Edwardian Names Ready to Revive

Updated Sat Apr 30 2022

Edwardian names stand out from those used previously due to the sheer variety of different names used – and due to some pretty surprising trends!

In earlier centuries the standard practice had been to select a child’s name from the immediate family. When an infant died the next child to be born would be given that name, limiting the name pool to five to eight names in a family. Fanciful names were reserved for the aristocracy, and even they kept them permeating along the family line.

The Victorians put an end to this tradition. Names borne by a deceased family member were now considered unlucky. Parents suddenly had to look elsewhere for names and artistic, literary and religious movements provided much needed inspiration.

History of Edwardian Names

The Victorian love of anything gothic, and the influence of Tennyson and the Pre-Raphaelites brought back medieval and mythological names like Lancelot, Ralph, Edgar, Alice, Elaine, Edith and Mabel. The Romantic movement re-introduced names such as Wilfred, Quentin, Cedric, Amy and Rowena. And the religious Tractarian movement revived long lost saints' names like Augustine, Benedict, Ignatius, Euphemia and Genevieve.

By the Edwardian era many of these previously obsolete names had become de rigueur and permeated all the social classes. More than at any time before, the gap between the names of the upper classes and those of the lower was considerably contracted.

The 1911 census shows that many wealthy household members shared the same names as their domestic servants. For example, Constantia Beatrice Sophia, born 1905, was the daughter of a furniture mover and Lancelot Frederick Charles, born 1907, was a nurseryman’s son, showing that these previously ‘upper class’ names were now being enjoyed throughout the social classes.

Popular Edwardian Names

Many popular Edwardian baby names are back in style today, like Arthur and Henry for boys and Alice and Elsie for girls. Others feel fashionably vintage, like Edwin and Dorothy.

Here is a selection of the most popular Edwardian baby names, according to ONS historical data.

Top Edwardian Girl Names

Top Edwardian Boy Names

Edwardian Nature Names

One of the biggest trends of the Edwardian era of British baby names was the use of nature names.

Some of the most popular names, such as Daisy, Iris, Ivy, Primrose, Beryl, Pearl and Ruby were used sparingly in the first half of the nineteenth century – and interestingly, equally spread amongst boys and girls.

By the 1880s, these names started to become very fashionable (now solely for girls) which led to them becoming the darlings of the Edwardian age. Think Marigold from Downton Abbey.

Here are some interesting Edwardian flower baby names.

Celtic Names in Edwardian Britain

The second big trend particularly prevalent in the Edwardian period was the use of Celtic names. Many “new” discoveries were made by Late Victorian parents from a rich choice of Scottish, Welsh and Irish names including Blodwen, Brenda, Ceridwen, Eileen, Evan, Gwendoline, Gladys, Ivor, Kathleen, Maureen, Owen, Sheila and Trevor.

This was actually quite a cultural breakthrough as the Celtic languages had been suppressed by the English for centuries. Welsh children in the Victorian period, for example, were forbidden from speaking Welsh at school and punished harshly if they did.

Late Victorian Welsh parents, in particular, became very bold in their naming habits, not only by reviving many long lost gems from Welsh mythology – such as Eleri, Olwen, Rhiannon, Caradoc, Hywel, Gareth, and Merlin – but they also created many new names from Welsh vocabulary that became big hits for Edwardian parents.

Here are some Edwardian Welsh names not found in the Birth Index before 1880.

Welsh Girl Names

Briallen – “primrose”

Eurwen – “white gold”

Glenys – “fair, holy”

Gwyneira – “white snow”

Heulwen – “sunshine”

Lilwen – “white lily”

Welsh Boy Names

Bryn / Brynmor – “hill” or “large hill”

Euros – “gold”

Heulfryn – “sun hill”

Islwyn – “below the grove”

Alliterative Edwardian Names

It wasn’t just with first names that British Edwardians liked to be different. A particularly interesting quirk of Edwardian parents was their love of assonance and alliteration.

First names, middle names and surnames were all used to gain this effect, and it didn't matter if that meant using a variant of the same name twice. Beatrice Bessie Battiscombe and Reginald Ronald McDonald are two Edwardian babies who demonstrate this trend perfectly.

Below are a few samples of recorded Edwardian alliterative and assonantal names.

A-L

Arabella Adela

Aurelia Amelia

Ava Ada

Bella Isabella

Cordelia Cecilia

Edith Elsie Lydia Lavinia

Eleanor Ella

Eva Evelyn

Iris Idalia Ilene

Iris Nerissa

Iva Eva

Johanna Joan Sophia Maria

Lucy Lucilla

M-Z

Pearly Persis

Penelope Polymnia

Primrose Primula

Ophelia Adelia

Rosalind Rosella

Austin Augustus

Donald Ronald

Edward Edwin

Frank Francis

Harold Harry

Herbert Gilbert

Jasper Jospah

Joseph Josiah

Leopold Leo

Percy Percival

Sidney Leslie Lawrence

Theodore Ivore

Valentine Vincent Victor

About the Author

Eleanor Nickerson

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Eleanor Nickerson, better known to Nameberry message board visitors as Elea, is a primary school teacher living in Coventry, England and author of the blog British Baby Names.

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