Names that were more common than you'd think

[Felinity]

My Nan's first name was Minnie - she was the only Minnie (apart from the famous Mouse of course) that I'd every come across and I even thought it might be a nickname rather than what she was actually christened (she was about 4 ft tall - so minnie by name as well as mini by nature).

Anyway, since I've been searching records for her and her family, I've come across dozens of Minnies - seems like it was actually quite a common name after all!

Other names that have surprised me by their multiple appearances (across the board, not just in my family) are Isabella - which sounds way too exotic for born and bred English families - and Clara, Laura and Amelia.

Of course, I've got the usual multitudes of Williams, Johns, Marys and Elizabeths as well...it's funny how some names stick around down the years, and others fade away or are relegated to second or third names down the generations.... you don't meet many Walters at primary schools these days...

[Wilkes_ml]

Isabella is a very common Scottish name, as was Jean and both go back a long way in the Scottish records.

I'm surprised by the number of Hephzibahs and Mahalas that I have come across, and also surprised by the lack of Charlottes in the old registers, as I thought that would be quite common.

[Felinity]

You don't get many Waynes in the old registers, do you? I swear parents naming their children these days in Australia (or perhaps just Adelaide - it's a little quirky..) just get a handful of scrabble letters and throw them in the air, naming their child whatever combination results!

[geneius]

and Adelaide can be found as a girls name!!

[Sue Mackay]

We'll have a surge of Georges now, just as we had a surge of Williams and Harrys in the 80s. TV programmes also play their part - remember all those Darrens and Samanthas (from Bewitched) in the 60s? - as do sporting heroes and pop stars. In the 19th century Alma became popular after the Crimean War, as of course did Florence.

When I was at school there were six Susans in my class, but although Susanna/Susie is still quite popular most Sues are, like me, drawing their pension!

[DorothySandra]

Amongst all the Adas Florences and Elizas in one part of my family, there is a sudden Angelique followed by Hilda. Very odd.

[MythicalMarian]

I have a bunch of Creswells - not many of them in a pound! :) (Watch someone prove me wrong....), And if anyone else has a Borlase.....

In answer to the OP, however, I also had a run of Minnies in the late 19th/early 20th century. The originator of the name was a Minerva, but the little girls who came after her were actually christened Minnie.

[Felinity]

Ooh Minerva, I like that - will remember it for the next kitten we end up getting! I'd never thought about what Minnie might have originated from, thanks :-)