It’s a common conundrum: you’d love to honor your mom, but her name is as dated as avocado appliances.
There are a few options, of course:
- You can always tuck her name in the middle spot. It worked for the Spelling-McDermotts, right?
- Use her middle name, especially if it is fabulous. Even if it isn’t, your choice can breathe meaning into a filler like Ann or Marie.
- Borrow her first initial. This flies in many circles, but Kasey might not feel like a way to honor Karen.
- Consider her maiden name, nickname, or something else that honors her – favorite song, flower, literary character …
But what if nothing works? Her maiden name is Kowalski, she doesn’t have a middle, and her favorite song is “Crazy Train” or “Blitzkrieg Bop.”
Here’s another route to consider.
Let’s take a look at the most popular names of the 1960s and see if there’s a way to reinvent them, still honoring Grandma, but with a name that feels right for a twenty-first century girl. A note of warning: not every grandma Cindy will feel honored by a namesake called Thea.
Reinventing Grandma Names: The Top Ten
Lisa – She’s a nickname for Elizabeth, so use the long form. Elisabeth and Elise preserve the -s spelling and make the link more obvious, and Elisa is perhaps the closest of them all. Is she Lisa Ann? (There must’ve been rafts of girls named Lisa Ann in the 1960s, right?) Flip her names and use Anneliese or Annalisa.
Mary – Who doesn’t have a Mary on their family tree? Forms like Maren and Maris feel modern, while diminutives like Molly and Mae seem sweetly vintage. Marie puts a French spin on the name. Pair Mary with a spare, tailored middle like Mary Claire, Mary Blair, or Mary Celeste for a compound name with a current feel.
Susan – Little Susie is all grown up, but Susannah still belongs on the playground with Olivia and Isabella. After something spunkier? Nickname form Zuzu could stand alone. Bonus points if she’s born around the Christmas holidays – Zuzu Bailey is the little girl in It’s a Wonderful Life.
Karen – You can go a few directions with Karen. The elaboration Karena or Karenna feels at home in 2013. She’s a Scandinavian form of Katherine, so as with Lisa, you might revert to the original. The Kar sounds suggests Cara, Caroline, and Carmen, t00. Another possibility? Lop off the last syllable to arrive at Ren or Wren.
Kimberly – Would Beryl work? She’s almost embedded in the last two syllables. Kimber might also feel fresh in our age of Harper.
Patricia – I’m stumped by Patricia. I’d name a son Patrick to honor mom, but Patricia feels like the toughest one on this list. Of course, she’s a quintessentially Irish appellation, so maybe something else from her heritage works. One possibility, though it might wear better on a son: Patton, a related surname.
Linda – Take the former #1 name in a different direction by adding a n. Spellings abound, but Linden makes a great nature name for a son or a daughter. Rosalind takes Linda in a Shakespearean direction. Or use any name with the element -lin/-lyn. Adalyn jumbles all of Linda’s sounds and re-arranges them into an early 21st century favorite.
Donna – She’s another tricky one. The Italian word for lady and the 90210 character that launched Tori Spelling’s career, Donna doesn’t easily lend herself to reinvention. A few possibilities: the unrelated Donatella, an elaboration of Donata – gift – or Donella, a feminine form of Donald.
Michelle – Once a Top Ten staple, today she’s the First Lady of the United States – and most definitely a mom name. Drop the mich and you arrive at the spare and stylish Elle. Or look to the masculine form, Michael, for more inspiration: Michaela, Micaela, Micah, Mika, Mikka, Mila.
Cynthia – Lop off the first syllable and Thea feels surprisingly fresh. Or delve into her meaning. She’s associated with the goddess Artemis – Diana in Roman myth. That links Cynthia to the moon, which suggests a bottomless supply of celestial candidates, like Luna, Io, or Twyla.
More Grandma Names and their 21st Century Descendants
Sandra – Poor Sandy has been tainted with tragedy, but she’s originally descended from the regal Alexandra. The Italian Alessandra is a less expected form. Willing to really stretch? Sasha is a masculine nickname for the Russian form of Alexander, and could be a spunky – and related – update on Sandra.
Deborah, Debra – Little Debbie is nearing her retirement years, but the Hebrew Devorah feels vibrant. You could also name a son Dev. Contracted, Deborah leads to Dora.
Tammy – Now here’s a name begging for reinvention! There’s the Hebrew Tamar, or the contracted Tamsin. Originally heard in Cornwall – the birthplace of Jennifer – Tamsin is a contracted form of Thomasina. Some of those original Tammys may have been named Tamara, the Russian form of Tamar. If you resist the urge to shorten this one, Tamara is potentially still very wearable.
Pamela – Lop off the first syllable and Mila or Milla could be very wearable. Another direction? Sir Philip Sidney invented the name for a poem titled Arcadia – it is a very subtle connection, but if yours is a literary clan, it might appeal.
Lori – Reboot Lori with one of her more traditional forms: Laura, Lauren, or even Laurence or Laurentia. The frilly retro Loretta was used by Sarah Jessica Parker, and the French place name Lorraine is another seldom heard possibility.
Laura – She still works well in 2013. No, she’s not as popular as she was in the 1960s, but it is impossible to call Laura truly dated.
Elizabeth – You’re in luck! Not only does Elizabeth work as well in 2013 as she did in 1963, but choosing a different nickname allows grandma and granddaughter to share a name without confusion. Prefer something less expected than Elizabeth? Foreign forms like Elspeth or Elizabella could appeal.
Julie – Julie still sounds like the cruise director on The Love Boat, but Julia is an enduring classic, and Juliet, Juliette, Julietta, and Juliana are lovely options.
Brenda – Drop the d sound and there’s the lovely Brenna. The brisk Brynn and Bree might work, too.
Jennifer – Was your mom called Jennifer when the name was still on the uptick? There’s always Jenna, but she had a good run in the 1970s and 80s, too. Genevieve is a français favorite for parents today. Jennifer traces her roots back to Guinevere, or Jenny was originally a nickname for Johanna and Jane.
Barbara – What to do with Barbara? She’s a lovely, saintly classic bound to make a comeback – just not yet. Babs and Barbie don’t seem any fresher. The Slavic Varvara is an exotic option. Nickname forms Babette, Basia, and even Bobbie all have some potential. I also stumbled on Varenka in this book, but I can’t confirm it was regularly used.
Angela – She’s Andela and Aniela in Slavic languages, both of which make for surprising variations, though I’m taking some liberties with pronunciation. Angelina has a Rugrats/Hollywood glitter to it, and Lina is a short form of the elaboration. Or use Gabriella, from the angel Gabriel, or Seraphina, as in the order of angels known as seraphim.
Sharon – I’d be astonished to meet a newborn baby Sharon, but you might go with Rose – as in the flowering shrub, the rose of sharon. The unrelated Seren shares some of the sounds.
Theresa – She’s easily updated with the nickname Tess or Tessa, and you might even embrace the Cornish Tressa.
For more thoughts on reinventing names, see my posts at Nameberry on Naming a Son the Pinkett-Smith Way and Naming a Daughter the Pinkett-Smith Way.
What do you think of these reinventions? Do they go too far? Is your mom’s name something that you might pass on to a daughter, or would you tweak it?
I’d love to see what you would say about Paula, my mom’s name. It was very popular in the sixties ala “Hey, Paula”. Paule, Pauli, Pauline, Paulette. Not really getting great vibes from them.
Polly? I like Paulina, too – it feels more current than Paula. For international possibilities, there’s Paola, but somehow that seems challenging to pronounce.
This is excellent – thank you!
I think the way things are makes most of these names seem dated to our ears – and unfortunately honouring someone may mean tweaking things as you say.
I agree- Laura is not dated. Very classic. I personally think Flora could be a nice alternative too.
I also found it funny that you had both my MIL & her sisters name as well as my aunties name on here!
About 5 months ago I congratulated myself on finding a smush between my MIL’s name Sandra and mothers middle name Fay. Phaedra. Hopefully we’ll have a daughter and get to use it as a middle.
Phaedra – that is brilliant!
I meant to add that I sometimes think it’s better to honour someone whose name you don’t particularly like by choosing an object or theme that that person liked rather than using a name that is similar. So for instance, rather than using Beryl to honour Grandma Kimberly, you could use Grandma’s favourite flower (hoping that it’s violets or lilies and not ranunculus :D) or Ruby or Scarlet if her favourite colour is red, or Georgia if that’s where she hails from. I think this is a good idea particularly when the person being honoured has mentioned she doesn’t like her name all that much.
An excellent point, Havoye – thanks!
I see Laura as a classic name, one that doesn’t have a “use by” stamp on it. Of course, Laurel, or Daphne or Kelila/h (both meaning “laurel”) could substitute.
I agree with the commenter who says Susan is beginning to seem usable.
Every other girl at school seemed to be a Susan, and I wanted to be a Susan too. The first two Susans I met (when we were all five years old) were both dark-eyed brunettes, and I always think of the “black-eyed Susan” plant. Susanna/h is lovely, as is Suzanne, but I still hanker after Susan and would certainly use it in the mn spot.
I love this list. I have been looking to find a way to honor my grandmother Gladys for years but I can’t find anything that connects to Gladys except Claudia which I also don’t like. I cant use the first letter because my other grandmother’s name started with a G and I want it to be clear-ish who I am honoring. Her middle name was her maiden name Williams so not much to use there either.
That’s tough… my cousin has a MIL named Gladys and had the same dilemma. The MIL always goes by Glady and in the end they had a boy… so they used Grady. I know Asher was a back up choice… because of the meaning “Happy”, so maybe a name with a meaning similar to “glad.”
Joy
Leta
Rina
Letitia
Chara
Rada
I actually kind of like Gladys. She’s got music ties and nerd-cred, a la Portal’s GLaDOS.
I think maybe I’ve got it my grandmother was from Virginia…perhaps a little Ginny would work?
That would be great!
Since Susan means Lily, any Lily name(Lillian, Lilith, Liliana, etc.) would work as an honor name.
I love the idea of a Petra or a Beatrice for a Patricia. I have many, many family members named Patricia and I was never a fan. (Pat as a nickname sounds particularly unpleasant to me, as does Trish.)
I think it’s not about “updating to sound more modern” but about honoring a family member though you may not exactly love their name. Breaking out of the box to make it their name, but not exactly, gives you a lot more freedom.
I really don’t think it’ll be that long before some of these names start to sound fresh again, as increasing numbers of people tire of the current wave of old-fashioned names. Mary already sounds like a breath of fresh air to me next to Lillian, Grace and Emily, as do Susan, Julie and Laura. Some of the names on that list were rarely used as middle names, so just using them as middles instead of first names adds some spark. But of course, I named my baby daughter Marianne so clearly I don’t have a problem with mid-century names. 😉
I think the most problematic names for those who want to honour their mothers are those that are very nicknamey – Cindy is harder to deal with than Cynthia, for example. But that’s not particular to the 1960s – there were lots of women with given names like Johnnie, Mattie and Willie born at the turn of the 20th century.
My mom is Judith Lynn, and we named our little girl Juniper Lark to share her initials. We thought the nicknames (my mom is always called Judy; we call Juniper “Junie”) were a sweet connection, although the names themselves probably aren’t at all related. 🙂
My mother’s name is Linda, and I’ve always thought Linnea would be a lovely way to honor her…if only I knew for sure how it was pronounced? I say lin-EE-ah, but I fear it may actually be lin-NAY-uh?
I work with a Linnea who pronounces it Lin-AY-ah.