(no subject)

[alexandria-skye.livejournal.com]

 i was waiting in line at the academic guidence office yesterday when my friend and i happened to start talking about names, specifically those that age kids. like, names that make you think of old ladies but it turns out that it's the spunky five-year old that lives next door. her example was agatha, and, for some reasons, i suspect biblical, i could only think of ruth. are there any names that you associate with "old people"? are there other names that you have specific connotations for?

also, i went on a tour of cal poly san luis obispo (gorgeous campus, great student-made ice cream ;] ), and our tour guide's name was kevlin/kevlyn. i think it's weird, but it kind of suited her in a way... what do you think?

Comments

[icebyrd67.livejournal.com]

Martha. that one always makes me think of little old lady. the martha i know is a kickass steampunk loving crazy person who prefers that everyone call her Arty. she hates her name

[lilacmermaid.livejournal.com]

I definitely agree about Agatha (although I kind of like it anyway).

Also: Edith, Myrtle, Ethel, Edna, Winifred, Barbara,

It's funny, I don't have many guy names that I automatically associate with an old person ... more often than not, it's the name that they go by that ages them. Like Elizabeth or William could be 5 or 95, but almost all of the Elizabeths I know of my generation and younger end up going by Liz, whereas the older ones are more frequently Betty/Beth/Betsy. Same goes for William ... nowadays you get Will and Liam a lot, you almost never get Bill.

[twitchywoman.livejournal.com]

Names that I consider old lady names are Agnes, Myrtle (both of those names are actually nicknames my mom and her friend called each other all the time, back when they worked together) Harriet, Lorraine, Virginia. Old man names I think are Vernon and Marlen (but that is probably because those are my grandpas' names). I do know a Vern who is around 25ish, but his real name is Luverne (or some other spelling)

[tryyingtoevolve.livejournal.com]

harriet. and i fucking love it:)

[iam-katie.livejournal.com]

ditto

[arbus.livejournal.com]

mabel.

[searlait.livejournal.com]

Phyllis. It will never ever be anything other than an old lady name.

[duckduckcaboose.livejournal.com]

Helen will always be an old lady name to me, because it was my grandmother's name (well, the Americanized version) and also two of my great aunts (by marriage, my grandparents weren't psycho). Although it is pretty, and I went to high school with a girl named Helen, I will always think of old ladies.

Same goes for Arthur, Herman, Harold, and Leon.
Also... Tom/Thomas. Although I know a lot more young people than old named Tom, I always get an image of a generic old guy rather than someone I know. Tommy is okay though.

[lightmycandle1.livejournal.com]

Mildred, Bea, Gladys. Also Dorothy, Shirley and Betty...but probably because two of those are my grandmas' names. I'm trying my hardest to sort of bring back Dorothy though.
Men isn't as clear, though I usually think of Donald as sort of an old guy name (again, my grandpa's, so I'm biased). Art and Lawrence are other sort of old guy names.
(And yay for Cal Poly SLO! I grew up around there, so I know a lot of people who go there and LOVE it.)

[alexandria-skye.livejournal.com]

donald is my grandpa's name too :)
i really liked cal poly slo, especially the surrounding area. i loved the farmer's market. i was surprised by how friendly the people were around there. it's a great place.

[lightmycandle1.livejournal.com]

The farmer's market is AMAZING! And yeah, it has that small town vibe, so I always feel like people are friendlier. I moved down to LA to go to college right after graduating from high school, and it took a little while to get used to the city. People just aren't as willing to go out of their way. It was kind of a shock to a country girl like me. :)

[flyingwild.livejournal.com]

Donald is my grandfather and my younger brother, and was also my mom's brother. It's sort of our family's traditional male name :)

[shortbutfast.livejournal.com]

first thoughts in english context:
betty. rita. henrietta.

and yay for slo, such a pretty area!

[eleanorgrace.livejournal.com]

People tell me all the time that Eleanor is an old lady name. Feel free to disagree, but I hear it every time I'm introduced to a new person. Or else, indirectly, when they say, "oh, that's my grandma's name!"

[songspell.livejournal.com]

Norma
Maude
Ethel
Edith
Phyllis
Gertrude
Doris
Eugenia
Nadine
Vera
Shirley
Blanche
Constance
Bernice
Edna
Ernestine
Lorraine
Wilma
Delores
Esther
Hilda
Helga
Harriet



Harvey
Rupert
Eugene
Gilbert
Norman
Bernard
Ernest
Randolph
Rudolph
Herbert
Hubert
Warren
Bertram
Marvin
Melvin
Elmer
Maynard
Wilfred
Herman
Wendell
Oswald
Clarence
Stanley
Milton
Virgil
Wilbur

[doodlbug.livejournal.com]

I agree with all of those. I can only think of one or two people under 70 with any of those names.

[seksimaggie.livejournal.com]

Maggie.

[supermonkeyfics.livejournal.com]

Names that strike me as old:
Ladies: Agnes, Arlene, Adele, Bessie, Betty, Edith, Eleanor, Frances, Faye, Gertrude, Irma, Janice, Lenore, Laverne, Louise, Lottie, Margaret, Maude, Millicent, Tabitha, Winifred

Men: Arthur, Alfred, Francis, Gerald, Harold, Herbert, Humphrey, Howard, Lawrence, Mack, Ned, Pete, Roy, Ted