View Message

I like older names but this one just doesn't have any appeal to me. I don't think Ethel will make a comeback. There are other old names that are similar that might climb the charts like Esther, Estelle, Edith, Enid, and Eloise. Ethel just doesn't sound fresh. It also reminds me of the engine fuel ethanol.

I don’t mind it personally, but a lot of people find it super frumpy and dated. I don’t see it making a comeback.

To many, Ethel is not as old-fashioned as Bertha and Gertrude. I think it has a high chance of making a comeback just like Edith does, definitely not right now though; while Mabel, Hazel, and Opal have resurged, I think Ethel will have to take more time. I hope Ethel becomes usable again, it sounds so sweet, and the meaning of "noble" is charming.

I hope so

---

Ethel have really grown on me. I now think it's awesome.

I'm not sure if it will.

---

It's not my favorite name; for some reason, it sounds like a poisonous gas to me.

I hope not

Yes but not right away, as it is it still seems very starchy to me

I think it will if it gets used in pop culture.

I think it will if it gets used in pop culture.

No

I think Ethel will remain a dusty relic that will perhaps occasionally be chosen by edgy parents, but won't get truly popular. Although, I never would have though people would like Edith again and I was quite wrong about that! I suspect that Edith got a boost from Downton Abbey, so maybe if we have an interesting Ethel enter pop culture, Ethel will get the Edith treatment.

---

I personally like Ethel and would use it, and my partner thinks it's a gorgeous name, but that's because it wasn't common in their culture so they'd never heard it before I introduced it to them. They don't have the same "old lady" associations that others do. I do think Ethel has a lot of cultural baggage that people will either love or hate.

No, not foreseeably anyway.

---

I think it'd only come back strongly now (a la Lillian and Evelyn and Hazel) if there were a new well-known celebrity or public figure or character Ethel, who was admirable in some way. It could happen - the name's not dead and it still gets quietly used, I guess by people who consider themselves iconoclastic.

---

It's conceivable that it'll see a *little* more use, in 15-20 years or so - if names like Dorothy and Helen become very fashionable sounds again (I think they may). But I think Ethel would not be used nearly as much use as those, and without some popular-culture boost I think it seems unlikely to break top 1k. It needs enough chic to overcome the association with the chemical prefix ethyl, and it has nothing at the moment.

---

I guess also, "coming back into fashion" just doesn't mean that much to me anymore. The only significant "comebacks" these days, imo, are comebacks to the top ~200, that last more than a couple years. And the diversification of usages means there are fewer slots there for names to come back in.

I don’t think it will come back. I think if it was going to, it already would have. Especially in the UK where names from the same era have already made a comeback, e.g. Edith, Martha, Elsie and Mabel which are all in the top 100. I think Ethel has missed the boat.

I love Ethel and definitely think it will have a resurgence a la Mabel, Opal, and Edith.

This message was edited 5/8/2021, 9:33 AM

Yes.

---

I’m arrogantly certain of it. Seems to fit the direction the public are going in, and I think there’s a new appreciation and social acceptance of old names. And, I think there’s a dusty charm about it, very hipster-esque, I can see it along side a Hazel or Mabel.

I doubt it, and I certainly hope not. It's uncommonly ugly.

Ethel reminds me of Estelle and Edith. Well, maybe it's just me, but I think that if Edith (it's also an Old English name) and Estelle (it's Old French, but sounds similar, imo) become popular, Ethel might come into the limelight, as an alternative.

I kinda hope not. Old-fashioned names can be fine but then sounds harsh. It sounds like a chemical, and just doesn't fit anyone under the age of 89.

I love it! Would consider it for a child if I wanted children and yes I think it will come back.

No. I recently read that someone said it sounded like a person with a speech impediment saying "asshole" and I kind of agree. It's ugly. I tried to like it but it's ugly.

---

I like Mabel, Mildred, Sibyl, Myrtle - lots of old names. But Ethel is just harsh.