# 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:** 8
**Author:** ![maladroit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f475e1/32.png) [@maladroit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maladroit)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2009, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extinct-woman-names/485840/141 "2009-02-16T19:28:35Z")
names from my family (all persons under 60 but over 30) Constance Louise Virginia Gaye Hugh Randall Lorraine Celeste Heather Rose I had a Viola, an Alma, a Harvey, Amanda, Reva, Marilyn in my extended family (some have passed) ---
**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 20, 2009, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extinct-woman-names/485840/142 "2009-02-20T02:30:11Z")
> [@Cazzle](#): > > 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. > > 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. when i have to write out the name evangeline , i will ask the woman “like the poem?” (some will have an “a” between the g and l). evangeline has been and is somewhat popular in louisiana and nova scotia (also new england where the poet was from) where the main character in the poem ended up and started out. looks like the cultural reference has shifted a bit. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2009, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extinct-woman-names/485840/143 "2009-02-20T03:27:50Z")
> [@Paul in Saudi](#): > > My niece Lucy is four years old. The names I gave were the names of extinct female hominans – “extinct woman names.” ---
**Author:** ![missred](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/missred/32/14096_2.png) [@missred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/missred)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2009, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extinct-woman-names/485840/144 "2009-02-20T03:38:25Z")
While browsing the local obits in the paper today, I ran across a few more: Geraldine (makes me recall Flip Wilson) Thelma Helen Marge (wonder if she had big blue hair) Rita Marilyn (I have an aunt by marriage with a twin sister Carolyn) middle name of Mai X 3 (this _is_ the south, you know!) Nanny (for the life of me, I just can’t wrap my head around the 4 year old she once was with this name) ---
**Author:** ![imfloating](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/bc79bd/32.png) [@imfloating](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/imfloating)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2009, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extinct-woman-names/485840/145 "2009-02-20T03:44:28Z")
My uncle was named Alanson Trask Lastname. I always thought it had a nice sound to it. Never heard of anyone else having either name. ---
**Author:** ![lobotomyboy63](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobotomyboy63/32/2900_2.png) [@lobotomyboy63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobotomyboy63)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2009, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extinct-woman-names/485840/146 "2009-02-20T04:08:23Z")
What, no loathe for “Griselda”? I had an aunt Marion (b. 1922) I don’t think I’ve ever met a Lucifer, but I like the sound of the name.:eek: ---
**Author:** ![ENugent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/4af34b/32.png) [@ENugent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ENugent)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2009, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extinct-woman-names/485840/147 "2009-02-20T06:30:28Z")
My four-year-old is named Dorothy. If I’d had another girl, Hazel was pretty high on my list (although I hadn’t talked my husband into it yet by the time we found out we were having a boy). I know a Mildred in her twenties - one of the aforementioned Asians who got a name picked off a list. ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2009, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extinct-woman-names/485840/148 "2009-02-20T06:40:50Z")
> [@GargoyleWB](#): > > Yes, I’ve met several asian girls who have oddly archaic western names. Now that I’m back int he Southwest, I’ve met many Hispanic women, all American born but of Mexican descent, that have Anglo “old lady” given names. I know something like “Millicent Sanchez” or “Hortense Gutierrez” seems as much of a mismatch as “Rocco Goldberg”, but it’s surprisingly quite common. ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2009, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extinct-woman-names/485840/149 "2009-02-20T06:51:47Z")
Male names: as someone else noted (I can’t find their post now!), there doesn’t seem to be the same huge number of “old man” names as there are for elderly women. It seems like the last big batch of nearly-extinct male names dates from the early 1800s, commonly seen in the generic histories of small towns around the Great Lakes region. The histories for these places are all the same; the first “white settler” is always a _Jebediah_, _Hezekiah_, _Obadiah_ or _Ezekiel_, who opens a grist mill or tavern. ---
**Author:** ![scareyfaerie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scareyfaerie/32/3135_2.png) [@scareyfaerie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scareyfaerie)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2009, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extinct-woman-names/485840/150 "2009-02-20T11:38:21Z")
> [@Zsofia](#): > > Yes, names cycle, but I seriously doubt that Bertha and Beulah will experience a renaissance. I worked with a lady who veritably rejoiced in the name of “Beulah Plunkett”. ---
**Author:** ![lobotomyboy63](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobotomyboy63/32/2900_2.png) [@lobotomyboy63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobotomyboy63)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2009, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extinct-woman-names/485840/151 "2009-02-20T12:07:06Z")
> [@ENugent](#): > > My four-year-old is named Dorothy. > > If I’d had another girl, Hazel was pretty high on my list (although I hadn’t talked my husband into it yet by the time we found out we were having a boy). > > I know a Mildred in her twenties - one of the aforementioned Asians who got a name picked off a list. My 84 yo mother is Dorothy. Her middle name was Myrtle but she hated it and changed it. Her mother was Hazel Adel (I think she spelled it that way…not Adelle). > [@elmwood](#): > > Now that I’m back int he Southwest, I’ve met many Hispanic women, all American born but of Mexican descent, that have Anglo “old lady” given names. I know something like “Millicent Sanchez” or “Hortense Gutierrez” seems as much of a mismatch as “Rocco Goldberg”, but it’s surprisingly quite common. Right, back in El Paso there were many Hispanics that had old-fashioned Anglo names. Maybe, thanks to Hagar the Horrible, Hernia will become a popular name for girls? ---
**Author:** ![Drain\_Bead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e47774/32.png) [@Drain\_Bead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drain_Bead)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2009, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extinct-woman-names/485840/152 "2009-02-20T16:19:15Z")
> [@Fear\_Itself](#): > > 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. My 3-week-old daughter is Josephine Violet. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2009, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extinct-woman-names/485840/153 "2009-02-20T17:57:30Z")
Some names fall out of favor because of events or characters in fiction. In WW II, a huge long-range cannon from the Krupp Works was called Big Bertha, after Krupp’s daughter. That was nearly forgotten when an oversize golf club about 10 years ago grabbed Big Bertha again. Has it been long enough that people can meet a girl named Stella without thinking of Brando’s anguished bellow? Even folks my age have nearly forgotten that Beulah was the chimp who honked the time-is-up horn on _Truth Or Consequences._ Is the show now on TVLand? My great-great-grandmother was a Talitha. I’ve never met a Talitha, but Jeff Beck’s brilliant bass player, Tal Wilkenfield is probably one. Maybe Talitha will come back. Do parents name their daughters after great singers? If so, there’s hope for Etta, Lucinda, Bonnie, and maybe even KoKo. ---
**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 20, 2009, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extinct-woman-names/485840/154 "2009-02-20T18:09:33Z")
> [@AskNott](#): > > Do parents name their daughters after great singers? If so, there’s hope for Etta, Lucinda, Bonnie, and maybe even KoKo. I wouldn’t hold out much hope for KoKo. I think one of the more famous holders of that name was an ape. 🙂 Or with a C instead of a K, Coco Chanel. Better than being named after an ape, I guess. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![apollonia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/2bfe46/32.png) [@apollonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/apollonia)\ **Post date:** [February 20, 2009, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extinct-woman-names/485840/155 "2009-02-20T18:12:27Z")
Courtney Cox and David Arquette’s daughter is named Coco. That might help propel the name into the public eye. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2009, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extinct-woman-names/485840/156 "2009-02-25T17:55:27Z")
> [@apollonia](#): > > Courtney Cox and David Arquette’s daughter is named Coco. That might help propel the name into the public eye. Snipping a daughter’s name out of pieces of Mama’s name seems like vanity. I guess it beats CoQuette, though. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2009, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extinct-woman-names/485840/157 "2009-02-25T18:31:22Z")
> [@lobotomyboy63](#): > > My 84 yo mother is Dorothy. Her middle name was Myrtle but she hated it and changed it. Heh. My paternal grandma was Dorothy. On my mom’s side, one of my great-grandmas was named Myrtle and hated it; she called herself Myrle instead. So to me, she was Nana Myrle. I do know of a new baby named Vera and I’m not sure what they were thinking. My nana and great nana’s name of Lillian seems to be seeing a minor comeback on the heels of Lily. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2009, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extinct-woman-names/485840/158 "2009-02-25T18:39:45Z")
> [@AskNott](#): > > Snipping a daughter’s name out of pieces of Mama’s name seems like vanity. I guess it beats CoQuette, though. Coco’s an ok, if precious, nickname. I have no problem with Courtney Cox Arquette _naming_ her daughter Courtney Cox Arquette II and _calling_ her Coco. But as a given name, it’s celebrity-trashy. ---
**Author:** ![DaphneBlack](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/daphneblack/32/5389_2.png) [@DaphneBlack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DaphneBlack)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2009, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extinct-woman-names/485840/159 "2009-02-25T18:40:14Z")
My grandmother and her siblings had a number of names that went out of fashion. The two ones that are still fashionable were Elizabeth and Sam. The other four are Beatrice (my grandmother, b. 1912), Pat (real name Sylvia, no idea how that happened), Murray and Lou(is?). Great-grandparents names Clara and Alexander are doing pretty well. Russell and Evelyn, not so much. My other grandmother was Betty (just Betty). Not too common these days. My grandpa’s siblings’ names have also suffered a mixed fate. Aaron (my grandpa) has never been wildly popular but is still going strong; Benjamin’s solid, and Lucy seems to be making a comeback. Avram, Hananiah and Elisha are more likely popular in Israel, though I suspect there they sound pretty old-fashioned. ---
**Author:** ![Dangerosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Dangerosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dangerosa)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2009, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extinct-woman-names/485840/160 "2009-02-25T19:22:31Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > Heh. My paternal grandma was Dorothy. On my mom’s side, one of my great-grandmas was named Myrtle and hated it; she called herself Myrle instead. So to me, she was Nana Myrle. > > I do know of a new baby named Vera and I’m not sure what they were thinking. > > My nana and great nana’s name of Lillian seems to be seeing a minor comeback on the heels of Lily. Minor? In my daughter’s class of approximately 100 there are six Lily/Lilly/Lillians. What Jennifer was to 1973, Lillian and variations are to 2000. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extinct-woman-names/485840.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/extinct-woman-names/485840.md?page=9)