Doris

The name traces to ancient Greek mythology, where Doris was an ocean nymph and mother of the sea-dwelling Nereids. English literature adopted it as a pastoral convention in the seventeenth century, but American parents only began registering it widely during the 1880s. By the late 1920s, the name had left the seaside behind and settled comfortably into kitchen pantries and switchboards.

The name rarely brings to mind anyone under retirement age, a sound instinct given that the average living bearer is seventy-five. It suggests hard candies kept in cut glass, a heavy telephone that stays where it was installed, and a refusal to adjust personal habits for open floor plans. Baby Boomers and the Silent Generation account for eighty-six percent of all living holders. The name reads as someone who hems curtains without measuring twice.