Wow, that’s quite a mixed bag of names. NEVER see again?? There are a few ([name]Myrtle[/name], [name]Ethel[/name], [name]Gertrude[/name], [name]Phyllis[/name]) that I don’t see making a comeback just yet, but [name]Beatrice[/name] is in the top 100 in [name]Canada[/name] (according to this site: http://www.todaysparent.com/top-baby-names-2012-51-75) and close to that in the UK. I actually know little girls named [name]Ruth[/name] and [name]Rose[/name]. This article doesn’t appear to be researched at all… [name]Martha[/name], [name]Blanche[/name], [name]Gretchen[/name], and [name]Opal[/name] aren’t my style, but I can totally see them being used.
I believe I saw this article. It made me laugh. [name]Blanche[/name], [name]Agatha[/name], [name]Beatrice[/name], [name]Ruth[/name], [name]Opal[/name] and [name]Rose[/name] are all either back in fashion already or headed that way very soon, if Nameberry is any judge. ([name]Beatrice[/name] and [name]Rose[/name] in particular; those absolutely floored me.) I don’t think either [name]Gretchen[/name] or [name]Martha[/name] fit here, either.
[name]Gertrude[/name] is (probably) permanently out, and [name]Marge[/name] is never getting used while people still remember The Simpsons (which, considering how long it’s been on already, is gonna be a REALLY long time). Those are the only two I can definitely agree with. As for the others… I don’t care for [name]Ethel[/name], [name]Mildred[/name] or [name]Phyllis[/name], and wouldn’t necessarily mind if they didn’t come back, but I could see it happening. [name]Myrtle[/name] ([name]Harry[/name] [name]Potter[/name] notwithstanding) and [name]Barbara[/name] are both nice names in my book. Not ready for primetime again yet, but again, I wouldn’t rule them out.
I agree; this woman doesn’t quite know what she’s talking about! Maybe those don’t fit that well in HER style/personal taste.
According to SSA:
[name]Ruth[/name] has hovered in roughly its current place since 1999 (and likely before).
[name]Beatrice[/name] jumped up over 100 points last year alone, and that doesn’t count the extra [name]Beatrix[/name] babies.
[name]Rose[/name] is at 291 and climbing (WHAT is this name doing on her list?)
Some of the others aren’t so surprising to me; [name]Gretchen[/name], [name]Opal[/name], [name]Blanche[/name], etc. haven’t been in the top 1000 in the past 13 years or more, and others like [name]Martha[/name] are on the decline. Still, I’d put others on this list before those.
What names would you add to the might-never/rarely-see-again list?
I’d put [name]Bertha[/name], [name]Dorcas[/name], [name]Gladys[/name], and [name]Hortense[/name] on that list long before [name]Rose[/name], [name]Ruth[/name], or [name]Beatrice[/name]!
[name]Rose[/name] and [name]Opal[/name] are beautiful! [name]Ethel[/name] and [name]Agatha[/name] will definetly make a comeback, [name]Beatrice[/name] already has! Grethen and [name]Ruth[/name] are still pretty common, they don’t deserve to be on a list with [name]Gertrude[/name] and martha.
The only names on there that even seem remotely near retirement are [name]Myrtle[/name], [name]Gertrude[/name], [name]Marge[/name], and [name]Barbara[/name]. Maybe [name]Phyllis[/name], but I feel like people still use that as a middle in honor of family members on occasion…
I know children named [name]Ruth[/name], [name]Rose[/name] and [name]Martha[/name], and one of my nieces has the middle name [name]Beatrice[/name]. Some of those names are awful, like [name]Gertrude[/name], but they won’t ever die out as I think people will use them as middles to honour family if nothing else.
[name]Mildred[/name], [name]Myrtle[/name], [name]Phyllis[/name], [name]Gertrude[/name], [name]Barbara[/name], and [name]Marge[/name] are pretty far out, and fairly unpleasant-sounding to my ears (though I do love [name]Margery[/name]!). The rest are either already having a comeback or due for one soon.
Weird list. Apart from [name]Phyllis[/name] and [name]Myrtle[/name] (and maybe [name]Gertrude[/name]) I don’t see problems with any of these names. [name]Gretchen[/name] is adorable! [name]Mildred[/name] (although not my fav) has nickname [name]Millie[/name] which is cute, [name]Ethel[/name] and [name]Blanche[/name] are quite pretty, and I know a very cute little [name]Martha[/name]. [name]Rose[/name] and [name]Beatrice[/name] are just wrong to even mention here!
First thoughts: I doubt [name]Barbara[/name] and [name]Gertrude[/name] will ever come back into fashion but I wouldn’t say ‘never see them again’. Everything else is being used currently… no?
Next I thought I’d check my gut instinct against DarkGreener’s name table (a name search engine for [name]Britain[/name] with data going from 1996 - 2010) and tried the names listed here. I’ve included the most recent births available:
[name]Martha[/name] - 714 in 2010.
[name]Rose[/name] - 651 in 2010. (Interestingly, both [name]Martha[/name] and [name]Rose[/name] were [name]Doctor[/name] Who companions…)
[name]Beatrice[/name] - 492 in 2010.
[name]Ruth[/name] - 103 in 2010.
[name]Agatha[/name] – 40 in 2010.
[name]Barbara[/name] - 32 in 2010. (wow!)
[name]Gretchen[/name] - 6 in 2010.
[name]Myrtle[/name] – 5 in 2010.
[name]Opal[/name] - 5 in 2009.
[name]Mildred[/name] - 4 in 2008.
[name]Ethel[/name] - 3 in 2010.
[name]Phyllis[/name] - 3 in 2010.
[name]Blanche[/name] - 3 in 2009.
[name]Gertrude[/name] - 3 in 2008. (only other mentions = 4 in 2006 and 3 in 1999)
[name]Marge[/name] - no ranking
I was surprised I was wrong about [name]Barbara[/name]!
Apparently [name]Barbara[/name] is quite popular (in the top 100) in Poland (Popularity for the name Barbara - Behind the Name), as well as Slovakia and Hungary. I remember hearing on Nameberry that there are quite a lot of Poles in [name]Britain[/name]. Perhaps the large Eastern European population is keeping it higher in the charts.
That’s true, [name]Maggie[/name]! There are lots of Polish people here… Let’s take a stroll in [name]Shepherd[/name]'s [name]Bush[/name] and see if we can spot some [name]Barbara[/name]'s…
[name]Barbara[/name] in Polish can sound kind of glamorous (Var-vah-ra). In [name]North[/name] American English, all I can picture is a middle-aged woman named [name]Barb[/name].
Haha. Now I’m imagining you, Otter, going round [name]London[/name] pushing Roo in a buggy and shouting ‘[name]BARBARA[/name]?!’ at the top of your voice.
Wow that’s crazy! I love [name]Beatrice[/name] and [name]Rose[/name]… and definitely don’t think they’re going away!! Rosebud, maybe (my great grandmothers name). I think [name]Hagar[/name] and [name]Rhonda[/name] could make the list (although it’ll take awhile for [name]Rhonda[/name] not to be seen again).
I know five little girls under 5 named [name]Beatrice[/name]. Five.
A couple of Agathas and an [name]Ethel[/name] too.
And [name]ROSE[/name]?! ‘Never see again’? That is literally the most timeless name I can think of.
This was obviously written by somebody who doesn’t know a huge amount about what’s ‘trendy’ at the minute.
I can see why they would count [name]Myrtle[/name], [name]Ethel[/name], [name]Barbara[/name], [name]Phyllis[/name], [name]Marge[/name], [name]Ruth[/name], [name]Gretchen[/name] and [name]Gertrude[/name] out as being too dated, but the rest? What were they thinking? It’s absolutely beyond me why [name]Beatrice[/name] and [name]Rose[/name] are on the list, and I definitely wouldn’t count [name]Agatha[/name] or [name]Martha[/name] out either. I’m also secretly hoping for the return of [name]Mildred[/name].