Old fashioned names we hardly hear today

hollydolly

hollydolly

SF VIP
Location
London England
I know that some old fashioned names are making a little bit of a come-back these days... but on the whole there are names that I hardly here at all that were really common when I was a kid...

Some of my relatives.. aunties and ... Lily, Ina, Mamie, Edie, Gwen., Iris, Phyllis, Violet, Doreen, ... and in my class at school.. Mabel, Petulia , Arlene, (we had 3 Arelenes in my class alone) Gladys, Elspeth, Rosalind, Hermione (all pretty names) ... etc... and boys names my cousins and uncles and parents friends , Victor, Eugene, Albert, Arthur, Hector, Cyril,

What names are in your family or childhood background that you rarely hear today
 

Last edited:
Old names show up when the naming generation doesn't associate them with old people.

To wit, Lily has come back with a vengeance. My granddaughter is named that as are several of her preschool chums. I know a few little girls named Adeline, Claire and Stella, too. Remember when it seemed every third girl was named Jennifer, Alison, Jessica or Emily? Also Tiffany came and went.

Names from my generation that have fallen out of favor:
Carol, Lynn, Mary Jane, Sandra, Cindy, Janet, Anne, Barbara, Karen, Jean, Robert, John, William, Fred, Geoff, Richard.
20 years from now they'll be all the rage.
 
I had an Aunt ila and Aunt Bernice. Then below are some
southern gals I was going to post in my Southern Porch Party
thread...Ina Pearl, Fannie Jane, and Myrtle...

ina_fannie_myrtle_3a7e51cf-b85c-49d0-9494-c3117c618d3a_large.jpg
 
Last edited:
Eunice, Mildred, Elviney, Phyllis, Beula, Ernest, Dudley. There have always been a lot of old fashioned names in the American South since many families name their children after family--both given names and surnames used as given names. My family tree is loaded with William, Andrew, Samuel, John, James, Anna, Catherine, Caroline, Mary, Sarah etc. Some in the South have gone with trendy names such as Remington and Colton for boys, MacKenzie for girls though they have no MacKenzie surname in their lineage.
 
Sophie has never gone out of fashion here..

The older fashioned names are definitely returning tho'...mainly more noticeable in boys names...Henry, Arthur, Harry, Leo, Oliver ..etc..
 
My dad and uncle once owned a seasonal place up at the 1000 Islands here in New York. Motel, gas station and restaurant/bar. The cleaning lady for the motel was named Bertha. One of the waitress's was named Genevive. This was back in the early 60's
 

Back
Top