# Extinct Woman names **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 14, 2009, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extinct-woman-names/485840 "2009-02-14T18:06:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Gundhilde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecc23a/32.png) [@Gundhilde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gundhilde)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2009, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extinct-woman-names/485840/121 "2009-02-16T03:13:19Z")
> [@Xema](#): > > Did his parents have an interest in aviation? Ha… my great-grandfather was Wilbur Earhart! Now that’s aviation for ya… Also, he and his wife were Wilbur and Charlotte, just like Charlotte’s web! 🙂 Just thought of a few more from my family. Grandmother Hilda’s siblings were Eunice, Doris, Robert, and twins Arnold and Elbert. Grandfather Leslie’s siblings were Josephine, Karl, Loren (brother), and Eloise. Don’t know as much about the other side of the family, but I know my father’s father had a sister named Maxine. You don’t hear that a lot these days, either… anyone know a young Maxine? It’s not a bad name, actually. Other random names from the ancestry: Theudas and Ephraim (went by Eph). Those are 1800s, though, so probably even older than old-folks names. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2009, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extinct-woman-names/485840/122 "2009-02-16T03:28:50Z")
> [@Fretful\_Porpentine](#): > > I haven’t seen too many people named Hermengild or Freawaru around lately. I’ve run across more than one “Hermenegildo” in the past few years, although usually in straight-out-of-Mexico folks. ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2009, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extinct-woman-names/485840/123 "2009-02-16T03:54:04Z")
> [@Gundhilde](#): > > anyone know a young Maxine? I do! She’s about 3 or 4 now, I guess. Also I used to have a hairdresser named Maxine. She’s about 35 or so. > [@](#): > > …and Eloise. I was debating between Annabel and Eloise for my daughter. Annabel won, but I’d consider Eloise for any future daughters. I think it’s lovely… but I hate Louise. Go figure. Old lady name that seems to be having a revival: **Evangeline**. My cousin’s 2 year old was named after Evangeline Lilly from Lost, and I’ve seen the name popping up in the birth notices from time to time. ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2009, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extinct-woman-names/485840/124 "2009-02-16T04:15:15Z")
An interesting phenomenon I’ve noticed is how certain names, while hopelessly old or musty for certain groups, can still manage to sound cool and normal in other groups. For example, I know some cool Asian folks with names that would be quite frumpy (or at least out of date) for a Caucasian (things like Vivian and Doris and Lucy) but seem completely normal for them. Now admittedly I don’t know any young Caucasians with those names (often a cool person can elevate a bad name), but it does seem like a lot of young Asians have old-fashioned first names. The other one I’ve noticed is how names that would sound stuffy or…well…rather sissy on a white boy or man somehow manage to sound cool for an African-American man. Things like Vernon or Chauncey or Maurice, for example. Not sure why that is either, but I’ve seen it often enough that it doesn’t seem to be an isolated incident. No stereotyping intended, of course. Just an observation. ---
**Author:** ![anu-la1979](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/47e85d/32.png) [@anu-la1979](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/anu-la1979)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2009, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extinct-woman-names/485840/125 "2009-02-16T04:47:28Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#): > > I read a local obit yesterday for a woman named Dimple. If there had been an internet 80+ years ago, she would have turned up in a thread about unusual names. Anyone ever know a Dimple? I’m old and she’s the first. Dimple is one of those names Indian people give their daughters…I’m not sure if it’s a REAL Indian name or one of those Colonial era names that North Indians liked (Pinky, Bunty etc.). Most of those types of names seem concentrated amongst North Indians. Dimple Kapadia is a pretty famous movie actress. My legal name is exceedingly oldfashioned-growing up I always wanted a name like Priya or Anjali but now I really like it. I’ve gone by my nickname for over a decade, though. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2009, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extinct-woman-names/485840/126 "2009-02-16T04:48:46Z")
I don’t think I’ll see another Florabelle since grandma died. But my other grandma was Violet, and I think that is in resurgence. ---
**Author:** ![Atomic\_Mama](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b5ac83/32.png) [@Atomic\_Mama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atomic_Mama)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2009, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extinct-woman-names/485840/127 "2009-02-16T06:25:13Z")
Any other Amelia’s out there? I was named after a great aunt, Louise Amelia. (My parents didn’t want me to be nicknamed “Weezy” …) I’m 59, and have always been called Amy, unless I was in big trouble. On my ex-husband’s side, there was Mary Margaret (mother), and her sisters were Ione & Reba. Both bigtime Southerners. He was Winston James, Jr. ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2009, 8:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extinct-woman-names/485840/128 "2009-02-16T08:02:47Z")
Dagmar (although I really like this name - it makes me think of a tall, beautiful, big-busted German woman) Ginger Belinda Joy (I hate this name - I’ve never met a person named Joy who was even remotly joyful) Gaye - I just can’t see this one making a comeback ---
**Author:** ![chowder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2009, 8:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extinct-woman-names/485840/129 "2009-02-16T08:31:04Z")
> [@Kyla](#): > > One of my classmates, who can’t be more than 25, is an Abby. > > A friend of mine is Nancy and she sometimes bemoans her old lady name. (She’s 30.) She was named after her grandmother. Then there’s Abby Clancy and Abby Titmus. Phwaor!! ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2009, 9:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extinct-woman-names/485840/130 "2009-02-16T09:37:52Z")
> [@Atomic\_Mama](#): > > Any other Amelia’s out there? Not that my opinion counts for anything, but I think Amelia is a beautiful name. ---
**Author:** ![Marlitharn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/779978/32.png) [@Marlitharn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marlitharn)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2009, 10:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extinct-woman-names/485840/131 "2009-02-16T10:20:24Z")
One of my grandmothers was a Goldie. Funnily enough, it was her sister-in-law’s name, too. So for a long time there were two Goldie Samelastnames running around the same small town, and they’re the only two Goldies I’ve ever heard of. ---
**Author:** ![Laudenum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7993a0/32.png) [@Laudenum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laudenum)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2009, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extinct-woman-names/485840/132 "2009-02-16T13:33:58Z")
Joan isn’t unheard of. I met a Gretchen once. What an awful name. ---
**Author:** ![Gundhilde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecc23a/32.png) [@Gundhilde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gundhilde)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2009, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extinct-woman-names/485840/133 "2009-02-16T13:58:00Z")
> [@Atomic\_Mama](#): > > Any other Amelia’s out there? I was named after a great aunt, Louise Amelia. (My parents didn’t want me to be nicknamed “Weezy” …) Ha, just a side note, my childhood nickname was Weezy. And my name is Emily. Apparently it was after my great-aunt Eloise (must have looked like her?). So, **Cazzle** , take note! My great aunt Eloise Rosalie must have had a flair for the dramatic, though, as she went by a pen name of sorts for no apparent reason. It was “Cecily Ann.” Cecily, there’s another another old lady name that is actually rather beautiful, though I think it might be the origin of the nickname “Sissy.” ---
**Author:** ![Caricci](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/85f322/32.png) [@Caricci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caricci)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2009, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extinct-woman-names/485840/134 "2009-02-16T14:17:57Z")
I think that any old lady name is fair game for a comeback. I’m just amazed that the name I chose for the daughter I never had hasn’t come back yet. It’s Claudia. I always thought my Grandmother Hazel’s name was the ultimate in old lady, but Julia Roberts and someone in this very thread seem to like it. My own name, Karen, is on its way to old-ladyhood I fear. My twin sister is Virginia, and I read somewhere that more babies are given that name than are given mine but she always hated it for being old lady. ---
**Author:** ![rocking\_chair](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocking_chair/32/2918_2.png) [@rocking\_chair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rocking_chair)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2009, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extinct-woman-names/485840/135 "2009-02-16T15:14:17Z")
> [@SpazCat](#): > > **rockingchair** , how is Vera pronounced in Russian? the e is pronounced like the ye in yet, and the a is an ah like what the doctor asks you to say, roll the r a bit. so… vye-rrah. in english it gets a bit nasally and whiney because the e is said like eek! a spider! ---
**Author:** ![LavenderBlue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e95f7d/32.png) [@LavenderBlue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LavenderBlue)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2009, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extinct-woman-names/485840/136 "2009-02-16T15:14:36Z")
My grandmothers were Ida and Shirley. I don’t foresee a comeback for either one. They’re ugly names so this is no great loss. My husband’s grandmothers were/are Winifred and Vera. Winifred can only work if you turn it into Winnie IMO. OTOH, my grandfathers were Nathan and William both quite fashionable today. My husband’s grandfathers were Thomas and William both again quite popular today. ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2009, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extinct-woman-names/485840/137 "2009-02-16T15:23:05Z")
> [@chowder](#): > > Dunno if these have been mentioned and I’m to lazy to look back. > > Hortense > Wilhemina > Hermione I have loved the name Hermione since before Harry Potter. ---
**Author:** ![Anne\_Neville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Anne\_Neville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anne_Neville)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2009, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extinct-woman-names/485840/138 "2009-02-16T15:30:36Z")
> [@Teaira](#): > > My grandma’s name is Evelyn. I haven’t seen anyone else with it. So was mine. My niece who is going to be a year old this month is named after her. > [@Pyper](#): > > My great-grandmothers were Fanny, Fanny, Myrtle, and Hazel, none of which are currently very popular. My other niece is named Hazel. My sister (their mother) wanted unique names for her kids, and decided to go with old-fashioned names instead of weird spellings or pronunciations for more modern names. I can understand why she wanted to do that- she’s a Jennifer born in the late 70s, and it seemed like there was always at least one other Jennifer in her class. ---
**Author:** ![Glory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7cd45c/32.png) [@Glory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Glory)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2009, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extinct-woman-names/485840/139 "2009-02-16T15:41:11Z")
> [@Anne\_Neville](#): > > My sister (their mother) wanted unique names for her kids, and decided to go with old-fashioned names instead of weird spellings or pronunciations for more modern names. I can understand why she wanted to do that- she’s a Jennifer born in the late 70s, and it seemed like there was always at least one other Jennifer in her class. As a Jennifer myself, I undestand that completely. I would love to use something unusual, yet not too “out there.” I’m actually very jealous of Jennifer Garner. I loved the name Serafina (I think she went with the ph spelling) but I thought it was too out there for a real child’s name. So I named my cat Serafina 🙂 My current favorites are Aurora and Lilah! I also adore Evangeline (have loved it ever since the Matthew Sweet song) but figured I’d get pegged as a Lost fan. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2009, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extinct-woman-names/485840/140 "2009-02-16T16:18:50Z")
Edna (my late grandmother’s name…actually her middle name that she cose to use). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extinct-woman-names/485840.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extinct-woman-names/485840.md?page=8)