Old Lady Names

Eulah
Beulah
Agatha
Martha (this had a mild resurgence a while back)
Hetty
Clarabelle

It’s going to be interesting in a few decades to see the “fad” names of my youth-- Crystal/Krystal, Jacqueline, etc.-- become old lady names.

A double whammy: I had a grandmother named Ida Pearl.

And I’ve known an Elma.

I know some older ladies with the names of:
Myrtle
Annabelle
Cletus
Yolie
Matilda

I don’t see anything “old ladyish” about Sylvia, Betsy, or Lyn.

And Dolores is common in Spanish-speaking families today, though they might refer to her as “Lola.”

I think the old lady quality one perceives is a subjective view of one’s relatives. But Nevaeh is definitely not old. It’s just stupid.

I didn’t bother reading the many listed, so sorry for doubling any, but I work in a nursing home and I could give you a few of my most common ones:

Audrey
Beatrice
Regina
Bertha
Rosella
Florence
Edna
Eva
Simone (I know several Simone’s in my own age group, but it was very common at one time way back, I guess).
Iantha
And for guys… I guess the only one I’ve heard of that was slightly notable for me was Maxwell, I got a few of those, and Clarence. Leo came up a couple times but probably not statistically relevant.

Absolutely, many names make comebacks. Top names for baby girls in England & Wales, 2007 - Grace, Ruby and Olivia make up the top three, and even Daisy is in there. I lose track of the number of Matildas, Tillys, Eleanors and Ellies I teach.

Dorothy May, Jean Maree, Joyce Helen and Marjorie Vera were my grandfather’s sisters, daughters of Martha Lydia.
Jessie Rose, Dorothy Jean, Lillian Agnes, Hetty Isabel, Marjorie Hazel and Shirley Moree were my grandmother and her sisters, daughters of Jessie.
Myrtle Alice, Thelma Maude, Nancy May, Glenda Margaret and Pauleen Ann were my pop’s sisters, daughters of Gertrude Frances.
Jean Fanny, Lennice Isobel and Emily Fahey were (and are) my nan and her sisters, daughters of Alice Pearl.

Beryl
Magda
Augusta
Henrietta

The thing with old ladies is that they’ll probably go by some sort of nickname anyway:

Dolly
Flossie
Sadie
JoJo

that kind of thing.

Another name which seems to have dropped out of favour is Selina.

No love for Prunella?

My grandmothers were Juliana and Mary.
My mother and mother-in-law are Loretta and Mary Jane.
MIL’s sisters/SIL’s are Mildred, Vera, Barbara, Edna, and Patricia.
My aunts include Stella, Veronica, Clara, Jennie, Eleanor, and Genevieve.

Those are the old lady names in my life. Only 5 are still alive.

My grandma’s name was Geneva. Her sister was Arzie.
My other grandma’s name was Rosario.

Joan. Or Marion. but especially Joan.

Queen Victoria’s daughters were:

Victoria
Alice
Helena
Louise
Beatrice

Victoria is not old lady. Alice is somewhat old lady at least in the US where Alyssa seems to be the current preferred form. There are three of them in DD’s kindergarten grade. Helen definitely strikes me as old lady as does Louise and Beatrice. Queen Elizabeth has two granddaughters named Louise and Beatrice but in the US the more preferred forms (when you find them at all) are Louisa and Beatrix.

Here is the baby name wizard. It shows what names were popular during what year.

Though they aren’t quite from the Old Lady era, at least in my estimation, my Mother’s name is: Rona. And her sister’s name is: Lenore. My Nana, their Mother’s name, was: Elsie.

My grandmothers and great-grandmother had the trifecta of little old lady names: Edna, Irene, and Mabel (although she went by Marie).

Ruby
Pearl
Mabel
Irene
Ardell (step grandma’s name)
Darlene
Deborah
Ruth
Ida May
Bernice
Mavis
Helen
Beatrice
Pauline
Marjorie
Dorothy
Shirley (very common for little girls in the 1930s)
Norine
Dorine
Maxine

Not all of these are exclusively older, but I tend to automatically think senior citizen when I hear them.

I hear Eleanor is popular in UK now for little girls. That hasn’t happened on this side of the pond (although my brother’s name, Carter, has become hugely popular now).

I once dated an Arlene. Would hate to tell you how old she’d be now. :frowning:

Cool. All of my mom’s sisters’ names have been listed:

Eunice, Gwendola, Beatrice, Ruby, Beatrice, Beulah and June

I was looking at senior class group photos at work the other day. Classes that graduated in the 50’s had many names that I wouldn’t think of as “old” but that aren’t popular anymore:

The class might have only 15 students but there would be two of these:
Karen, Sharon, Patricia, Barbara, Marilyn, Linda. So I guess those names will be “old” someday.

I think Edna is one name that won’t ever make a comeback.