Baby names!

Mirren is becoming popular here.
I like Esther and Rosemary

It’s hard nowadays because there’s infinite choice. On my family tree, for hundreds of years, the same few names predominate.
Girl? Anne, Elizabeth, Catherine.
Boy? John, William, Richard.
Now, by wanting a yoonique name, parents choose daft or ugly names. I know a girl called Rees and a boy called Ty.

I agree Rosemary is lovely, and I have often wondered why it doesn’t seem to be used any more. Perhaps it’s coming back.

If I’d had a daughter she would have been called Caroline.

I have a DGD called Florence, my grandfathers sister, born 1893 was also Florence, with the same surname.

What goes around, comes back. If I had had a DD our plan was to call her Rebecca or Emma.

That was the late 1970’s.

Our C and GC all have traditional/old fashioned names, we have 2 babies due in the next 5 months and one of the names for one AC is Mavis.

I knew a Mavis Davis (just saying in case Mavis GrannyGravy should happen to meet and marry a Mr Davis one day).

??????

I knew Isabella Bell.

Oo watermeadow those names are all used in one side of my family, you are not Welsh are you?

I like what I always think of as ‘maids names ‘
Daisy
Polly
Florence
Annie
Hetty
Kitty
And many more

A few years ago now, my friend had a new grandson, I asked what they had called him, there was a slightly embarrassed pause, and she said, he was Stanley, we both looked at each other aghast before going into fits of giggles!

Of course, Stanley’s now are ten a penny

We know a Stanley who is starting university this year, so it had not gone away altogether.

Rhymes can be a problem and any girl name ending ie or y can be a bit too cute for some buxom young ladies.
Polly, Daisy, Rosie, Bonnie... for little girls it's one thing but then they grow up.

Then there are the unisex names such as Robin, Jo, Chris and Pat so that you can't be sure from a letter whether you are speaking to a man or a woman. I quite like that ambiguity. It stops people judging you right away perhaps?

My DGDs are Madeline (Maddy), Megan, Gabrielle (Gaby) & Matilda (Tilly), which I love. I also like: Florence, Flora, Elizabeth, Charlotte (Lottie), Harriet, Annie, Sophie and lots more that I can't think of at the moment.

Grammaretto

I agree to some extent with what you’ve said, but don’t you find people seem to grow into their names, I really can’t imagine any of my children/grandchildren being called anything else

Patsy70

Agree with your choices you, we have several of them

Oh, yes, Hannah and Alice. I also had a whiskery old aunt Mabel (who wasn't really an 'aunt', but a friend of my great aunt). We thought they may have been 'more than friends'! .

I have to laugh when I read about teachers and children having trouble writing 'made up names' .

How would they cope here with Te Rongopai o Kahurangi (that's just the first of several names, not including surnames)

Maruata-ranginui-te-Opotoki; Tanenui-o-Tepakanga and so on.
All these children with traditional Maori names have no difficulty at all to writing their full name, which may include up to 6 family names as well as the one they are typically called by.

It makes 'Kyelely' also in the class, look very mundane.

One of my GDs is named Annabelle, but likes to be called Annie. My Mother born in 1908 was named Annie and hated it and liked to be called Eva. Few people seem like their own name.

It is true Sara65 that we grow into our names and when I first heard our DGD telling someone her name, it was a precious moment.

My name is short. One syllable and so was my surname which is truly one of the reasons I changed to my husband's name - to get an extra syllable.

I automatically dismissed any name suggestions that my mother made (for my four) as I thought they'd be far too old fashioned. Of course, now they're back in favour for my grandchildren.

When I was at the park at the weekend, there was a little girl called Barbara, that’s unusual now

Love the name Ivy (Conker, a few posts up). My DD has said if she has a daughter she will call her that, it’s probably still a few years away though so she might change her mind by then, hope not.

It’s funny how things come around, all my old aunties names are back in fashion
Laura
Harriet
Eva
Elsie
Lily
Evelyn
Nell
Ginny
Daisy

Aunties Eileen and Marjorie don’t seem to have had much of a comeback though

I have a Harriet, a Maisie & a Nell in my close family.
My MiL was Gladys. Heaven forbid that becomes popular again. How any parent could look at their babe and decide to saddle her with that ....
FiL called her 'Glad'. ?