Apparently, my taste is ‘nursing home names’, basically, the names of your great grandma/grandma’s best friends. What are your favourite ‘nursing home names’? the bigger the list, the better!
[name_f]Dorothy[/name_f]
[name_f]Helen[/name_f]
[name_u]Evelyn[/name_u]
[name_f]Alice[/name_f]
[name_f]Rose[/name_f]
[name_u]Ruby[/name_u]
[name_f]Florence[/name_f]
[name_f]Eleanor[/name_f]
[name_u]June[/name_u]
[name_f]Esther[/name_f]
[name_f]Agnes[/name_f]
[name_f]Elsie[/name_f]
[name_f]Vera[/name_f]
[name_f]Lena[/name_f]
[name_f]Alma[/name_f]
[name_f]Viola[/name_f]
[name_f]Pearl[/name_f]
[name_f]Sylvia[/name_f]
[name_f]Alberta[/name_f]
[name_f]Antonia[/name_f]
[name_f]Iris[/name_f]
[name_f]Estelle[/name_f]
[name_f]Winifred[/name_f]
[name_f]Gloria[/name_f]
[name_f]Mabel[/name_f]
[name_f]Nora[/name_f]
[name_f]Clara[/name_f]
[name_f]Alice[/name_f]
[name_f]Sylvia[/name_f]
[name_f]Rose[/name_f]
[name_f]Jane[/name_f]
[name_f]Cathleen[/name_f]
[name_f]Sylvie[/name_f]
[name_f]Florence[/name_f] -especially with the nickname [name_f]Wren[/name_f]
[name_f]Iris[/name_f]
[name_f]Aurora[/name_f] -pronounced as [name_f]Aura[/name_f](as my great grandmother did)
[name_f]Sophie[/name_f]
[name_f]Marjorie[/name_f]
[name_f]Pearl[/name_f]
[name_f]Ruth[/name_f]
[name_u]Meredith[/name_u]
[name_f]Beverley[/name_f]
While I don’t particularly like most of these, this is a list of the most popular names at the nursing home:
[name_f]Dolores[/name_f]
[name_f]Margaret[/name_f]/[name_f]Maggie[/name_f]/[name_f]Maisie[/name_f]
[name_f]Frances[/name_f]
[name_f]Clementine[/name_f] (funniest lady ever) goes by [name_f]Tina[/name_f]
[name_f]Edith[/name_f]
[name_f]Louise[/name_f]
[name_f]Ruth[/name_f]
[name_f]Florence[/name_f]
[name_u]Ruby[/name_u]
[name_f]Theodora[/name_f]
[name_f]Wilhelmina[/name_f]
[name_f]Hortense[/name_f]
[name_u]June[/name_u]
[name_u]Evelyn[/name_u]
[name_f]Ruth[/name_f]
[name_u]Ruby[/name_u]
[name_u]June[/name_u]
[name_f]Imogen[/name_f]
[name_f]Ona[/name_f]
[name_f]Elsie[/name_f]
[name_f]Mary[/name_f]
[name_f]Etta[/name_f]
[name_f]Octavia[/name_f]
[name_f]Theodosia[/name_f]
[name_f]Josephine[/name_f]
[name_f]Pearl[/name_f]
I love these old names!
I don’t have any favorites but I’ve worked in a nursing home. Some of the ones I can remember
[name_f]Beverley[/name_f]
[name_f]Lillian[/name_f]
[name_f]Julia[/name_f]
[name_u]Evelyn[/name_u]
[name_f]Clio[/name_f]
[name_f]Mary[/name_f]
[name_f]Dorothy[/name_f]
[name_f]Evangelina[/name_f]
[name_f]Ruth[/name_f]
[name_f]Patricia[/name_f]
[name_f]Wilhelmina[/name_f]
[name_f]Gloria[/name_f]
[name_f]Sylvia[/name_f]
[name_f]Gladys[/name_f]
[name_f]Rose[/name_f]
[name_f]Shirley[/name_f]
[name_f]Helen[/name_f]
[name_f]Estelle[/name_f]
[name_f]Marie[/name_f]
[name_f]Irene[/name_f]
[name_f]Golda[/name_f]
[name_f]Lena[/name_f]
[name_f]Ida[/name_f]
[name_f]Rosemary[/name_f]
[name_f]Esther[/name_f]
[name_f]Olive[/name_f]
[name_f]Pamela[/name_f]
[name_f]Dolores[/name_f]
[name_f]Zelda[/name_f]
[name_f]Opal[/name_f]
[name_f]Enid[/name_f]
[name_f]Hazel[/name_f]
[name_u]Kay[/name_u] (short for [name_f]Katharine[/name_f], [name_f]Kathleen[/name_f], or [name_f]Katia[/name_f]…)
Toiba
[name_f]Iris[/name_f]
[name_f]Reina[/name_f]
[name_f]Dorothea[/name_f]
[name_f]Leora[/name_f]
[name_f]Eudora[/name_f]
[name_f]Flora[/name_f]
[name_f]Theresa[/name_f]
I like most of these a lot.
I don’t have any “favorites” either, but I live in South [name_f]Florida[/name_f], which is like a nursing home… These are actual women over 70 that I know:
[name_f]Ethel[/name_f]
[name_f]Viola[/name_f]
[name_f]Nilda[/name_f]
[name_f]Frances[/name_f]
[name_f]Patricia[/name_f]
[name_f]Donna[/name_f]
[name_f]Adele[/name_f]
[name_f]Martha[/name_f]
[name_f]Enid[/name_f]
[name_f]Sheila[/name_f]
[name_f]Rita[/name_f]
[name_f]Joan[/name_f]
[name_f]Doreen[/name_f]
[name_f]Barbara[/name_f]
[name_f]Nancy[/name_f]
[name_f]Lucile[/name_f]
[name_f]Pamela[/name_f]
[name_f]Carol[/name_f]
[name_f]Irma[/name_f]
[name_f]Augusta[/name_f]
[name_f]Constance[/name_f]
[name_f]Clementine[/name_f]
[name_f]Thomasina[/name_f]
[name_f]Maud[/name_f]
[name_f]Winifred[/name_f]
[name_f]Leonora[/name_f]
[name_u]Ruby[/name_u]
[name_f]Pearl[/name_f]
[name_f]Lavinia[/name_f]
[name_f]Corisande[/name_f]
[name_f]Iseult[/name_f]
[name_f]Henrietta[/name_f]
[name_f]Frederica[/name_f]
[name_f]Edith[/name_f]
[name_f]Ivy[/name_f]
[name_f]Iris[/name_f]
[name_f]Agnes[/name_f]
[name_f]Edith[/name_f]
[name_f]Jane[/name_f]
[name_u]Evelyn[/name_u]
[name_f]Ruth[/name_f]
[name_f]Nora[/name_f]
[name_f]Rosemary[/name_f]
[name_f]Hattie[/name_f]
[name_f]Willa[/name_f]
[name_f]Helena[/name_f]
[name_f]Mabel[/name_f]
[name_f]Gloria[/name_f]
[name_f]Ann[/name_f]
[name_f]Mary[/name_f]
I love [name_f]Agatha[/name_f] and [name_f]Augusta[/name_f] too, but in 16 years working in aged care, I haven’t met anyone by those names. I think where I live at least, those names belong to the generation previous to the one currently living in nursing homes.
Names I like that belong to people I’ve cared for include
[name_f]Daphne[/name_f] (seriously considered for my daughter, but I find the mythology appalling and misogynistic)
[name_f]Dulcie[/name_f] (I gather not common outside Australia with the ‘i’ but unheard of here without it. I love this but think it would be considered almost cruel to use it here, as it is such an elderly name.)
[name_f]Inez[/name_f]
[name_f]Iris[/name_f]
[name_f]Esme[/name_f] (another name I really like but so strongly associated with a gossipy - and coincidentally - elderly - TV character during my childhood I don’t think I could use it.)
[name_f]Myrtle[/name_f] (another I doubt will have a come-back here for a while, despite my affection for it.)
[name_f]Muriel[/name_f] (as for [name_f]Myrtle[/name_f], plus the one I cared for had to deal with a joke from the movie [name_f]Muriel[/name_f]'s wedding constantly and it was tiresome for her.)
[name_f]Irene[/name_f]
[name_f]Zelda[/name_f]