Classic/Historical/Enduring Girl Names

catherinekate · January 2016

Hi all,

My partner and I love historical and/or classic names. Ideally, we would like to name our children after family members or at least give them names with a strong family history. We have lots of boy names that we love and I'm 99% sure that we would name our son James Andrew.

However, we're really struggling with girl names. Catherine is a strong family name, but it's also my name so I'm reluctant to name my daughter after me. The rest of the female names in our family are either quite dated (Irene, Esther, Lee) or too trendy for us to consider (my MIL's name is Marine).

My husband really likes Emmeline, but I'm not sold--sounds too similar to Emma/Emily, although I know it is a historical name. Our first choice is Susanna to honour my mother (her name is Susan), but my parents had an acrimonious divorce and I worry it will drive my father nuts if our daughter has a name that is similar to hers.

What are your favourite classic girl names?

ETA: In case this matters to anyone, I am Scottish and my husband is of British/Irish descent.

Bringmemylongswordho · January 2016

Elizabeth
Margaret
Frederica
Charlotte
Diana
Corinne
Evelyn
Anne
Alexandra
Louise
Victoria
Isabella
Henrietta
Adelaide
Alice
Helena
Eleanor
Cordelia
Wilhelmina

LadyMillil · January 2016

Elizabeth
Jane
Anna
Charlotte
Victoria
Lydia

scotten · January 2016

I actually really like Irene, and don't find it dated at all. Definitely a classic!

catherinekate · January 2016

That's good to know @scotten! I have never heard the name used outside of my grandmother's generation, but perhaps that's just bad luck.

Does this board have a consensus on Charlotte? I think it's a gorgeous name and it was pretty close to top of our list until it became a royal name. I still love it, but I worry that it makes us seem like copy-cats.

missemmawoodhouse · January 2016

I love Charlotte. Will Princess Charlotte cause a rise in popularity? Probably, but I would never think anyone naming their kid Charlotte is obsessed with the royals. It's a classic, timeless name.

BlueJuice · January 2016

Charlotte is pretty and classic, and I wouldn't ever assume anyone who used it was obsessed with or copying the British royal family. However, it does seem to be wildly popular right now (and probably only rising in popularity due to their choice), so it is 'trendy' in the sense that it's going to turn up a lot in this generation. Your taste in names seems somewhat similar to mine, but I'm not sure how much potential popularity is an issue for you. I'm having the same struggle with Oliver, which I love, but wish was down below 100th in popularity right now instead of trending up, up, up.

bbiutmcph · January 2016

Charlotte is classic and been popular again for a few years, I don't think anyone would think you were copying the royal family. Suggesting:

Rosa/Rosalie
Miranda
Corrine
Bridget
Serafina
Alice
Antonia
CLementine
Celeste
Lucinda/Lucille
Alexandra
Miriam
Linnea
Claudia
Clarissa
Dorothy
Eloise
ELiza
Gwendolyn

Bringmemylongswordho · January 2016

I always laugh a bit when people worry about Charlotte becoming more popular because of the royal baby. It was rank 10 in 2014 and has been climbing steadily up the charts since the mid 90s.

So no. I wouldn't worry too much about it spiking, it's already very popular. But it is a lovely, classic name.

catherinekate · January 2016

@BlueJuice I do worry about potential popularity or perceived trendiness--I'm okay with popular names if it's a fairly classic name. James is obviously still a very popular name, but I feel okay with that because it has a strong family history behind it. Since we don't have a strong family history with any popular girls names, I think the trendiness is a bit more off-putting. I love Oliver also.

And @Bringmemylongswordho -- that's a great point. Thanks.

MamaWren919 · January 2016

I think Charlotte is too common now. It was too common before the princess, and it's just rising now.

Classic but not overly common
Alexandra
Audrey
Caroline
Rosemary/Rosalind/Rosalie
Cara
Holly
Julia
Natalie

JM8384 · January 2016

Evangeline...love it..but have a niece named ava already and a last name that's 11 letters!

jenniferamcooper · January 2016

Your style sounds similar to ours. Check out Victorian literature

Our girl's name due in March is likely Charlotte, a name we had picked out years ago. Stupid royals.

To be fair we don't know any Charlotte's and there is none in my son's large daycare. If you're worried about a name being too popular check out the SSA's percentage of babies born with the name and compare it with names of similar percentages in your birth year. I was against Charlotte because I'm a 1984 Jennifer. Almost 6% of baby girls born in 1984 in my region were named Jennifer. The #1 name in 2015 in our region was Ava, with like .9% of baby girls being named Ava. There's just so much diversity these days I think it's less of an issue.

Some of the names we're not going with but love are:

Violet
Victoria
Matilda
Penelope
Juliet
Ivy
Eleanor

Btw I love Irene, but that's just me.

esca18 · January 2016

scotten said:
I actually really like Irene, and don't find it dated at all. Definitely a classic!

Same here. It is used several times on maternal side of my family. I would MN it for our daughter due next month but it does not sound super with the first names we narrowed down to.

lm45678 · January 2016

missemmawoodhouse said:
I love Charlotte. Will Princess Charlotte cause a rise in popularity? Probably, but I would never think anyone naming their kid Charlotte is obsessed with the royals. It's a classic, timeless name.

Agreed.

TheHauntedHauswife · January 2016

I also love this style of names!

Eleanor / Eleanora
Lenore
Pearl
Opal
Nicolette
Rosalie
Cordelia
Ludella
Viola
Imogene
Macey / Maisie
Ophelia
Hattie/Haddie/Hadley

Karenin · January 2016

Lots of great suggestions here- I'll add Mary, Iris, and Frances

holli0801 · January 2016

I quite like Irene. My favorite classics are Eileen, Etta, Hazel, Lucy, and Iris.... Also love Charlotte nn Lottie, but a bit common nowadays for me...

That1didntcount · January 2016

I love Irene as well. I think Charlotte is beautiful but it's much too popular for my taste.

Jaytee501 · January 2016

Audrey
Eloise
Amelia
Lillian
Lydia
Clara
Cora

momma2char · February 2016

I have a Charlotte (also a chosen name long before the royals named their daughter), and although it seems to be a popular choice, I still do not know of any others in my area with the name. Others that I loved were Sally, Molly, Veda, Vera, Caroline, Greta, Rosalie, Anne, Frances, Vivian, Ruth, Lucy, Jane and Mary or Grace (both are not common as a first name)

tmk0325 · February 2016

I agree with the popularity of Charlotte. It's been in the top 10 way before the royal baby was born.

I also like Irene out of your list of names.

Here are some other options:
Florence
Claire/Clara
Genevieve
Elena
Jeanette
Regina
Olive
Pearl
Ottilla

I'm happy to see this thread started, because I love a lot of the names that everyone has been coming up with!

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