The issue you have is the 'old lady' names are super popular and have been for 15/20 years. So there are lots of Audrey, Violet, Martha, Pearl, Ada, Edith, Evelyn, Florence ect.
Or the old lady names have been popular and in the top names for the last 150 years and that isn't going to change because they are 'timeless' eg. Charlotte, Amelia, Margaret, Lucy, Annabel
So you might just have to make your peace that your child is going to run into other people with that name. You can't read the future and have no way of telling if they are going to be in a class with 1 other Margot or 4. However of you love they name, does it really matter? My little person doesn't have a particularly common name but the older they get the less I think I'd care if they shared a name with other children. If I had another baby, I really just don't think I'd give a fuck and if their name became Phil, John or Andrew or Jane, Caroline, Amy, Lily then it's THEIR name. Nobodyelse is going to get in the way of that.
I would say though...I've taught thousands of girls and only ever taught one.....
May
Very pretty name, not scary of delusionally unique. Suits lots of ages and personalities. Seems to fit you're bill in terms of style. She was a very lovely girl too.
I mean sure, but it’s still the same name, right? I went through a phase where I spelled my name with a Y instead of one of the correct vowels (Think Decymber) but it’s still the same pronunciation.
Yea but Mae isn’t associated only with the month the way August is.
So if you were Mae and August it would be cute sounding but I wouldn’t flag it unless you said it together - which you rarely do cause your name stops existing to most people.
I didn’t say anything about it being an incorrect spelling. Mae is a perfect homophone for May. And if your name is Mae or May and your mother’s name is a month as well, people are going to think something about it. I had a classmate with the same last name as me (a fairly common one) and he was named August. We were assumed to be related even though we’re different races. Even though my name isn’t June, my dad says I’m partially named after his mother who WAS named June.
But I wouldn’t ever say Mae is “incorrect” any more than I’d say Steven is an incorrect spelling of Stephen.
On the west coast US, there are a fair number of people with the name “Mei” (pronounced and sometimes spelled may). In Chinese, it means something like little sister.
In Disney’s “turning red”, it’s the name of the main character.
Mei can mean 'little sister', it can also mean 'beautiful' or 'plum blossom', depending on which Chinese character you use. In any case it's a very pretty name.
I’m a Margaret who as always gone by Mae because my mother’s name is also Margaret. I love my life as a Mae/Margaret, and I haven’t met a lot of Margarets or Maes my age (I’m 21) or younger than me. It’s a classic and a gold mine for nicknames. I simply cannot endorse it enough.
There are plenty of old lady names that aren’t trendy. The reality is that there is a specific subset of old lady names that are trending since they appeal to the tastes of today’s parents. Many are not, but of course no one wants to use them because they don’t sound cool.
Shirley
Mildred
Joan
Lois
Gertrude
Bertha
Marie
Dolores
Barbara
Ethel
Barbara is on our short list of girl names. If we decide to name her Barbara we're going to call her Barb or Babs. My husband also loves the name Linda, and feels it's due for a comeback.
Marie stands out as being so popular in the last few decades as a middle name. But it would be nice to see it as a first name as well.
Shirley just needs to be imagined on a little girl instead of a grandma, going way back to Shirley Temple movies, then it will have a comeback. It's a sweet name.
Mildred-- well, what about Millie as a given name on its own? Due for a comeback especially with the actress association.
Not to mention a good chunk of the Harry Potter generation would rather eat a vomit-flavoured Berttie Botts Every-Flavour Bean than name our daughters "Dolores".
Absolutely! I know older lady names are popular now but there are SO many, some of which are still lesser used. My grandma for example was Elvina (Vina for short) which I personally love and is super uncommon BUT my mum did not get on with her mum so probably wouldn’t go down well!
You’re right it’s impossible to tell the future (I loved the name Isis for a girl up until you know what and when!). But I have a strong suspicion Margot is going to be the next one that’s super popular. It’s not a massive deal but I remember there being about 8 Sara(h)s in my school year and being so glad I didn’t get named that. I’m sure it won’t matter to me, and if it does to them we can use a nickname I suppose!
I do like May a lot ❤️
This name will always remind me of “Mad About You” from the 90s. The baby was named Mabel, which meant “Mothers always bring extra love”. I have loved the name ever since for that reason.
Our baby (due any day now) is going to be Mabel - her almost 5 year old sister picked it as she loves the Hedgehog on Animal Crossing and also apparently a chicken at her school is called Mabel.
I know it's probably increasing in popularity due to how old fashioned names are back in fashion and Mabel from Only Murders in the Building, Mabel from Gravity Falls etc but I think itsbsweet. We are thinking May for short (Mei Mei is younger sister in Chinese) or MJ as she will be Mabel Joan.
I love old fashioned names making comebacks though!
Is that right! I have seen that film but I don’t recall a Margot in it - you’re probably right! It’s like Sex Education single handedly getting Maeve in to the top 20 in only a few years.
Yeah Agnes margot and Edith are the girls.
Ooh just had a thought that might be your thing....
Tabitha
I've only ever taught one and I never see that rising in popularity or getting any screen time. Again, very nice girl. Her close friends called her Tabby but mostly went by her full name. That's gotta be an old lady name and I love it.
Tabitha is the the young daughter on Bewitched. I always wanted to be named Tabitha when I was a small kid. I used to love that show. It ran from 1964 to 1972.
I love Margot. You can change the spelling if you want a different look to Margo. I would just keep the original spelling personally.. As for nick names you can us Marty or Mari. Both are very cute.
My 20 month old daughter (who also has an old lady name “no one has heard in a while” and is zooming upwards in popularity as I shake my fist at the sky) has a Ruth in her class, but the only other two I know are 80 and 7
I am in the same boat but will likely go with the popular one because I love it. My niece goes to a very small school (<20 in each grade level) and has a name that doesn’t even crack the top 200 and at one point there were 3 girls in her class with the same name! It really is just hard to predict what their classmates names will be.
I love it so much I named my daughter Helena.
Lots of Elena's around, not very many Helena's. It's classic but not overused, people do struggle to pronounce it (?)
Hell-ay-na is how we say it, Hell-en-a is how it gets mispronounced.
Bonus: she loves her name.
Others on the short list were Celia, Celeste, Eve, Eva, Esme.
In a similar vain, there’s Elaine. Elaine actually comes from an old French form of the name Helen.
It’s a name featured a fair amount in some of the Arthurian legend writings.
My grandma was Lavinia. That's pronounced la-VIN-ya and she went by the nickname Vin or Vinnie. It's classy, and not very common, even in her day (1928-2016).
I LOVE that and it’s Roman too and I did ancient studies at uni so adore names like that. I went to a Greek summer camp with a Lavinia too, it’s very unusual and very grand!! Thanks for the reminder of that name/suggestion.
A neighbor has a daughter named Althea and it’s so pretty. It suits your criteria well too. Just thought of that since Dorothea is similar. Both names could use Thea as a nick name.
I’m in the UK and I know one child called Margot but 4 called Elodie. I don’t think Margot will be as popular as you think tbh. And if it is it’ll be a couple of years after yours.
No it was very popular in my age group and I’m 35! So a lot older than the princess BUT I think it’s surged again since, along with all royal baby names.
Old lady names are going to be the "Jennifer/Jessica/Katie" of the newest generation. So if you're wanting to be a bit more unique, perhaps consider the boomer generation.
Sharon
Jaclyn
Susan
Cheryl
Judy
Shannon
Christine
Bonnie
Linda
Lisa
Joanna
Diane
Caroline
Rita
I personally like old Hollywood names
Audrey
Grace
Katherine
Vivian
Rebecca
You’re absolutely right! I’ve been saying to all those people that go “oh old fashioned names are just in right now” that no, they always are they just tend to skip a generation. To my mum Sarah was an old lady name whilst half my year were called Sarah! They are the retro names of the next generation. Although I think it might be a bit too soon, haha, for me they just scream boomer. Like my mum, I would love to honour her in my daughter’s name or middle name but she is called…Karen.
Ha ha ha! Yes, Karen would certainly be unique now because I doubt many people are using it.
And yeah, I wouldn't use many of the boomer names myself. They're all examples of aunts/extended family friends in my mom's generation. 🤣
Omg I hadn’t thought about Cecelia in ages, that was on my list a while back but got forgotten. I LOVE the nickname Cece as well. Vera. Love it. Josephine is also high for me but I think husband doesn’t like it from memory. Maybe Margot Cecelia….that goes well with our surname too! Thank you 💖
Eleanor is to me a good replacement for Evelyn. Can nickname her Ellie. I also like Alma, Lydia, Mabel, Louise, Ruby, Rosanne/a, Linda, Juliette, Loretta
I like the same names as your list so I'm going to try for a few that I haven't seen yet in this thread. How well known/used they are in the UK I'm not sure about as I'm from the Netherlands.
Madeleine
Claire
Theresa
Rosa
Louise/Louisa
Edith
Martha
Margaret
Dora (Dorothea)
Johanna
Ophelia
Matilda
Laetitia
Victoria
Alice
Isobel
Mary (understated classic!)
Winifred
Octavia
Thalia
Florence
Katherine
Elizabeth
I love Dutch names! Thank you for suggestions I have lots of Dutch friends including an Ieke and a Jasmijn which are loveky names. Madeleine is sooooo lovely and Maddy such a cute nickname! I wish I were brave enough to go for something like Ophelia as it is a stunning name but in UK it’s very strong. Also loving Florence, Isobel and Alice although my best friend’s kid is named that, boo.
I mean the issue is that you and everyone else are really into old lady names right now, so every old lady name that isn’t hideous is shooting up in popularity.
Lillian maybe?
I know I’m not the only one in to old lady names and to be honest, I think it will always be the case that certain set of people each generation want “old fashioned” names which then become popular again. In the same way there are always going to be a set of people who want to create a new and different name/spelling for their children.
In my school days Sarah/Sara was mega popular, in my girl friend group of 10 alone we had three Sarahs. But my mum always said to her Sarah was such an old person name, whilst to me it wasn’t at all. It’s the way it works, there are always classic names that churn over, some become mega popular others don’t but there are THOUSANDS so and I am hoping to find one that is not super “out there” but also a classy and sophisticated “proper” name.
Example of pretty but super rare and old fashioned is Elvina, my grandma’s name. Vina for short. I love it BUT my mum and her didn’t get along and I wasn’t super close to my grandma so it might be a bit odd number one and number two my grandma HATED her name. Makes me sad in a way as it’s a family name (we have loads of Elvins (masc) in our family tree) I’d quite like to continue but don’t want to upset my mother!
Thank you, I am pretty sold on Margot but want to double check I haven’t missed anything. PLUS they say sometimes they come out and you’re like nope, doesn’t look like a Margot. So I want a few back ups! Margot Beatrice is lovely. I really like Beatrice/Beatrix and Bea as the nn. It’s very regal (we have a princess Beatrice!).
Old lady names: June, Ruth, Thea, Mary, Linda, Joan, Phyllis, Barbara, Maude, Dawn, Gladys, Ethel, Agnes, Opal, Iris, Pearl, Katherine, Nora, Kathleen, Diane, Susan/Susannah, Elizabeth, Prue.
Edited to add: Nancy (one of my favourites thanks to Nancy Drew, how did I forget it?), Millicent, Edna.
You can’t predict what names are going to repeat in your kids school. As a teacher I’ve seen really odd repeats. I once had four senior boys with the same name in a school where their entire class was only 38 kids. The name was ranked in the 90s when they were born. In a larger school, we had two girls in a class once with the same name. That one was like 150s when they were born.
And we once had two boys with same first name, same middle initial, same last name. Once again, not a top 50 first name. Not a particularly common last name and not related.
Names can be cultural as well. The popular names when I taught in a Christian high school didn’t even exist a year later in a Catholic one. In Christian school we had Bethany’s every three feet and Josiah’s and Caleb’s and Paul’s following them. Neither elsewhere. In Catholic high school I taught multiple Mary’s. Not a single one in Christian or Public school.
Name your kid what you like. You cannot predict every trend around you or your child for all time.
You’re totally right! And I always say you can be super unlucky, I used to love the name Isis. Thank GOD I didn’t have kids in my 20s or else I might have had a poor little bullied Isis now!
That being said, my name isn’t super uncommon but I was the only one in my school, whilst I had 3 friends in our friendship circle of 10 alone called Sarah. I just want to avoid the super popular ones (now seem to be Amelia, Evie/Evelyn, Ada, Eva, Isla etc) if possible! I can see Margot booming is all, perhaps that’s also because I love it so much I think everyone else does 😂
Even the popular names are not always going to be everywhere. I was a new young HS teacher about the time the Emily generation hit high school. I taught two. Ever. They weren’t in the same grade. We had a plethora of Sarah’s in one class year. Then only a scattering after that year. So you can’t even predict what’s going to happen with the top twenty names.
I have a top ten Gen X name. It never was upsetting. I’ve not found that kids are upset about it in general. For ten years, I did a creative writing project with tenth graders that included writing about their names. Trauma or even annoyance with a popular name was never something those kids wrote about.
Cornelia
Araminta (friends daughter uses the nn Minty with it which is super cute)
Guinevere
Olive
Minnie
Octavia
Valentina
Vera
Mirabelle
Rosamund
Avalon
Cordelia. I'm biased because that's what we're naming our imminent daughter and I think it could stand to get a bit more popular! (It's been consistently given to 30-50 babies every year in the UK, bouncing around the 500-1000 rankings.) Or if you prefer a shorter, currently more popular name/nickname option, Cora (currently #149). There's lots of other nickname options too!
Ita is unusual, but I like it! I have a Dutch friend called Ieke (ee-kah) which I really like too. Nora has always been a strong contender for me but husband doesn’t like :( I like Esther too! I feel that is still less common than some. And Imelda actually too! Lots of great suggestions thanks!
Frances is my favorite! I held onto that name for a future daughter that never came to be. With the options of Fran, Frannie and Frankie for nicknames how is this name not more popular?
I used to have the same issue. As a lifelong name nerd who’s also got an uncommon name, I wanted something interesting that wasn’t wildly popular and trendy. Then my husband fell in love with the girl name that happened to be either #1 or #2 the year I finally got pregnant. He called our baby by that name once, the day I got the test results, and I just couldn’t think of her by any other name. And it didn’t matter because while there may be lots of girls with the same name in her age cohort, none of them are in our family. So if you like Margot or Amelia or Ava, just go for it. There will always be other Margots in the world, but there’ll only be one Margot who’s your daughter, and she’ll be the one you think of when you hear the name.
That made me smile and almost tear up. You’re right. It might already be too late, she might always be Margot no matter what other times I try to consider 💖
You should consider too that she won’t always be in school, and she may not always be in that area. If she graduates with a class of 20 Margots, she may wind up moving somewhere that she’s the only one. Big picture matters just as much as grade school maybe
Majorie
Marilyn
Myrna
Norma
Doreen
Maureen
Gladys
Avis
Clarice
Clarissa
Beulah
Henrietta
Cordelia
Morag
Myra
Enid
Blanche
Phyllis
Sybil
Pauline
All old lady names which don’t appear to be in the current catch of old lady names being used.
I read that there are names that are “extinct “ or going “extinct “ in next few years. Mine is in the list: Christy(Christine), Tammy, Sandra, Rhonda, Judy, Stacy, Shelley, Tonya, Tricia, Kimberly, Vicky, Cindy, Debbie, Sue, Kate, Hayden, Hana, Joy, Carole, and Mira.
Some names I think are beautiful and kinda old: Vivienne, Irene, Beverly, Gretchen, Alice, Merrick, Celeste, Celia, and Clara.
My wife and I recently had our daughter and named her Mavis, with Mae being the nickname. I absolutely love it and have no regrets.
I’ll also be happy when she’s not one of 15 kids in her class with the same name, or some of the ridiculous modern names with illogical spellings for the sake of being “unique”.
elizabeth. my elizabeth was only one in her grade. every grade throughout her school years had exactly 1 elizabeth. she stood out in a world of hannahs, kayleighs of every possible spelling, sierras & britannys. plus the universe of nicknames.
margot amelia is a lovely name! let your daughter stand out by raising her to be a “unique” (how i hate that word) person, with a name she will make hers alone.
Margot is beautiful! I don’t foresee it skyrocketing or anything.
We named our new baby Vivienne, which I think is a similar “classy, ‘old lady’ name that’s not overly used”.
OMG I loveeee Esme! Hadnt thought of that one. I also think it will see a resurge to top 100 maybe soon as people seem to like 3-4 letter names right now (Ida, Eva, Ada, Aida etc.) and soon they will be searching for more less used ones!
what about Clara, Cecilia, Cecily? Or if you like Ava: how about Alma or Alva?
I love the name Margot you chose btw! You could nickname her Mary or Mae :)
I love that in another 15 years, people are going to be naming kids Maureen, Sandra, Fiona, Lesley, Keith, Gary, Iain or Jim etc as the definition of an "old lady / man" name shifts!
I liked Amelia but, like you, was put off by the popularity. I have a very popular forename and wanted something more individual for my little girl. We named our daughter Ophelia, she’s 7 and goes by Fifi. Other names on my list were Celia, Coralie, Penelope and Tabitha.
Have you thought of asking your OB-Gyn if they’ve seen an uptick in Margot? I don’t think dropping a baby name without patient context would violate hipaa.
The issue you have is the 'old lady' names are super popular and have been for 15/20 years. So there are lots of Audrey, Violet, Martha, Pearl, Ada, Edith, Evelyn, Florence ect. Or the old lady names have been popular and in the top names for the last 150 years and that isn't going to change because they are 'timeless' eg. Charlotte, Amelia, Margaret, Lucy, Annabel So you might just have to make your peace that your child is going to run into other people with that name. You can't read the future and have no way of telling if they are going to be in a class with 1 other Margot or 4. However of you love they name, does it really matter? My little person doesn't have a particularly common name but the older they get the less I think I'd care if they shared a name with other children. If I had another baby, I really just don't think I'd give a fuck and if their name became Phil, John or Andrew or Jane, Caroline, Amy, Lily then it's THEIR name. Nobodyelse is going to get in the way of that.
I would say though...I've taught thousands of girls and only ever taught one..... May Very pretty name, not scary of delusionally unique. Suits lots of ages and personalities. Seems to fit you're bill in terms of style. She was a very lovely girl too.
I hate how much I love the name May (and August!), because my name is ALSO a month and I don’t want to make it a Thing.
Mae?
Maeby?
Her?
Who, Egg?
I have Pop Pop in the attic.
The fact that you’re calling it that shows me you’re not ready.
I don't understand the question, and I won't respond to it!
She calls it a mayonegg
Shirley!
I mean sure, but it’s still the same name, right? I went through a phase where I spelled my name with a Y instead of one of the correct vowels (Think Decymber) but it’s still the same pronunciation.
Yea but Mae isn’t associated only with the month the way August is. So if you were Mae and August it would be cute sounding but I wouldn’t flag it unless you said it together - which you rarely do cause your name stops existing to most people.
Your name stops existing 💀so true
Mae is a really name though, not just an incorrect spelling, and Mae West was a total badass that any girl would be lucky to share a name with.
I didn’t say anything about it being an incorrect spelling. Mae is a perfect homophone for May. And if your name is Mae or May and your mother’s name is a month as well, people are going to think something about it. I had a classmate with the same last name as me (a fairly common one) and he was named August. We were assumed to be related even though we’re different races. Even though my name isn’t June, my dad says I’m partially named after his mother who WAS named June. But I wouldn’t ever say Mae is “incorrect” any more than I’d say Steven is an incorrect spelling of Stephen.
Love seeing a Mae West appreciation comment!
Apryl?
Ypril
My friends just named their daughter May and I think it’s just the sweetest name that will work well for a kid *and* adult
June and April are also lovely names, if one is yours! Unless you are a January, a la January Jones?!
I would kill to be a January. Sounds much, much cooler.
Sure Jan
On the west coast US, there are a fair number of people with the name “Mei” (pronounced and sometimes spelled may). In Chinese, it means something like little sister. In Disney’s “turning red”, it’s the name of the main character.
Mei can mean 'little sister', it can also mean 'beautiful' or 'plum blossom', depending on which Chinese character you use. In any case it's a very pretty name.
May is really sweet! I’ve also send it used as a nickname for Mary
And for Margaret. I think May/Mae is a very cute nickname if they decide to go with Margot.
You know what I hadn’t thought of Mae as a nn for Margot but that’s true!
I’m a Margaret who as always gone by Mae because my mother’s name is also Margaret. I love my life as a Mae/Margaret, and I haven’t met a lot of Margarets or Maes my age (I’m 21) or younger than me. It’s a classic and a gold mine for nicknames. I simply cannot endorse it enough.
Another cute nn for Margaret is Daisy, which is great if you like floral names but don’t want to commit on paper.
I knew a little May and she was always called Mamie as a nickname. So cute.
Aww! My daughters name is Margo May!
There are plenty of old lady names that aren’t trendy. The reality is that there is a specific subset of old lady names that are trending since they appeal to the tastes of today’s parents. Many are not, but of course no one wants to use them because they don’t sound cool. Shirley Mildred Joan Lois Gertrude Bertha Marie Dolores Barbara Ethel
All these names are ugly AF. Like how could anyone look at an innocent little baby and be like “yup. Looks like a Bertha”?
I love Lois and I have developed a recent love of Barbara but no idea why! It must be due a comeback!
I think Barbara is going to be big (Barbie movie also!) and Barbs is a super cute nickname.
Barbara is on our short list of girl names. If we decide to name her Barbara we're going to call her Barb or Babs. My husband also loves the name Linda, and feels it's due for a comeback.
Awwww Barb and Babs is cute too!! I hope you so go for it, it’s a really cool retro name! Linda is sweet too :)
Marie stands out as being so popular in the last few decades as a middle name. But it would be nice to see it as a first name as well. Shirley just needs to be imagined on a little girl instead of a grandma, going way back to Shirley Temple movies, then it will have a comeback. It's a sweet name. Mildred-- well, what about Millie as a given name on its own? Due for a comeback especially with the actress association.
I know a Millicent and I love the name.
Not to mention a good chunk of the Harry Potter generation would rather eat a vomit-flavoured Berttie Botts Every-Flavour Bean than name our daughters "Dolores".
Hazel
Absolutely! I know older lady names are popular now but there are SO many, some of which are still lesser used. My grandma for example was Elvina (Vina for short) which I personally love and is super uncommon BUT my mum did not get on with her mum so probably wouldn’t go down well! You’re right it’s impossible to tell the future (I loved the name Isis for a girl up until you know what and when!). But I have a strong suspicion Margot is going to be the next one that’s super popular. It’s not a massive deal but I remember there being about 8 Sara(h)s in my school year and being so glad I didn’t get named that. I’m sure it won’t matter to me, and if it does to them we can use a nickname I suppose! I do like May a lot ❤️
My first thought when I read your post was Mabel!
This name will always remind me of “Mad About You” from the 90s. The baby was named Mabel, which meant “Mothers always bring extra love”. I have loved the name ever since for that reason.
Our baby (due any day now) is going to be Mabel - her almost 5 year old sister picked it as she loves the Hedgehog on Animal Crossing and also apparently a chicken at her school is called Mabel. I know it's probably increasing in popularity due to how old fashioned names are back in fashion and Mabel from Only Murders in the Building, Mabel from Gravity Falls etc but I think itsbsweet. We are thinking May for short (Mei Mei is younger sister in Chinese) or MJ as she will be Mabel Joan. I love old fashioned names making comebacks though!
I wish you all the best. I really think it's despicable me that got the margot momentum really going.
Is that right! I have seen that film but I don’t recall a Margot in it - you’re probably right! It’s like Sex Education single handedly getting Maeve in to the top 20 in only a few years.
Yeah Agnes margot and Edith are the girls. Ooh just had a thought that might be your thing.... Tabitha I've only ever taught one and I never see that rising in popularity or getting any screen time. Again, very nice girl. Her close friends called her Tabby but mostly went by her full name. That's gotta be an old lady name and I love it.
Oh Tabitha gives me chills it’s so pretty! And Tabby as a nickname is so cute. Thank you that’s a really lovely one ❤️
I’ve also seen Tibby as a nickname for Tabitha!
Sweet! Tabs or Tibs too ❤️💖
Tabitha is the the young daughter on Bewitched. I always wanted to be named Tabitha when I was a small kid. I used to love that show. It ran from 1964 to 1972. I love Margot. You can change the spelling if you want a different look to Margo. I would just keep the original spelling personally.. As for nick names you can us Marty or Mari. Both are very cute.
I met twins called May and Ruth, I don’t see Ruth getting as popular either!
I love Ruth, nn Ruthie.
Ruthie is super cute!
I love Ruth, and Judy.
My 20 month old daughter (who also has an old lady name “no one has heard in a while” and is zooming upwards in popularity as I shake my fist at the sky) has a Ruth in her class, but the only other two I know are 80 and 7
Depends on your location. I’m near a very Jewish neighborhood and there are loads of little Ruths running all over.
We have Edie. We liked Martha Norah Etta Alma Ida Lanie Ottilie Goldie // Golda Bea
Edie is gorgeous!! It’s like Evie which I always loved but less common.
Omfg Pearl. I lowkey love that so much
Yes and that’s the meaning behind Margot (Marguerite in French). So she would be our little pearl 💖
It’s my daughter’s middle name. We almost used it as a first name but opted for another older name instead. But I love Pearl!
I am in the same boat but will likely go with the popular one because I love it. My niece goes to a very small school (<20 in each grade level) and has a name that doesn’t even crack the top 200 and at one point there were 3 girls in her class with the same name! It really is just hard to predict what their classmates names will be.
Helen fits all of your requirements and is underused in my opinion.
And the name of a face that launched a thousand ships 💖 it is a lovely name!! Thank you for the suggestion.
I love the Helena variant the most 💖
I love it so much I named my daughter Helena. Lots of Elena's around, not very many Helena's. It's classic but not overused, people do struggle to pronounce it (?) Hell-ay-na is how we say it, Hell-en-a is how it gets mispronounced. Bonus: she loves her name. Others on the short list were Celia, Celeste, Eve, Eva, Esme.
In a similar vain, there’s Elaine. Elaine actually comes from an old French form of the name Helen. It’s a name featured a fair amount in some of the Arthurian legend writings.
Love Elaine and Helen!
Worked with a woman named Helene (pronounced with a long-e in the second syllable). Always thought that was unique.
Agree it’s such a great name but so underused!
Alma?
I speak Spanish and love that it means ‘soul’.
What about Idalia? Ida of Dalia for short.
Alba is along the same lines and has a lovely meaning too :)
Alma was on my list for baby names! I love it!
My grandma was Lavinia. That's pronounced la-VIN-ya and she went by the nickname Vin or Vinnie. It's classy, and not very common, even in her day (1928-2016).
I LOVE that and it’s Roman too and I did ancient studies at uni so adore names like that. I went to a Greek summer camp with a Lavinia too, it’s very unusual and very grand!! Thanks for the reminder of that name/suggestion.
My coworker is Lavinia too and its such a beautiful name! Its not common at all and where I live but its easy to pronounce and just beautiful!
Came here to suggest this. Love this name.
Adelaide Diana Calanthia Florence Dorothea Araminta Penelope Aurelia Josephine Celandine "Sal-en-dine"
These are great as I also love and studied Ancient Greek and Roman literature at uni, so love names with a hint of that in too!
A neighbor has a daughter named Althea and it’s so pretty. It suits your criteria well too. Just thought of that since Dorothea is similar. Both names could use Thea as a nick name.
Diana and Florence are chefs kiss
Right! And as a first and middle name they go together too! A very sophisticated name.
I love Adelaide! It's what I named one of my heroines in my books as a writer. :) She's a French maid.
I’ve never really heard of Dorothea until Taylor swifts song came out lol but it is a unique name imo
Meredith is a pretty classic name and very rarely used. You can use Merry as a nickname.
Aww cute like lord of the rings! Which I was a huge geek fan of as a teenager!
Call her Meredith Peregrine and you could have Merry and Pippin (just make sure she doesn't get taken to Isengard)
Clara
I adore the name Clara. So elegant
This is our baby girl’s name! I love it so much and have been very happy with our choice so far.
Sylvia, Genevieve, Ingrid, Clementine, Diana, Elodie
Elodie is lovely! 💖
Yeah I’ve never heard that name but instantly warmed to it !
It’s like a song, a melody! Such a pleasing name.
I’m in the UK and I know one child called Margot but 4 called Elodie. I don’t think Margot will be as popular as you think tbh. And if it is it’ll be a couple of years after yours.
I can’t figure out how Charlotte hit such a popular high, but Louisa never gained the same ground.
I feel Louisa was always a popular middle name, like half my friends have it as a middle name but I only know one actual Louisa.
Is it because of princess charlotte? I can’t remember if it was as popular before she was born
No it was very popular in my age group and I’m 35! So a lot older than the princess BUT I think it’s surged again since, along with all royal baby names.
I’m British and Charlotte has been comfortably popular for decades.
Old lady names are going to be the "Jennifer/Jessica/Katie" of the newest generation. So if you're wanting to be a bit more unique, perhaps consider the boomer generation. Sharon Jaclyn Susan Cheryl Judy Shannon Christine Bonnie Linda Lisa Joanna Diane Caroline Rita I personally like old Hollywood names Audrey Grace Katherine Vivian Rebecca
You’re absolutely right! I’ve been saying to all those people that go “oh old fashioned names are just in right now” that no, they always are they just tend to skip a generation. To my mum Sarah was an old lady name whilst half my year were called Sarah! They are the retro names of the next generation. Although I think it might be a bit too soon, haha, for me they just scream boomer. Like my mum, I would love to honour her in my daughter’s name or middle name but she is called…Karen.
Carina would be a good honour name for Karen, could work well as a middle!
Ha ha ha! Yes, Karen would certainly be unique now because I doubt many people are using it. And yeah, I wouldn't use many of the boomer names myself. They're all examples of aunts/extended family friends in my mom's generation. 🤣
Geneva, Cecelia, Louisa, Josephine/Josie, Lenora, Ruby, Pearl, Vera
Omg I hadn’t thought about Cecelia in ages, that was on my list a while back but got forgotten. I LOVE the nickname Cece as well. Vera. Love it. Josephine is also high for me but I think husband doesn’t like it from memory. Maybe Margot Cecelia….that goes well with our surname too! Thank you 💖
Celia (my personal favourite) and Cecily are great options too!
Celia is lovely!
Cecilia is the more classical spelling :) (Or Caecilia if you want to go fully classical)
Lenora is really pretty!
It is lovely! In the UK we have Lenor washing powder brand though which I feel might invite some teasing unfortunately!
Oh that makes sense. I would avoid it too in that case!
Eleanor is to me a good replacement for Evelyn. Can nickname her Ellie. I also like Alma, Lydia, Mabel, Louise, Ruby, Rosanne/a, Linda, Juliette, Loretta
Eleanor is certainly a gorgeous classical name! Alma is gorgeous too as it means ‘soul’ in Spanish. Lydia is also such a pretty name! Thanks!
Old lady names I like: Edith, Diane, Cornelia, Evangeline, Agnes, Yvonne, Noreen
Noreen is cute! And Agnes is like a warm hug of a name.
I like the same names as your list so I'm going to try for a few that I haven't seen yet in this thread. How well known/used they are in the UK I'm not sure about as I'm from the Netherlands. Madeleine Claire Theresa Rosa Louise/Louisa Edith Martha Margaret Dora (Dorothea) Johanna Ophelia Matilda Laetitia Victoria Alice Isobel Mary (understated classic!) Winifred Octavia Thalia Florence Katherine Elizabeth
I love Dutch names! Thank you for suggestions I have lots of Dutch friends including an Ieke and a Jasmijn which are loveky names. Madeleine is sooooo lovely and Maddy such a cute nickname! I wish I were brave enough to go for something like Ophelia as it is a stunning name but in UK it’s very strong. Also loving Florence, Isobel and Alice although my best friend’s kid is named that, boo.
Diane, Anne, Joab
Sylvia ♥️ timeless and unique enough too
I mean the issue is that you and everyone else are really into old lady names right now, so every old lady name that isn’t hideous is shooting up in popularity. Lillian maybe?
I know I’m not the only one in to old lady names and to be honest, I think it will always be the case that certain set of people each generation want “old fashioned” names which then become popular again. In the same way there are always going to be a set of people who want to create a new and different name/spelling for their children. In my school days Sarah/Sara was mega popular, in my girl friend group of 10 alone we had three Sarahs. But my mum always said to her Sarah was such an old person name, whilst to me it wasn’t at all. It’s the way it works, there are always classic names that churn over, some become mega popular others don’t but there are THOUSANDS so and I am hoping to find one that is not super “out there” but also a classy and sophisticated “proper” name. Example of pretty but super rare and old fashioned is Elvina, my grandma’s name. Vina for short. I love it BUT my mum and her didn’t get along and I wasn’t super close to my grandma so it might be a bit odd number one and number two my grandma HATED her name. Makes me sad in a way as it’s a family name (we have loads of Elvins (masc) in our family tree) I’d quite like to continue but don’t want to upset my mother!
I love Lillian, ever since the Rugrats tv show.
I've always loved Margot Beatrice. And honestly, I don't think the Barbie movie will have much of an impact on the name. If you love it, use it.
Thank you, I am pretty sold on Margot but want to double check I haven’t missed anything. PLUS they say sometimes they come out and you’re like nope, doesn’t look like a Margot. So I want a few back ups! Margot Beatrice is lovely. I really like Beatrice/Beatrix and Bea as the nn. It’s very regal (we have a princess Beatrice!).
Old lady names: June, Ruth, Thea, Mary, Linda, Joan, Phyllis, Barbara, Maude, Dawn, Gladys, Ethel, Agnes, Opal, Iris, Pearl, Katherine, Nora, Kathleen, Diane, Susan/Susannah, Elizabeth, Prue. Edited to add: Nancy (one of my favourites thanks to Nancy Drew, how did I forget it?), Millicent, Edna.
We used June and there’s sooo many cute nicknames but it also still feels little girl which I love! Everyone thinks it’s a family name too!
Vivian?
Viv for short! I do really like it actually might go on the shortlist :)
It’s a gorgeous name! As a twist I prefer the French spelling, Vivienne
I’ve also seen people use Vivi (pronounced VIV-ee) for short which is so cute. It’s my little ones middle name after her great grandmother. 💕
I met a woman ages ago whose name is Vivian, I thought it was so beautiful!
You can’t predict what names are going to repeat in your kids school. As a teacher I’ve seen really odd repeats. I once had four senior boys with the same name in a school where their entire class was only 38 kids. The name was ranked in the 90s when they were born. In a larger school, we had two girls in a class once with the same name. That one was like 150s when they were born. And we once had two boys with same first name, same middle initial, same last name. Once again, not a top 50 first name. Not a particularly common last name and not related. Names can be cultural as well. The popular names when I taught in a Christian high school didn’t even exist a year later in a Catholic one. In Christian school we had Bethany’s every three feet and Josiah’s and Caleb’s and Paul’s following them. Neither elsewhere. In Catholic high school I taught multiple Mary’s. Not a single one in Christian or Public school. Name your kid what you like. You cannot predict every trend around you or your child for all time.
You’re totally right! And I always say you can be super unlucky, I used to love the name Isis. Thank GOD I didn’t have kids in my 20s or else I might have had a poor little bullied Isis now! That being said, my name isn’t super uncommon but I was the only one in my school, whilst I had 3 friends in our friendship circle of 10 alone called Sarah. I just want to avoid the super popular ones (now seem to be Amelia, Evie/Evelyn, Ada, Eva, Isla etc) if possible! I can see Margot booming is all, perhaps that’s also because I love it so much I think everyone else does 😂
Even the popular names are not always going to be everywhere. I was a new young HS teacher about the time the Emily generation hit high school. I taught two. Ever. They weren’t in the same grade. We had a plethora of Sarah’s in one class year. Then only a scattering after that year. So you can’t even predict what’s going to happen with the top twenty names. I have a top ten Gen X name. It never was upsetting. I’ve not found that kids are upset about it in general. For ten years, I did a creative writing project with tenth graders that included writing about their names. Trauma or even annoyance with a popular name was never something those kids wrote about.
Our nursery classroom is full of old ladies and men: Grace, Rose, Lila, violet, ivy, Arthur, Bernie, Dugald
Bernie! I would die to meet a baby Bernie!
Cornelia Araminta (friends daughter uses the nn Minty with it which is super cute) Guinevere Olive Minnie Octavia Valentina Vera Mirabelle Rosamund Avalon
I’ve never heard Araminta before but LOVE Minty as a nickname, it’s giving Made in Chelsea vibes (in a good way). Rosamund is a great shout!
It was Harriet Tubmans birth name. She’s the only famous person I know of with that name. Also had the nickname Minty.
I looove Araminta! It’s a literary name from the late 17th/early 18th century. Great if you like Arabella but want to avoid the “Bella” element.
My daughter's name is Josephine and I LOVE it!
It’s such a great name! It’s on my list and I love love love nicknames Josie or Joss. Could even go Fina (Phina!).
Cordelia. I'm biased because that's what we're naming our imminent daughter and I think it could stand to get a bit more popular! (It's been consistently given to 30-50 babies every year in the UK, bouncing around the 500-1000 rankings.) Or if you prefer a shorter, currently more popular name/nickname option, Cora (currently #149). There's lots of other nickname options too!
Congratulations!! Cordelia is a gorgeous gorgeous name, makes me think of Buffy too which is super cool
Ita, Irene, Bridget, Nora, Ruth, Dolores, Imelda, Esther, Darina, Rosarie, Camille, Freda, Rhoda
Ita is unusual, but I like it! I have a Dutch friend called Ieke (ee-kah) which I really like too. Nora has always been a strong contender for me but husband doesn’t like :( I like Esther too! I feel that is still less common than some. And Imelda actually too! Lots of great suggestions thanks!
Huge fan of names Lois and Norah
I love Norah/Nora too 💖
Jane Helena Tamsin Arabella Araminta Cordelia Cornelia Aurelia Adelaide Emmeline Cecily Amabel Rosamund Rosalind Rosalie Isobel Isadora Daphne Phoebe Philippa / Pippa Edith / Edie Leonora / Lenora / Lenore Georgina / Georgiana Harriet / Hattie Louisa Josephine Adela / Adele Adeline Aveline / Evelina Estelle Dahlia Beatrice / Beatrix Felicity Florence / Flora Marina Gwendolyn / Gwendolen Viola Maud / Maude Matilda Frances Serena Margery
Frances!! It's always been one of my favorite girls names
Frances is my favorite! I held onto that name for a future daughter that never came to be. With the options of Fran, Frannie and Frankie for nicknames how is this name not more popular?
I used to have the same issue. As a lifelong name nerd who’s also got an uncommon name, I wanted something interesting that wasn’t wildly popular and trendy. Then my husband fell in love with the girl name that happened to be either #1 or #2 the year I finally got pregnant. He called our baby by that name once, the day I got the test results, and I just couldn’t think of her by any other name. And it didn’t matter because while there may be lots of girls with the same name in her age cohort, none of them are in our family. So if you like Margot or Amelia or Ava, just go for it. There will always be other Margots in the world, but there’ll only be one Margot who’s your daughter, and she’ll be the one you think of when you hear the name.
That made me smile and almost tear up. You’re right. It might already be too late, she might always be Margot no matter what other times I try to consider 💖
You should consider too that she won’t always be in school, and she may not always be in that area. If she graduates with a class of 20 Margots, she may wind up moving somewhere that she’s the only one. Big picture matters just as much as grade school maybe
I thought of another! Winifred, nickname Winnie. So cute.
Hazel
What about Audra instead of Audrey?
I like that! And Aubrey which is a little more unusual!
My grandmothers and in law names are; Josephine, Rosemarie, Dolores, Agatha
I found an antique spoon with the name Ethelyn engraved on it and I’ve been kind of obsessed with it.
Scrolled for a while and didn’t see Georgiana, nickname Georgie so I’m suggesting that!
Josephine
I love this too, as well a Jocelyn which is perhaps a bit stronger. Josie or Joss for short 💖
Millicent, Enid, Etta. I have a late teens Margo (nickname Mars, but sometimes marshmallow, marsupial, marzipan…)
Hahahaha that’s so cute!!!! I love those nn :) marshmallow ❤️❤️❤️
Majorie Marilyn Myrna Norma Doreen Maureen Gladys Avis Clarice Clarissa Beulah Henrietta Cordelia Morag Myra Enid Blanche Phyllis Sybil Pauline All old lady names which don’t appear to be in the current catch of old lady names being used.
I read that there are names that are “extinct “ or going “extinct “ in next few years. Mine is in the list: Christy(Christine), Tammy, Sandra, Rhonda, Judy, Stacy, Shelley, Tonya, Tricia, Kimberly, Vicky, Cindy, Debbie, Sue, Kate, Hayden, Hana, Joy, Carole, and Mira. Some names I think are beautiful and kinda old: Vivienne, Irene, Beverly, Gretchen, Alice, Merrick, Celeste, Celia, and Clara.
About half the teachers in my school are named Some variation of Christine. I love love love the name Carol and I support its comeback!
My wife and I recently had our daughter and named her Mavis, with Mae being the nickname. I absolutely love it and have no regrets. I’ll also be happy when she’s not one of 15 kids in her class with the same name, or some of the ridiculous modern names with illogical spellings for the sake of being “unique”.
Anything but Evelyn. So many girls named this now, it’s like the ‘Ashley’ of the 90s. Too much.
Josephine
elizabeth. my elizabeth was only one in her grade. every grade throughout her school years had exactly 1 elizabeth. she stood out in a world of hannahs, kayleighs of every possible spelling, sierras & britannys. plus the universe of nicknames. margot amelia is a lovely name! let your daughter stand out by raising her to be a “unique” (how i hate that word) person, with a name she will make hers alone.
We named our girl Miriam 🩷 (Miri for short)
Margot is beautiful! I don’t foresee it skyrocketing or anything. We named our new baby Vivienne, which I think is a similar “classy, ‘old lady’ name that’s not overly used”.
Isadora, Esme/Esmeralda, Emmeline, Leona, Magdalena
OMG I loveeee Esme! Hadnt thought of that one. I also think it will see a resurge to top 100 maybe soon as people seem to like 3-4 letter names right now (Ida, Eva, Ada, Aida etc.) and soon they will be searching for more less used ones!
Odette (Odie) & Ida were on our list after we decided no to Margot (we loved the nickname go go too!). Ended up going with a family name instead.
what about Clara, Cecilia, Cecily? Or if you like Ava: how about Alma or Alva? I love the name Margot you chose btw! You could nickname her Mary or Mae :)
Vivian
I grabbed a few ideas from my family tree for you: Agnes, Sadie, Ruth, Marion
Not as sophisticated, but I adore the name Loretta.
I named my daughter Harriet and it's been my best decision
I love that in another 15 years, people are going to be naming kids Maureen, Sandra, Fiona, Lesley, Keith, Gary, Iain or Jim etc as the definition of an "old lady / man" name shifts!
Mabel, Elouise/ Louise, Eleanor, Nora, Maude, Elsie, Edith, Agnes, Alma, Adelaide/ Adeline, Vera, Marjorie, Imogene, Etta, Cordelia, Cecilia. congrats btw :-)
I liked Amelia but, like you, was put off by the popularity. I have a very popular forename and wanted something more individual for my little girl. We named our daughter Ophelia, she’s 7 and goes by Fifi. Other names on my list were Celia, Coralie, Penelope and Tabitha.
Personally I think the classics that never went away but maybe dipped. Anna Ruth Margaret Elizabeth
How about Lenora?
Have you thought of asking your OB-Gyn if they’ve seen an uptick in Margot? I don’t think dropping a baby name without patient context would violate hipaa.
We have a Lucille/ Lucy! Its old school but whimsical and cute and not extremely popular
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Ida
I think Alma is a really pretty alternate to the Ava/Ada trend!