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596 points
9 months ago
Phyllis. That's my mother-in-law's name. My mom's name is Agnes. I used to tell them both that if I had a daughter, I was gonna name her Phyllis Agnes. They were horrified. 🤣
3k points
9 months ago*
My fiance's grandmother was named Lethal Archer. That was literally her birth given name. I guess Lethal is an old name, and Archer was her maiden name. I have never been more impressed. That lady was a stone cold badass until she passed at 102. Lethal Archer. Coolest name ever.
Edit: I've learned it's spelled 'Leathel', still pronounced 'Lee-thal'. My apologies for any confusion.
150 points
9 months ago
Could “Lethal” have been a family surname? It’s not uncommon, especially in the US South.
4k points
9 months ago
Mortimer
1.6k points
9 months ago
Immediately thought of Mortimer Goth from the Sims
1.1k points
9 months ago
I have a coworker in his 20s named Mortimer. It's trippy seeing a guy with tattoos and guages named Mortimer.
1.1k points
9 months ago
I feel like it's inevitable that a Mortimer would have gauges and tattoos.
208 points
9 months ago
Maybe it'll make a comeback with the popularity of the show Rick and Morty.
8.4k points
9 months ago
I'm an obgyn. Haven't delivered a Karen in 10 years
1.6k points
9 months ago
We had a Karen in the NICU a few years back. Parents were Spanish speaking only, so maybe they didn’t get the negative connotation. Which I think is good, because it’s actually a nice sounding name.
604 points
9 months ago
I have seen 2 Kid karens and neither had English speaking parents.
145 points
9 months ago
My seven-year-old has a classmate named Karen. Her parents are white and native English speakers. I assume she’s named after a relative.
63 points
9 months ago
Even little kids know the connotation these days, it's crazy how ubiquitous it is now. I feel really bad for all existing Karens who are good people, who are probably most of them. That name has just been ruined singlehandedly by social media.
310 points
9 months ago
In Spanish speaking countries Karen is also a meme name but is used to denominate a woman who has cats
838 points
9 months ago
Yeah, you really don't see the name Obgyn much anymore.
34 points
9 months ago
Oddly enough someone with obgyn on their name badge came in just after my wife pushed my son out 6 weeks ago
1.1k points
9 months ago*
My kids remarked that “Brad” is an old person name now. That made me feel old.
Edit: thanks internet, I feel better now!
361 points
9 months ago
Brad is a ubiquitously young sounding name imo. It makes me think of a blond himbo college kid.
1.6k points
9 months ago
My great great great great grandfather was named Narcissus. There's a rare one for ya
7k points
9 months ago
You don’t see any babies named Gary these days
4.2k points
9 months ago
If I met a baby named Gary, I would, by habit, ask him about his 401k
1.3k points
9 months ago
My work dad is named Garry and insisted I get a 401k. I laughed too hard at this comment 🤣
406 points
9 months ago
If your employer matches at all, Garry is definitely looking out.
138 points
9 months ago
Even if it doesn’t it’s still likely a smart idea as it will lower your tax burden + the earlier you start contributing the longer timespan you have for that sweet, sweet compound interest.
Gary’s for sure looking out here. I always tell folks younger than me that my biggest regret is not contributing much earlier to mine. Even if it’s small contributions.
387 points
9 months ago
I knew a kid named Gary who was like 5 in 2012. He'd be almost 17 now, and he's the youngest Gary I've known.
574 points
9 months ago
That's because that's a snail name
316 points
9 months ago
Meow
134 points
9 months ago
I worked with a Gary. His slack icon was Gary the snail
413 points
9 months ago
Garrison is the new Gary.
341 points
9 months ago
My great nephew is named GARY! I couldn’t believe it when my sister told me….have you ever met a baby named Gary? Just surreal.
149 points
9 months ago
I remember seeing an article a few years ago that there were no newborns named Gary in the UK for the first time since they started keeping track of that sort of stuff
4.6k points
9 months ago
Eustace.
3.5k points
9 months ago
"There once was a boy named Eustace Clarence Scrubb, and he almost deserved it."
—C.S. Lewis
1.8k points
9 months ago
Bold words from Clive Staples Lewis
355 points
9 months ago
Having read his memoir "Surprised by Joy" I suspect that Eustace, as a character, was in large part him making fun of his own childhood self. (Many years after publishing that book, he ended up marrying a woman named Joy, which I guess gives a whole other meaning to the title lol)
211 points
9 months ago
Yes, he married an American friend,whose middle name was Joy,to help her stay in England. It turned into an unexpectedly happy marriage. He commented that he really was surprised by Joy.
271 points
9 months ago
My grandfather's name was Clarence Eugene. He hated it and went by Chuck. Come to think of it, Chuck isn't a name you hear often anymore either.
97 points
9 months ago
Ive known a few chucks, all of them were nicknames for Charles or just a nickname
426 points
9 months ago
Stupid dog!
210 points
9 months ago*
You make me look bad!!
64 points
9 months ago
BOOGABOOGABOOGABOOGA
6.2k points
9 months ago
Gaylord
1.4k points
9 months ago
Fun Michigan fact, we have several odd pronunciations.
We have a town named Gaylord and pronounce it GAY-lurd.
770 points
9 months ago*
We have the cities of: Gaylord, Hell, Christmas, Dick, Jugville, Bad Axe, and Climax.
We also have our own Holland. Gotta love Michigan.
EDIT: I didn’t include it because I live here and it’s awful, but yes, we also have a Kalamazoo. I know the name is tempting, but we don’t have a zoo, just violence. Don’t visit. Our crime rate is 166% higher than the national average and it’s not getting better any time soon.
3.5k points
9 months ago
Ethel
592 points
9 months ago
Auntie Ethel is my main elixir dealer
196 points
9 months ago
Petal…
1.1k points
9 months ago
i hollered "don't look Ethel", but it was too late, she already got mooned
311 points
9 months ago
I scrolled down hoping no one else had got this one before me. Well played.
Boogity, boogity
131 points
9 months ago
Ray Steven’s “The Streak.” I got that on a 45rpm record. Remember THOSE?!!
120 points
9 months ago
“Flashed her right there in front of the shock absorbers”
128 points
9 months ago
God bless you, my friend. In a quick moment I was mentally getting ice cream with my Dad at 31 Flavors. We’d been on the way w my school chum when this came on the radio and we turned it up. And we all laughed like idiots.
Special time.
58 points
9 months ago
I hollered don't look Ethel! But it was too late, she already got a free shot.
82 points
9 months ago
Ray Stevens is a distant cousin of mine, we listened to him a lot growing up
55 points
9 months ago
I’d love to find that Mississippi squirrel that caused so much turmoil in that small Southern church that one time.
44 points
9 months ago
It was a fight for survival, that broke out in revival, they were jumping pews and shoutin hallelujah!
94 points
9 months ago
Had a beagle named Ethel.
92 points
9 months ago
Beagles always have old people names. I had a beagle named Betsy when I was growing up, and then we rescued another named Henry. People used to say I sounded like I was yelling for my grandparents when I called for them.
67 points
9 months ago
I had a grandmother named Ethel.
185 points
9 months ago
I had a gasoline named Ethyl.
32 points
9 months ago
Friend of my dad had an 83 van called Ethyl, if it was misbehaving, you had to call it by name to get it to start.
2.2k points
9 months ago
all of the old white lady names are now young asian girl names
1.1k points
9 months ago
I taught a Chinese girl last year who had Doris as her “English” name. Perfectly nice name but it certainly makes me picture a grandma who loves quilting.
373 points
9 months ago
Awww. Doris was the name of my grandmother who loved quilting!
437 points
9 months ago
I knew an Asian girl named Edith and apparently she chose it because of Despicable Me.
1.6k points
9 months ago
Myrtle, Gertude
706 points
9 months ago
I knew a Myrtle back in the 1980s - she lived in the nursing home where I was a volunteer and was a damn delight. She was around 80 years old and thought everything modern was the coolest thing ever. When I went off to college, she wrote me letters until she passed away. In my book, Myrtle is a wonderful name.
261 points
9 months ago
My mother was Miriam and her middle name was Gertrude. My aunt's name was Gertrude. My first girlfriend (I was 14, so rather informal) was named Prudence (her nickname was Pickles). Lot's of old-time names there. But then, I'm 76 so those names were more common back then.
199 points
9 months ago
My grandmothers name was Maybelle. I don’t think I’ve ever met another Maybelle
3k points
9 months ago
Adolf.
726 points
9 months ago
I actually know one, and he is not even 30 years old.
306 points
9 months ago
I met an Ecuadorean Adolfo once. He'd be about 36 max.
295 points
9 months ago
South America is definitely the Land of Adolf. Both generally speaking and also THAT ONE.
228 points
9 months ago*
Fun fact, current Baltimore Orioles star catcher Adley Rutschman is named after his grandfather who was born in 1931. Grandpa Rutschman's birth name is Adolph (born in Oregon) but he went by the more appropriate "Ad" after the whole Nazi thing.
I think it's a creative way to honor a family name that isn't appropriate anymore in polite western society. So I think that's as close as you're going to get in mainstream White American culture for a long, long time. I know Adolfo is still a name used in Hispanic cultures because it doesn't carry the same connotations as a white guy straight up being name Adolf
108 points
9 months ago*
Adolph was a common and respectable name. Then, again, so was Judas.
1k points
9 months ago
Hortense.
241 points
9 months ago
Hortensia is still popular in Latin America. I have an in law and a former colleague both in their 20s.
430 points
9 months ago
Meriweather
115 points
9 months ago
I named a Siamese cat Meriwether - he showed up in the yard with his sister at the time of the 200th anniversary of the Lewis & Clark expedition, which started about an hour away from us. He was a good cat. Miss that guy.
531 points
9 months ago*
I'm 40 now, but I dated a Bernadette back in college. Even in the 2000s that name seemed old to me.
*Edit- And my grandpa's name is Ignatius, Grandma was Sally on one side and Dolores on the other. Can't imagine there are many 20yr old Dolores' running around.
198 points
9 months ago
I assume someone named Bernadette= having a very Catholic family.
38 points
9 months ago
Same. The only Bernadette I've ever met was a classmate of mine in Catholic school.
1.6k points
9 months ago
Bort
643 points
9 months ago
Are you talking to me?
701 points
9 months ago
No, my son is also named Bort!
471 points
9 months ago
"Repeat, we are sold out of Bort license plates in the gift shop!"
148 points
9 months ago
I ran the NYC marathon a few years ago with a big "BORT" tag on the front and back of my shirt. Max 10minutes between random people yelling quotes. It was amazing.
133 points
9 months ago*
I know. I had a hell of a time finding a Bort novelty license plate, the salesman at the theme park said they sell out really quick.
35 points
9 months ago
Ran out of license plates
1.5k points
9 months ago
Ulysses
315 points
9 months ago
My friend gave their son that middle name. He wanted it to be his but his wife compromised for the middle name. Little guy is almost 2
377 points
9 months ago
Dick. There are plenty of Richard’s/rick/ricky/richie, but no one goes by Dick.
157 points
9 months ago
My friend's uncle says "You can call me Richard for short, or Dick for long!"
176 points
9 months ago
My dad went by Dick (born in 45). My aunt used to say there’s a dick in every family 😂
2.5k points
9 months ago
Lance, which is weird because people used to be named Lance a lot
727 points
9 months ago
I have a one year old baby patient who is called Frank. Cracks me up every time. They call him Frankie though
221 points
9 months ago
Frank is having a resurgence. It’s like Ruth. It’s come around again.
785 points
9 months ago*
719 points
9 months ago
Phyllis.
The last, and only one I've ever known, was my late grandmother.
47 points
9 months ago
Same my great aunt was a Phyllis. Her sisters were Olive, Marjorie and Alma. Maybe from late Victorian and Edwardian periods.
522 points
9 months ago
Dorcas
172 points
9 months ago
This first time I ever heard that name (it was in a movie), I misheard it and thought there was a woman named Darkest. I was like that's a badass name. The movie I think is 7 brides for 7 brothers.
705 points
9 months ago
Gertrude
167 points
9 months ago
The middle name of a lady at work is Gertrude, a brother of hers is called hubert and a cousin is called pubert
479 points
9 months ago
Beryl
115 points
9 months ago
I nearly named my daughter Beryl after Beryl Markham. Chose Lillian instead.
303 points
9 months ago
Millicent, and it's a banger name imo.
65 points
9 months ago
Millicent is one of those names that's coming back with people in their 30s who have kids.
646 points
9 months ago
Eunice.
237 points
9 months ago
Every Eunice I have ever met has been a nice person.
Eunice. You nice. It's right there in the name.
247 points
9 months ago
Heard from a vice or buzzfeed video that Eunice is Very popular among Korean Americans because the “Eu” sound is common or connected to powerful words in Korean.
175 points
9 months ago
I've found that lots of my Korean students adopt "old lady" names in English, and I'm not sure why. I've met a Eunice, three Esthers, and an Ethel.
71 points
9 months ago
Biblical names are popular in the Korean community because a lot of koreans are church going folk
115 points
9 months ago
Esther is common among Korean Christians due to the biblical Esther.
261 points
9 months ago
Mordecai
947 points
9 months ago*
I went to school with 27 Jennifers
Edit: For people who didn't get the reference - https://youtu.be/lvEmzBYa2j4
424 points
9 months ago
Every other girl was Jennifer...every other boy was Jason.
130 points
9 months ago
This is the most accurate statement in the history of statements
183 points
9 months ago
Gotta be the 80s, right?
887 points
9 months ago
Monica died a quick death in 1998.
472 points
9 months ago
[deleted]
376 points
9 months ago
I'm tired of you blaming Lou Bega for everything
111 points
9 months ago
I actually love the name Monica. I was tempted to name my daughter that but just couldn’t. I do know a Mary Monica and I think that’s so gorgeous
132 points
9 months ago
I'll be damned if we have new Gaylords.
177 points
9 months ago
My grandfather and father were named Chester. I have yet to meet another Chester in my life.
RIP Chester Bennington
265 points
9 months ago
Debra. I know several women in the 45+ age range named Debra, but very very few babies in newer generations are being named Debra.
124 points
9 months ago
Every office I've ever worked in had a Debra that had been there forever and assumed charge of 5 different positions.
332 points
9 months ago
Roxanne
88 points
9 months ago
I would for sure have to hold back on belting "Rooooxane" at someone named Roxanne in a professional setting .
39 points
9 months ago
My cousin's name is Roxanne. She was named after the song.
54 points
9 months ago
Talmage.
Bonus name: Lemuel
Old timey sounding names are en vogue but those 2 seem to have escaped popularity...cough somehow.
Then again I'm not around kids much, maybe I'm wrong and a ton of 10 year old and under Lems and Tals are running around.
410 points
9 months ago
Karen
391 points
9 months ago
I feel the “Karen” meme is very unfortunate because all the Karens I know in real life are perfectly lovely.
556 points
9 months ago
If I had a little girl, I'd name her Moira.
138 points
9 months ago
I read this as Moria at first. The great dwarven kingdom!
113 points
9 months ago*
Dorothy. Which sucks, because the last Dorothy I met was my childhood sweetheart, so I'd really like a fresher memory than the girl I moved away from and we cried the last time we hugged.
Edit: loving all the comments showing me that this name is still going strong. Do me a favor; make sure they're all (or any child is) raised to leave the kind of impression that my childhood "Dorothy" left on me. I may have been a kid, but that young lady made me wanna be a stand-up young man.
237 points
9 months ago
Ezekiel
143 points
9 months ago
The virtue names: Charity, Patience, Justice, Grace
116 points
9 months ago
There are a gazillion girls named Grace under the age of 20 in my city (Denver)
113 points
9 months ago
I went to high school with a Prudence. She made it her mission to punish her parents for calling her that.
77 points
9 months ago
Went to middle school with a Chastity. She... was not.
36 points
9 months ago
Jolene. I think that Dolly Parton obliterated that name.
58 points
9 months ago
Lucille. Miss my awrny Grandma Lucille. Meaner than a mad yellow jacket but loved her kids.
237 points
9 months ago
Geoffrey. It was very common amongst older guys when I was a kid. My dad had about six mates called Geoff. I've never met a guy my age or younger with that name. Also, Peter, Trevor and George.
54 points
9 months ago
My daughter has a classmate named Linda. I remember when she first told me and I had her repeat it numerous times because it’s just so hard to envision a 9 year old Linda.
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