# 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:** 19\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![SpecialAgentJem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f6c823/32.png) [@SpecialAgentJem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpecialAgentJem)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2008, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-lady-names/477100/81 "2008-12-15T20:31:27Z")
Sorry if I repeat anything - Elizabeth Georgina Jessie Gina Jean Betty Agnes June Shelagh Margaret Beryl Gladys Hilda Silvia Sophia Dorothy Blanche Rose Violet Dotty Im out… for now! ---
**Author:** ![Dread\_Pirate\_Jimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dread_pirate_jimbo/32/3897_2.png) [@Dread\_Pirate\_Jimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dread_Pirate_Jimbo)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2008, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-lady-names/477100/82 "2008-12-15T20:36:30Z")
My grandmothers were named Ethel and Helen. Both solid old lady names, and both noted earlier in this thread. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![SpecialAgentJem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f6c823/32.png) [@SpecialAgentJem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpecialAgentJem)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2008, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-lady-names/477100/83 "2008-12-15T20:38:30Z")
Missed the edit box! The revised version - Elizabeth (a near retirement woman whom I have business with) Georgina (My grandmothers name and also my middle name) Jessie (My grannys name) Gina (My friends nanas name) Jean (My Grandmas nickname) Betty (Old woman who used to work in Woolies) Agnes (Old lady from The Simpsons) June (Old woman who lives on my mum and dads street) Shelagh (Old woman I work with) Margaret (Sister in laws mothers name) Beryl (General old lady name) Gladys (Old woman who used to live down the road) Grace (Old lady who used to live on my mum and dads street) Hilda (My friends nanas name) Silvia (My friends nanas name) Sophia (From the Golden Girls) Dorothy (From the Golden Girls) Blanche (From the Golden Girls - I love this name) Rose (From the Golden Girls - I love this name) Violet (General old lady name) Dotty (General old lady name) ---
**Author:** ![Nutty\_Bunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/d07c76/32.png) [@Nutty\_Bunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nutty_Bunny)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2008, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-lady-names/477100/84 "2008-12-15T21:16:15Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Susan This is my 2 year old’s name. Granted, she’s named after my mother, but I get a lot of comments from older women who tell me they love the name and that no one has “normal” names anymore. I take “normal” to mean “old-fashioned”, but that’s okay with me. With everyone naming their kids something unusual (which in turn becomes fashionable when the unusual names catch on), I feel quite confident that she won’t have several other Susans in her classes. We call her Susie anyway. I’m not sure she’ll want to be called that when she’s older, but that’s her choice. ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2008, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-lady-names/477100/85 "2008-12-15T21:36:46Z")
I’m an old lady, named after my great-grandmother, Mary. Luckily, I avoided her middle name: Winifred. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2008, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-lady-names/477100/86 "2008-12-15T21:47:25Z")
> [@AuntiePam](#): > > **Markxxx** , you don’t need any Old Man names? Your Old Lady doesn’t have a “friend”? 😉 Well they are “black widows” (ten of them in a club) so I wanted to stereotype them 🙂 This site [Baby Names Social Security USA](http://www.ssa.gov/OACT/babynames/) was great. Thanks again maggenpye One thing I wanted to do was avoid any names that could be popular in an alternate form. Like Allyson is another form of Alice, or Claire is another form of Clara. Both the alternate forms are common One thing I found interesting is I know a lot of African Americans and they have a lot more “old lady” names. Like I know a lot of African Americans under 30 named Doris, and Myra and Gretchen and Jean. Thanks for the ideas you’ve all been helpful. And it is interesting to see the differences ---
**Author:** ![zweisamkeit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zweisamkeit/32/4360_2.png) [@zweisamkeit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zweisamkeit)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2008, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-lady-names/477100/87 "2008-12-15T22:33:23Z")
> [@Baker](#): > > Gretchen already is a nickname. It’s the nickname, or diminutive, for Margarethe. I read this, and thought, “Really?” and then thought about how -chen is used as a diminutive suffix (Brot = bread, Brötchen = bread roll, “little bread”), so I can see Margarethe = garethe-chen, Gretchen. Awesome! ---
**Author:** ![Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hazle_Weatherfield)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2008, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-lady-names/477100/88 "2008-12-15T23:06:08Z")
All of the names mentioned started out as baby names and will all, eventually, be old ladies’ names. Always blows my mind to think of it that way. It always cracks me up when someone says, "Who would name a baby “fill in the blank.” Well, he/she will grow up someday. I guess it just makes sense to give a baby a name that doesn’t have obvious “age” connotations to it…which would be nearly impossible because it changes so much, doesn’t it? I think that “Sarah” is a good example. ---
**Author:** ![CAT\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9dc877/32.png) [@CAT\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CAT_1)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2008, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-lady-names/477100/89 "2008-12-16T06:43:51Z")
> [@Boozahol\_Squid\_P.I](#): > > No love for Prunella? Until I read this I had totally forgotten that my mom used to call me Prunella as a kid. If I was being silly it was Prunella, and naughty/silly it was Lizzy. My name is Cathy…so go figure. And now she wonders why I have so many nicknames for my son. BTW my mom is Ruby and is 75. Lots of Ruby’s making a comeback again, however. Also in my family and much older than her, were: Violet Bertha Minnie Eda Esther Amanda Sylvia Florence Elizabeth(Betts) Mabel and her daughter Maybelle ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2008, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-lady-names/477100/90 "2008-12-16T13:18:12Z")
My wife’s grandmothers were named **Thelma** and **Adla Mae**. Neither were remotely in the running when considering family names to give our daughter. ---
**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:** [December 16, 2008, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-lady-names/477100/91 "2008-12-16T13:39:31Z")
> [@Sami41](#): > > Joan. Or Marion. but especially Joan. Oh God yes. As this is my name and there is a **Florence** on the list, which is my middle name, I am doubly farked. Thanks MOM! I need therapy. ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2008, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-lady-names/477100/92 "2008-12-16T22:49:39Z")
My mother (Della, 79) and her four sisters: Willie Marie (90) Elsie May (86) Della Frances (79) Nancy Elizabeth (77) Mary Louise (73) When I was going to high school at Redondo High in California, there were teachers and administrators named Florence, Aleta, Althea, Lorietta, Ethel, Mabel, Doris, Beatrice, Elizabeth, Inez, Edna, Helen and L’Cena (younger than the others, but she was vice-principal when I graduated in June 1967). ---
**Author:** ![DeadlyAccurate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac91a4/32.png) [@DeadlyAccurate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeadlyAccurate)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2008, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-lady-names/477100/93 "2008-12-16T23:08:01Z")
> [@BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed](#): > > Gloria, Gladys, Henrietta, Nellie. Mehitabel? I have a character in one of my books named Mehetabel. Her brother is Nethaniah. Their father is a cruel, cruel man. (He’s a cult leader, if you’re wondering). I never actually expected anyone to have that name outside of the bible. ---
**Author:** ![Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hazle_Weatherfield)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2008, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-lady-names/477100/94 "2008-12-16T23:44:43Z")
[http://www.donmarquis.com/archy/](http://www.donmarquis.com/archy/) Archy (cockroach) and Mehitabel (alley cat) are written about by Don Marquis. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Tofu\_Kitty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8e7dd6/32.png) [@The\_Tofu\_Kitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Tofu_Kitty)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2008, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-lady-names/477100/95 "2008-12-17T02:05:03Z")
Courtesy of my family: Nell (maternal grandma) Claudia (paternal grandma–who also had the marvelous middle name Eutencie) Ruby Valley Martha Sue Evelyn Shirley Mattie Lou Irene Thelma AND Selma Loree (pronounced low-REE) Ellen And some others: Gertrude Adele Blanche Genevieve Vivian Lucille Elsa Glenda ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2008, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-lady-names/477100/96 "2008-12-17T02:13:09Z")
Elvira - great grandmother born approx 1870 “Patty Melissa” was one of my great great grandmothers (b 1841). Not particularly an old-lady-ish name. In my family tree there is a “Maude” a “Beulah” and a “Bertha” ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2008, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-lady-names/477100/97 "2008-12-17T02:18:08Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Emily Not an old lady name now, but it will be in a maybe 50 years, since it’s been the top baby girls’ name for about a decade running. I guess that’ll be true of Caitlyn and Jennifer too. ---
**Author:** ![Tool\_of\_the\_Conspiracy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@Tool\_of\_the\_Conspiracy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tool_of_the_Conspiracy)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2008, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-lady-names/477100/98 "2008-12-17T02:58:37Z")
My wife and I intentionally chose old-lady names for our daughters: Sylvia and Ellen. I think that two of my sisters had the same idea when they chose Opal and Clara for their daughters. Clara is an old family name, but the other three are not. (However, my mother’s name has the same root as Ellen.) I don’t think my grandmother Beverly has been mentioned yet… ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2008, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-lady-names/477100/99 "2008-12-17T03:42:47Z")
Just remembered a great-grandmother named Kitsy. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/old-lady-names/477100.md?page=4)