I realise that [name_f]Gertrude[/name_f] is like, the #1 most hated name of all time for just about everyone, but, am I the only one who it doesn’t feel old to?
I have never met an elderly woman named [name_f]Gertrude[/name_f], (my great grandmother doesn’t recall any [name_f]Gertrude[/name_f]'s either, and she’s 90 in [name_f]October[/name_f]), and, honestly, the only thing it makes me think of is the 2004 [name_m]Ben[/name_m] Affleck movie, [name_u]Jersey[/name_u] Girl. In the movie, [name_f]Jennifer[/name_f] Lopez played his wife, [name_f]Gertrude[/name_f], who died of an aneurysm during childbirth. Their newborn daughter, as a result, is named [name_f]Gertie[/name_f].
Am I the only one who thinks of the movie, and the adorable little actress portraying [name_f]Gertie[/name_f], rather than a stuffy, 100 year old woman when the name [name_f]Gertrude[/name_f] is mentioned?
It actually (maybe bizarrely) always sounded like a supermodel name to me. You know, one of the those names that is so clunky but effortlessly carried off by some gorgeous 6 foot tall girl? I don’t know why, if I met a beautiful young woman named this at some point, but that is my association.
I prefer the nickname [name_f]Trudy[/name_f] to [name_f]Gertie[/name_f].
I totally see that too to be honest, a bit like [name_f]Barbara[/name_f] Palvin, haha. I’m 5’11, and seemingly only attracted to men my height or taller (well, basically not shorter than 5’8, I think I’m subconsciously telling myself that I don’t want to be like my aunt and have to sit down at my wedding because I’m 6’1 and my husband is 5’4…), my future daughter would definitely be tall
[name_f]My[/name_f] great grandmother was [name_f]Gertrude[/name_f] [name_f]Amelia[/name_f] - [name_f]Amelia[/name_f] was nearly my name since I had her red hair as a baby, and both names have a special place in my heart.
I picture tall, strong built with red hair - [name_f]Magdalena[/name_f] Jasek type look. Or maybe like, 6’’ Scandinavian-blonde. Either way, something about it makes me think tall as well (same with [name_f]Freya[/name_f] - it’s just one of those names!)
I love [name_f]Gertrude[/name_f], in all genuineness. I think that people’s perceptions of it mean that it would take uber-hip parents, an LA lifestyle and the guarantee of flawless looks before the majority of the population of fully sold on it, though. Maybe someday.
I think [name_f]Trudie[/name_f] alone is adorable though and I would honestly consider it.
Agree I don’t think it’s old, and can definitely see the ‘clunky name on the chic model’…
[name_f]My[/name_f] horseback riding trainer has a dog she named [name_f]Gertrude[/name_f]/gertie and it suits her, and she’s definitely not an old lady dog (rambunctious [name_m]German[/name_m] [name_m]Shepherd[/name_m]).
The name that outside of nameberry (you know, that place they call the real world) gets so much flak for being “old” which I [name_m]JUST[/name_m] don’t understand/see is [name_f]Hazel[/name_f]. Never met an old lady with the name, and I think it’s quite funky, vivacious but without being stuffy. But anyone over the age of, eh, 35 that hears it is adamantly against the name. Bizarre.
I know an older lady named [name_f]Gertrude[/name_f]…it’s a positive association, but I still wouldn’t condemn a child to carry the name. [name_f]Gertie[/name_f] is cute, but [name_f]Trudie[/name_f] is so bad I’d have trouble taking the parents seriously. Something fresher for a child!
Not keen on it at all, sorry. It does seem far too crusty and clunky for me. I’m not fond of [name_f]Gertrude[/name_f] in [name_m]Hamlet[/name_m] either which was my first association, she’s too passive. [name_u]Julie[/name_u] [name_u]Christie[/name_u] playing [name_f]Gertrude[/name_f] wore the name well though. And I feel like a gorgeous blonde 6-foot Scandinavian model (or whatever, that type of person) could wear any name, no matter how ridiculous.
([name_u]Haley[/name_u], you’re 5’11? I’m majorly jealous, I’m a teeny tiny barely 5’1. One of the shortest people I know and a lot of my sister’s friends were taller than me since they were 13 and I was 16. I always wish I was taller sigh and most clothes look nicer on taller people too… okay sorry rant over)
I really like [name_f]Gertrude[/name_f] and would love to meet a little [name_f]Gertie[/name_f]! btw, oliviasarah, [name_f]Gertrude[/name_f] [name_f]Amelia[/name_f] is gorgeous!
I really don’t like it my mums friend is [name_f]Trudy[/name_f] not short for anything, I immensely [name_f]Gertrude[/name_f] theres only a few names worse. [name_f]Barbara[/name_f]'s trendy were [name_f]Barbara[/name_f] Palvin is from (Hungary) it’s currently at 36 so it’s not an old name there
I honestly hate the name [name_f]Gertrude[/name_f]. But not because it’s ‘an old lady name’, but because those syllables are hideous to my ears. ‘[name_f]Gert[/name_f]’ esp sounds horrible to me and ‘[name_m]Rude[/name_m]’ is awful. Yuck.
I am 47 and my great-grandmother was [name_f]Gertrude[/name_f] [name_f]Vera[/name_f]. There was a woman named [name_f]Trudy[/name_f] in my neighborhood. I think her name was [name_f]Gertrude[/name_f]. She was older than I am.
[name_f]Gertrude[/name_f] with the nickname “[name_f]Greer[/name_f]” has always been my little gp, but I never dare to bring it up. As you said, everyone hates it. I remember asking my stepmother her opinion on it years ago, and I just got a sour face!
If you ever watched 7th [name_f]Heaven[/name_f], [name_f]Ruthie[/name_f] from the show? I always imagined her as the PERFECT [name_f]Gertrude[/name_f].
I don’t like the name [name_f]Gertrude[/name_f], but I don’t believe my dislike is founded on the fact that it’s an “old” name. I don’t personally know any Gertrudes, young or old, though whenever I hear or read about a [name_f]Gertrude[/name_f], it’s either on an elderly lady or on one who’d be elderly by now. I think of it as having an old-fashioned sound. It has hard, even harsh, consonant sounds that are no longer fashionable (think of the most popular/trendy girls’ names–[name_f]Sophia[/name_f], [name_f]Isabella[/name_f], [name_f]Olivia[/name_f], [name_f]Lily[/name_f], [name_f]Emma[/name_f], [name_f]Kayla[/name_f], [name_f]Ariana[/name_f]…even the ones that contain hard sounds emphasize the vowels.)
I think my dislike is mostly founded on the sounds of the name, which I find unpleasant. It contains the word “rude,” which rhymes with prude and crude, all of which have negative connotations. I’m fine with nicknames [name_f]Gertie[/name_f] and [name_f]Trudy[/name_f], though, and I really like the nickname [name_u]True[/name_u].
That said, I’m warming to a few names I’ve always disliked, some of which have similar hard sounds–[name_f]Winifred[/name_f], [name_f]Ursula[/name_f], [name_m]Archibald[/name_m], [name_m]Mortimer[/name_m]–so who knows, [name_f]Gertrude[/name_f] might be next! There’s a gorgeous [name_f]Gertrude[/name_f], something like what several pp’s have described, in L.M. [name_m]Montgomery[/name_m]'s short story “The [name_m]Man[/name_m] Who Forgot,” so I do have that association.
I like [name_f]Gertrude[/name_f] and [name_f]Gertie[/name_f], makes me think of cute little [name_u]Drew[/name_u] Barrymore in ET, it has a slightly Scandi or Germanic feel that is very fresh and clean and cool.
I don’t think of it as an “old” name either; I’ve never met any elderly Gertrudes. I’m guessing it was never popular enough in my neck of the woods to acquire generational associations (or I’m simply too young to remember any). As for the name itself, I think it could grow on me.