Old Man Names: Crusty or Cool?

I love old/vintage names People always say that they can’t see these names on young children, but they will only be children for a short time. On the flip side, I cannot imagine a nursing home full Aidan’s and Kayleigh’s. So I think almost all vintage-old man names are fair game

I don’t see Grover! My son’s middle name is Grover. Most of our family couldn’t believe we would give our baby such a crusty old man name. lol We love it though! I love Mortimer too!

Nooooo! Perry on a girl, please, no!

I love Arthur, Barney (forget the purple dinosaur, think Rubble!), Eugene (Gene is cool!), Harvey!, Harold (adore Hal!) Gordon (I’ve liked Gordon since I was a kid watching Sesame Street. He was a solid grown up figure for me) and Julius (no Jules on a girl, it’s the logical nn for Julius & Julian!)

And I know 3 girls that go by Mel: short for Melanie. If there was a girlier nn choice for Melanie, I might like it better.

These are some of my favorite names. Classics that aren’t all that overused.

I’m with Caty Beth, I ADORE Grover. Also love Theodore, Gilbert, Lewis, Frederick, Calvin and Arthur.

I’m not so sure about using old man names for girls though….

Oh so many of my favorites. I don’t have any children yet but I’m sure I will get some crazy reactions from my family when I begin discussing names. I even like those girl suggestions, especially Wallace/Wallis and Claude. I am SWOONING over Humphrey but I just don’t think it would be fair to name a child that these days

Arthur
Calvin
Clifford
Edmund
Raymond
Theodore
Walter
Abraham or Abe
Alfred
Barney
Edwin
Eugene
Howard
Humphrey
Marshall
Murray
Otis
Otto
Seymour
Stanley
Stuart
Victor

Love! Theodore, Elliot, Monroe (my husbands mn pick of which he is so very proud), Arthur. So many great names, but those 4 are names I hope to still use one day!

Leo
Levi
Oscar
Sam
Silas
Calvin
Felix
Gus
Louis
Abraham
Frank
Gilbert
Gordon
Harold
Julius
Marshall
Milton
Monroe
Montgomery
Mortimer
Murray
Percy
Ralph
Sidney
Stanley
Stuart
Victor
Claude
Jules
Laurence
Murray
Neal
Perry

I like these. Felix, Levi, Leo, Oscar and Silas are probably the only ones I would consider, though.

I think you’re absolutely right about the time factor. (Although, I have always loved Laurence!)

I have lamented many times about how I wish that Arthur and Edmund (my “future sons’ names”) won’t get too popular, but maybe I should just give up. At least they won’t be made fun of?

I can not imagine Harvey ever crossing over here and being popular.

I’m a fan of most of these names, Arthur and Roy, are on my lists.

I do hope a lot of the baby boomer names stay dormant for a while, especially Richard. I’ve never cared for that name. The sound is too hard and the nicknames aren’t the greatest, Dick and Rick.

While I would love to honor a future son by naming him after my grandfather, Grandpa was saddled with 2 old man names: Melvin Elton. He made everyone swear that we would never name a child after him. So, yes, some names are too crusty, even on an old man it seems.

Haha, LadyCap. I love it when Grandpa or Grandma forbids the family to use their names — I guess that’s one way to tell that a name really truly does not play out well in real life. I have to say that in the case of Melvin and Elton, I think Grandpa was right.

Hooray for Walter!

I am imagining some hard-up (or I guess they would say “on-trend”) grad student presenting a paper at the MLA on the emasculation of America through appellation appropriation.

Here are two family names–I wonder which list they fall into? “Irving” (great meaning, popular origin, but name seems trapped in “crusty” to me); “Marvin” (crusty or cool?); and “Jerome” (again, I love the scholarly link & meaning, but this name seems to be moving toward “crusty”–if not crusty already).

I agree – Here in the UK I know lots little boys named Harvey and Stanley, as well as Archie, and LOADS of Alfies. I could never see any of these becoming even vaguely popular over in the US.

The 2008 Top 10 most popular names for boys practically all count as Old Man names:
Jack
Oliver
Harry
Charlie
Alfie
Thomas
Joshua
Daniel
James
William

And in the rest of the top 100, there is also:
George
Jake
Max
Archie
Harvey
Oscar
Benjamin
Leo
Nathan
Finley
Henry
Noah
Isaac
Theo
Toby
Edward
Freddie
Robert
Sebastian
Elliot

I also know of a Dexter, 2 Lyles, a Wilbur, 3 Vincents, 2 Reubens, 5 Albies, a Billy, 2 Louie/Louiss, 6 Charless, an Arthur and an Edmund.

If this baby were a boy he would have been named Percival Edmund Cian nn Percy. Instead she will be Agatha.
I adore a lot of these names:
Henry (too popular)
Max (Maximus)
Oscar
Arthur
Calvin
Edmund
Eliott (too popular)
Felix
Frederick
Gus (Augustus)
Walter
Alfred
Bernard
Gilbert
Harold (Harry)
Howard (Ward)
Percy (Percival)
Seymour
Stanley

I think Rueben would be hideous on a girl.

I adore Walter! I actually know a girl named Perrie, and although it does suit her it’s definitely a little bit out-there for me on a girl. I know a male Perry too, and it definitely seems more masculine than feminine to me.

Not gonna lie – I think Humphrey is the coolest! It’s got a nice meaning, too. But, it’s probably best in the middle name spot. Just to be safe…

i guess i’m all about the old man names, cause i love many of these- but i also didn’t think of leo or max or nathan or elliott as old manish at all! i was trying to convince my husband that sidney was so great for a boy! sid as a nn is so cute/tough and sidney has a seriousness to it. oh why is it so feminized now? but i guess it doesn’t matter cause i’m having a girl. and i’m not a fan of ‘old lady’ names that are so popular on girls lately ex. rose, violet, sophia, ella, emma. of course with some exceptions.

First, I totally aggree w/ dillonsfon01. Can NOT see Aiden Kyleigh, and all the rest of them in a nursing home.
I LOVE alot of these names:
Edmund and Victor especially. I’m not sure why Victor is on the bottom tier. I may be bisedthough. I am currently writing a novel and I named a three year old Victor. I don’t tlike most of these on girls AT ALL!

Every now and then I will read something on this site that will make me utterly question the “expertise” of its founders:

Murray or Laurence or Reuban as “cute” on a girl? But somehow Melvin is too crusty for a boy? Sorry, Pam, but I just absolutely can’t get my head around THAT logic!

If we have a boy his middle name will be Melville, after my father’s middle. Sort of the ultimate nerd name but when I hear it I think warm thoughts of family and also hear the “frenchness” of it (not that its french translation helps to redeem the name any).

I definitely don’t consider Ethan an old man’s name b/c I first heard it on young boys. Where I grew up it isn’t a traditional name for the older generation of men however Calvin absolutely was and so that is a name that is hopelessly crusty and fuddyduddy to me although I know people are re-embracing it.

Forced to choose a name for a son from this list I would clearly and happily choose Silas. I love that name (and Silas Melville kinda works). All the other names? Definitely not my style.

Moxielove, we welcome different viewpoints, but not rudeness, and that comment crosses the line. This post is all about how interpretation of these names is up for grabs, so one person’s crusty is another person’s cool, and family meaning trumps all. I think that’s clear here and throughout the site.

About Laurence: That name is actually a “legit” girl’s name in French (indeed you’ll see it up in the rankings in some francophone areas). On the other hand, to be fair if we say Laurence is okay for a girl than Camille or Dominique (often considered too feminine to English-speaking ears) should be okay for boys as well.

I think these “crusty” names are actually quite cool:

Abraham (Abe and Bram are very cool)
Floyd (Pink Floyd)
Gordon (so similar to Jordan)
Harvey (maybe it’s because I’m younger but Harvey is very edgy to me)
Humphrey (Bogart)
Julius (I know a guy who really pulls this off)
Marshall (ditto Julius – could go by Mars)
Monroe (this isn’t girly to me at all)
Otis (if Ezra, Lionel, and Jasper can be cool, why not Otis?)
Otto (I’ve always associated this with the character from Rocket Power)
Percy (Percy Jackson)
Sidney (ditto Julius and Marshall – nn Sid is very cool)

I think that Roscoe and Grover belong somewhere on this list too.

So many of these are either on my list or guilty pleasures. I’ve used the “crusty” names Floyd, Frank, Harvey, Otis, and Wilbur on characters in my writing. My Wilbur goes by his nickname Wilbie.

Homer, George, Hiram, and Jesse are a few more I think should be on here.

My sincere apologies. I am clearly a huge fan of the site and meant it as an affectionate teasing that I disagreed. Clearly the tone I heard in my head didn’t translate to the page. Rereading I see that by mentioning your name I made it personal and the use of quotes made it sacrastic.

There was a whole thread dedicated to berries listing names where they completely disagreed with the characterization given in the nameberry definitions. I meant my comment in that vein, and apologize that it came across mean-spirited to you.

Thanks for that, Moxielove. I appreciate it. I always like reading your comments and enjoy chewing over your opinions, even (and sometimes especially) when they’re different from mine. I’m glad to hear you feel the same way. You’re a valuable part of nameberry and I’m happy we’re back on solid ground.

I can’t stand most old man names, they seem so uncool to me. Harold, Alfred, Herman, Edmund, Horace, Gordon, and Arthur I find kinda hideous actually. But not nearly as much as I dislike popular names that are never out of usage like John, Robert, Richard, Charles, Michael, Matthew, James, William, Christopher, Jonathan, Nathaniel, Jacob, Daniel, I wish they would just bugg off to oblivion.

Some of them do have some modern appeal, like Max, Levi, Felix, Ralph, Sidney and Harvey I feel.
Also, the “old man” names suggestions for girls, is just wrong. You don’t see people suggesting Ruth, Margaret, Ada and Gladys for boys, so let’s just cut the insanity.

Overall, I just wish parents would search for newer names that were never popular in the first place, to give the boys list a bit more variety than the usual bunch of names at the top, and the same ones coming back into style.

I think there’s hope yet for Monroe as a boy’s name, and I think Gordon, Otis, and Otto might still have some life in them. I’d also classify Orson as an Old Man Name on trend.

I think that, in general as more old-fashioned female names find use, male names will inevitably follow.

INSULTS!! My ferret was nearly named Marshall. I LOVE THAT NAME!!

There’s a baby Cliff at my son’s daycare, a friend named her toddler Elliot, and I know little boys named Isaac (“Ike”) and Walter (“Walt”). I met a baby named Clyde, which I think would fit in with this group well. I grew up with a Calvin and an Elliot, so they doesn’t feel old-man to me.

I love Henry, Arthur, Frederick, Louis and Alfred.