British celebribaby - Lily Allen and husband

[laminy.livejournal.com]

English singer-songwriter Lily Allen (Lily Rose Beatrice) and her husband Sam Cooper had a daughter at the end of November, and the name was just released (possibly inadvertently): Ethel Mary.

I do love Mary (though it's a bit plain, and wouldn't be my first choice), but Ethel...I can see what they were trying to do, and I do look like my fair share of "old lady" names, but I don't know if I can ever see that one making a comeback. I think it may be just a tad too old.

WDYT?

Comments

[becomingun.livejournal.com]

I love Ethel Mary.

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

I like it. I particularily like Ethel. I think Ethel would have sounded better with a one or three syllable middle name, like Ethel Jane or Ethel Josephine, for example. But overall, nice name.

I think Ethel could have a comeback. I think it's rather cute like Mabel and Esther... not in the Agnes or Bertha stage yet.

[laminy.livejournal.com]

lol, Agnes is actually one of the old lady names that I was thinking of when I posted this; I just adore it.

So, I guess, like all things, it's just a matter of taste.

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

Haha, well, I don't dislike Agnes, but I *personally* think it screams old lady more than Ethel.

[purplefog.livejournal.com]

I think every name should be allowed a little comeback, however fleeting :) Who knows - she might make it cute again. Or perhaps 'creative' mums will start making their own spellings of the name...

Ethyl, Aethel, Aythill, Ethelle, A'Thelle?

Opinions may vary.

[behindgrey-eyes.livejournal.com]

Not digging Ethel :\ And Mary is my middle name and I'm not particularly fond of that either XD

[ringsandcoffee.livejournal.com]

My mother (age 68) is Ethel Marie. She never liked her first name much. I was walking around Hollywood Blvd a few weeks back, looking at the stars' names, and saw several Ethels. I guess it was more common back then than I realized. I still don't see it making a comeback though.

[silvermidnight.livejournal.com]

I love Ethel from my I Love Lucy days. We had a short falling-out when I took college chemistry (stupid ethyl) but we're back on now.

[alyssa22.livejournal.com]

I like Mary, but Ethel is godawful.

It's bizarre that celebs are having kids called Ethel and Olive and Agnes and suddenly people are liking the names.

[silas-says.livejournal.com]

Oh man, I LOVE it.

[mirhanda.livejournal.com]

Ugh Ethel. That's gotta be one of the ugliest names ever created! Up there with Bertha.

[mirhanda.livejournal.com]

People will do anything celebrities do though. I actually heard someone saying they were going to name their kid "apple" like some dumb celeb did. UGH.

[mirhanda.livejournal.com]

I don't mind Agnes if it's pronounced the Maltese way like my mother-in-law (Ahn-yes, with the rolled gn like in lasagna) but if it's pronounced Ag-ness, it's kind of hideous.

[hermione-vader.livejournal.com]

Not a fan of Ethel. I'm into some old-fashioned names, but that one doesn't click with me. Mary is always nice, though. ;)

[pixie-bones.livejournal.com]

Ethel is ugly, to me. X(
Mary is really boring, but...not horrible, I guess. *shrugs*

[takhallus.livejournal.com]

I think it's cute that these old fashioned names are coming back. I think there's definitely an influence from TV shows like Lark Rise to Candleford, Cranford and Downton Abbey. Plus maybe more people are naming after their grandmothers again.

[sweetserenity71.livejournal.com]

Yep.

[kitchen-poet.livejournal.com]

Ok, I LOVE Ethel!! But only because my cat is named Ethel, after Ethel Rosenberg, and I really love my cat. So I totally just picture this baby as being as adorable as my cat, and all the delicious Ethel-y nicknames, like Ethelita Fajita Gordita, Ethellia, Ethie-Bop, Ettie-Betty, etc. It really can be an adorable name. :)

[kitchen-poet.livejournal.com]

Ooooh, if this takes off maybe Ethyl will be the new hip spelling! Then of course we'll see Ethylle, Ethelle, Ethyyl, etc. ;)

[fellclutch.livejournal.com]

I love a lot of old fashioned names, don't get me wrong, but Ethel doesn't even sound pretty to me...

[quinnthevixen.livejournal.com]

I would've gone with Ethel Marie, personally. That way you have trochee iamb (for stressed syllables) rather than trochee trochee, which sounds kind of clunky.

[laminy.livejournal.com]

I must admit, I rather adore Olive and Agnes. Olive in particular is very near the top of my list.

[alyssa22.livejournal.com]

Really? I went to school with a girl called Olive and as soon as she was out of school and going to uni, she changed her name to Olivia.

[alyssa22.livejournal.com]

Gwyneth. She's the one with Apple and Moses.

Apple Martin. Wait for her to be called Apple Martini.

Oh, then there's Nicole with her Sunday Rose. Which we were all saying was Sunday Roast.

Kids with weird names get picked on. Older style names may be more popular in the UK than in the rest of the English speaking world, but I'm willing to bet it's more names like Martha and Lillian than Ethel.

She would have been better off with Edith. At least you can get a cute nickname, Edie, out of that one.

[rubytitania.livejournal.com]

I think it's hideous.

[laminy.livejournal.com]

Blech, I hate Olivia, I'd be crushed. I think Olive is super pretty.

[mirhanda.livejournal.com]

I feel that if you're going to name your kid after a fruit, at least pick something that sounds euphonious.

Lillian is a nice name, I can see that one making a comeback for sure. It lends itself to the nickname "Lily" which will probably be popular among kids who grew up with Harry Potter but might be looking for something to make it different from all the other little Lilys.

[alyssa22.livejournal.com]

Hmm. Well, she got the whole "Olive is an old lady's name" grief. It stands to reason that she'd want to change it.

And that's the thing. Unless you suddenly have a huge number of kids called Olive, any child with that name is going to cop that sort of teasing.

[alyssa22.livejournal.com]

I agree on Lillian.

It also gives a more 'adult' name. Lily is cute, but I can't imagine a CEO of a company with the name Lily.

[cremepuff.livejournal.com]

No. Ethel is in the same class as Bertha, Beulah, and Myrtle. Too old.

[juliannelefay.livejournal.com]

I like Ethel. But then I'm also hoping Vera and Vita will make a comeback!