Fashionable names

The Scottish tradition was to name children after their grandparents. I should have been a Barbara and my mum should have been an Elizabeth. Neither of us have those names!

It certainly makes it easier to trace ancestors

Dont forget the paulines

A lot of my Welsh friends have names like Janet, Susan, Margaret etc but their grandchildren tend to have more traditional Welsh names.

I am usually called Sue not usually called dull and boring though - anything but. Dont worry I'm not offended rather be called that than Beyonce or similar fashionable name.

DH calls me Suzie which I love.

My name is Susan!

Not Amex!
Her second name is French
Sorry folks. I had to have a covid test in the hospital and rushed my post!

How about Rosemary and Jennifer? I hadn’t realised those were dated, but they are.

I always think boys’ names are less prone to fashion changes than those of girls, but I would be surprised to encounter a little Geoffrey or Kenneth now.

I know a baby called Rex.......
I’m partial to biblical sounding names I must admit. I love Gabriel and Raphael, Josiah, Gideon etc.

I was surprised never to encounter a Diana while teaching.
Wonder if there will be a new one soon?

[I was at school with an Eluned, which I liked because it was unusual but she hated, and would only admit to Megan. ]

I had a great-aunt Louisa. I’d quite like to bring that back. We find Louise, but rarely Louisa,

What about Theodora? Henrietta?

What goes around comes around, names go in cycles, one generations popular names are the butt of jokes to their grandchildren.

To my generation names like Ethel, Olive, Margery, Arthur, Albert, or rather Bert were the butt of comedian's jokes. Now they are back in fashion

I think this 'Susan' is the first swallow of spring. Soon we will have flocks of Susans, Marys, Margarets, Johns, Peters and Michaels filling every nursery and infant school.

My best friend when I was a child in the 1940s was called Harriet. It was very unusual then, but became fashionable later, I was very envious of her unusual name.

No doubt the child will end up being called Susie. Or Suzie.

These names were very popular in the 60s. I knew many Susans, Sarah, David, Paul, John. Ann, Deborah etc etc. All very common in the 50s and 60s.

I'm sure your friend will learn to love the name Susan. And it's a rare name today! At least there won't be 4 or 5 in her class when she goes to school.

My parents gave me an unusual name. Sister too. Which I like. But they were rather bohemian and we did have an odd upbringing.

My children have unusual names.

Nowadays a lot of the older names are becoming popular. Evelyn, Alfred, Archie, Grace, Lily etc etc

Maybe we will suddenly see an influx of Susans soon!

There were five Carols in my Grammar School form. That's another name you don't see babies being given these days. We had two Normas and three Sylvias. My best friend was Anita, later it was Hilary and in my late teens, Susan.

My own name is a very traditional one, and regal twice over! I have always liked it. I was called after my Great Grandmother, who I never knew. DDiL, DGD and I all share the same second name and another DGD has the Irish version of my first name. Our only DGS has DH's first name, which is his Dad's second name, as his own second name.

Interesting how names become fashionable isn't it?

I don't particularly dislike names but I really don't like it when names get 'changed' i.e. Abigail to Abbs, Emma to Ems, Julia to Jules, Phoebe to Pheebs etc!
For goodness sake.......use the persons name correctly!

My mother had strong, not to say rigid, views about names and sadly did not keep them to herself. She pretty much bullied my sister into her choice for grandson.

My 5 year old granddaughter’s first name is a boy’s nd Amex which was popular in the 1930s for girls; her second B and is French and her third name is a military term.

My friends were all Susans and Janets, Dianes and Jacquelines, I nearly got named Penelope.

As for me, I like classics. John, Oliver are pretty simple and good names

I like Susan, but not Barbara so much because of its association with barbaric.

Allegra is the version I know of Alegria. As you say, it means joy. Lovely and very trendy!

I tend not to like the names of my generation and the one immediately before. There were five girls called Jean in my form. Then there were those called Norma, Joan, Barbara and Kathleen. They all sound sort of stolid to me. There, I’m bound to have offended someone now! On the other hand, I quite like Margaret and Patricia.

My own names are pretty much timeless and classic. My brother is David, which is one of those names you just can’t go wrong with. My grandchildren, thank goodness, have good names, I was nervous about that, because I have very strong feelings about names.

When I was in junior school we had Megan, Nanwyn, Eirwyn,
Esme, Gwyneth, Caerwyn, Eluned, Elerie, a Family moved from England, their daughter was Maxine , we were so envious

My best friend when I was very young was Susan, she lived next door.
Our other friend was Valerie - haven't heard that for years, even amongst my age group.

Me neither, except among the staff !

In ten years of teaching, I have never encountered a Deborah or Debbie. It was such a common name in the 60s and 70s.

I like my name now but remember for some reason as a child wanting to be called Valerie which I thought was dreadfully glamorous! Don’t like it at all now !