andimaegold's list "oldies but goldies" of 3 great name ideas: Giles - Madge!

oldies but goldies

This is a list of my favorite vintage names that stand the test of time. These masculine and feminine names will have you feeling like you're living in the past. 

One of those names that most Americans find just too too tea-sippingly British to consider; its meaning has led to occasional use for Capricorn boys. 

Giles

The family name of Shakespeare's Romeo, Montague has a touch of old-fashioned grandeur about it. With clunky-cute nickname Monty and similar sounds to Montgomery, it has been used as a given name since at least the 18th century, with a number of English earls and baronets receiving the name, along with film director, Montague "Monty" Banks, journalist and radio host Montague Modlyn, and cricketer Montague Noble.
 
Ultimately derived from the Old French , the literary and aristocratic surname means "sharp mountain" or "pointy hill", giving it a nature connection too. Shakespeare took inspiration for the name from Dante's Divine Comedy in which the feuding families are called the Montecchi and the Cappelletti, Montecchi being the Italian equivalent of Montague, meaning "pointy" or "small" "mountain".
 
Given to just a handful of boys most years in the US, across the pond in England and Wales, it has seen increased use in the last decade. Its current peak was in 2018, when it was given to more than 50 boys, placing it in the Top 1000.

Montague

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.