Hello my name is [name]Rebecca[/name], and I am new here. I was just wondering if anybody else here named/s their children old fashioned names, because I am a mother of 14 & 3 on the way, and I name all my kids names from around the 1800s-1900s. Some of my children get teased at school for having names like Gretchan, and I don’t know whether I have named them wrong. My older kids (who are in high school), mostly the girls, say they hate me because I didn’t name them like all the other kids (names like [name]Brianna[/name], [name]Ashley[/name], [name]Lilly[/name], [name]Jacob[/name], [name]Mia[/name], [name]Riley[/name] etc etc).So does nayone have an opinion on what I should do and whether I should name my three on the way old fashioned names aswell? Or will that be cruel to all the others who have really old names?Thankyou for your help.
You have 14 kids and 3 on the way? You must be exhausted. That’s a lot of names to choose. I would love to know what they all are.
It’s hard to say about how your kids feel when they’re teens. A big part of being a teen can be wanting to fit in, to belong somewhere and a name that fits with their friends could help that. However, it s something that people often grow out of as they become more comfortable with themselves and often appreciate a more unusual name. I always loved my name because it wasn’t one that was never a trend or a lot of other people had. I imagine a lot of other kids they go to school with hate their names because they have to share it with 3 other people in their class.
I think it all depends on what names you choose. Some old fashioned names are still popular now or coming back into fashion. Some sound very pretty or exotic even if they are old.
And on the note of [name]Gretchen[/name], it makes me think of two things - a kid from the cartoon ‘Recess’ and one of the teens from ‘Mean Girls.’ So it’s not solely an old fashioned name.
Well as a [name]Kelly[/name] I can tell you I wish I had a less-popular name!!! Hopefully someday they will appreciate their names!
What are your kids’ names?
Yes sorry, here are their names ages and genders:
- [name]Gretchen[/name] [name]Kate[/name] 21, girl
- [name]Margaret[/name] [name]Anne[/name] 19, girl
- [name]Mildred[/name] [name]Rose[/name] 18, girl
- [name]Dorothy[/name] [name]Maree[/name] 16, girl
- [name]Walter[/name] [name]Paul[/name] 15, boy
- [name]Elsie[/name] [name]Ida[/name] 13, girl
- [name]Esther[/name] [name]Pearl[/name] 13, girl
- [name]Herbert[/name] [name]Earl[/name] 12, boy
- [name]Alfred[/name] [name]James[/name] 11, boy
- [name]Thelma[/name] [name]Violet[/name] 9, girl
- [name]Myrtle[/name] [name]Therese[/name] 8, girl
- [name]Bernard[/name] [name]Sam[/name] 6, boy
- [name]Blanche[/name] [name]Mae[/name] 5, girl
- [name]Clyde[/name] [name]Cecil[/name] 2, boy
- [name]Morris[/name] [name]Leslie[/name] ,boy }
- [name]Sadie[/name] [name]Jean[/name] ,girl } Triplets, due in [name]November[/name].
- [name]Mabel[/name] [name]Genevieve[/name] ,girl }
Some of these names are great, I especially love [name]Dorothy[/name], [name]Elsie[/name] and [name]Mabel[/name]! So gorgeous.
However, I can understand your kids’ worries but I honestly think they’ll get over it! And I really don’t think you’re a mean mother. I would rather have quirky names like these than Haeylea or [name]Jayden[/name] or whatever. Ugh.
I do worry about a boy [name]Leslie[/name] though, just because it has been so common for girls for the last 40 or so years. But that’s just my opinion, don’t mean to offend.
I love [name]Dorothy[/name], [name]Walter[/name], [name]Elsie[/name], [name]Alfred[/name] and [name]Clyde[/name]! I really like a lot of the others too, not to mention the middles! You did a good job naming your kids, I bet they will end up loving their names! As for your coming triplets, I [name]LOVE[/name] [name]Sadie[/name] [name]Jean[/name] and [name]Mabel[/name] [name]Genevieve[/name] but I really would advise against using [name]Leslie[/name] for a boy. It’s just so common for girls and I don’t believe it’s ready to be brought back for boys like a lot of other previously male names (like [name]Kelly[/name], for instance). I know I would not like to be a boy named [name]Leslie[/name]. [name]Morris[/name] is awesome, though. [name]How[/name] about using [name]Morris[/name] [name]Leslie[/name] instead? Or maybe [name]Lester[/name] instead of [name]Leslie[/name]? I do like the nickname [name]Les[/name].
P.S. You are NOT a mean mother!
[name]Rebecca[/name], I don’t think you’re a mean mother at all! Your kids have great names (a thousand times better than Kaeyeleighyie and the like). Personally, I would rather sound like an “old person” rather than a two-year-old forever!
I am an [name]Eliza[/name] and until about 5 years ago - i was the only one!! hahah I like having a name that isn’t common. it makes you stand out. i think that they will get over it as they get older. and if they don’t, they can always legally change their name if they want.
that being said, there are great names from that time period that sound really fresh and new. I am not crazy about [name]Leslie[/name] for a boy to be honest, unless it is a family name. I’d say it is considered a girls name at this point.
And [name]Sadie[/name] [name]Jean[/name], not so much either, I feel like you could find something old fashion and rare, but will sound again, fresh.
[name]Mabel[/name] is very cute!
Girls:
> [name]Georgiana[/name] (nn [name]Georgi[/name])
> [name]Adele[/name]
> [name]Gwendolyn[/name] (nn [name]Gwen[/name])
> [name]Amabel[/name]
> [name]Mirabel[/name]
> [name]Thea[/name]
> [name]Zelina[/name]
> [name]Clio[/name] (pn [name]Cleo[/name])
> [name]Isadora[/name]
Boys:
> [name]Rafferty[/name]
> [name]Harrington[/name]
> [name]Duncan[/name]
> [name]Lucius[/name]
> [name]Dashiell[/name]
> [name]Dermot[/name]
> [name]Linus[/name]
> [name]Rupert[/name]
PS not a bad mom!!!
Thanks everyone for all your kind comments. [name]Leslie[/name] is a family name and as I think of it I wouldn’t want to be called [name]Leslie[/name] (as a boy). Anyway after alot of thinking & discussing with the kiddies we decided to change the name to [name]Morris[/name] [name]Leslie[/name]. The reason we wanted to name him [name]Leslie[/name] is because it is my hubbies name. Unfortuantly he died about a year ago.He knew that he was going to die so we went to an IVF centre and froze some eggs and sperm. I don’t know whether I will have more kids after the triplets, it does depend on my health because I am the last person who can care for them. I knew that having the triplets was dangerous but I only thought I was having two, but they found out that there was identical girls!!!
Anyway I have had a talk to the children, some of the girls still won’t get rid of the grudge (mostly the younger teens) but the boys and older girls say they love their names.I would still like some oppinions though if anybody else would like to comment.Thankyou again for all your kindness.
[name]Lyndsay[/name], from how you worded it I couldn’t tell whether that meant you were for or against [name]Kelly[/name] for a boy. I do think that [name]Kelly[/name] has a better chance at working for a boy in the US than [name]Leslie[/name] because the former has fallen faster in popularity for girls. (One thing that could work in [name]Leslie[/name]'s favor though is in other places where the name is used, e.g. in the UK, it never reached “all-girl” status whereas [name]Kelly[/name] suffered the feminine fate pretty much everywhere it was used. Another name to compare [name]Leslie[/name] with that is a generation or so later is [name]Ashley[/name].)
[name]Hi[/name] Namefan ([name]Kelly[/name], right?). Yeah I didn’t word that well at all,sorry! It was really late! I think [name]Kelly[/name] is great for a boy born now and it wouldn’t get as poor of a reception as [name]Leslie[/name] would. Maybe it’s because [name]Leslie[/name] was popular for girls more recently than [name]Kelly[/name] was (that’s just in my personal experience, I didn’t look it up in the charts). While I would prefer names like [name]Ashley[/name] and [name]Lindsey[/name] on boys, I just don’t think the world is quite ready for them.
[name]Rebecca[/name], I do NOT think you are a mean mother at all! Firstly, regardless of whether or not your children like their names, you gave them names which you loved, and hoped they would love, and that is all a child can really ask for in the naming process (mean naming would be giving your child a swearword name to be spiteful).
Secondly, the names you have picked are easy to spell and say. They are not going to spend their whole lives saying “That’s Vyktoreugh with a Y and a K and an EUGH, but yes it is pronounced like [name]Victoria[/name].” You chose vintage names (and vintage names are coming back into vogue in a big way now, so you were simply ahead of the trend) with a strong history, which will age well and offer plenty of sweet nickname options. They also have alternatives in the middle, as you picked more ‘ordinary’ names.
Additionally, it is not a name which is ‘cool’, it is the way someone wears it, and I feel it’s important that your children know that. [name]Gwyneth[/name] Paltrow, the British radio host [name]Edith[/name] [name]Bowman[/name] … both very vintage names, and both are very ‘cool’ people. I actually have a cousin called [name]Herbert[/name] ("[name]Herb[/name]") and he is the epitome of teenage heartthrob, I can just tell - skinny jeans, artwork hair, in an amateur band - he wears his unusual vintage name with pride.
I am sure he would agree with me, too, when I say (as a [name]Winifred[/name] aged 29, about 40 years younger than any other [name]Winnie[/name]) that I love being the only [name]Winnie[/name] people know. There’s never a “[name]Winnie[/name] who?”. I never have to be [name]Winnie[/name] M - actually, someone on here once told a story about when they were in college with a popular name. There were three girls in their hall of residence with the same name, and the boys’ referred to them as “slutty ___", "nerdy " and " from [name]California[/name]”. I for one am glad that I will never have to be labelled like that, and I am sure that one day your children will be, too.
I, too, went through a period of name doubt around age eleven, and reverted to one of my middles, [name]Alice[/name], for a couple of years. I switched back, newly enamoured with my real first name, when I became utterly sick of being one of twently Alices in the school (it is a popular name here in [name]Britain[/name]).
I love my vintage, very unusual name so much that I gave my children equally unusual choices.
Additionally, think how wonderful your children’s names must be for teachers! Taking the register (roll call, I believe it is called in [name]America[/name]) - “[name]Jayden[/name], [name]Aiden[/name], [name]Caden[/name], [name]Noah[/name], [name]Brayden[/name], Grayden … oh, thank goodness, [name]Walter[/name]!”
Finally, I must say how much I admire you for looking after fourteen children, with triplets on the way, without your husband there with you. I am very sorry for your loss (and, while I am no bereavement expert, I might add that, as his death was quite recent, perhaps your children are taking their grief out on you with the naming issues).
Of your names, I adore these :
[name]Kate[/name] (on our list, I adore this in the middle)
[name]Margaret[/name] (while I don’t adore the full name, the plethora of nicknames is brilliant. One of our twin girls is going to be [name]Marigold[/name] nn [name]Maggie[/name])
[name]Anne[/name] (the perfect classic)
[name]Mildred[/name] nn [name]Milly[/name] (I’m so glad this is in use!)
[name]Rose[/name] (our daughter is [name]Ambrosia[/name] nn [name]Rosie[/name])
[name]Dorothy[/name] (our other twin girl will be [name]Dorothea[/name] nn [name]Dottie[/name])
[name]Walter[/name] (on our list)
[name]Elsie[/name] (adorable)
[name]Esther[/name] (inform her that [name]Esther[/name] is actually extremely popular in New [name]York[/name] at the moment, so her name is very a la mode!)
[name]Pearl[/name] (one of [name]Dorothea[/name]'s middle names)
[name]Herbert[/name] (as I said, my cousin)
[name]Alfred[/name] (unusual way to get to the great nicknames [name]Alfie[/name] and [name]Freddie[/name])
[name]James[/name] (classic)
[name]Violet[/name] (popular but stunning)
[name]Therese[/name] (was on our list with the nn [name]Tessa[/name])
[name]Blanche[/name] (glamorous)
[name]Mae[/name] (on our list of middles)
[name]Cecil[/name] (DH’s grandfather - [name]Dorothea[/name]'s other middle name will be [name]Cecily[/name], to honour him)
[name]Sadie[/name] (sweet and spunky)
[name]Mabel[/name] (my best friend’s daughter’s middle)
[name]Genevieve[/name] (so refined!).
My best wishes to you for an easy (as possible) pregnancy and birth, and I am sure your children will come to appreciate their names! Good luck
Yes, I am a (male) [name]Kelly[/name]. (Namefan is what I chose as my username here on Nameberry when I first signed up, which was within the first few days of the site’s launch. Since I knew that there would probably be other Kellys who would sign up, I thought that I’d save the name for them and pick something else.)
Your not mean at all, I can assure you that.
I love most of the names you gave your children, and even if one name might not be something I’d name my child, the middle name more than makes up for it.
Ask your children if they’d really like the be the 20th [name]Sarah[/name] in their year. The honest answer should be no, because individuality rocks.
Feeling like an individual is much easier when your name isn’t common and when it’s beautiful like your kids names, better so.
I really hope your kids with realize this. The fact that you worry about your children being unhappy shows how much you care about them, you are a loving mother and your kids will appreciate that.
You are not a mean mother! You gave your kids names that they can grow into, which was a smart choice. Many of the trendy names that people are using nowadays I think will sound absurd on adults. I wish my mother had named me something like [name]Alice[/name] or [name]Elizabeth[/name], it just ages better.
[name]Margaret[/name], [name]Elsie[/name], [name]Mabel[/name] and [name]Sadie[/name] have nothing to complain about, at all!
As far as [name]Gretchen[/name], in Mean Girls one of the coolest girls was named this! If she hates it let her go by [name]Kate[/name] or [name]Katie[/name], personally I like [name]Gretchen[/name].
For the next three (how do you not have a show on Lifetime- 17 kids! Whoa! Good for you!) I would consider names that have an old-fashioned flare, but are makng a comback.
G-G-G [name]Regina[/name], [name]Imogene[/name], [name]Esme[/name]
G-G-B [name]Regina[/name], [name]Imogene[/name], [name]Simon[/name]
G-B-B [name]Regina[/name], [name]Simon[/name], [name]Willoughby[/name]
B-B-B [name]Simon[/name], [name]Willoughby[/name], [name]Ronald[/name]
I love those names and love old names too. I named my daughter [name]Jane[/name] [name]Violet[/name]. She is only 4 months old but I plan on naming my future children old names as well. Hopefully she won’t dislike her name or hate me for naming her such an old name but I will just tell her I loved that name and since she couldn’t tell me what she wanted to be named theres not much I could do… I don’t think you are a mean mother and in the future I would name my triplets old names too. You have a pattern with the old fashioned names,… I [name]LOVE[/name] the name [name]Sadie[/name] and considered it for [name]Jane[/name]… [name]Hope[/name] this helps…
Absolutely not! You seem to have put a lot of thought into their names and that’s all they can ask of you. I think one huge problem with naming is that you never know what your child will be like or what their tastes will be when you choose their name. Plus, you’re choosing a name for someone else- if only we chose our own names, we’d always like them!
If it really bothers them (or you), I think they should be allowed to go by nicknames or middle names as they choose. It is, after all, their names and their identities. They should have at least some control over them. I have a cousin named [name]Jennifer[/name] [name]Eliza[/name] who, after 18 years of hating her ultra-trendy name, decided to go by her middle. It took a while and we definitely slipped up sometimes and called her [name]Jen[/name], but now everyone, even family, calls her [name]Eliza[/name].