"Names hip Londoners are calling their kids"
via mumsnet (these are just a sprinkling of the names I saw. Apparently these are kids posters know or else names they hear bellowed at playgrounds)
WDYT?
Fleur
Florence (which the lovely ladies of mumsnet say is "passe already")
Carla
Josephine
Nesta
Elodie
Martha
Elsie
Clemency
Lois
Delphi
Maud
Ethel
Ottilie
Orla
Bess
Manon
Gilda
Cosima
Jean
Coco
Seren
Althea
Candida
Hester
Arthur
Virgil
Lysander
Rasmus
Rafael
Hal
Atlas
Mitford
Clement
Axel
Rufus
Benedict
Marmaduke
Herbie
Arlo
Fergus
Zefi
Dex
Stanley
Winston
Pensive
Cosmo
Lenny
______________________________________________________________________
WDYT?
Fleur
Florence (which the lovely ladies of mumsnet say is "passe already")
Carla
Josephine
Nesta
Elodie
Martha
Elsie
Clemency
Lois
Delphi
Maud
Ethel
Ottilie
Orla
Bess
Manon
Gilda
Cosima
Jean
Coco
Seren
Althea
Candida
Hester
Arthur
Virgil
Lysander
Rasmus
Rafael
Hal
Atlas
Mitford
Clement
Axel
Rufus
Benedict
Marmaduke
Herbie
Arlo
Fergus
Zefi
Dex
Stanley
Winston
Pensive
Cosmo
Lenny
This message was edited 9/1/2014, 6:28 PM
Replies
I like:
Elodie
Martha
Jean
Rufus
Arlo
Elodie
Martha
Jean
Rufus
Arlo
I can never get over how different American and British naming trends are. I can't even see American hipsters using some of these names! :) My opinions:
Fleur - Pretty.
Florence - It's okay, though I prefer Flora.
Carla - Carla does nothing for me but Carly is a cute nn.
Josephine - Stunning.
Nesta - Also pretty.
Elodie - An amazing name, I think it needs to become a favorite of mine.
Martha - Old-ladyish and causes me to think of sour things.
Elsie - Cute even if it is reminiscent of cows.
Clemency - Lovely, though Clementine would be even better.
Lois - It's okay.
Delphi - I can think of two possible prns of this name, neither of which is appealing.
Maud - Frumpy.
Ethel - Even worse than Maud. I never would've imagined this name would make any sort of a comeback.
Ottilie - Eh, kind of ugly.
Orla - Same as Ottilie.
Bess - I've liked it ever since I've seen it described as a Jazz Age name. Now it brings to mind flappers and fun.
Manon - Okay, maybe a little pretentious.
Gilda - Frumpy.
Cosima - Trying too hard to be sophisticated.
Jean - Dated.
Coco - Cute, though as a nn.
Seren - Ugh. I don't like women's names that end in -n.
Althea - Okay.
Candida - Attractive but brings to mind yeast infections.
Fleur - Pretty.
Florence - It's okay, though I prefer Flora.
Carla - Carla does nothing for me but Carly is a cute nn.
Josephine - Stunning.
Nesta - Also pretty.
Elodie - An amazing name, I think it needs to become a favorite of mine.
Martha - Old-ladyish and causes me to think of sour things.
Elsie - Cute even if it is reminiscent of cows.
Clemency - Lovely, though Clementine would be even better.
Lois - It's okay.
Delphi - I can think of two possible prns of this name, neither of which is appealing.
Maud - Frumpy.
Ethel - Even worse than Maud. I never would've imagined this name would make any sort of a comeback.
Ottilie - Eh, kind of ugly.
Orla - Same as Ottilie.
Bess - I've liked it ever since I've seen it described as a Jazz Age name. Now it brings to mind flappers and fun.
Manon - Okay, maybe a little pretentious.
Gilda - Frumpy.
Cosima - Trying too hard to be sophisticated.
Jean - Dated.
Coco - Cute, though as a nn.
Seren - Ugh. I don't like women's names that end in -n.
Althea - Okay.
Candida - Attractive but brings to mind yeast infections.
I'm American so I'm not really familiar with any reputation they have. However, I have noticed a kind of unbridled snobbery that seems acceptable there. And they're kind of hostile.
There does seem to be a lot of snobbery. It's certainly a very middle-class demographic I think. And they swear a lot. However, I met some people at a writing event who are members and they were really lovely, and not snobby (although they all said they didn't use the message boards much, if at all).
In terms of the naming board, if you like things like Jayden, Alfie-Lee, Shardonnay and Pixie-Lily then you're going to get a lot of rude comments but those kind of names wouldn't be popular here either. :-)
In terms of the naming board, if you like things like Jayden, Alfie-Lee, Shardonnay and Pixie-Lily then you're going to get a lot of rude comments but those kind of names wouldn't be popular here either. :-)
Florence, Martha, Elsie, Arthur and Stanley are all really popular in the UK, I'm also not surprised to see Seren, Orla, Elodie, Lois, Rufus and Lenny.
Elodie, Ottilie, Clemency, Cosima, Althea, Candida, Hester, Lysander, Clement, Rufus and Arlo are very upper-middle class "mumsnet" names, all the posters there seem to love Elodie and Ottilie especially!
Elodie, Ottilie, Clemency, Cosima, Althea, Candida, Hester, Lysander, Clement, Rufus and Arlo are very upper-middle class "mumsnet" names, all the posters there seem to love Elodie and Ottilie especially!
I like-
Florence
Josephine
Martha
Clemency
Maud
Cosima
Axel
Rufus
Arlo
Pensive makes me lol a little bit, like you just know he'll be an airhead ;) But that's totally hypocritical of me b/c I love lots of virtue names for girls. I could dig it with the nickname Pen. Fleur is sort of sweet, but I live in a French speaking area, so it really is just flower around here, it would be quite strange for folks.
Florence
Josephine
Martha
Clemency
Maud
Cosima
Axel
Rufus
Arlo
Pensive makes me lol a little bit, like you just know he'll be an airhead ;) But that's totally hypocritical of me b/c I love lots of virtue names for girls. I could dig it with the nickname Pen. Fleur is sort of sweet, but I live in a French speaking area, so it really is just flower around here, it would be quite strange for folks.
This message was edited 9/2/2014, 5:57 AM
Hip Londoners must peruse the rolls of American nursing homes to choose names. I do like Florence though, it has a gentle, pretty sound. Not Fleur though, that reminds me of cheap bubble bath.
Marmaduke? Please. That's what somebody'd name a highly exaggerated upper-crust British noble in a silly story. Or a big dog.
Marmaduke? Please. That's what somebody'd name a highly exaggerated upper-crust British noble in a silly story. Or a big dog.
Oh, Mumsnetters love the name Ottilie. And Arlo! I see them mentioned in every naming thread I ever see over there.
Some of these are in the top 100 so I'm not surprised to see:
Florence, Martha, Elsie, Arthur and Stanley. Dex could be short for Dexter which is also inside the top 100.
Names I'd consider unusual are Carla (these days), Nesta, Delphi, Ethel, Manon, Gilda, Cosima, Jean, Althea, Candida, Virgil, Lysander, Rasmus, Hal, Atlas, Mitford, Clement, Marmaduke, Zefi and Pensive (which is very odd).
The thing is if they are just being overheard in the park there is no way of knowing what nationality or background the kids are from. I expect Manon, Zefi, Rasmus and many of the other kids could have at least one non-British parent. London is a very multi-cultural place. I remember seeing the names on the children's artwork in the school which is my local polling station and only a couple had what I'd consider to be typically British names (and it's not a trendy London area!).
Anyway I like:
Fleur (GP), Florence, Elsie (kind of), Seren and Rufus.
Some of these are in the top 100 so I'm not surprised to see:
Florence, Martha, Elsie, Arthur and Stanley. Dex could be short for Dexter which is also inside the top 100.
Names I'd consider unusual are Carla (these days), Nesta, Delphi, Ethel, Manon, Gilda, Cosima, Jean, Althea, Candida, Virgil, Lysander, Rasmus, Hal, Atlas, Mitford, Clement, Marmaduke, Zefi and Pensive (which is very odd).
The thing is if they are just being overheard in the park there is no way of knowing what nationality or background the kids are from. I expect Manon, Zefi, Rasmus and many of the other kids could have at least one non-British parent. London is a very multi-cultural place. I remember seeing the names on the children's artwork in the school which is my local polling station and only a couple had what I'd consider to be typically British names (and it's not a trendy London area!).
Anyway I like:
Fleur (GP), Florence, Elsie (kind of), Seren and Rufus.
I really like:
Fleur
Florence
Josephine
Elodie
Martha
Elsie
Clemency - much better than Clementine
Delphi - prefer Delphine
Ethel
Ottilie
Bess
Manon
Cosima
Seren
Althea - I like Alethea too, and Thea
Hester
Arthur
Lysander - not sure whether I like Leander better...
Atlas - kinda cool, with the mythology connection, but not so much with the actual book of maps meaning
Clement
Benedict - prefer Bennett
Arlo
Dex
Really don't get Pensive - do they want their kid to be a philosopher?
"Passe already" OH GOD mumsnet must be an interesting place
Fleur
Florence
Josephine
Elodie
Martha
Elsie
Clemency - much better than Clementine
Delphi - prefer Delphine
Ethel
Ottilie
Bess
Manon
Cosima
Seren
Althea - I like Alethea too, and Thea
Hester
Arthur
Lysander - not sure whether I like Leander better...
Atlas - kinda cool, with the mythology connection, but not so much with the actual book of maps meaning
Clement
Benedict - prefer Bennett
Arlo
Dex
Really don't get Pensive - do they want their kid to be a philosopher?
"Passe already" OH GOD mumsnet must be an interesting place
Oh, those poor children.
That is indeed a set of hip names. I was only surprised by these:
Carla - seems so "chavvy" (as they say over there) and downmarket. But seeing it convinces me that my premonition that unassuming names like Charlene, Brenda and Mitchell are going to become the next wave of hipster darlings
Delphi
Ethel - NEVER would have expected Ethel to make any kind of comeback
Gilda
Candida - I guess if you're hip enough the yeast infection connection doesn't matter
Virgil - I thought this name was doomed to wimpsville! I'm glad to see it's not
Atlas
Mitford
Zefi
Pensive - Pensive is just such a random word to show up as a name. Very unexpected.
Lenny
Carla - seems so "chavvy" (as they say over there) and downmarket. But seeing it convinces me that my premonition that unassuming names like Charlene, Brenda and Mitchell are going to become the next wave of hipster darlings
Delphi
Ethel - NEVER would have expected Ethel to make any kind of comeback
Gilda
Candida - I guess if you're hip enough the yeast infection connection doesn't matter
Virgil - I thought this name was doomed to wimpsville! I'm glad to see it's not
Atlas
Mitford
Zefi
Pensive - Pensive is just such a random word to show up as a name. Very unexpected.
Lenny
Candida! I once posted about Candida long ago, because I like it but was afraid it was reminiscent of a yeast infection, and almost everyone, as I recall, said that it was indeed too reminiscent of a yeast infection. Unfortunate that is true, because it's pretty and spunky.
I also like:
Elodie
Martha
Clemency
Maud -- I used to think this was really ugly, but lately it's seemed more ugly-with-charm, like Gretchen and Bridget
Cosima
Althea -- but Alethea is better
Virgil
Lysander
Hal -- okay, but this should be a nickname
Winston
The rest, no.
I also like:
Elodie
Martha
Clemency
Maud -- I used to think this was really ugly, but lately it's seemed more ugly-with-charm, like Gretchen and Bridget
Cosima
Althea -- but Alethea is better
Virgil
Lysander
Hal -- okay, but this should be a nickname
Winston
The rest, no.
"I'm sorry, Janice, I can't do that ..."
"I can't be Hal as a nickname, because that isn't how hip Londoners do it."
"I can't be Hal as a nickname, because that isn't how hip Londoners do it."
To me, Maude is totally ugly and without charm. Gretchen isn't ugly to me, and it's the name that puts me in mind of a chubby blonde girl with fat cheeks and pigtails and a pinafore dress. Bridget seems now to be a fairly upper-crust Irish name in the US, more popular a generation ago than it is now. It always made me think of a kind of sad, sullen, disheveled kind of girl.
Gretchen, Heidi and Marie make a cute sister set.
Maude would be sisters with Ethel and Hilda.
Bridget would be sisters with Colleen and Kathryn.
Gretchen, Heidi and Marie make a cute sister set.
Maude would be sisters with Ethel and Hilda.
Bridget would be sisters with Colleen and Kathryn.
Ha, my name is Heidi (well, Heidi-Joy)and I would love to have a sister named Gretchen. Marie would be the odd one out there, even though it matches well, for the origin. I would guess that Gretchen, Heidi and Marise would work better. Though - that was a good set.
Maude, Ethel and Hilda are dead on - though Helen, Edna or Blanche would fit too.
Bridget and Colleen... I seriously know a sibset. No idea if there is a Kathryn in the family though.
Maude is hard to place because it's becoming hip, so my previous opinion that it was fuddy-duddy is being currently redefined.
Gretchen is just so foreign for my small town, but it's slowing becoming sexy-european.
Maude, Ethel and Hilda are dead on - though Helen, Edna or Blanche would fit too.
Bridget and Colleen... I seriously know a sibset. No idea if there is a Kathryn in the family though.
Maude is hard to place because it's becoming hip, so my previous opinion that it was fuddy-duddy is being currently redefined.
Gretchen is just so foreign for my small town, but it's slowing becoming sexy-european.
the one Gretchen I knew ...
Was a cute little black dachshund.
But there was a pretty girl named Greta who used to live across the street from my parents-in-law.
Was a cute little black dachshund.
But there was a pretty girl named Greta who used to live across the street from my parents-in-law.
Biddy would never fly here ...
As it is the common name for baby chickens, and is also widely used as a euphemism for another animal word that begins with b.
As it is the common name for baby chickens, and is also widely used as a euphemism for another animal word that begins with b.
What's the French pronunciation of Maude?
Mode
:)
:)