Blast from the past.

Rosina

I thought the most original I heard was a family of many children who, when the latest baby was born, ran completely out of ideas and called her 'Girl'. My friend referred to her 'Aunt Girl' and I was intrigued until she explained.

My aunt was called ’Girlie’ real name Phyllis and her younger brother ’Boy’ real name Philip

Ilovecheese

I think that Mercedes is actually an older name. The car was named after the girl, not the other way round.

This is true. And my younger daughter's middle name is Mercedes.

Not too many Carols about either.

My gd’s best friend is Edith. She has a twin brother and sister, Betsy and Ernie. They are 5. My grandson is Edward, or Ted.

Mercedes is Spanish for ‘mercies’. During Franco’s time, babies had to be named according to a list of ‘approved Catholic names’. María de las Mercedes (Mary of the Mercies, literally) was/is one of the titles given to the Virgin Mary.

I heard recently that Elizabeth is the only ( girls?) name which has never dropped off the most popular names list.
There are probably popular boys names which remain popular too

I saw a "pop up" news item online recently about a 6 year old named Mildred who had been bullied at school for having an "old granny" name which she now hated. Unfortunately, instead of sorting out the bullying, her father told her that he hated it too but he'd had to accept it because her mother, and grandparents, had chosen it! No prizes for guessing which paper that was from.

My lovely GM was Bertha Maggie - not sure they will make a comeback. My Mum was an Ellen May - suited her very well. One of my names is Muriel which I never use as I hate it!
My friend's baby boy
is Wilfred - an oldie sounding name ( same as PM's son).

Our new great-niece is called Sadie. The only recent Sadie I can think of is the actress, Sadie Frost.

We have 3 granddaughters named Martha, Alice and Rose; lovely old names! Grandson is Harry.

snowberryZ

When I hear Nellie I think of the horrible girl in Little House on the Prararie!
Also the saying Big Fat Nellie. which admitedly is horrible and hopefully wouldn't be said now.

Love the other names though.

Nellie reminds me of a formidable great aunt. Where I come from it is short or another name for Eleanor or Helen.
I nearly got a Mabel, my GD's parents have been told her name is pretentious but it was pointed out it was just the modern spelling of a name used at the Norman conquest.
I'm waiting for all the 40's and 50's names to come back, the Janets, Joan Marion, Sheila, Patricia and Jennifers.
I was asked the other day if I had ever taught someone with my name and I said no and only one of my husbands. I started work in the early '70s.

Eleanor, Florence, Molly, Lily and Amelia have been around for some time now. Phoebe has also been popular for some years. I have taught an Ellen (which I like) and an Elsie and an Ada - names l don’t like but I liked the girls very much. Around four or five years ago, I taught a girl called Jane and it struck me that this was the first child called Jane l had heard of for years - it was one of the most popular girls’ names when I was at school and I like it. Names like Dennis, Bernard, Edith and Dorothy sound like old people to me but obviously not to modern parents. On Mumsnet a few weeks ago, there was a discussion on the next old-fashioned girls’ name to be revived and I was amused that there was so much agreement for my name, Elaine, and how pretty they all thought it was. That’s the fifty year cycle rather than the hundred so there is hope yet for all the Susans, Angelas, Lindas and Christines of our generations. I would not be at all surprised if Susan were not soon to be revived.

How about Alma?

My poor mother was Ethel but known as Molly as her second name was Mary. I do hope that Ethel is now out of the question! I have a Maisie and an Elsie in the family - pretty names, I think.

I love hearing all the older names coming back. My sister and I have no children so have only our rescue dogs to name. We have an Ivy and a Susie at present. My friend's daughter was going to name her new baby girl Ivy until her mum reminded her what my dog was called.....she was called Molly instead.

Mercedes is a character in The Count of Monte Christo by Dumas.

It has only been for the last 20 odd years that parents in France have been allowed to go ‘off piste’ and register legally a child’s name of their choice. The law was, that it had to be a French name that was on a list. Isobel was not allowed 40 years ago so we pushed for the English spelling not the traditional French one because it was spelt like that a few hundreds of years ago.

Not names I would have chosen but then they are not my children.

One of my granddaughter’s is called Charlotte which I think is a lovely older name. I had a great Aunt called Charlotte but she was known as Lot or Lottie.

I chose very traditional names for my children...David William and Catherine Rose! Thankfully, they've carried on the tradition.. James David, Robin James Andrew David and Jacob Andrè (ok..Andrè was after my DiLs favourite uncle). However, another family member called their girls Morgan and Ellis...after designer brands!

I know of a Jonah, a Noah, a Mary Jane and a Hortensia in our village all between 2 and 7 years. I too like (most of) the old names, it's nice to see them becoming popular again.

What about boys names?
Our son, nearly 40 now, has the middle name Ernest after grandparents of ours. I can't remember Grandma's first name now, to my shame, but was grateful we had a boy as we had agreed to use her name in the middle if it was a girl.
We did once ask our Simon if he wanted to change his middle name but he was proud to have the ancestral connection!

Linda was a very popular name when I was at school - how many do your hear of now? Christine was another - how long before those come back, I wonder? Once those girls would have been celebrating their 115th birthdays, I suspect.

Must say I’ve often been thankful for a classic name that doesn’t date - all down to my mother, who was given a fashionable-at-the-time name that she came to loathe!

My DGD is Harriet which I think is a throw back, my DGS is Elijah which I think is quite popular

My parents were Welsh so of course, I have a Welsh name, Bronwen Cerys. I hated my name when I was a child but I love it now. There’s nobody I know with my name where I live!