Names never to return?

My Dad was called Septimus, his father and grandfather both had that name too, when my brother was born he said he would make damn sure that he never had to bear it! and named him Duncan, I have a Sidnonia and a Keziah in my family tree.

My daughter when she was expecting, was going to call the baby Walter if it had been a boy. Thank goodness they got a Florence instead!

anniebach your OP reminded me of a comic strip from my childhood - 'Lettice Leaf, the Greenest Girl in School'. I think it was in Girl magazine. Of course these days Lettice would be an entirely different character from what she was back then.
My father's name was Dunstan, although his older brothers were George, Dick and Joe. He was given the name because when he was born they thought he was blind. St Dunstan is the patron saint of the blind.

Can't say I'm keen to see Agatha, Gertrude or Reginald reappear. I do think certain older names are better than some that are given to children now.

We had a Hepzibah in the family too, Jalima, known as Aunt Eppie.

Agatha, Mildred, Gertrude, Ethel and Percy, Herbert, Cuthbert, Harold

Chewbacca Vera is already back as is Edna,Ada and Hilda

Primrose, Ivy and Christine? Are there little Winifred's now? I guess sometimes children have to grow into their names.

One of my DGDs is Matilda-Jean. Jean is after my Mum who my DD adored but she died many years ago.

Sorry tanith Predictive text again

vanity I think Gwenllian was a princess associated with Kidwelly?

There are some names that just don't go with 'babies' How can you look in a pram and see a Stanley or Arthur gurgling back at you but they are there and on the increase, I know of a Violette lots of Alfie s a Pauline, Dorothy, Iris and Martha

I have a great great called Zippariah now that's some name and a few Moses on the family tree

I think the names usually skip at least three or four generations before they come back so ours may come back by middle of the century when we re long gone one of my grans was Feodora always called Dora I m surprised that's not around with Dora the explorer on Tv

I recall about ten years ago seeing a local young woman proudly pushing her brand new baby in his pram. I congratulated her and asked her what she had had and the baby's name and I nearly fell over when she said it was a boy and he was called Roy!

Maybe Walter De La Mare durhamjen?

Jemima is my name
But oh I have another.
My Father always calls me Meg
And so do Bob and Mother.
But my sister,
Jealous of my bright red hair,
Calls Mima, Mima, Mima,
Mocking down the stair.

I have quoted that from memory, having learned it at primary school, so it may not be totally accurate.

I don't think we can totally write off any names just because they are not popular at the moment. When I told my Ma that we were going to call absentdaughter Grace, she said in a very shocked tone, "But that's an old woman's name!" She was reconciled when I pointed out that old women were once babies. Absentdaughter, however, has always hated the name and changed it years ago. It later became one of the most popular names for girls in the UK. My mother also disliked Jane and Sarah because, in her day, they were common names among servants.

I know brothers Norman and Stanley (not, happily, Fletcher) who must be about six and eight now. I also know a Pearl and a Ruby. I know a Titania who had the most miserable time at school as children can be very cruel with nicknames.

There was a certain amount of family debate about calling me Henrietta as I looked very like my father whose name was Henry. Eventually it was vetoed.

I wonder whether Harry, Ron and Hermione will enjoy a comeback soon.

By the way, did you know that King Herod's wife was called Doris?

"There was a little girl, who had a little curl, right in the middle of her forehead. When she was good she was very, very good but when she was bad she was horrid." Can't recall her being associated with Jemima, but she could have been.

I can see why she might have been dj !

I remember once asking a mother what her new baby was called and she said Jennifer.
I said, oh poor thing. The mother was most affronted.

I hope my name never comes back . I don't think it will. I have always hated it.

Wasn't Jemima the little girl who had a little curl right in the middle of her forehead?

My DGD has friends called Iris, Jemima and Ivy (all 5)

Funny how the names Elsie and Elise, although so similar, conjure up very different pictures in the mind.

my great-great-aunt was Hephzibah

My friend at school said her mother was called 'Elise' but then confessed that it was actually Elsie but that she hated it so much she told everyone it was Elise.

Jalima my youngest granddaughter came very close to being named Hepzibah and I quite like it.
Current old-fashioned names among local little ones are: Elsie, Martha, Esme, Polly, Eliza, Albert, Stanley, Ralph, Arthur and Henry.
I don't think Beryl will be making a comeback any time soon.
Elizabeth, Ann, Louise and May have always been fairly common middle names.

Faith, Hope and Charity? Not forgetting Prudence.

Hephzibah anyone?