Hey!

[kawanee.livejournal.com]

I'm one of the new people who saw this community on the spotlight and had to join, ha ha. :)

I love names. I've been writing stories since I was a little girl, and character names have always been important to me. I'm also now a mother, so I have another reason to care about names.

First of all, my name is Rebecca. I was named after my several-times-great paternal grandmother. My husband's name is Alexander. As far as I know, he wasn't named after anybody.

The names we had originally picked out for our child were Mary Vivian (after my paternal grandmother) and Walter Charles (Walter is the English version of his dad's middle name, Charles is my dad's middle name). However, I didn't really like Walter as a first name, and when my mother-in-law said we shouldn't use Walter because of the children's book series "Walter the Farting Dog", I took that as a good opportunity to suggest other names. I originally suggested William Alexander (that was the name of my mom's brother who died at two days old) but my husband said he wanted to have one of the grandfather's names in it, so we settled on Charles Alexander. Charles is after my dad, and Alexander is after my husband.

Our son was born on March 18, 2011. His name is Charles Alexander and his nickname is Charlie.

We're not sure we're going to have another child at this point. However, if we do, and if it's a girl, I think we're going to go with Elizabeth Maria (Elizabeth is my older sister's middle name, Maria is the name of one of my husband's aunts). If it's a boy, I'm thinking Edward Walter or Edward John (Edward is just a name we like, Walter would be after my husband's dad, as mentioned before and John is my husband's older brother's name).

We're definitely fans of the old-fashioned, traditional names for children. We think names like Hayden, Jayden, Braeden Madison, Carter, and Kai are all way overused these days. We don't criticize people who use them; it's not our choice and not our place to criticize, but we'd like to see a resurgence of the old-fashioned, traditional names, with the regular spellings.

Of course, our son is going to be the only Charles in his class, and maybe that's a good thing.

So, let's start a discussion: What are your favorite traditional names?

Comments

[teawithhoney.livejournal.com]

so happy to see this post at the top of the set when i refreshed - i also love old-fashioned traditional names and so many of the names i've seen in other posts here have me wondering how those children will like their names as adults. when we get older, 'cute' names just become weird, you know?

[ealexsism.livejournal.com]

I thought Charles/Charlie was a somewhat popular name?

I think a lot of biblical names are always going to be popular/common, which makes me sad because I love names like:
Luke
Mark
Noah
Mary
Catherine

etc.

[avec-bonheur.livejournal.com]

I absolutely love classic names. Victoria, Alexander, Elizabeth, William.

I think that they're adorable, proper, and have so much room for personality. They also age so well: I can see an Elizabeth at any age, whereas I can't imagine an old woman named "Precious".

[lumenesse.livejournal.com]

Charles was my grandfather's name and he was the most wonderful man I've ever known, so I think that's a perfect choice. Interestingly, his middle name was Edward, and that was what he went by for the majority of his life. So, either way, those are excellent name choices! :)

And I agree, I very much prefer the classic names. The traditional sound is always so lovely.

[kawanee.livejournal.com]

It's not popular where I live...the really popular boy names around here are Hayden, Jayden and Carter.

[lovelymae.livejournal.com]

My favorite traditional name is actually Charles. So I am a big fan of your son's name.
I am trying to decide between Charles Augustus and Charles Alphonso. Charles Augustus is probably the safe way to go, but Alphonso was my Grandfather's name. Augustus was my great-grandfather but I never met him.

As far as traditional girl names...I like Catherine and Elizabeth. Wouldn't use them though.

[kawanee.livejournal.com]

Agreed! :)

[kawanee.livejournal.com]

I think "Precious" should be a nickname, maybe even for a lady named Elizabeth. That wouldn't be so bad. My grandmother (Mary Vivian) had the nickname of Honey and was called that by everyone until the day she died.

[kawanee.livejournal.com]

:)

I joke that if we have another son and name him Edward, we'll have kids with the same names as two of the Queen's children. I'm a huge fan of the Royal family, so I think it's awesome.

[serendipity1991.livejournal.com]

What are your favorite traditional names?
Gotta agree - Biblical names will "live" forever, which is fine by me! I love old fashion names, such as:

Hannah
Sarah
Rebbecca
Jacob
Adam

:)

[kawanee.livejournal.com]

My middle name is Jean. It's just a name my parents liked. However, I could have been named Rebecca Augusta...my mom's grandmother's name was Hulda Augusta and if she had known that (she didn't) when I was born, I would have been named after her. I'm SO GLAD she didn't know, ha ha.

I think either of those two names would be good, but I like the ring of Charles Augustus better. That's just me though. :)

[thethicket.livejournal.com]

I've always loved the names William and James. They're both just the right amount of masculine - Charles is the same way, so I think Charlie's a great name for your son.

As for traditional female names, I've always been partial to Anne for some reason.

[http://users.livejournal.com/___heyvanity/]

Charles Alexander is a lovely name. My half-sister's father was Charles (called him Chuck though) and he died a few years back. We were all close so it's nice to see it used.

I also like Elizabeth and Vivian. Edward was my grandfather's name so I love it as well--but I also like the alternatives like Edwin or Edmund. Walter is a guilty pleasure name, but I do like it.

I love a lot of traditional names!

Henry
William
Charles
Alexander
Samuel
Louis
Theodore
Edward
Thomas
Andrew
Jack

Catherine
Margaret
Elizabeth
Helen
Victoria
Ruth
Clara
Rose
Louise
Josephine
Juliet

Ok I don't know if all of them are considered classics, but I do love them.

[schexyschteve.livejournal.com]

I love traditional/classic/old fashioned names very much!

Some of my favorites are Elizabeth, Charlotte, Madeline, Benjamin, Sebastian, Henry, Oliver, and Theodore.

[jexia]

I have a Genevieve Madeleine, an Alexander Damien and a Finley Étienne.

I also love Imogen. I like Lucy, but that has become popular again.

My grandma is Dorothea Beatrice, but goes by Betty.

[kawanee.livejournal.com]

I like Anne. I also like William and James. :)

There aren't too many old fashioned names I don't like...

[kawanee.livejournal.com]

:)

[kawanee.livejournal.com]

I love your choices, and would consider all of them to be traditional.

[kawanee.livejournal.com]

I like the names you picked! A friend of mine named her little girl Madeleine (can't remember the middle name, but it's also French...the family is from Quebec). My sister is pregnant and if she has a girl, her name will be Madeline. I've never thought to use French names myself, as we're not French, but I do love the name Etienne. :)

[kawanee.livejournal.com]

I'm actually seeing the more traditional names for girls are becoming more popular around here, but not for boys. I'm hoping soon it will change.

[bambiblake007.livejournal.com]

i like charles alexander, it reminds me of someone very strong :) good choice! i also like ur girl name & out of the possible 2nd boy names i like edward john :)

my name is katherine so i have a soft spot for old-fashion type names and my bf's name is robert, also quite old fashion imo. even my siblings have old fashion names: scott, rickey, tony, randy, leon, david, missy, and dale.

old fashion names i like (f): alice, ashley, allison, abigail, anna, alicia, caroline, christina, danielle, elisabeth, emma, felicia, fiona, faith, gracie, gwendolen, hannah, haley, isabel, jacinda, jennifer, jacqueline, jocelyn, janet, kelly, kristen, lyndsey, lily, lee anne, micah, michelle, natalie, rebecca, sara, victoria, whitney, zoe

(m): alexander, andrew, adam, brian, brent, carter, christopher, connor, dexter, dylan daniel, elijah, ethan, evan, elliott, eli, gregory, grayson, henry, joel, jonathan, james, joshua, jacob, jesse, julian, jared, kurt, lucas, leonard, michael, mark, nash, nathaniel, nicholas, owen, parker, ryan, shawn, tucker, travis, vincent, william, zachery

[kawanee.livejournal.com]

My husband's middle name is Robert, so that may factor into a future boy's name as well.

[robothor1111.livejournal.com]

I like some of the newer names - like I am one hundred percent certain that if I ever have a daughter, she will be named Savannah. But I like some of the "normal" names, too: Girls, Ashleigh, Haley, Annie, Sarah, etc. For boys, Luke, Leonard, Matthew, etc. Or I might name a son Darwin after Charles Darwin.

[kawanee.livejournal.com]

I like Savannah...it sounds traditional and old-fashioned enough for me. I wouldn't use it myself, but I wouldn't consider it untraditional. :)

[breezy-boo.livejournal.com]

I have a puppy named Ivy. I like old fashioned names a lot.
I really like Alice and Theodore.

[lovegingers.livejournal.com]

Oh, I LOVE Alexander Damien! I've kind of been obsessed with it for a while now. If I ever have a son, that is what I would name him! (not to steal your child's name, or anything...)

The girls' names are all beautiful, as well! ;)

[lovegingers.livejournal.com]

Old fashioned names are beautiful! I especially like how most of them can be shortened to different nicknames, such as Elizabeth and Lizzy or Eliza.

[kawanee.livejournal.com]

Agreed. :)

[corielcries.livejournal.com]

I am quite fond of traditional names, especially the more unusual ones with a history. My kidlets are Leo Nicolas and Stella Evangeline. =)

[irielle.livejournal.com]

I like the traditional names as well, although some don't seem to work nowadays like "Bessie." I just think of cows when I hear Bessie now, although Bess was a perfectly acceptable nickname for Elizabeth back in the 1600s.

We went with William Basil for our son, calling him Will as a more modern nickname rather than Bill which is what my grandfather was known by. I love that Basil is a bit unique here in the U.S. but is traditional too at least in the UK. It's been a middle name for three generations in our family: my son, his dad, and his grandfather. Plus we all love the herb basil too so that works ;) If Will had been a girl we would have named him Katrina Claire and then he could have been called KC, Katie, Kathy, Kat, etc. Yes, this was before the hurricane.

What annoys me in names is when someone takes a traditional name and changes the spelling just to make it seem unique. For example: spelling Katrina as Kuhtreenah. If you're going to be different, be brave and go really different -- don't just make things difficult to spell.

[hermione-vader.livejournal.com]

Boys: Christopher, Nicholas, Paul, Alexander, Luke
Girls: Christina, Rebecca, Lucy, Alexandra, Natalie, Catherine,

Since you said you've considered Mary Vivian for a girl in the past, I just want to ask this, in case you want to use it for another child in the future: would you prefer to call her "Mary" or "Mary Vivian"? My name is Mary Grace, and since I started kindergarten, I've had to correct people again and again, saying "It's 'Mary Grace,' not 'Mary.'" Just something to consider.

[jexia]

Hubby's mother's family is French-Canadian. Étienne is in honour of hubby's father Stephen, who passed away unexpectedly when I was pregnant with the twins.

[jexia]

He goes by Xander :)

[jexia]

I LOVE Ivy. And Iris.

[jexia]

My sister was Tanya Maree but quickly became Tanya-Maree, then TanyaMaree, then she changed by deed poll to TM.

[imamaryanne.livejournal.com]

Aw, I had an Uncle Honey. He was a Catholic Priest, whose real name was John. To us he was just Uncle Honey.

I love classic names like you do. My husband likes unusual names. We had to compromise with names that are unusual, but have a common 'sound'. We ended up with Grady and August (nn Gus).

You might not be right about Charles though. In four short years at small homebased daycares, my oldest was alongside three Charlies...one of whom was a girl!

[breezy-boo.livejournal.com]

I like Iris too, but it is much too similar to Ivy to use imo.

[jexia]

D'you like Hazel?

[breezy-boo.livejournal.com]

Not really. I am thinking of naming our next dog Winter. It's more of a guilty pleasure name and my husband would never let me use it for a child lol.