12 Parents Who Picked Old-Fashioned Baby Names, and a Great-Grandma Who Felt Bad for Her Namesake

So, when my eldest, Marley Raine, was a few months old, my cousin came over and told me how the night before, she had met a family with 2 little girls, and the eldest was also named Marley Raine! Then she tells me the younger one was named Violet Dream.

At that point, I was like, “Wow that’s so crazy, we’ve already decided if we have another girl, her name will be Violet! Not a big fan of Dream as a middle tho.”

Well, 2 years later, Miss Violet was getting ready to enter the world soon, and we still hadn’t decided on a middle name. Until my Mom got a new neighbor. The woman’s name was Roya.

Now, a bit of backstory, my grandfather was named Roy, and my mom had always hoped for a grandchild that would honor his name.

So she, of course, thinks the name is beautiful and asks does the neighbor mind if she suggests the name to me as a middle name for her grandchild.

I immediately fell in love with it. It was an absolute “Yes!”

So my mom goes back to her neighbor and tells her we love it and will be using it for our baby. This made Roya very happy, and she told my mom, “Well then, I should let you know, in Persian, it means Dream.”

So, I ended up with Marley Raine and Violet Dream after all.

Funny story. My Mom was going to pick up her friend, Eleanor. My 7-year-old asked her how old Eleanor was and my mom replied, “I think about 90 or so”, to which my daughter replied, “But Eleanor is a kid’s name!” This is what happens when we name our kids after our grandparents.

Melissa had planned for years to name a daughter after Grandma Nancy, since before the first baby, a son named Casper after his great-great-grandpa. When baby Nancy was born in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, her 86-year-old great-grandma heard the name at the hospital.

“Grandma finds out great-granddaughter is named after her.”

My husband and I told my grandma that we were naming our unborn daughter Dorothy, after her but also because we both love the name. I was so excited to tell her but after my mom asked her how she felt she said she hated her name and felt bad for our baby.

We still love the name but now I feel weird about it. What would you do? I’m due very soon and have been calling this baby Dorothy and have grown attached to it. I’m planning on still using it but it’s just strange how my grandma reacted.

She is a grumpy old woman but I do love her very much.

Update #2: I called my grandma and she told me that she loves that I was thinking of her when choosing a name and her first initial reaction was that she didn’t like her name but she told me that if I loved it, she would love it for my child.

She also said that people probably think of names differently now than they did when she was growing up, with how old fashioned names are trendy and coming back. She apologized that she had a negative reaction and told me she loves me and will love my baby too.

Yesterday my 6-year-old, Minnie, said she has a kid name and was worried about growing up with a “kid name”. She said she wanted an adult name for when she is an adult. I reminded her she has one (lol) and she was very happy.

Her full name is Araminta and we call her Minnie and Minty. My husband really wanted Minnie and I’m glad we gave her options with her longer legal name.

I’m delighted to be the mom of a wonderful 6-week-old boy! We both had pretty much the same criteria: no invented names, nothing in the top 100, and the older the better.

I liked Harlan, Everett, Hollis or Ira. My husband noped my whole list and really tried to sell me on Eugene as he found Ira too short and simple.

Well, months later my husband was listening to the podcast “This American Life” hosted by none other than Ira Glass. He then said, “Isn’t Ira a great name for a boy?” I wish I could say he was joking but he totally did not recall our conversation months earlier.

Thus we decided on Ira Eugene for our first born baby boy!

He is 10 months old. If he ever asks me who he was named after? No particular Henry, but all of them.

There have been great Henry’s and not-so-great Henry’s. There are many in history.

It’s timeless. It’s an adult’s name, not a baby name, and the nurses always love it at any doctor’s office.

My son will be the next great Henry.

In 2009, I had my first daughter. I had my heart set on naming her Effie after my great-grandmother, but my husband hated the name. I know it’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but I thought it was old-fashioned, sweet, and meaningful. We ended up going with Layla Renee, which I do love.

Second daughter is born in 2012, husband still hates Effie.

Third daughter (yes, I’m a girl factory) is born in 2017. She is Julia Rose Rebecca.

Fourth daughter is born in 2018, her name is Ophelia Roslyn.

Cue my toddler meeting her baby sister for the first time. We introduced her as “Ophelia,” but when Julia tried to pronounce it, it came out “Ephie.”

So after 9 years, I finally have an Ephie.

I named a son after my Grandpa as a middle name.

I had the opportunity to hear his thrilled reaction twice, one when the baby was born over the phone and once the first time I introduced them a few months later. I was initially a little hurt he didn’t remember the tribute, but seeing his grin in person to have a great-grandson named after him is a priceless memory.

My almost one-year-old daughter is named Winifred. I thought Winifred was pretty fool-proof! Spelling is straightforward, it’s in some popular books and movies so there is a chance it’s not completely unheard of despite being out of the top 1000, plus, could be your grandma’s name!

She wears her name very well and everything is perfect... except for one persistent issue.

At least five times, possibly more, someone meeting her for the first time has mistaken her name for the name “Winifer”. I have never heard the name Winifer in my life.

I pronounce it like Win-uh-Frid. Maybe I’m not enunciating enough?? Every time it happens I’m like... surely this is the last time... and then it happens again LOL.

My son’s first name is my grandfather’s name. When we told him what we were naming the baby, he said, “Well why would you name him that? Funny name.”

His name. It was his name.

My beautiful granddaughter, Josephine Faye, was born on the 2nd December. She is named after her 100-year-old Great Great Nanny Josephine... 5 generations of us ladies in the family now! Nothing quite prepares you for the love and emotion you feel when you hold that precious little bundle in your arms for the first time.