Ever yearn for a vintage name?

[Tomasso]

I am quite tired of the car references and "jokes"

I'll bet it drives you crazy.

 

[imoldfashioned]

My name is Sarah, which is fairly vintage, but if I had to pick another vintage name I'd probably choose one of my great aunt's names--either Alice (born 1902) or Mary Louise (born 1893). I like flower names too--Rose for instance.


Slightly off topic but I'm doing genealogy research and in the danish branch I've got about 4 generations of Soren Sorensens in a row. This makes sense patronymically but I've taken to attaching their dates to the name because I get confused about which generation Soren I'm talking about!

My firstname (Søren/Soeren) goes waaaaaayyyy back in danish history. So I guesse I am vintage enough.

 

[Medvssa]

That one is a first lol

 

[Dixon Cannon]

This is where I got very lucky! I am named after Deanna Durbin, the actress. And my middle name (Tallulah) comes from my great-grandmother.

How 'bout that! I grew up on Tallulah Road, in Lantana Florida. Who knew?!

-dixon cannon

 

[Hemingway Jones]

When my grandfather was too old to work, he created an alias for himself, so that he could continue working. I swear he lifted this name from some old noir film, "Frank Mergatroit."

So, a potential employer calls the house asking for "Frank Mergatroit" and my brother says, "There's no one here by that name."

My grandfather bounds across the room, "That's me! That's me!"

Man, that was funny. lol

God rest his soul. The greatest man I have ever known.

 

[imoldfashioned]

That's a charming story! Adopting a new identity for a new phase of one's life isn't a bad idea.

When my grandfather was too old to work, he created an alias for himself, so that he could continue working. I swear he lifted this name from some old noir film, "Frank Mergatroit."

So, a potential employer calls the house asking for "Frank Mergatroit" and my brother says, "There's no one here by that name."

My grandfather bounds across the room, "That's me! That's me!"

Man, that was funny. lol

God rest his soul. The greatest man I have ever known.

 

[Miss Sis]

I work in children's nurseries and have to say that there are interesting fads or themes when it comes to naming children. There are lots of the same name or variations and then there are some really out there ones.

'Old fashioned' names are popular at the moment. Lots of Jacks and Jakes, Bens, Isabelles (lots of different spellings here), Harrys, Sophies, Matildas (come across three in the last few weeks) and Hermiones (thank you, Harry Potter).

These are from quite middle class areas of the UK so you'd get different again in other areas.

My relatives had a thing for G names:

My mother - Gail Suzanne. She'd prefer Abigail. I think she'd suit Suzanne better as a first name.

My Nana - Grace Lambess (family name for middle name). She hated being Grace or Gracie but was secretly pleased when my cousin named her eldest girl Grace after her.

My Great Grandmother - Gladys May. I have no idea what she thought of her name. She died when my mother was a little girl but everyone called her 'Glad'

Still happy with mine. Not many 'Simone's* to the dozen.

I'm afraid I don't really like many 'vintage' names from the Golden Era. People often associate them with the era they were popular and that can make life hard for a child.

*That's Si - monn, not Si - moan. French pronunciation

 

[AdrianLvsRocky]

I've taken heed of the advice to resurrect old threads rather than starting new ones!

I'll point out in advance that I have no intention of offending anyone with any of these names!

I was thinking about "vintage" names last night and wondering why some are becoming popular again while others remain "old lady" names.

For example, my Nan was one of 16 kids and was called Mollie which I think is lovely. She had other sisters named May and Lilly which I also think are really pretty names and are regaining popularity in recent years.

However, other sisters of hers were Nelly and Ethel. I wonder what it is about these names that make them seem so much more "old-fashioned" than the others? Do you think they could ever become popular again?

 

[Miss sofia]

I think old-fashioned names are becoming extremely popular again, i live in a rather well-to-do area and there is an abundance of Lily, Grace, Archie, Emily, Molly, Polly, etc, etc. Lots of victorian housemaids names which is slightly ironic.

I have always been happy with my name, although it's not at all vintage - Saffron. (And yes i was named after that Donovan song and have had to put up with random people singing it at me over the years, but that's cool).

If i could have had a more vintage name i would have liked to have been called Giulia after my maltese Grandmother or Cora.

 

[Amy Jeanne]

I think names like Ethel, Mildred, Gertrude, and Agnes just don't roll off the tongue and that's why they haven't had a comeback in popularity. They sound quite harsh and not at all melodic. I also heard that your name can determine your attractiveness to the opposite sex, but I think that's just a bunch of bunk lol Many people, though, believe this and that's probably also why such names have been avoided.

Nellie = I think too many people having children right now grew up watching Little House On The Prarie lol

Personally, I like all the names I mentioned in this thread. Some of my very favourite "vintage" names are Betty, Joan, Jean, Lillian, Rosemary, and Nancy. They all kind of dance off the tongue (except Joan - lol)

In my 1930s high school yearbooks, the two most popular female names BY FAR were Virginia and Margaret.

 

[MissHannah]

I love the name Mabel. Some friends called their daughter that recently and I think it's a gorgeous old fashioned english name. I'd like to have been named after either of my grandmothers - Jean or Rita. I also love the name Betty or Bette - who wouldn't?! I have quite a good vintagey surname - Asprey, as in the jewellers (although there's no relation, sadly!). I have a vintage friend whose surname is Pursglove, which has got to be the best surname for a vintage lover ever!

 

[AdrianLvsRocky]

I guess it's a lot to do with personal preference as well. My friend's middle name is Martha which she hates but I think is really cool.

I'm often quite jealous of older lady's names. A neighbour of my mother-in-law is called Loveday which I think is beautiful. There's another lady near her called Tydfil (a Welsh Saint's name)which is very unusual but not very appealing as a local mining town Merthyr Tydfil is also named after the saint.

 

[MissHannah]

Blimey! I wouldn't want to be named after Merthyr Tydfil!

 

[AdrianLvsRocky]

Precisely!

 

[Sunny]

In my 1930s high school yearbooks, the two most popular female names BY FAR were Virginia and Margaret.

Margaret is pretty common among my acquaintance, although none of them go by it! My grandmother is Margaret, and she went by Margie. I work with a Meg, and I'm friends with... I think at least four Maggies.

On the other hand, my name is Virginia, and I was named for my great-great aunt who was born in the 1910s. I have met a handful of young Virginias, and every time I've asked they were also named after relatives.

 

[Claireg]

Both my grandmothers have passed away, one has a name i would LOVE to give a baby - Molly, alas the other (and she was the nana I was closest to) was called Myrtle.
Myrtle is one of those names you just couldnt call a child.
What a shame.

 

[fortworthgal]

I've never thought my name was particularly vintage - Pamela Sue, but according to the nametrends site, apparently Pamela was popular in the 40s through the 60s and reached its peak in 1954 as the #12 name that year. Who knew? I'm pretty happy with it, but I was almost named Laura (my mom's 2nd choice), and I wouldn't turn my nose up at that one.

 

[Babydoll]

We named our daughter Lillian after my husband's grandmother, but we call her Lily. It suits her. Last week at the grocery store an elderly lady (Faye, I believe she said her name was) came up to Lily and started talking to her. Mind you, Lilypie is only 7 1/2 months old, so she didn't do much talking bad to her. But I was quite shocked when Faye took her lapdog out of her shopping cart and introduced her to Lilypie as Lily. A dog with the same name as my daughter?? lol Lilypie's cuter.

 

[de-stressed]

Margaret is pretty common among my acquaintance, although none of them go by it! My grandmother is Margaret, and she went by Margie. I work with a Meg, and I'm friends with... I think at least four Maggies.

My grandmother just passed this last spring and her name was Margaret, but she always went by Peggy.

I've always loved classic older names. My daughter's names are Catherine Rose and Geneviève Grace, both named after different great-grandmothers.

 

[azhiker]

Well, My name is Leslie, and I'm a III. My Grandfather (who also wore a Fedora every day) had an Uncle Leslie. My grandfather was born in 1892, so I guess that makes our name kinda vintage also. Like I feel today!