Old-fashioned names that are ripe for a revival?

[american_mama]

Just for fun, what old-fashioned names are ripe for a revival? Even if you don't love the name, what names can you think of that haven't been heard in a long time but sound right for today? I know many websites and books have lists like this, but here's my pick.

ETA: Try to view each name individually. As a whole, this list is straight from 1900 or something and sounds really old, but I think each name by itself could stand alone in 2006.

BOYS
Silas
Josiah (Jeb, Jed, Josh, Joe)
Marshall (Marsh)
Percival (Percy or Perry))
Miles (this might have already made a comeback)
Hugh/Hugo
Lazarus
Moses

GIRLS
Cora
Adelaide (Addie, Adele)
Stella
Celeste
Mabel
Sally
Henrietta (Hettie, Etta)
Opal
Rose (common as a middle name right now, but not often a first name)

[C99]

I think Stella and Mabel are already on the upswing. Rose...notsomuch. I meet SO many people who tell me, "My grandmother/favorite aunt/mother/grandmother's best friend was named Rose." Duh. So was MY grandmother. But you are right: it's so common as a middle name.

I actually combed the SSA site for names of babies born between 1900 and 1925 to come up with the names of my kids (although Rose was named after my grandmother, who was born in 1919 or something).

GIRLS
Olive
Ethel
Esther
Ruth
Hazel
Hattie
Louisa
Lucille

BOYS
George
Henry
Walter

[MarisaSF]

Like Caroline, I've known like 4 Stellas born in the past 2 years.

I see a bunch of "Jane" middle names, but haven't seen it as a first name recently. Same with Grace.

[BaileyBea]

DH just read in some article or in the Baby Name Voyager email that Rose is the #1 Middle name.

I agree some of these names are now getting popular again. My friends have recently used: Molly, Ruth, Louise, George, Edward, and Henry.

[BaileyBea]

Yeah! I would love to see Jane have a revival. And Sally too!

Nancy

[mudder17]

Jane is my mom's name. :) The other one that's not quite as common, but I'm seeing it from time to time is Alice.


Eileen

http://www.windsorpeak.com/dc/user_files/33734.gif 32 months...

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http://www.windsorpeak.com/dc/user_files/33732.gif for Leah

[gatorsmom]

I named my first son Michael Patrick after my great grandfather although that name has been overused in the past 100 years (it was the only name my husband and I could agree on. He wanted our first son named "Hondo"- can you say gay porn star?)

Our second son we named Charles Thomas and we call him Charlie. You don't hear Charlie everyday although I've heard that name is starting to come back into use.

I thought it would be neat to name our children Augustus, Maximilian, and Sebastian with the nicknames, Gus, Max, and Seb but my husband likes the modern, weird names.

In France the name Victor has made a comeback as a popular baby boy's name, but unfortunately, I don't see it making a comeback here (my grandfather's name was Victor). Victor's brothers had some strange names: anyone up for naming their babies Rufus, Morris, or Casper?

If I had another baby boy, I've thought about naming him Hugh, Oscar, George, or Henry.

How does anyone feel about the names Marlena or Judith for a girl? I really think the nickname Judy for a little girl is cute- am I way off base?

[mcdonald29]

There seem to be a few Ruby's running around town here.

[megs4413]

Girls:
Violet
Meredith
Nora
Eleanore
Mary

Boys:
Edward
Charles

[elephantmeg]

oh, Love Cora!

Lyda and Lydia too.

[JoyNChrist]

I think Ramona might come back into style for girls...didn't some celebrity recently name her daughter that?

I'm actually not even sure if Ramona is an "older" name, but the only two I know IRL are grandmas, so there's my reference point.

[lizajane]

i know TONS of sally/sallie baby girls.

[shilo]

i love old names :). most of my favorites come from old family names or patients (generally born between 1900 and 1930) who've stuck with me for one reason or another. some personal favorites that i'd like to see make a comeback (but maybe not become 'overused' - some are already becoming more popular i think?):

girs: anna, lillie, pearl, opal, ruby, georgia, naomi, nina, april, josie, helena, tessa, tommie, hazel and i had a great aunt catherine who went by 'cae' which i love...

boys: travis, henry, leo, oliver, shane, curtis, jasper, levi, russel, spencer, simon, colton, and tucker (and of course, i'm partial to samuel :) )

lori
Sam 5/19/05 How lucky I am that you chose me.

[thomma]

girl:
Nellie

boys:
George
Henry/Harry

[JBaxter]

Zoe ( great grandmother)
Josephine ( great grandmother's sister)
cecilia

boys
Malichi
Asher (great great grandfather)

[deenass]

Funny, I know two Zoe's, two Josephine's, one Cecelia and Asher is my friend's son's middle name!!!!!

[VClute]

OOOoooo - GOOD topic!

DH and I have already decided that if this one is a girl, the middle name would be Rose. Abigail is a lovely old name, but certainly one of the more popular girl names right now. I always thought Agatha deserved more use. And I LOOOVE Adelaide. I'm bookmarking this thread JUST in case! :)

Amy in NC
mom to Dixon, born 2/14/05
...and a sequel! Due 3/30/07

[Bethann31]

Maggie Gyllenhall and Peter Saarsgard named their daughter Ramona.

Beth
mom to:

Josh 3/90
Mollie 4/92
Jeffrey 12/94
Katherine 6/03


http://tickers.baby-gaga.com/t/lamlamsvi20030604_4_Katherine+Grace+is.png

[MartiesMom2B]

Evelyn was on our list of girls name and I think that's making a comeback.

I love how names are recycled. Just think how many of our grandaughters, greatgrandaughters will be named Jennifer, Tiffany, or Brittany.

-Sonia
Mommy to Martie
& Li'l Girl Bunny to come Feb. 2007
http://bd.lilypie.com/Kchhm4/.png (http://lilypie.com)

[tarynsmum]

*sigh*

I really love Nora/Norah, but my neighbor's little girl is Nora, and DD and she play together a lot (I love, love, love Cora too, but it's out for the same reason, only rhyming)

I knew a Silas in high school that was super-cool. I really like Enzo (from Lorenzo) too. That might not be an "old school" name for ya'll, but in my Italian AMerican neighborhood (who is VERY Italian), everyone I knew growing up had an Uncle Enzo. seriously. Unfortunately, DH says we aren't "Italian enough" to use it. For this same reason Dominic is out (that, and he would have 3 more Doms in his class, probably!)

I know a few Leo's, a couple Olivers, and I bunch of Luci/Lucy/Lucinda variations (and I love the name Lucia, with the British pronounciation).

We also have a neighbor named Adeline (they though Adelaide was TOO old school, that people wouldn't be able to pronounce it correctly)

[millerpjm]

I just had to reply...my son's name is Thomas Charles:)


Jen

[elizabethkott]

I love Helen as a middle name - we know the baby will be Emily if it's a girl, and I'm sort of torn between Anna, Elizabeth or Helen as a middle name. I think Helen may win out, since both Dh and I had a grandmother named Helen. But there is something fun about Emily Elizabeth and reading the Clifford books to her! :)
What about Linus and Lucas? I haven't heard those ones in a while for boys...

[DrSally]

My friend's husband is named Bertram (Bert), and I think it could be hip it's so old-fashioned

[DrSally]

I had a good chuckle at "Rufus, Morris, and Casper" :)
My grandmother was Olive and her sibs were, Prudence, Ivy (Ivadel), Sherman, and Marie.

[elliput]

Harold
Milton

Bernice
Beatrice

[Fairy]

Marjorie
Emiline
Harry
Gertrude
Audrey
Morton
Brittany

Kidding on the last one.

[DrSally]

My other grandma is Bernice! I always think of "Bernice bobs her hair"

[R2sweetboys]

A couple of other old-fashioned girls' names that I like are Genevieve and Julia.(both my late grandmothers' names :) ) Another pretty name that was the name of a good friend of my gm is Stacia.
My great aunt's name was Josephine, also pretty, and I love the name Josie for a nn. I've grown to really love classic names for boys and girls.

~Leslie

SAHM to...
Ryan 8/14/00
Matthew 2/14/03

[kboyle]

dh isn't fond of the "new & improved" names, and we have a charlie & a max and don't really know others.

we have used family names or nicknames for the boys and for #3 we are up in the air for a boys name, for a girls name we're using Lucila Rose(luci) after my grandmother & middle name after my MIL. though i do LOVE the names Elise & Malory (yes, both from family ties) but i think they are such beautiful names.

for a family boys name we came up with Teddy, but it just isn't sticking....we are lost for a boy.

dh like Milo & i love owen, but since they aren't family names, chances we won't use them.

[JBaxter]

My other great grandmother was Genevieve and it was almost my name.

[american_mama]

See, I guess we didn't need further proof, but this just goes to show you that names totally come in styles because I too had thought of several of the names that other people suggested (Josephine, Hazel, Louise/Louisa, Nora, Travis, Russell, Lorenzo). I thought the girl names were maybe already in the mix and that maybe no one else thought the boys' names sounded current.

But I had no idea that Stella was making the rounds, nor that anyone under the age of 30 was named Sally. How names circulate is so strange.

I also thought of Mitchell for a boy, which is a lot like Marshall.

[amp]

And likewise, I keep thinking of so many grandmothers and great grandmothers who will be little old ladies w/ the names of Brittany, Tiffany and the like! I have a hard time picturing it, even for my little girl's name!

[californiagirl]

DD is named Opal, which might be evidence that it's coming back, except that the youngest other Opal we've met is 40+ and has it as her middle name. It's easy to spell, distinctive, and gives a warm, sentimental feeling to the elderly (you get a lot of senior citizens who say "My grandmother was named Opal" or "My aunt was named Opal" -- it's been a good long time since it was in fashion.)

[jgriffin]

>I actually combed the SSA site for names of babies born
>between 1900 and 1925 to come up with the names of my kids
>(although Rose was named after my grandmother, who was born in
>1919 or something).

I did this too! And DH jokes to other people that I was looking for names that were unpopular in the '20s. :)

[newmomto3kids]

I have had similar comments about my kids names. I love the cool modern names, but somehow ended up with old school names for all three of them.
Just to throw out some more names, their middle names are

Lillian Madeleine
John Malcolm
Grace Elizabeth

My grandparents were
Abigail
Hilda
Peter
Harry

and my husbands were
Doris Lillian
Faustina
Malcolm
Stanley

[boolady]

Girls:
Georgia
Louisa
Lydia
Miriam
Sadie


Boys:
Samuel
Theodore

(just some personal favorites)

[dules]

These are great! I LOVE Silas. DH and I never could agree on a boys' name but I bet he'd like that one too.

My grandmother was born in 1899 and disliked her name so much that she asked us all *not* to use it. Here is her name and her siblings':

Edna
Esther
Wilbur
Alice
Marion (nicknamed Onna, when I was little I always thought her name was Anna)
William

My mother is Ruth and my older sister is Joan. ETA lots of people lately have said that they love the name Mary, which makes me laugh because growing up the only other Marys I knew were old ladies. LOL. I always wished for a good middle name to make it Mary Beth or Mary Ann or something like that.

For boys I really like George, which I don't hear often, and Oscar, which seems to be becoming pretty popular.

Mary

[cilantromapuche]

DS is named Abraham and we have met several (they always introduce themselves after they hear me call him - it's like a secret society).

For girls Martha, Beatrice and Helena.

[TraciG]

I think I'll stick to today's names for my next child, but it's fun to read the name choices !

[jennifer_r]

Zoe is EXTREMELY popular. We almost named DD1 that until we realized how popular it is (check the SSA website) - I think it's in the top 50 and that is not including variations in spelling.

Jennifer

Mom to:
Christopher 12/29/89
Adelaide 8/23/04
Bronwyn 11/9/05

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[jennifer_r]

I agree with you on Adelaide :) (check out my siggie).

Jennifer

Mom to:
Christopher 12/29/89
Adelaide 8/23/04
Bronwyn 11/9/05

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[Tracey]

Girls-
Charlotte
Frances
Iris
Louisa
Annie
Violet
Millie
Callie

Boys---
Henry
Harry
Silas
Rex
Eli
Stewart
Miles

[g-mama]

Heather - we aren't Italian at all (well I'm 1/4) and look at our boys names - Paolo and Marco. We just didn't care, we liked the names and our last name is Filipino but very Italian-sounding so the names really flow.

But I know what you mean. When people assume we're Italian, we always joke and say, "But we sure do want to be, huh?!" LOL.




~Kristen

Paolo 11-00
Benjamin 8-03
Marco 12-05

[almostamom]

I love the name Tucker and really wanted to use it for DS, but I taught upper elementary school for a number of years and knew what his nickname would be by 5th grade!! Cool name though.

[lizamann]

I wonder if our kids will name their kids after their great grandmas - think of all the little Judy, Linda, Sherry, and Janets running around in a few decades.

[pittsburghgirl]

My DS is James Lloyd after my dad and DH's dad. He was almost a Henry.

My grandparents were:

Clarence
Alta
Raymond
Mildred

I don't think any of those are coming back any time soon. The only one I think is kind of cool is Alta. But I'm a skiier so I immediately think of Utah :)

Marilee
mommy to James
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[JoyNChrist]

I *always* liked Mitchell for a boy, since I was about 12.

But then I married DH, whose last name is...yep, Mitchell. So that's definitely out!

[Jenn98]

I find this so funny since we named DD#1 Josephine and *everybody* hated it, and they were not shy about it! It was horrible! My family actually boo-ed us when we announced it! Now we plan to name DD#2 Cecilia and everyone loves it. Go figure.

If either of our babies had been boys DH was insistant on Elijah.

[jenjenfirenjen]

Cora is my great grandmother's name and you can bet I'll be using it if I ever have a girl.

[clc053103]

My mother and Grandmother both are Virginia. My mother loves to tell me she hated her name- and that, unbelievably, there were FOUR of them in her gradeschool class in the late 40's/early 50's.

I just can't get over it's the name of a state- and half of another one.

But if given a choice between some of the overdone names of today and Virginia, I guess I'd choose Virginia!

[tarynsmum]

That's kind of what I think, too, but in our neighborhood, it wouldn't fly, if that makes sense. DH says that if we moved away (which I seriously doubt) it wouldn't be as weird, but the Italians are so huge in the community that it wouldn't work. And it sucks, because we both really love Dom! (even though we have 2 names that we like in the event of 2 more boys...)

[fortato]

I had sisters at one school I worked in- Harriet and Eloise.

Also, I had an Eliza, Sally, and a Leo. (My original choice for Jack)

[trumansmom]

Grace is a BIG name in South Dakota. I can think of three Grace's just from DH's coworkers! And there's two in preschool as well.

I've always wondered if it was a Lutheran thing. :P

Jeanne
Mom to Truman 11/01 and Eleanor 4/04

[american_mama]

I didn't remember we had an Adelaide on this board! I became aware of the name very recently when someone said with amazement that their large church had TWO Adelaide's in the Sunday school. That definitely surprised me since I've never met an Adelaide in my life, but I think it might be because of the possibility of the Addie nickname, which I think is popular, especially since it sounds so similar to the very popular Maddie.

But the name has stuck with me and I could see Adelaide making a comeback... or would it be an entrance?

[candybomiller]

I really like Barbara. Maybe not a "old"-school as you are referring to, but I think it'll make a revival.

And my grandmothers name was Lotus. I promised my mom that if we had a girl we would name her Lotus.

[C99]

I know about 4 Charlies - one of whom is on this board. There was a mom who used to live in my neighborhood who had a Charlie and an Evelyn; she joked that it sounds like she's living with an elderly couple instead of 2 little kids. The same could be said for my two little ones.

[C99]

That is my mother's name as well - same era. Wasn't there a popular character of the time named Virginia - "Yes Virginia, there is a Santa Claus"? My mom also hates the name. But I am pretty sure the name of the state came from something else (named for QEI, who was aka the Virgin Queen) - so even though we equate the name w/ a state, it's really not.

[denna]

Abraham & Asher

[elephantmeg]

I'm starting to run into some baby Margaret's! I know very few people my age with that name-they're all in their 50's or 80's!

[DrSally]

Yes, I think that has made a comeback. It was one of our girl names (BTW, I was raised Lutheran)

[banoffi]

trumansmom -- I had to laugh at your Lutheran comment! :-)

[jestagrl79]

OK I have to have my input!

First, I ALWAYS wanted to name my little boy Edmund or Edward. However, as Stacy mentioned, Mitchell Mitchell is about as attractive as Edward Edwards (which also happens to be the unfortunate name of my father in law. Seriously.)

So, Loki Lazaro was supposed to be Eli Emmett. We also considered Levi, Mordecai Mathias, Sebastian, and Dmitri for boys. Someone on one of the boards named their boy Ronin, which I really liked, although I am not sure if it's old.

I saw George listed and had to laugh. We called Loki "george" in utero, because we didn't know if we where having a boy or girl.

For girls, I liked Georgia, Hazel, Olive,and Phaedra. This go round I hope to convince DH that Calliope is a good name for a girl.

My grandparents were Charles Jasper, Geneva, Edward, and Donna.
Hubby's were Howard, Betty, Joseph, Margaret, and Jean.

Our nieces are Amanda Dawn, Rebekah Leayn, Charlee Nickole, Samantha Kaye, Rebecca Elisabeth, and Kathryn (Kitty) Danielle, for a handful of old fahioned names.

Check out names at babynamewizard.com/namevoyager

Megs

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