Fashionable names

My parents went out of their way to avoid giving us family names, so my sister and I have French names.

In our year at school (a very small school) there were 4 Lindas. In the year above there were 4 Christines and in the year below there were 4 Susan's.

Having read the thread through, I am surprised that the name Mary is not considered one from our generation. I always thought of it as the standard name, along with John.

My German daughters in law have chosen names for the little ones which sound very odd to my English ears, but I have got used to them and have never judged them for it.

I must admit, my 3 DS all have names of Catholic saints, possibly subconsciously to please my mother in law, but the main criterion was that they could easily be recognised and pronounced in several languages.

In my mother's memoir she remembers that the girls in her class were all named after flowers : Violet, Ivy, Poppy, Daisy, Iris, Rose. Those names would not sound dated today, somehow.

What goes around comes around.

I was named after an aunt that died very young before I was born.

I almost became a Doris, fortunately mum put her foot down, and I was given her middle name instead, although not many of us about, my name appears fairly low on the 1800 list.

My middle name is a name through several generations in honour of my maternal grandmother Marý, I tweeked this for my second daughters middle name and used Marie.

My resident grandaughter has to my mind a beautiful middle name Charmaine

My name was used as a heroine of a saturday morning cinema film
The Perils of Pauline

Drew Barrymore and David Tennant both have little daughters called Olive.

JackyB
I love all those names remembered by your mum, there are lots of Poppy’s and Daisy’s
around, such pretty names.
I had two old aunties called Daisy, but we always called them Auntie Daze, I thought that was actually their names.

I have a name which was unusual at the time, and I was the only one with the me in my school. It became popular 15 or 20 years later so if we are aged by a name I was years older than expected.
I just can’t get my head round Colin Malcolm Keith Janet Susan Linda Barbara as names for babies but would get used to it as we always do.
What comes around etc.
C’est la vie!

Same thing happened with my s8. Her name was virtually unheard of when we were children. But a generat8later and it was ubiquitous.

With my Sister.

My Christian name is French, so not very popular in UK. I can count on one hand the number of people I have met with the same name. My brother and sister both have very nice English names.

My Granddaughter will soon be 14, and was born in the Era when ‘May’ became just about the most popular middle name for a new Baby Girl, just about rivalling the very common ‘Louise’ of the 1970s and 80s!

In her tutor group alone they have an Ellie May, Molly May, Lily May, and a Sophie May!

kittylester

MerylStreep

I’ve lead a very full life and met I don’t know how many people but I’ve only met one woman with my name, and she was a neighbour. It’s Geraldine. Are there any here?

I have a friend called Geraldine and was at school with another one.

yes, had one at school.
it used to be popular among families with Irish ancestry.
i once met a Geraldette, at an irish dancing group.
never heard it before or since.

when i was a child, our elderly neighbour had 3 middle-aged sons, Dan, Den and Don.
sounds rather like footballer's offspring now.
reading the baby names threads on MN is amusing/instructive.
they want to not only choose the name, but decide what the nickname will be also. no room it seems for the child's input.
that list of names from 1880s is American, so there would be some differences re UK names.

Good luck choosing your kids’ nicknames. The poor soul in my primary one class who had a small accident in his first week of school still answers to the name of Pisher to this day.

I knew a Geraldine whose husband was Gerald.

Kitty
My mother was Irish. My brother is Patrick
I once worked with a Gaelic speaker, she would pronounce my name in that language, it sounded lovely.

My first and second names were registered in the wrong order. On a personal level I am known by my middle name, as intended, but officialdom has me down as registered. I dislike the first name intensely and I am uncomfortable being called by it at, for instance, a hospital visit. It's not me, it's not who I am.

MerylStreep, one of GN's early mods was called Geraldine - is it you?

MerylStreep I knew a Geraldine many years ago when our children were at playgroup, a lovely woman.

I also know a Meryl

Just had a new grand daughter called Penelope..Penny .

My daughter was born in the seventies and she is called Susan. It was a name I'd loved since childhood and I felt no other name would do. I love the way names come and go. I've heard of a Stanley recently. Alfie, Arthur and Charlie came and went again. Will Gladys ever come back?

I'd rather have Susan than some of the modern "made up names". Any Janet you meet is almost 70. There were 7 in my year at school. Never heard of a younger one.

When I had my baby in 1990, I thought I would be different and call him. John....two other mums I knew expecting at the same time had the same idea ?

I knew some Susans when I was at school.I like the older names,Christine Lampard called her daughter Patricia,I like that.I know more Margarets my age and older than any other name,probably because of Princess Margaret,I wonder if that will ever become popular again.

I am blessed with the perfect Christian name: Anna. It is ageless, classless, stateless and is not easily shortened. However, my twin sister loathes her name and no longer answers to it. Incidentally, my youngest Grandson was at primary school with a girl called Doris and personally I think it’s an absolutely sweet name.

My grandmother's lovely name, Florence, seems to have made a come back. Or did for a while.
I don't like my first name at all, hopefully it will never make a come-back, but much prefer my royal middle name and have often used it.

One of my daughters is called Susannah, nobody spells it correctly. I think she's just about given up! "Oh, hello, you must be Suzanne?" (Big sigh, "yes, that's me"!