# Old Lady Names **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 14, 2008, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-lady-names/477100 "2008-12-14T06:30:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2008, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-lady-names/477100/1 "2008-12-14T06:30:45Z")
I am writing a story and I’m trying to think of some good names for old ladies Some real stereotypical names that whenever you hear them you think “Old lady.” Like [ul] [li]Clara[/li][li]Ester[/li][li]Hester[/li][li]Mabel [/li][li]Agnes[/li][li]Hazel[/li][li]Harriet[/li][li]Drusilla[/li][li]Edith[/li][li]Irene[/li][/ul] Some of them I think that would be old lady names could be modern if shortened. Like I would think Matilda could be OK if it was shortened to Tilly. And I guess Claire is OK while Clara is old. Any more ideas Thanks ---
**Author:** ![maggenpye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecc23a/32.png) [@maggenpye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maggenpye)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2008, 6:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-lady-names/477100/2 "2008-12-14T06:36:09Z")
My ‘ladies’ (writing group where I’m the baby) are all between 70 -90. They include an Elinore and a Ngaire. I’d also add Honore Prudence Faith Charity (the virtues were popular Victorian names) Or you could plug in some dates on [this](http://www.ssa.gov/OACT/babynames/)site and see what pops up. ---
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2008, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-lady-names/477100/3 "2008-12-14T06:40:45Z")
Lula Belle (my American grandmother) Q ---
**Author:** ![BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bcef8e/32.png) [@BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2008, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-lady-names/477100/4 "2008-12-14T06:41:59Z")
Gloria, Gladys, Henrietta, Nellie. Mehitabel? ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2008, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-lady-names/477100/5 "2008-12-14T06:44:13Z")
> [@maggenpye](#): > > My ‘ladies’ (writing group where I’m the baby) are all between 70 -90. They include an Elinore and a Ngaire. How do you pronounce Ngaire? And thanks for the website I’ll check it out ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2008, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-lady-names/477100/6 "2008-12-14T06:46:58Z")
> [@Markxxx](#): > > How do you pronounce Ngaire? And thanks for the website I’ll check it out “Ny-ree”, I believe, but it’s a Maori name so Your Pronunciation May Vary. ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2008, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-lady-names/477100/7 "2008-12-14T06:53:25Z")
What time period do you have in mind? The names of old ladies change just as popular names for the young change. I don’t think I’ve ever met a woman actually named Drusilla. And I believe the most common spelling is Esther. How could you forget Gladys? Some old lady names are making a comeback! Isabell, Isabella, Rose and Ella are popular again. Sarah went away for a while and made a well-deserved comeback in the 1970s and 1980s. Grace and Anna are good. For a while the name Samantha was big. When I was a kid, only old country women were named that. Hortense (not very common) Edna Florence Molly Flora Beatrice ---
**Author:** ![maggenpye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecc23a/32.png) [@maggenpye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maggenpye)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2008, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-lady-names/477100/8 "2008-12-14T07:02:01Z")
Martini Enfield has it right, “the end is **NIGH, RE** pent your sins!” It sure is a Maori name, which I hadn’t twigged to as I’ve heard it so often. My Ngaire is a very well bred lady whose family owned the land that both branches of my family would later emigrate to and own (very very small) sections of. But it was (apparently) a bit of a fashion in the early part of the last century - two local sisters of the same vintage and pure Euro bloodstock were called Tui & Huia (Too-ee & Hoo-ee-uh). ---
**Author:** ![MOIDALIZE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@MOIDALIZE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MOIDALIZE)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2008, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-lady-names/477100/9 "2008-12-14T07:12:51Z")
Maude Eleanor Ruth ---
**Author:** ![seodoa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4af34b/32.png) [@seodoa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seodoa)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2008, 7:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-lady-names/477100/10 "2008-12-14T07:17:07Z")
June Helen Mid Lyn (all of these are grandmothers’ names, so they are sort of ingrained into my mind as such) Dottie/Dorothy Betty Norma Eleanor Marianne (these are all ladies who went to our church) Perhaps these aren’t stereotypical, but, for me, they say “old lady.” Mid, especially, says “old lady with a bowl of Jolly Ranchers.” ---
**Author:** ![Rhubarb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/59ef9b/32.png) [@Rhubarb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhubarb)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2008, 7:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-lady-names/477100/11 "2008-12-14T07:17:27Z")
Lenore (maternal GM) Lottie Ellen (paternal GM) Cora Agnes Cloris Beryl Ruby Opal Pearl Beatrice Ida Dolores May ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2008, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-lady-names/477100/12 "2008-12-14T07:19:06Z")
Florence Etta Lilian Bess (My grandmothers and two of my great-aunts). ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2008, 7:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-lady-names/477100/13 "2008-12-14T07:20:14Z")
My Great-Grandmother had the best old lady name ever- **Myrtle Stern**. It doesn’t get better than that. ---
**Author:** ![maggenpye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ecc23a/32.png) [@maggenpye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maggenpye)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2008, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-lady-names/477100/14 "2008-12-14T07:35:06Z")
Both my Grandma’s (born 190something) were called Jane - and both preferred Jean, the Scots variant. ---
**Author:** ![starwarsfreek42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e56c9b/32.png) [@starwarsfreek42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/starwarsfreek42)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2008, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-lady-names/477100/15 "2008-12-14T07:35:19Z")
Eunice Claudette Mildred Linnie Victoria Louise Bernice Lillian Betsy Evelyn Peggy Minnie Norma Jean Ida Bonnie Layne Lynn Ruth Wanda Charlotte Georgia Lorene Alva Alma ---
**Author:** ![trapezoidal\_jellyfish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6f9a4e/32.png) [@trapezoidal\_jellyfish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/trapezoidal_jellyfish)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2008, 7:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-lady-names/477100/16 "2008-12-14T07:39:15Z")
Bertha Sylvia Rosemary Frieda Caroline Mabel Mavis Eleanor Edith Ethel ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2008, 8:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-lady-names/477100/17 "2008-12-14T08:09:09Z")
Assuming you’re talking about old ladies NOW: Gladys Phyllis Doris Eileen Estelle ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2008, 9:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-lady-names/477100/18 "2008-12-14T09:26:42Z")
Checking out that website - I can’t believe how popular Mary was for so long. It’s either number 1 or 2 from when records began clear through to 1965 (then it takes a dive and never stops diving). So: Mary. Classic Old Lady Name for almost any era… ---
**Author:** ![Rayne\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@Rayne\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rayne_Man)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2008, 9:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-lady-names/477100/19 "2008-12-14T09:35:10Z")
I am surprised nobody has mentioned Fanny. My G.G. Grandmother (born in 1844) had the wonderful name of Fanny Innocent. Another of my female ancestors, who was born in 1693, was called Temperance. ---
**Author:** ![Noel\_Prosequi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b19c9b/32.png) [@Noel\_Prosequi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Noel_Prosequi)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2008, 10:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-lady-names/477100/20 "2008-12-14T10:16:55Z")
> [@starwarsfreek42](#): > > … > Lorene > … I knew of an old lady whose name was Clorene. Obviously her parents thought it sounded nice but had never done Chemistry at school. My late lamented aunts were Evelyn, Edith, Agatha, Ruth, Gladys and Laura. My still living aunts are Merle and Heather. Other elderly relatives were Shirley and Sophie. It’s nice that these things come in cycles. Heather, Laura and Sophie are entirely feasible modern names. The rest, not so much (even though I loved them all dearly). [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-lady-names/477100.md?page=2)