by queenv (guest)
5/10/2012, 9:29 AM
Several people have suggested that the middle names are honoring grandmothers. Most women are about fifty to sixty years old when they become grandmothers. I'm fifty-one, and I know that Dorothy and Edna were decidedly not popular names for my age group and up to ten years older. I have never known a Dorothy or an Edna my age or a little older. So while the names may be honoring, I think it's unlikely that they are honoring grandmothers. Perhaps great-grandmothers. Though, of course, I don't know for sure, it's just an educated guess.
Unless the popularity statistics for Dorothy and Edna have been drastically different in Australia than the US. I couldn't find any data on that.