Blast from the past.

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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.

How about Alma?

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.

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.

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

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

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).

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.

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

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.

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.

Not too many Carols about either.

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.

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

My gran was Ellen (which i always thought really pretty), and she'd named her oldest child, Helen,(my aunt) so after herself but slightly different, also pretty- but then everyone called them both Nellie- (which i thought not as pretty) so 2 nice names wasted!

Olive…..Who remembers ”On the Buses”

I was at school with an Elsie, a Maud and an Ava. I remember thinking they were awful, old fashioned names. Now they're bang on trend while the Jackies, Lorraines and Lindas are totally dated and out of fashion.

Give it another thirty years and the nursing homes will be full of Kylies, Jades and Leannes and the creches will be full of Barbaras, Patricias and Joyces.

My grandma was Jessie May. I wish her name could have carried on in the family but it wasn’t to be.

My birth name was Dorothy So was called Dottie
I hated it as I was also blond
A Dottie blonde
Changed my name to Tamayra now get called Tam Tammie Tee But that’s not as awful as Dottie

I thought the girl’s name was spelled Portia not Porche
It is - it's from Shakespeare's "The Merchant of Venice"; the first play I went to the RSC to see - with a young Judi Dench playing Portia - what a combination, I was hooked on Shakespeare from that day onwards...❤️