ye olde tymey baby names

jenerally?

And I don't mean Victorian era names ... I mean OLD.

I saw earlier someone was naming their daughter Persephone (nn Percy). So I started thinking Hera, Aphrodite, Dabria, Calliope, Juno, Echo, Hermes

And then older names that haven't yet made a comeback: Agatha, Araminta, Gertrude, Bernice, Dahlia.

And then historical/literary figures with a past ... Guenevere, Ophelia, Viola, Ygraine.

and I wondered ... what would the baby names board think of choices like these? You don't have to respond to indifvidual names ... I'm looking for more of a feel for the overall YUCK I hate old names like these or HMM not too bad or YES YES these are great!

SarahPLiz

They are NMS, but most are ok. Ygraine makes me think of migraine, though, and I wouldn't want a self-fulfilling prophecy on my hands. 

~snoopylove~

I like them.  DH mentioned Viola and Persephone when we were looking for names for DD.  He really wanted to name DD Pallas, but I just couldn't do it.

I think Guenevere is a beautiful name.

shellybird101

i like older classic names.  But I like the names from the early 1900's like Betty, Maggie, Lucy, Molly, Ruth

BetchySprout

I love Persephone, Antigone, Calliope, etc. 

My cousin would have named her last son Agatha had he been a girl (Louis instead).

 

IN general, I really like old names. 

macchiatto

My personal opinion is that there is an excellent reason why none of those has made a comeback.

Well, Viola and Guenevere aren't bad, and maybe Ophelia. But the rest ... ugh.

Pocky873

Most of these are NMS, but I do know of someone who named their daughter Hera.  But I think they named her after the half-human, half-Cylon baby from Battlestar Galactica. 

Ophelia and Dahlia aren't too bad (I know a Dahlia, but without the 'h'), but the others...yeah, I agree with the PP who said that there's a good reason why these never made a comeback.

emmelen

I don't know. Elizabeth, Mary, Ann and Margaret are all old. Helen or Diana. Rachel, Hannah, Sarah, Ruth. Even Clarissa if you want a good literary name (literary name?). Some names return, some don't. Like pp said, many don't return for a reason! The ones you list aren't totally my style (Ygraine, yikes!). But I love a good grandma name on a kid...like Mabel, Betsy, or Penny. 

Re: Hermes...there is a celebrity who named their son Hermes, can't remember who. But, yeah, good luck not getting your a$$ kicked in 4th grade with a name like that...

Deirdre18

I would take an old name over some new made up unique name anyday. My DD's name is Vera, the only other Vera's I have meet are in their 80's. I love Agatha, Ophelia, Viola.

sunnyday016

I like or dislike them on an individual basis.

Dislike Persephone. Like Viola.

Pantaloons55

Lurker coming out... no babies yet, but looking at names.

 Yuck to all the old names mentioned.

Side note: I actually know a woman named Aphrodite. Its cool only because she is Greek and named for her grandmother... otherwise, just out of the blue it would be very odd. I not a fan of the nickname either -- Aphro.

anna7602

Love them in general, although there some specific names I don't like the sound/look of no matter how "classic" they are, like Gertrude/Gertrudis. My great-grandmother's name was Gertrudis and I love the literary references to Gertrude Stein and Cuba's first known female author, Gertrudis Gomez de Avellaneda, but I just don't like the name itself. As the French say, tant pis, because I really do love ye olde tymey baby names.

ara_cale

I absolutely love a lot of them.  I have always loved names like Persephone, Calliope, Athena, Apollo, Hermes.  Old Greek names in general.  That said, I don't think I could ever actually give them to my child.  I feel like they're just too out there which makes me sad because I truly do like a lot of them.  

still_a_bride

I like them a lot!  Obviously I don't like every single one you've listed, but overall I like names from these categories and think it would be great if they would make more of a comeback.

love.love

I love lots of those styles of names, but some are just horrendous at the same time.

tokenhoser

My niece is Araminta.

luckyluvr

A few years back, I had a female student whose mn was Odysseus. It was very awkward when we were reading the Odyssey in class. Some names are just better in theory.

starlight8323

In general, I love really old names. I like reading about their history, and consider them to be little gems just waiting to be rediscovered.

But what you have there are three separate categories that I would like to make individual comments on, if you don't mind.

 

I really like the "Greek mythological names" category. I think these names were absolutely perfect for the characters who wore them, and I can appreciate them for their place in history. I understand why some people use these names for their kids. They are usually very strong, and some are very beautiful. But names like Agammemnon demand an audience. They almost precede you when you walk into a room. The bearer has to be confident.

I adore Sophocles' and Euripides' plays, which include names like Artemis, Clytemnestra, Ismene, Odysseus, Teiresias, and Theseus. Some were even popular in the 20th century as well, such as Cassandra, Helen, and Jason.

Antigone is probably my favorite in this category, because it has two opposing sides to it. When you hear it, it sounds so pretty, and just rolls off the tongue (ann-TIG-uh-nee), but when you look at it spelled out, it looks so negative (anti-gone). 

 

If you look at all of the characters above, they all seem to fit in your "historical/literary figures with a past" category. (The plays were called "Greek tragedies" for a reason.)

There are many tragic figures with names that I love, not only in Greek mythology, but also in Shakespeare and Arthurian legends. So I have thought about this subject quite a bit, and have come to the conclusion that it doesn't bother me as much as most other people. I have a few names with sad history on my list, including one that you specifically mentioned.

 

As for your "older names that haven't yet made a comeback" category, I think there is a reason that most of them have not made a comeback. But the reason varies from name to name.

For instance, I like a lot of Biblical names, but Bernice is not one of them. It reminds me of Berenice, which reminds me of Baroness, and I just happen to despise honorific title names. 

I've never heard of Araminta before, but I looked it up on BTN, and it looks like it was never that popular anyway. So it would be hard for it to make a comeback.

I just don't think that Agatha and Gertrude are that pretty. It's not because they are old that I don't like them. It's because of the letter combinations that make them up.

forensicmama

I like Araminta and Dahlia. Gertie is a cute nickname for Gertrude. Viola and Ophelia are gorgeous. Aggie is popular in the UK.

HappyAardvark

From SSA's website - top 20 boy and girl names from the 1880s - interesting how many names are on the list that are still so current... and others that are most definitely "olde tymey"

MalesFemalesRankNameNumberNameNumber1John89,949Mary91,6732William84,881Anna38,1593James54,060Emma25,4044George47,651Elizabeth25,0075Charles46,660Margaret21,8006Frank30,967Minnie21,7247Joseph26,294Ida18,2838Henry24,139Bertha18,2639Robert24,080Clara17,71710Thomas23,751Alice17,14111Edward23,133Annie17,02712Harry22,649Florence16,69913Walter18,186Bessie15,37114Arthur16,180Grace15,22715Fred15,602Ethel14,86616Albert14,374Sarah14,71517Samuel9,129Ella13,93618Clarence8,761Martha13,91119Louis8,276Nellie13,76120David7,573Mabel13,097

 

kbratton2king

to old names. When I read alot of these posts it seems like these women LOVE the "old timey" names. To each his own though

broomy

I love old, old, old names. DS's name is really old. Agatha was on our list of girls' names, and I really love the name Polonius for a boy, but DH says no. The top names on our current boy list are all old, old names, though. 

ubermoose

I think it varies on the name and the family.

If they were a fairly normal family who just loved the name Ophelia or had a grandmother named Bernice, I wouldn't think anything of it. Those names are a bit unusual these days, but I'd honestly give a name choice like that a thumbs-up.

If the family was pretty odd to boot, a name like Hermes or Echo would make them seem more out-of-touch.

pipsersmom

I guarantee you that if some Hollywood celeb names their kid one of those names, they're suddenly "cool" in everyone's eyes.

 I'm telling you, the kid makes the name. I like them. SO much better than Emersyn, Madysyn, Jazmyn, blech...

melissa721

Hate them. Except I always like Persephone. And Athena.