Old Lady Names —-just for fun

[Jalapeñomel]

When I was a kid, old lady names were like Dorothy, Ester, Margaret, etc.

But nowadays, the kids tell me old lady names are like Karen, Jessica, Heather, etc.

So do you think you have an “old lady” name according to the youths?

[scm1011]

As a Stephanie I fear I will be amongst the old lady names soon (if I’m not already).

[circa1978]

Ha, no. I have a very classic Catholic Italian/French/Spanish name. It's not terribly common in the US, but definitely not unheard of. My favorite old lady name from my grandparents' generation is Camille, which was my great aunt's name. I have my grandmother's name. And then their third sister was Francesca, which I also love.

My mom was the only person of her generation to also marry into an Italian American Catholic family, so my cousins are Jenny (x2), Melissa, Kimberly, Stephanie...

ETA: Not that I couldn't have been a Stephanie or whatever but it wasn't happening in our particular family, lol. I'm lucky I was a girl or I would have been Pietro. I have a male second cousin legitimately named Fabio.

[HoneySpider]

Well you mentioned my name as one of the old lady ones so I guess so lol

[skidunks]

Jul 27, 2025 14:17:26 GMT -5 scm1011 said:

As a Stephanie I fear I will be amongst the old lady names soon (if I’m not already).

I’m a Stephanie also! I have a sister named Jennifer like many Stephanies from the late 70’s seem to have.

[abs]

Nope! My name is actually more popular now than ever. But no one can still say it or spell it right.

I was almost a Melissa. That was my dad’s name choice. That would probably be more of an old lady name I guess.

[scm1011]

Jul 27, 2025 14:33:23 GMT -5 skidunks said:

Jul 27, 2025 14:17:26 GMT -5 scm1011 said:

As a Stephanie I fear I will be amongst the old lady names soon (if I’m not already).

I’m a Stephanie also! I have a sister named Jennifer like many Stephanies from the late 70’s seem to have.

My sister is Melissa so very generic 70s/80s pairing lol

cville, my DS was a delivery surprise but would have been Camille if he was a girl, it’s a great name! We named DS Calvin so Camille felt a little too close when we had DD (he went by Cali and we envisioned Cami as a nickname for our Camille)

[shopgirl07]

Yep, I saw something on insta recently that had middle schoolers listing old person names and mine was on it. Funny thing is when I was born my name was very unusual and different😂

[mofongo]

Jul 27, 2025 14:38:14 GMT -5 scm1011 said:

Jul 27, 2025 14:33:23 GMT -5 skidunks said:

I’m a Stephanie also! I have a sister named Jennifer like many Stephanies from the late 70’s seem to have.

My sister is Melissa so very generic 70s/80s pairing lol

cville , my DS was a delivery surprise but would have been Camille if he was a girl, it’s a great name! We named DS Calvin so Camille felt a little too close when we had DD (he went by Cali and we envisioned Cami as a nickname for our Camille)

Did you mean to tag circa?? Lol
I’m a Jennifer, so I guess old lady 😭.

[Jalapeñomel]

Jul 27, 2025 14:23:20 GMT -5 circa1978 said:

Ha, no. I have a very classic Catholic Italian/French/Spanish name. It's not terribly common in the US, but definitely not unheard of. My favorite old lady name from my grandparents' generation is Camille, which was my great aunt's name. I have my grandmother's name. And then their third sister was Francesca, which I also love.

My mom was the only person of her generation to also marry into an Italian American Catholic family, so my cousins are Jenny (x2), Melissa, Kimberly, Stephanie...

ETA: Not that I couldn't have been a Stephanie or whatever but it wasn't happening in our particular family, lol. I'm lucky I was a girl or I would have been Pietro. I have a male second cousin legitimately named Fabio.

I had two Camilla’s last year, so close to Camille. But I teach in a very Italian area.

I think my name will be old lady, even if it’s not that common!

[cheekywife]

i'm still of the mind that it's names like esther, ethel, mildred, and any of the golden girls, obvs. 

i don't think names like jessica, stephanie, melissa, etc. are there yet. 

my name is pretty uncommon but it's a variation of my gram's name so it could be considered an old lady name. 

my middle name is marie, like probably 1/3 of the girls born in the late 79s/early 80s. 

[loira]

A Caitlin, signing in to become an old lady name someday for sure. Hot on the heels of the Tiffanys and Jennifers.

I'm actually older than the peak trend of my name, which I think was more late 80s, early 90s when all the spelling variants emerged.

[scm1011]

Jul 27, 2025 14:47:11 GMT -5 mofongo said:

Jul 27, 2025 14:38:14 GMT -5 scm1011 said:

My sister is Melissa so very generic 70s/80s pairing lol

cville , my DS was a delivery surprise but would have been Camille if he was a girl, it’s a great name! We named DS Calvin so Camille felt a little too close when we had DD (he went by Cali and we envisioned Cami as a nickname for our Camille)

Did you mean to tag circa?? Lol
I’m a Jennifer, so I guess old lady 😭.

Yes!! Sorry 🙈

[snapoutofit]

I am Jennifer, so yes. I guess I have an old lady name. I am 55 so I suppose I am an old lady to today’s youth lol.

[isabel]

I haven’t heard of a single child my kids’ ages named Nicole, so yes, I think my name is probably “old.”

[underwaterrhymes]

My name was very popular in the 80s, but it’s also shared by several famous younger people, including the Duchess of Sussex and a rap artist, so I don’t think it’s yet seen as an old person’s name.

[eb777888]

Absolutely! My name is Melissa. David has had no Melissas in his classes and only one other David. I feel like David might become an old man name. It is extremely rare we come across any Davids, like I can count on one hand.

[eb777888]

One old lady name I like that's come back is Ruby. I know it's always been popular in the UK, but not here in the US. Love it.

[basilosaurus]

It's not quite Karen, but Susan is definitely used in boomer memes. It was a top 10 name in the 50s and 60s (like Karen, Nancy, Linda) and hasn't been on the top 1000 names in ages. It's no Ethel, though!

[Queen Dick of Adminlandia]

Dick will never go out of style.

[heygrey]

My name is still uncommon enough that it’s not going to hit old lady status. It barely broken the top 1,000 a few times in the last 40 years.

[ksun]

I think Katie is pretty transgenerational. As a GenXer I didn't know many other Katies and never found my name on a keychain til I was an adult.

[plutosmoon]

I feel like my name has been an old lady name my entire life. A lot of people call me by my nickname (Annie) which I don't think is old lady.

[dreamcrisp1]

No, my name is not common at all but I think will remain exactly where it is forever.

[Jalapeñomel]

Jul 27, 2025 16:02:56 GMT -5 ksun said:

I think Katie is pretty transgenerational. As a GenXer I didn't know many other Katies and never found my name on a keychain til I was an adult.

Do you mean because yours is not a nickname?

Because Katie seems pretty popular to me!

[eb777888]

Jul 27, 2025 16:02:56 GMT -5 ksun said:

I think Katie is pretty transgenerational. As a GenXer I didn't know many other Katies and never found my name on a keychain til I was an adult.

One of David's (16) best friends is a Katie. Yes, still lots of Kates/Katherines/Katies.

[mofongo]

Jul 27, 2025 16:26:21 GMT -5 Jalapeñomel said:

Jul 27, 2025 16:02:56 GMT -5 ksun said:

I think Katie is pretty transgenerational. As a GenXer I didn't know many other Katies and never found my name on a keychain til I was an adult.

Do you mean because yours is not a nickname?

Because Katie seems pretty popular to me!

I didn’t want to sound rude, but I know a lot of Katies, Catherines, etc. lol

[tacokick]

I think my name is fairly timeless. It has
always been at least in the top 250, had some jumps in the eighties and nineties but I don’t think it ever broke top 10 (and that was a time when the very top names were really disproportionately popular) so it doesn’t feel dated or trendy.

[coltsfan85]

My name fell off the charts in like the 80s so by definition it is an old name. In practice, I doubt any kids even know my name to identify it as old?

[scm1011]

Jul 27, 2025 16:47:11 GMT -5 mofongo said:

Jul 27, 2025 16:26:21 GMT -5 Jalapeñomel said:

Do you mean because yours is not a nickname?

Because Katie seems pretty popular to me!

I didn’t want to sound rude, but I know a lot of Katies, Catherines, etc. lol

Agree it’s transgenerational but I graduated in 1999 in class of 120 and there were 5 Katies ha. It is without a doubt the most common girl name I associate with my youth (boy version: Kevin).