My daughter’s great-grandmothers, Minerva, Madge, Juanita, and Arva were all incredibly hard working and serious women. Still, none of their names sounded right for my little bundle of joy. We named her Amanda because, although old-fashioned, it seemed to fit her.

This is all just too much fun! I always threatened to name a daughter after both my grandmothers — Eulalah Louella. I chickened out at the last minute. “Creative” names run in my family — Vina Oregan, Celestial Faye, Arzelle Sue. I sort of felt I let the team down when I actually named my daughter Theresa and my son Michael.

Emma? Out of fashion? You can’t walk through a Gymboree without tripping over five Emmas (or Emilys)

Not recent, but I have an ancestral cousin (back in the early 1800′s) named “Blackleach”. Really. Ok, it was a family name (his grandfather was so-and-such Blackleach). Jessup (as a first name; usually because a grandfather or such was named Jessup).

Other Puritan/Congregational-Connecticut names include Zebulon and Sylvanus (several in my family tree).

Other well-out-of-fashion names is “Sidney” (for boys), Florence, Elmer, Emma (I think), Harriet, etc.

My grandmother’s name was Elvira, and I am pretty sure that one is never, ever coming back! She hated it all her life and everyone called her “Lolly” instead. But even her name was not as bad as her own mother’s name: Pierrina. Grandma Lolly wanted my parents to name me Pierrina, and thank heavens my parents didn’t listen to her (Purina, anyone?)!

When I was a kid I hated my own name (Caterina) because no one could spell or pronounce it (I quickly became “Cat”) and because, as Twyla also mentioned, kids with unusual names never get to have the personalized pencils and keyrings and stuff. As an adult I’ve learned to embrace it (although most people still call me “Cat”).

I’m also with the defenders of “Beatrice” – I find it very graceful. But I’ll add one name to the “never come back” list: Sylvia – an otherwise lovely name forever ruined by the song “Sylvia’s Mother.”

You also need to throw in regional and cultural interpretations and pressures. I live in holland, where I have met several (under 2 set) Esthers, Hesters, Geerts(boy), Caspers (not a ghost), floris(again a male) & Koen’s(pronounced coon). When I suggested Lia or Ali for my unborn girl- the looks of horror would have shamed any self respecting Bertha or Sally.

I’m quite tired of Kaylee myself, and would like to see Nevaeh go to Lleh. I love unusual names, but invented bits of nonsense just annoy me.

I kept reading the comments after posting my last one, and Anne Marie, you’re killing me!

Our daughter is Eleanor, but she was almost Imogen (Im-uh-gen). If there is a next girl, she will be!

Umm…Agnes? Constance? Esther? These are classic names with history and meaning. I hope more Victorian creakers make a comeback. It’s all we have left for creative naming at this point and they’re a lot prettier than made up atrocities like Kenara.

BTW, I happen to know a Constance who is, I assure you, cooler than all of us.

Ha! I love reading some of these comments! My husband and I went through about 3 baby books and chose the name of our kid based on if we could make fun of it or not! I’m totally serious. I found out what my husband was like at 10 years old that day

We chose Maxwell… yes there is poking potential, but it made the list, and when we met him, I knew that was the name.

I am defiently into newer names, or older names revamped. My daughter’s full name is Rhianna Therese. The Rhianna is not for the singer either, I didn’t know about her when I named her that. And the Therese is for my great grandmother (her great great), they were born on the exact same day, 92 years apart. But Rhianna was chosen because it was close to Ryan (her dad) and he was the one who wanted a girl, I wanted to name her Ryne, or Ryan. I think boys names for girls are so cute. (Logan anyone?) But we call her Anna, which is pretty normal considering the names I had chosen.

My siblings are, Shannon, Caitlin, Joey, Becky and AJ. they are all regular, normal names so I wanted something different and unique. well AJ is actually Armand Jr. and that would have to be my choice for names that will never come back. I think Armand is the worst name ever, especially when coupled with the middle name Rosaire. Which is what my dad and brother are named. Armand Rosaire…. can you think of anything worse?

As for the names mentioned, I love the name Cyrus, and names like Theodore (Theo), and Thaddeus (Thad) are so freaking cute. I do enjoy some older names, but I wouldnt always choose them for my kids. I do love the names Jakob (Jak), Vincent (Vince), Dade, Lincoln, Liam, Finn, Beckett, and Julietta.
Julietta is really the only girls name I like that is not “newer”. But I think the names I like are generally okay, they are not to “trendy” but still different.

My grandfathers names: Homer and Norman. Needless to say, we didn’t look to my side of the family for inspiration when naming our son.

“Chester, chester, child molester” is why I thought Chester and Lester were done. I can’t believe people would look past that and punish thier kids with that name.
I know you can make something out of any name but some are just easy targets. We really thought this all through. So, to help I have always called Olivia my “Livers” so bring it on bullies!
I think I was a bully in a past life because the minute we picked the name Kyle all I could think of was We found Kyle in a pile of bile but he had a smile after a while. I know it is dorky, but we do check to see what our kids bring to the table for the mean kids to use.

PS, doesn’t matter what we name our kids…most people I know aren’t fans of their own names. I so desperately wanted the name Cindy as a child… And don’t worry Twyla, I never had anything with my name on it either – they were always sold out.

I like some of the hated names listed above – I really think the name Chester for a boy is great! It has so much character!

I think a couple of names that are dead for girls are Gertrude and Lorna. They’re terrible. For boys, I hope names that sound like fat old trucker men wearing baseball caps and smoking are gone. You know, like Bob, Bill and Chuck.

Thanks Manjari. The ironic thing is it is one more thing we disagree about. Very funny! And, yes, I have been called Twilight, as in straight from the Twilight Zone. Thanks for the props for my daughter’s name too. I had to take sole credit for that one since I was single or abandoned (whichever you prefer). I picked it after watching the sonogram video like 10 times and realizing how graceful she was. (Duh, she was surrounded by fluid. The pregnant mind is a wonderful thing.) Up until that point her name was to be Molly.
I am sad to see so many people don’t like the name Cyrus. I love it. And, much to your sadness, it is on the rise. I know a Cyrus on my son’s soccer team and one that is about 11 months old. Also, Silas is gaining momentum.
If you do name your kid Gaylord you have to give him the middle name Focker. That would actually make it almost okay.

How about Gaylord or Gaylene? I don’t think those will come back!

More pearls for you: Myrna, Imogene and Elnora.
I wonder if anyone is using the name Hermione – since the Harry Potter craze? Or as my son jokes about the name using a british accent, “My-heinie”.

Beatrice is our infant daughter’s name, and before she was born, you couldn’t imagine how many people scoffed and made faces at the name. Even her grandfather begged and begged me to consider what he called a “normal” name; he claimed that Beatrice reminded him of someone’s ugly, fat, mean Aunt.

However, now everyone fawns over how beautiful and fitting the name is. Everyone calls her Baby Bea! It’s a very classy, poetic name that I drew from classics like Dante’s The Divine Comedy and Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing.

I personally (and this is just my humble opinion) think that the current fad with names that end in “ayden” is obnoxious. You know, Jayden, Hayden, Brayden, Caden, Aiden, and so on….They are fine names, they are just EVERYWHERE!

One more thing, I love the name Beatrice. I know a hispanic girl by that name and she goes by Bea. (Said Bay-ah) Maybe it helps that she is a sweet, beautiful girl.

I would vote to remove the name Twyla from ever becoming acceptable. I have hated it my whole life. Every person always thinks they are the first to realize that “Hi, Twy” rhymes. Yep, I know it does. Also, I have to spell my name for everyone whether they need to write it or not. Furthermore, I get to hear endless stories of every Twyla anyone has ever known. Do you know how many older men had a first girlfriend named Twyla? I do.
I don’t mean to sound oh poor me-ish but I am explaining why my kids are named David, Olivia, Taylor and Kyle. No confusion, no odd spellings. Simple and they can get license plates or shoelaces with thier names on them. I was always envious of those kids who had thier names on thier pencils at school. Mine said Star Student or something dumb.
By the way, I absolutely love the name Mabel. I think it is so pretty. And anything that can be shortened to Milly or Lilly is high on my list of adorable.
I wanted to name my boy Adrian (husband vetoed because of Rocky) or Julius. I love that. Darn that Julius Ceaser and Orange Julius. They ruined it for me. Oh, yeah and I couldn’t find it on the rack of things with names printed on it.

Oh, and thanks to those who wrote in to say my Earl’s cute. A mom just can’t hear that enough …!

For girls, I’m pretty sure Hattie and Eula aren’t going to make comebacks. For boys, I’d have to go with Percival and Horace.

Interesting point about Adolf becoming popular in perhaps four hundred years. My name is actually Eva and I’m floored at the current popularity of Eva, Ava, etc. in the United States. It didn’t take four hundred years for kids to forget (or, more accurately, not know) that Eva was Hitler’s girlfriend, but under four decades in my case. Thanks to the parents of Ms. Longoria and Ms. Herzegovina!

As someone said, never say never.

Jenny –

Re: Adolph,

Never say never. Give it another four hundred years.

How else to explain why people name their kids things like Gengis and Nero? They were the Adolphs of their time.

So somehow, my maternal grandfather was named Earl, so my mother is Earleen (and she has a brother named Earl II), and my fraternal grandfather was Ferrel (sounds like “Furl”) so my aunt’s middle name is Ferrelene. I love my family, and, of course, once you meet her– Earleen is the perfect, most wonderful name for my mom, but I question the addition of ‘een’ or ‘ene’ to the end of men’s names. Of course, I named my daughter after my grandmother’s name– Adylene. (I don’t know any men named Adyl…)I also have an Ethylanne relative. I love them all as people, but thought I’d throw them out as not as potential for the top ten list. I like non-top-ten names!

The Sesame Street names are probably doomed. Oscar, Elmo, Grover, Kermit, Ernie, and probably Bert.

Also, Dorcas.

There is one name not mentioned that is probably off the list forever:

ADOLPH.

I used to know a man named Marion & I doubt that’s making a comeback although it does shorten nicely to Mac. I also don’t hear any about any Sissys (beside Sissy Spacek.)

Besides those few I think all of them will eventually come back in fashion. In fact I like a lot of the names people are posting, especially Doris, Josephine, Hilda, Mabel, Velma, Thelma, Agnes, Agatha & Claudia, Cyrus, Lester (Les). I think plain old fashioned names sound solid and grounded, unpretentious.

Claudia is a perfectly lovely name, thank you!

This whole exchange goes to show that people are always going to differ on names. I’d much rather have a niece named Mabel than one named Mackenzy or similar. I do agree that some of the older names don’t have that appealing ‘retro’ vibe. ‘Millie’ could be cute; ‘Beula’ is probably not poised for a comeback.

Can we get rid of Priscilla–not a great name and horrible nicknames, including “Pris” and, worst of all, “Pussy”?

I don’t think any of those Old Testament names (Esther, etc.) will ever go completely out of style. But my family tree is a cornucopia of creaky-sounding names… Herbert and Eula, anyone?

Dreadful names that hopefully won’t make a comeback: Providence, Mavis, Doris, Josephine, Hilda, Mabel, Velma, Thelma, Beatrice, Constance, Agnes, Agatha, Claudia

I have a nephew named Cyrus.

Cyrus the Virus.

My mother calls him by his middle name – Wesley.

*sigh*

Girl: Fatima
Boy: Lester

Both family names we were able to cross off the list from the get-go I think you know a name is “bad” if the family member chose an entirely different name (not even a nickname of their “bad” name) to go by.

That said, I agree with the other commenters that names sort of grow on a baby, and cute babies make their name cute (unfortunately it doesn’t always work the other way – cute names do not always equal cute babies…) But anyway, our son is named Henry (another family name) but from the get-go we called him Hank. My mom was appalled that we even considered that name before he was born, but then she held her little Hank and proclaimed it the perfect name for him.

Janey – I have a cousin Vincent and went to school with a Vincent – not old manish at all. Best part? I get to say “My cousin Vinny” a lot!

Dorcas. never thought I’d know one outside of early american lit, but met one in high school. Can you imagine being names Dorcas??

I love that picture, love it, love it, love it! Sorry – I know that has nothing to do with names, but sometimes you see a cute baby and it brings out the cheek pincher in you!

It’s all a matter of perspective. Truly. Exhibit A: Ten minutes ago, I would have said that Earl is not such a great name. But seeing your Earl? Totally changed my mind. What an adorable baby. Earl rocks.

I knew a Norbert who was very cool. I knew a Dolores who was totally in touch with her inner Lolita. I knew a male Courtney who, despite the name and despite being smart and bookish, still had swagger to spare.

I’m sure someone somewhere had a Grandma Hortense who did something amazing (worked in a factory in WWII; fought for women’s suffrage rights; kept a wicked sense of humor while raising six kids, etc.) and who would be proud to name their daughter after such an amazing woman.

As namers, we parents put a lot of pressure on ourselves to prove how cool we are. I know I’m guilty of feeling that way myself. Personally, I think if a kid likes their name and it has meaning for them, then it doesn’t matter what that name is.