How Would You Rank These Vintage "Old Lady" Names?

Oops! I read the question wrong, and voted for my favorite out of the bunch - [name]Irene[/name]. My least vavorite would be [name]Bertha[/name], but I really don’t care for any of them.

Thanks, everyone, for sharing your thoughts and for voting!

BTW… Kaer2010 – On most Nameberry polls (including this one), you are able to change your vote. Simply re-vote. It will delete your previous vote and register your new one.

[name]Matilda[/name] doesn’t feel old ladyish to me. The only association I really have for it is the [name]Roald[/name] Dahl book and that was about a little girl.

The rest are all old lady names to me though and even if they weren’t they are, as someone said already, pretty clunky sounding.

I voted for [name]Bertha[/name] and [name]Agnes[/name].

[name]Bertha[/name] makes me think Girth and [name]Agnes[/name] = Anus…

poor kids :frowning:

I actually love [name]Matilda[/name]! And really like [name]Martha[/name] & [name]Agnes[/name].
I voted for [name]Bertha[/name] and [name]Gertrude[/name].

  1. [name]Maude[/name] - Strong name. Associated a little with the TV show, but maybe ready for a comeback in a few years.

  2. [name]Matilda[/name] - I like this one because of the nicknames that could go with it. [name]Matti[/name] and [name]Tillie[/name]. Probably wouldn’t use it myself, but would be a nice strong name for an adult and has cute nickname options for the child.

  3. [name]Irene[/name] - The kid would have to really be a cool kid to handle the name. Wouldn’t fit on a shy kid, but the kid was confident and could own the name this could be cute. I could see it on a kid with hipster parents.

  4. [name]Agnes[/name] - Cute nickname of [name]Aggie[/name] saves this one. [name]Agnes[/name] has a very retro sound and on the right kid it would be nice.

  5. [name]Norma[/name] - OK, I have an aunt I like with this one, but if I was going to steal her name, I would steal her middle name of [name]Blanche[/name].

  6. [name]Gertrude[/name] - I don’t hate this name, but if it was my name, I would use a nickname or maybe my middle name. I am intrigued by the nick name [name]Trudy[/name].

  7. [name]Thelma[/name] - Bad associations. I think of redneck, uneducated hicks when I hear this name. Therefore, I wouldn’t use it. But if you don’t have the same associations that I have, it might not be a bad name.

  8. [name]Martha[/name] - Name of a former boss. Enough said…If it were my name, I would be called [name]Marty[/name].

  9. [name]Hilda[/name] - I see a large Germanic woman wearing a Viking hat. Perhaps I read too much [name]Hagar[/name] the Horrible?

  10. [name]Bertha[/name] - Golf clubs…

From best to worst:

1.[name]Matilda[/name]
2.[name]Agnes[/name]
3.[name]Irene[/name]
4.[name]Martha[/name]
5.[name]Maude[/name]
6.[name]Hilda[/name]
7.[name]Gertrude[/name]
8.[name]Thelma[/name]
9.[name]Norma[/name]
10.[name]Bertha[/name]

Although I really couldn’t imagine using any of these other than [name]Matilda[/name], [name]Agnes[/name] and maybe [name]Irene[/name].

uck

My choices from best to worst are:
1 [name]Matilda[/name]
2 [name]Maude[/name] (actually a variant of [name]Matilda[/name])
3 [name]Irene[/name] (my grandmother’s name. In [name]Britain[/name], sometimes it’s pronounced with three syllables “eye-[name]REE[/name]-NEE” which makes it less harsh sounding)
4 [name]Agnes[/name]
5 [name]Hilda[/name]
6 [name]Martha[/name]
7 [name]Norma[/name] ([name]Marilyn[/name] [name]Monroe[/name]'s real name was [name]Norma[/name] [name]Jean[/name])
8 [name]Thelma[/name]
9 [name]Gertrude[/name] (nickname of [name]Trudie[/name] is ok)
10 [name]Bertha[/name] (yuck!)

Sorry to say I am not a fan of any of these names. Someone earlier equated these to sounding “clunky”–like clunky shoes, while there are other “old lady” names that are more graceful-sounding. I had a grandmother named [name]Norma[/name] but her middle name was the much nicer (in my opinion) “[name]Alice[/name].”

I think [name]Matilda[/name] is a primed for a come back based on the fact that it was rated #1 among these names for the majority of the people.

Right now it still feels odd and “out” to me, but I think as we see more babies being named this name it will start to grow on all of us.

What made me love it is the nick name [name]Tilly[/name] or [name]Tillie[/name]. So cute.

I read a book with a character [name]Matilda[/name] nn. [name]Tilly[/name] and then a guy starts calling her [name]Mat[/name]…cute nn.

I’d rank them :
[name]Martha[/name]
[name]Matilda[/name]
[name]Agnes[/name] (I prefer [name]Agatha[/name], though - I love [name]Agatha[/name]!)
[name]Maude[/name]
[name]Norma[/name].

Then it gets tricky, because if I’m honest I don’t really like any of the others. [name]Gertrude[/name] gets a higher position because of lots of cute nickname options - [name]Gertie[/name], [name]Tru[/name] - and an ET link :slight_smile:

I think [name]Thelma[/name] is alright, too, but the others I just find very … blah? Sorry! I’d probably pick [name]Bertha[/name] and [name]Irene[/name] as the worst. I just don’t like [name]Irene[/name], though, I don’t actually think it would be the hardest for a child to live with.

[name]Auburn[/name]