# Old fashioned names  we hardly hear today



## hollydolly (Aug 16, 2019)

I know that some old fashioned names are making a little bit of a come-back these days...  but on the whole there are names that I hardly here at all that were really common when I was a kid...

Some of my relatives.. aunties and ... Lily, Ina, Mamie, Edie, Gwen., Iris, Phyllis, Violet, Doreen,  ... and in my class at school.. Mabel, Petulia , Arlene, (we had 3 Arelenes in my class alone) Gladys, Elspeth, Rosalind, Hermione   (all pretty names) ... etc... and boys names my cousins and uncles and parents friends , Victor, Eugene, Albert, Arthur, Hector, Cyril,

What names are in your family or childhood  background that you rarely hear today


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## JustBonee (Aug 16, 2019)

Many of the name you mention come to mind @hollydolly ... also for men,  Elmer, Ernest, Edgar and Chester  ....  Some names for women..
Hazel, Stella, Clara and Blanche.


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## jet (Aug 16, 2019)

Gwen,grace,


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## hollydolly (Aug 16, 2019)

jet said:


> Gwen,grace,


Oh I forgot my auntie Gwen...


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## Pappy (Aug 16, 2019)

My relatives.
Ina, Stella, Estelle, Mabel, Sebastian, Lenard, Harold and I’m sure many more that I’ve forgotten.


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## jet (Aug 16, 2019)

Kathleen


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## retiredtraveler (Aug 16, 2019)

Family names (past): Ruby   Hiram   Harold   Gwendolyn


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## charry (Aug 16, 2019)

my neice has  just named her daughter Elsie ,
and my dads name Ernie....


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## StarSong (Aug 16, 2019)

Old names show up when the naming generation doesn't associate them with old people.  

To wit, Lily has come back with a vengeance. My granddaughter is named that as are several of her preschool chums. I know a few little girls named Adeline, Claire and Stella, too. Remember when it seemed every third girl was named Jennifer, Alison, Jessica or Emily? Also Tiffany came and went. 

Names from my generation that have fallen out of favor: 
Carol, Lynn, Mary Jane, Sandra, Cindy, Janet, Anne, Barbara, Karen, Jean, Robert, John, William, Fred, Geoff, Richard. 
20 years from now they'll be all the rage.


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## Lara (Aug 16, 2019)

I had an Aunt ila and Aunt Bernice. Then below are some
southern gals I was going to post in my Southern Porch Party
thread...Ina Pearl, Fannie Jane, and Myrtle...


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## JustBonee (Aug 16, 2019)

Like clothes fashion,  names seem to resurface  after X amount of years...  must be the 100 year rule.  ...per the link below.
Like @StarSong said,  " _when people don't associate them with old people."_

https://nameberry.com/blog/vintage-names-100-year-old-names-that-sound-new-again


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## hollydolly (Aug 16, 2019)

jet said:


> Kathleen


 My ex M-i-l's name


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## AnnieA (Aug 16, 2019)

Eunice, Mildred, Elviney, Phyllis, Beula, Ernest, Dudley.     There have always been a lot of old fashioned names in the American South since many families name their children after family--both given names and surnames used as given names.   My family tree is loaded with William, Andrew, Samuel, John, James, Anna, Catherine, Caroline, Mary, Sarah etc.   Some in the South have gone with trendy names such as Remington and Colton for boys, MacKenzie for girls though they have no MacKenzie surname in their lineage.


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## tortiecat (Aug 16, 2019)

Florence, Martha, Lillian, Elva, Inez, Iris, all girls I went to school with
over 80 years ago.


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## toffee (Aug 16, 2019)

agnes -
emmy 
emma
dolcia
doris
enid 
miriam


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## RadishRose (Aug 16, 2019)

I know of 2 toddlers named Ida and Willa.
Sophie is back.

I don't hear about any new  Ethel, Carol, Lorraine, Nancy, Cynthia, Joan, Millie or Mildred.


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## hollydolly (Aug 16, 2019)

Sophie has never gone out of fashion here..

The older fashioned names are definitely returning tho'...mainly more noticeable in boys names...Henry, Arthur, Harry, Leo, Oliver ..etc..


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## Marie5656 (Aug 16, 2019)

*My dad and uncle once owned a seasonal place up at the 1000 Islands here in New York. Motel, gas station and restaurant/bar.   The cleaning lady for the motel was named Bertha.  One of the waitress's was named Genevive.  This was back in the early 60's*


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## Lc jones (Aug 16, 2019)

Calvin, Mabel,  Wesley, Jean, Albert, Ethel, Percy, and Mae. These are the names of my great aunts and uncles and grandparents in my family


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## applecruncher (Aug 16, 2019)

Bertha (one of my grandmothers)

Gertrude

Helen


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## Judycat (Aug 16, 2019)

I like Walter. Named one of my cats that. She knows her name doggone it.


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## RadishRose (Aug 16, 2019)

Judycat said:


> I like Walter. Named one of my cats that. She knows her name doggone it.


 That's funny, I recently met 2 dogs named Walter!


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## hollydolly (Aug 16, 2019)

One of our dogs is called Stanley and we had another called Rodney!


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## JustBonee (Aug 16, 2019)

RadishRose said:


> That's funny, I recently met 2 dogs named Walter!



 Have a Walter (doggy)  neighbor,   and he's a sweetheart.


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## hollydolly (Aug 16, 2019)

Roger!! That's another name you don't hear today... I have 2 friends both called Roger but they're my age!!


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## Sassycakes (Aug 16, 2019)

*Thinking about names one I haven't heard in awhile is Elizabeth. It's funny because Elizabeth was my Mom's name, my MIL's name and my sister's MIL's name. I don't know anyone with that name now.*


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## hollydolly (Aug 16, 2019)

Sassycakes said:


> *Thinking about names one I haven't heard in awhile is Elizabeth. It's funny because Elizabeth was my Mom's name, my MIL's name and my sister's MIL's name. I don't know anyone with that name now.*


 My mum's name also...and my auntie's name as well as my sister-in-law!

My mum and auntie were always known as Betty..s-i-l  goes by Liz!!

Which reminds me of another aunt of mine..Bessie... not heard that name for a long time!!


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## Llynn (Aug 16, 2019)

Agnes, Ruth


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## treeguy64 (Aug 16, 2019)

I had a college class with a woman who had the worst name I ever came across: Dorkus! Who could name their daughter that? Of course, here in Texas, we had Ima Hogg, a governor's daughter who went on to lead a (single) life of great philanthropy.


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## Capt Lightning (Aug 16, 2019)

You don't often hear of Alfred, Albert, Victor or Hugh for boys,  Muriel, Virginia or Tilly (possibly short for Matilda) for girls these days.   However fashions come and go. When we named our daughter Emily, it was pretty unusual.  Now it's quite a common girl's name.


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## Sassycakes (Aug 16, 2019)

hollydolly said:


> My mum's name also...and my auntie's name as well as my sister-in-law!
> 
> My mum and auntie were always known as Betty..s-i-l  goes by Liz!!
> 
> Which reminds me of another aunt of mine..Bessie... not heard that name for a long time!!




*You reminded me of my Sister-in-laws name was Elizabeth also, but they called her Betty and I also had a Great Aunt named Elizabeth. I had 2 Aunt's named Josephine and 2 Aunts named Concetta. You don't hear those names anymore either.*


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## hollydolly (Aug 16, 2019)

treeguy64 said:


> I had a college class with a woman who had the worst name I ever came across: Dorkus! Who could name their daughter that? Of course, here in Texas, we had Ima Hogg, a governor's daughter who went on to lead a (single) life of great philanthropy.


Loads of women called Dorcas here, mainly among the Irish...


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## RadishRose (Aug 16, 2019)

treeguy64 said:


> I had a college class with a woman who had the worst name I ever came across: Dorkus! Who could name their daughter that? Of course, here in Texas, we had Ima Hogg, a governor's daughter who went on to lead a (single) life of great philanthropy.


I read about poor Ima!

I believe Dorkus is spelled Dorcas.


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## Ruth n Jersey (Aug 16, 2019)

I had a Molly and a Ruby in my class and a lot named John. Half the men in my family were named John.


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## hollydolly (Aug 16, 2019)

Sassycakes said:


> *You reminded me of my Sister-in-laws name was Elizabeth also, but they called her Betty and I also had a Great Aunt named Elizabeth. I had 2 Aunt's named Josephine and 2 Aunts named Concetta. You don't hear those names anymore either.*


 My husbands' grandmother who lived in Maine, was called Constance, (Connie)...hardly hear that today , certainly not among the young!


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## RadishRose (Aug 16, 2019)

@hollydolly , I also had an Aunt Connie (Constance), my father's sister!


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## hollydolly (Aug 16, 2019)

RadishRose said:


> @hollydolly , I also had an Aunt Connie (Constance), my father's sister!


 Did she live in Maine... ?


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## treeguy64 (Aug 16, 2019)

hollydolly said:


> Loads of women called Dorcas here, mainly among the Irish...


I figured there were others out there with alternative spellings. My apologies to these gals.


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## treeguy64 (Aug 16, 2019)

RadishRose said:


> I read about poor Ima!
> 
> I believe Dorkus is spelled Dorcas.


Not the one I knew.


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## treeguy64 (Aug 16, 2019)

In my 5th Grade class, we briefly had one Sophie Hoppenskipper. My mom and sister didn't believe me, and then Sophie left, after only one day, so I could never prove it.


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## RadishRose (Aug 16, 2019)

treeguy64 said:


> In my 5th Grade class, we briefly had one Sophie Hoppenskipper. My mom and sister didn't believe me, and then Sophie left, after only one day, so I could never prove it.


Sounds like she skipped out.


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## moviequeen1 (Aug 16, 2019)

My grandmother's {my dad's mom} name was Blanche,his father's  name was George.He died when my dad was 5
Our beloved cleaning lady who was like family as my siblings and I were growing up,her name was Gertrude


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## Sassycakes (Aug 16, 2019)

Reading this it brought back memories of when I had my children. When I had my first baby ,a boy, my husband said we would name him John after him. When we had our second baby, a girl, I said "Gee John we should name her Barbara after me." He looked shocked and said "Well that we would dumb,because then we would have John, John,  Barbara, Barbara !" I laughed so hard and then years later we had our grandson, So now we have John, John Jr, and John the 3rd. And still just 1 Barbara.


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## geno89 (Aug 16, 2019)

My name has been on the "endangered name list" for many years: Gene.


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## retiredtraveler (Aug 17, 2019)

StarSong said:


> ......I know a few little girls named Adeline, Claire and Stella, too. Remember when it seemed every third girl was named Jennifer, Alison, Jessica or Emily? Also Tiffany came and went.....20 years from now they'll be all the rage.


Well. You just named my nieces and their cousins.


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## Ferocious (Aug 17, 2019)

*I once had a mate, Duncan, who was never at school, so everyone used to say, "Duncan is bunkin' again." *


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## Ferocious (Aug 17, 2019)

*Clifford, Agatha, Montmorency, Benjamin, Justine, Blandford, Heather, Marsha, Wilhemina*


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## hollydolly (Aug 17, 2019)

*Felicity* is another one....


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## debodun (Aug 17, 2019)

My paternal grandparent's names were Gertrude and Ernest.


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## toffee (Aug 17, 2019)

Charlie 
bert 
aurther
fredrick
augustas


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## RadishRose (Aug 17, 2019)

Sheila, Tammy, Sally, Viola


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## applecruncher (Aug 17, 2019)

Ernestine
Blanche


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## Olivia (Aug 17, 2019)

A family friend's daughter is named Antoinette, but goes by Toni. Her mother is from Austria so that kind of explains that. (Think Marie Antoinette). I think it's pretty.


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## hollydolly (Aug 17, 2019)

Olivia said:


> A family friend's daughter is named Antoinette, but goes by Toni. Her mother is from Austria so that kind of explains that. (Think Marie Antoinette). I think it's pretty.


 Yes I like that name!!

My father apparently wanted to call me Alision  (he thought it was French for Alison) ...thank goodness my mother talked him out of it. I hate the name I was given, but I'm sure I would have hated Alision more..


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## StarSong (Aug 18, 2019)

Also very few Susans or Suzannes these days.  Lisa also seems out of fashion.


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## AZ Jim (Aug 18, 2019)

Delphia


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## hollydolly (Aug 18, 2019)

Olive... Alwyn ... Lydia


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## treeguy64 (Aug 18, 2019)

Sherwood, Siegfried, Ebenezer, Hepzibah, Ignatius, Mortimer


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## jujube (Aug 18, 2019)

We were stationed in Turkey with a couple who had a baby who they named "Honey".  Bad enough, that.....but when the birth certificate came back from the consulate, it was misspelled "Hokey".   AND, they decided they liked "Hokey" and planned to leave it at that.  We left shortly afterward, and I only hope someone talked them out of it.


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## treeguy64 (Aug 18, 2019)

jujube said:


> We were stationed in Turkey with a couple who had a baby who they named "Honey".  Bad enough, that.....but when the birth certificate came back from the consulate, it was misspelled "Hokey".   AND, they decided they liked "Hokey" and planned to leave it at that.  We left shortly afterward, and I only hope someone talked them out of it.


I only hope they had another kid and named it "Pokey," because that's what it's all about!

Of course, it'll be tough dressing them, when they're kids: You'll put their left feet in, they'll pull their left feet out.......


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## hypochondriac (Aug 18, 2019)

Deirdre. I worked with a Deirdre in the eightees.
My mother had an Auntie Vera.


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## Damaged Goods (Aug 18, 2019)

"Myrtle" has already been mentioned, but, shucks, even back in the 1950s, the only "Myrtles" I ever heard were friends and peers of my maternal grandmother who was born in 1892!


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## StarSong (Aug 19, 2019)

Lots of Olivers and Olivias in the past 5 years.  My daughter teaches 8th grade.  School began this past week - when we saw each other over the weekend she mentioned having 3 Emmas in one class alone!


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## Aunt Marg (Jun 3, 2020)

Used to babysit for two mothers... Mary-Jane and Florrie.

Next door to us (childhood home) was Beatrice, and her daughter who lived right next to her... Addie, and across the alley from us was Maxine (whom I also babysat for). 

And just like the Flintstones, there was a Wilma, who taught me how to ski when I was in elementary school.

Vivian and Cecilia, ran our church nursery, and June, was the owner of a corner store where I worked part-time.


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## hollydolly (Jun 4, 2020)

Beatrice has become quite popular here since the Duchess of york named her first born Beatrice..

I haven't heard Vivian for years..my best friend at school was Vivian  and we had a Cecilia (and her sister Dorothy)  in the foster homes I was in as  a child


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## Ken N Tx (Jun 4, 2020)

Grover


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## Lewkat (Jun 4, 2020)

My father's mother's name was Evalena, so that's my middle name.  I had two aunts named Evelyn and Edythe.


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## Ken N Tx (Jun 4, 2020)

We had an Abial (Male) and a Prudence (Female) in our Family Tree.


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## treeguy64 (Jun 4, 2020)

hollydolly said:


> Beatrice has become quite popular here since the Duchess of your named her first born Beatrice..
> 
> I haven't heard Vivian for years..my best friend at school was Vivian  and we had a Cecilia (and her sister Dorothy)  in the foster homes I was in as  a child


One of my granddaughters is Vivian.


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## debodun (Jun 4, 2020)

Cyrus, Clyde, Hubert, Aloysius, Bertram, Horace, Elgin, Gertrude, Prunella, Hortense


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