The Victorian Duggars

[Aithuia]

On 3/28/2019 at 9:09 AM, VelociRapture said:

I looked up what my own name would have been 100 years earlier. My first name would have been my daughter’s nickname and that makes me weirdly happy. 

I love this thread so much--total name nerd here. And I'm Lyda Carrie by this method!

The website for Time magazine has a feature similar to this that sorts by decade, which I've linked here. My name for the 1900s would be the only nickname I've ever had (I have a short name), bestowed on me by my SO, and it's what he calls me instead of my real name. Made me smile when I saw it.

http://time.com/3856405/baby-name-popularity/#

[Quiverfulloftwins]

I would have been Eva Daisy is I had been born 100 years earlier

[LilMissMetaphor]

I literally WAS named the name I would have been named 100-odd years ago.  Didn't need the site to tell me that! Fortunately, I go by a Dutch nickname/diminutive.

[neurogirl]

My name was out of the top 100 in my birth year, peaked in the 60s near the millennium, and is now the name of a robot most people have in their homes. So I've gone from people immediately calling me Alyssa/Alexis/Alex to commenting on the weird name and Ive actually had multiple people laugh when I same my name now. But no one is naming their kid Alexa anymore!

 

Edited March 30, 2019 by neurogirl

[DundeeUnFundie]

7 Jessica's in my grade. The baby name trends according to my job are names with '-bell-' in them or they start with a H. It's getting ridiculous. You go to call out a name and somehow end up calling over another child. It did make me wonder if (when) the Duggars began to regret the J-trend (I'm guessing around Jessa) because it's so easy to get tongue-tied!

[Ticklish]

If I had been born 100 years earlier, I would be Mary Selma. My husband would be Roy Homer. Our daughters would be Clara Jeanette and Mabel Catherine. 

My husband and I went with pretty traditional names for our girls. Both are ranked in their birth years, but not highly ranked. So far, neither has another kid in their grade with their name. 

[Bobology]

On 3/29/2019 at 10:32 AM, nausicaa said:

And does anyone else with a sort of weird, unique name live in fear of their name becoming a trend? Or some terrorist or pedophile with the same name becoming infamous? Office Space instilled this fear into me. 

Yes, for my grandkids who have very uncommon first names. At least they have very common middle names they could later go by if they choose to. The parents believe the names will never 'catch on.'

[Satan'sFortress]

18 hours ago, neurogirl said:

 

 

I would possibly pay someone a million dollars to give one of these to my MIL (and, if I'm being honest, my husband, too.)

[Seahorse Wrangler]

On 3/29/2019 at 12:36 PM, PlentyOfJesusFishInTheSea said:

For sure! I think some of the old names were just creative (sometimes even just creative spellings) and not necessarily Catholic though. Perhaps as a result of having big families - more room to explore!

Here are some gems of girls' names:

https://thedivingbells.wordpress.com/2013/03/10/old-feminine-names-from-quebec/

I know a couple of Anglophone children with names from that list. AFAIK they do not have any francophone relatives with those names.

[BachelorToTheRapture]

On 3/29/2019 at 11:38 AM, Alisamer said:

I have a super common name (#1 for many years around when I was born), plus an incredibly common last name and a middle name that was the default for many girls my age - think Jennifer Anne Jones, born in the mid 70s, only even more common. 

And apparently SOMEONE with my name (there are around 140,000 of us in the US, I think) has done something bad enough that last time I re-entered the country I had to go to the side room and answer a couple questions from the very serious and dour uniformed agents there. Not fun.

There's always the risk of a name becoming infamous, no matter how common it is. Although there are tradeoffs - I imagine people with unusual names get tired of spelling them or explaining them, and not being able to find pre-personalized items. And those of us with common names often end up with terrible songs including our names being sung at us. I've also been to a funeral of someone with my exact same name, which was a little odd. And my dad s gotten mail for some other dude with his same name practically his whole life.

I liike my name now, but I always wished I had something fancier growing up. I ended up actually using the name I wished I had for one of my dolls. 

My uncle has a very common first and middle name with a super rare last name (216 people in the US with the last name). His cousin who's about 20 years younger has the exact same name (first, middle, last) and has been in a lot of trouble (domestic abuse and more). Whenever he needs a background check he has to tell people to make sure to check the birth year on all the records since they're from the same state as well.

[JustEnough]

Coming late to the party but 100 years before my birth I would have been Virginia Lily. I like it. ☺️

[PlentyOfJesusFishInTheSea]

On 3/29/2019 at 1:01 PM, TZmom said:

This reminds me of those Canadian Heritage moments. The one with all the Irish kids specifically. 

I know a Martin Ross but said the French way. I always wondered if he was descended from those orphans. Or maybe a Scottish voyageur?

[Quiver Full of Kittens]

100 years ago I would have been an Emma Ida. Mr. Kittens would be Roy William. 

Edited March 31, 2019 by Quiver Full of Kittens
Curious about Mr. Kittens

[justmy2cents]

The list didn't start till after 100 years prior to my birth date. So using 1880 data I would be Carolyn, current enough by today's standards. 

[GutenbergGirl]

On 3/30/2019 at 1:37 AM, neurogirl said:

My name was out of the top 100 in my birth year, peaked in the 60s near the millennium, and is now the name of a robot most people have in their homes.

I read this, and my first thought was, "Why the hell did her mama name her Roomba?!" 

?

[singsingsing]

1 hour ago, PlentyOfJesusFishInTheSea said:

I know a Martin Ross but said the French way. I always wondered if he was descended from those orphans. Or maybe a Scottish voyageur?

Ross is actually a surprisingly common name in Quebec! Could have been descended from an orphan, or a Scottish guy who just integrated with the Quebecois. Lots of English, Irish, and Scottish guys married French women and their kids were raised French. And then suddenly you've got francophones named Donald O'Farrell.

[BernRul]

On 3/27/2019 at 2:28 PM, SorenaJ said:

Now that we are talking about names, can I ask a question about Hispanic American naming practices in the US? Sometimes I'll hear about Hispanic Americans with a Spanish-sounding first name, Jorge, Carlos, Camila etc and other time someone with a Spanish sounding surname will have more English-sounding names like John, Kelly, Christine etc. 

Is there a trend? Does it depend on how long/how many generations the person has been in the US? Does it depend on what Central or Southern American country the person is from? Social class? Sex of the baby? Basically how come you see some Hispanic American with English sounding names and some with Spanish sounding? What is most common? 

Also do Hispanic Americans keep the two-surname practice of Central and Southern American countries or they adopt the one-surname practice of the US? 

In my experience as an American, it's a mix of both, and it's true of all ethnic groups, not just Hispanics. Some immigrants will want to pass down their cultural names, while others want to "Americanize" their babies' names so they can "fit in." For example, in my Vietnamese American extanded family-in-law, most of the children have American* first names and Vietnamese middle names, with a couple exceptions. So of the younger cousins, there's a mix of (not their real names) Jamie, Dylan, and Courtney with Huy and Tuyet.

I've also noticed a push back in future generations of families who have been in America for a long time. For example, a lot of Italian Americans who have Americanized names and whose parents had English names will name thier kids stuff like Giovanni and Gianna. Or a lot of Irish Americans go for stuff like Connor, Liam, and Maeve. In fact, my parents specifically gave me an Irish name, and then found out that they had a great-aunt who originally had the same name but changed it when she came to America to avoid prejudice. 

I think it's common in America to have all kinds of names, especially if you come from a city or multiethnic area.

*The only true American names are Native American ones. America has always had a blend of names from different cultures and ethnicitiesm and always will. That's one of my favorite things about it. 

[Vivi_music]

2 hours ago, singsingsing said:

Ross is actually a surprisingly common name in Quebec! Could have been descended from an orphan, or a Scottish guy who just integrated with the Quebecois. Lots of English, Irish, and Scottish guys married French women and their kids were raised French. And then suddenly you've got francophones named Donald O'Farrell.

Or a Kathleen Fraser who doesn't speak a word of French.

The contrary exists too. In Ontario, you can meet a lady named Helene Leblanc who speaks no word of French. Families have moved between francophone and anglophone culture through marriages, assimilation, moving to other provinces, etc in the course of history. And what often remains are the family names.

Another example: I had a friend in College with a very typical Italian name. Think something along the lines of Darelli or Cipriani. And she herself said that the only thing Italian about her family was a name inherited from a grand-great-father along the way.

[Markie]

3 hours ago, singsingsing said:

Ross is actually a surprisingly common name in Quebec! Could have been descended from an orphan, or a Scottish guy who just integrated with the Quebecois. Lots of English, Irish, and Scottish guys married French women and their kids were raised French. And then suddenly you've got francophones named Donald O'Farrell.

We met a family in Quebec whose last name was Ross. Apparently their ancestor was a British soldier and was given land when he risked his his commission rather than a trip back to Britain. He married a local French girl and the family eventually lost all their English. 

[SadieJane]

Hello. My name is Elizabeth Ethel, and I wish to churn thy butter.

[Seahorse Wrangler]

1 hour ago, Markie said:

We met a family in Quebec whose last name was Ross. Apparently their ancestor was a British soldier and was given land when he risked his his commission rather than a trip back to Britain. He married a local French girl and the family eventually lost all their English. 

I know two women who both married into the same family. One married into the English branch and the other into the French branch. There are still great-aunts and cousin who don't speak to their counter-parts over the wedding which split the two sides over a hundred years ago.

[WiseGirl]

 

7 hours ago, PlentyOfJesusFishInTheSea said:

know a Martin Ross

I totally read this as Martini & Rossi the first time through and now I have "Martini & Rossi on the rocks" jingle running through my mind.    

Emma Mabel would have been my name and I vaguely remember some old childhood song Mabel, Mabel get your elbows off the table or something like that.  Great now I have two fabulous jingles running through my brain.

[Audrey2]

18 minutes ago, WiseGirl said:

 

I totally read this as Martini & Rossi the first time through and now I have "Martini & Rossi on the rocks" jingle running through my mind.    

Emma Mabel would have been my name and I vaguely remember some old childhood song Mabel, Mabel get your elbows off the table or something like that.  Great now I have two fabulous jingles running through my brain.

I also think of the 90's sitcom Mad About You when I hear Mabel. They named their daughter Mabel, which sounded like an old lady name to my 20 something year old ears, but she was named Mabel because Mothers Always Bring Extra Love.

[AliceInFundyland]

I would have been....Lonnie?

I don't know what to think about that.

[Smee]

Flossie June here, pleased to meet you!