Old-Fashioned Girl Names

Though modern parents seeking to honor an ancestor named Thelma might opt for the airier Thea instead, Thelma is starting to make its way back onto adventurous vintage name lovers' radars. It is currently experiencing a modest revival in France, where it now ranks around the #300 mark.

You may never have known a Nettie personally, but there well might be one hidden in your family history, considering that she was a Top 100 name until 1901 and stayed on the Social Security list until 1962.

After a century of association with horses and cows, this name just could be ready for revival by a fearless baby namer -- after all, it did happen to Jessie and Becky.

Popular in the US from the 1920s to the 1950s, Arlene is of uncertain origin and seems to be a modern innovation, perhaps based on names like Marlene and Darlene which were popular around the same time. Nowadays, the -lene names are mostly outdated, although the recent rise of retro Arlette could make Arlene seem plausible again as well.

A modern(ish) invented name, only in widespread use since the 20th century. It is a combination of the English word darling and the popular midcentury suffix -lene.

In the 1950s and 60s, the name every little girl wanted for her very own.

Frederica is an interesting possibility for the parent unintimidated by its old-fashioned formality, and who can appreciate the vintage charm and verve lurking inside its stuffiness.

After a dip in the early aughts, Ruth is on the upswing again, and so too is Ruthie. It softens Ruth's harsher edges, but most parents will still prefer to put Ruth on the birth certificate.

Still evokes the spunky image of the character in Louisa May Alcott's Little Women.

Old-fangled nickname could make dot.com era short form or middle name.

Associated with the ancient Rosetta stone, this is also the pretty Italian pet form of Rosa.

This jazzy old name could make a comeback, the way Josephine and Ella have. In England the name was popularized by Queen Victoria's daughter Princess Louise Caroline Alberta, after whom her governor general of Canada husband named the North American province. Jazz singer Alberta Hunter was a noted bearer.

Tied to country singer/sitcom star Reba McEntire.

A super diminutive nickname name, and sometime Madonna nickname – it was how the British tabloids referred to her when she moved to London in the 1990s, which she found annoying until then husband Guy Ritchie said it stood for 'Your Majesty'. Madge Undersee is Katniss's best friend in The Hunger Games books.

The Selma-Thelma-Velma connection dates it.

This sassy, spunky name was used for the mostly Irish jump-roping pigtailed girls of the thirties and forties -- and some Irish and Italian boys as well. Its most noted bearer was iconic country music singer Patsy Cline (born Virginia), and was sighted most recently in the Ab Fab movie. After reaching Number 52 in the late thirties, it dropped off the list completely in 1970--and we're not anticipating a return.

A variation of Lileas and Lilian.

Prime pert-teenager name in midcentury TV shows, replaced by Maggie.