So, my granddaughter's name is Ada. My grandma was also called Ada and she was one of the best women to ever have walked the earth so I was delighted when I knew my granddaughter was to have the same name.
I said to my daughter that I loved it but was she really ok with giving a small baby an old lady name? Her reply wasn't what I was expecting. She said - it's not an old lady name, it's a Victorian name, old ladies aren't called that. I said - so what are old ladies called then? She's a nurse and spends most of her time with 'old ladies' and her reply was - you know mum, names like Doreen, Maureen, Joan, Barbara, Connie, Eileen, Elaine, Sylvia, Sonia, Margaret. GOSH!
The penny has now dropped - old ladies were called Ada and similar names when I was little but now I'm in my sixties they, of course, have all died off, and older people are indeed called the names my daughter mentioned.
All the Victorian names are back in force. Little Ada has friends called Elsie, Flora, Florence, Mabel, Nellie, Norah and Ivy.
