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It reminds me of death and cinders. I know an old lady called Ethel, who's very nice. I had a nasty work colleague called Ethel (full name Etheldreda!)

To me Ethel has neither an attractive sound nor an unattractive one. It is one of those ho-hum names.

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Because of my age (old), and because my parents had me when they were 42 and 40, Ethel was a name I heard routinely as a child. Ethel This Lastname and Ethel That Lastname. There is only one I specifically remember. She was the wife of an employee of my father's. The employee spent a considerable amount of "work" time visiting various women with whom he was having affairs. This was in my childhood hometown, where we lived till I was 8. After we moved, I don't recall there being any Ethels. Anyway, when I gave my mother an 80th birthday party, this Ethel and her philandering husband attended. The husband was a charmer, even in old age. But I did feel sorry for the longsuffering Ethel.

My mother had a cousin named Ethel. I never met her, but as she figured in Mum's stories about her childhood, a child is the image that stays in my mind.

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I don't like the name, though some of the variants that Pie mentions are quite good.

The fact that it was used for the gormless Ron's eternal girlfriend in The Glums seems to suggest that the team perceived it as pretty ropey in the 1950s. And I'm sure they didn't help its image one bit.

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I find it highly unattractive, on a par with Gertrude. It makes me think of the sort of Dame Edna Everage drag act - possible only as an OTT send-up. And I've never met one or traced a relative who had it. Had an Aunt Edna, though! She wasn't Australian.

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ETA: minor lightbulb moment - Adele, Adelaide etc seem to be coming back. Most folks wouldn't connect them with Ethel, but still. (And I once had a colleague who was known as Edel, which I assumed was short for Edelweiss - she was the kind of South African to whom that would make sense - but her name was actually Elizabeth, so it must have been an optimistic nn.)

This message was edited 8/9/2014, 6:47 AM

I prefer Etheline

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Like in the Royal Tannenbaums. I do think Etheline is pretty.

I think it has more of an interesting sound than an obviously attractive one. But, I also think it has a sound that doesn't wear on you and lasts well which is more important. Like while I might agree with people who think "Liliana" or "Isabella" has an attractive sound, both of those names grate on me over time.

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I've actually never met an Ethel, but I feel like it would last well. I enjoy saying/hearing it.

Funny you should mention this name, since I just named a fictional character of mine Ethelyn Pearl. She was born in 1887.

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I don't like the sound of Ethel, no. I chose that name for the character because I thought it was unattractive and old lady.

Oh, I adore Ethel! It has that earthy feel that I treasure.

Nah, I can't like it or find anything attractive about it. I've never met one and don't have any relatives with the name.

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This is making me think of the two women that the brothers John F. and Robert F. Kennedy married. John married Jacqueline Bouvier and Robert married Ethel Skakel. What a contrast in names, both first and last. The lilting flow of the first and the awful heavy awkwardness of the second.

I've never met any Ethels. To me, the name is just plain unattractive. I've invented the name Ethelle as a prettier alternative.

I find it an attractive sound. It is still a little 'old lady' to me but I can definitely appreciate why it was as popular as it was (unlike some other names like Gladys or something!). ith/eth is one of my favourite sounds in girls' names and I also like the 'el' sound. It is a pretty name :)

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The only Ethel I have known was a great-Aunt who died when I was about 6 or 7. I have strong memories of her house being dark and smelling of old lady with lots of floral couches and lace doilies and she always offered me plain crackers and water as a snack and we couldn't touch anything or do anything when we were there. I'm sure she was nice enough but I think that's why I do still associate it too much with someone elderly despite appreciating the aesthetics of the name.

I'm actually amazed that my family doesn't have any Ethels in it, because we are all about trendiness when it comes to names.

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Ethel isn't one of my favorite lumpy old lady names, but I would be very pleased to meet a baby one.

Ethel was my grandma's name, I think it suited well. I think it has a bit of a harsh sound to it, but it would be very refeshing to meet a girl with this name in this day and age where every other child has a Tryndeigh name. I think that with the right first name it would make a wonderful middle name. My favorite version is Ethelyn, I also like Ethelinda, even though I don't like the name Linda, to me they seen much softer and a little more feminine. I love the combo Sophia/Sofia Mary Ethelyn/ Mary-Ethelyn.

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I really consider it an old lady name. Probably because it was popular in the early 20th century so there are a lot of elderly Ethels now. Surprisingly the datedness really puts me off with Ethel, which is strange because I love a lot of old lady names: Edith, Elsie, Florence etc.

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Ive never met an Ethel as far as I know.

My husband has a sort of honorary relation we all call Aunt Ethel, though she isn't blood kin. I forget just how she's related. She's in her early eighties.

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I think the name is on the same level as Hildegard, only Ethel happens to have had a run of popularity.