meaning "bright flame", derived from the Germanic elements hrod "flame" and beraht "bright". The Normans introduced this name to Britain, where it replaced the Old English cognate Hreodbeorht. It has been a very common English name since that time.
The name has been borne by two early kings of France, two Dukes of Normandy, and three kings of Scotland, including Robert the Bruce who restored the independence of Scotland from England in the 14th century. The author Robert Browning (1812-1889) and poets Robert Burns (1759-1796) and Robert Frost (1874-1963) Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894)are famous literary bearers of this name. Other bearers include Robert E. Lee (1807-1870), the commander of the Confederate army during the American Civil War, and American actors: Robert Taylor (1911-1969) Robert Wagner (1930-) Robert Duvall (1931-) Robert Redford (1936-), Robert De Niro (1943-) and Robert Downey Jr. (1965-).
 

Shangas

I'll Lock Up
Messages
6,116
Location
Melbourne, Australia
When I was a kid in school we were in legal studies class and we were learning about wills and last testaments and such. And our teacher brought in a whole list of obituaries from the local newspapers.

Among all the names, one of them was Percival.

...when's the last time ANYBODY met someone named percival or percy? Beyond that character in the Harry Potter series?
 

sheeplady

I'll Lock Up
Bartender
Messages
4,479
Location
Shenandoah Valley, Virginia, USA
The only "Grace" I ever knew was my first grade teacher, born in 1912. I approve of its comeback.

I've had three different Kelseys at the theatre in the past eleven years, but each one spells it differently. I actually don't mind this, because it's easier for me to remember names that way.
I know 3 children named Grace. Two have very religious parents and the third was a bit of a miracle child.

One of the families has children named Grace, Faith, and Hope.
 

LizzieMaine

Bartender
Messages
33,728
Location
Where The Tourists Meet The Sea
When I was a kid in school we were in legal studies class and we were learning about wills and last testaments and such. And our teacher brought in a whole list of obituaries from the local newspapers.

Among all the names, one of them was Percival.

...when's the last time ANYBODY met someone named percival or percy? Beyond that character in the Harry Potter series?

I had a step-great-grandfather named Percy. And my 8th grade math teacher was a Percy. It was actually a pretty popular name in New England at one time -- it was even common to call a stereotype "Down East" character "Percy," maybe because the name sounds hilarious when pronounced with a Maine accent. "Puhhhhcy."
 

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