To think names considered trashy 20 odd years ago could reemerge as classy name choices in the late 2020s?

There are quite a few Ronnies around - and Reggie (!)

I love the name Violet and put it forward for our daughter's name. My Swedish DH said 'No, it's a biker's moll name?' Who knew?

It's the misspelling of a surname that does it. And that the name started as a joke in the film Splash.

I see the heartbreak of it rather than an sm name and find the thought rather distasteful.

I never realised Maddison was a chavvy name

They all come back around but I think it will be quite a while for a names like those. People who are currently the age to be having kids probably have negative connotations with some of those names.

Perhaps people currently being born would consider them for their children, as by then they will sound fresh again... so maybe in 30 years time?

A lot of real, old-people’s names from my GPs’ time (born in late Victorian or Edwardian eras) have become popular again - much to my amazement. Maisie, Edith, Ava, Poppy, Mabel, Gertrude, Stanley, Alfred, Sidney…

I can’t see Chantelle ever being seen as classy, sorry. Classic names that don’t date are often either royal, or they come from the Bible or Shakespeare.

"Louisa, bastard of Aurora" would be a great social media name !!! 😃

You mean "Gazza", "Shazza" and "Dazza" ?

I think of Jessie as a pretty trad Scottish name, tbh. My granny was born in the early 20th century and was called Jessie! No-one thought it was short for anything.

I recently did our family trees and was surprised to see how many Marthas, Esthers, Louisas and Naomis there were, amongst all the Anns, Elizabeths and Alices that spanned 1400's to 1900's. For men the stand outs across the period were: Robert, Christopher (also expressed as +topher), James, William.

The gobsmacker was a ggg grandmother "Louisa, bastard of Aurora", born in a workhouse!

Oh, interesting! My mum also used to think that flowery names were "a bit common", names such as Violet, Ivy, Daffodil, Primrose, Marigold, Pansy, Hyacinth etc. But, oddly, Rose was deemed ok!

I think Tracy and Shirley will come back. Such pretty names.

DD's school has just enrolled an Audrey and a Norma.

Interesting. The ones in my tree were about 1870-1890 not sure if makes any odds. Gladys seemed popular too & that’s not yet in vogue again :)

I had a great-aunt Violet, she was definitely middle class - she was the daughter of a naval officer and worked in a professional occupation. Flower names were more mainstream in the 1900s.

It’s not an “odd fear”, just a belief that the main purpose of names is to distinguish one person from another.

Anyway, I think some names will come round again and some won’t. And it’s not always possible to predict which ones. Who could have predicted 100 years ago that Florence, Alice, Lily, Ivy, Beatrice, Harry, Thomas, George and Arthur would be very popular now, but that Edna, Doris, Kathleen, Gladys, Winifred, Hilda, Harold, Leslie, Ronald, Kenneth and Dennis would not be?

I always see that as more types of names rather than matchy names so if you had Daughters Lucy and Emma and you were having a boy i would assume you would go for a more tradtional name like Matthew or Daniel
Rather say Mason and Tyler

Dolly is quite popular at the moment. They are two Dolly's in my DGs class of six year olds.
I also knew a Kylie in the early 70s which was very unusual at the time!!

Eric, Stanley, Arthur etc are old man cool names. Keith, Derek, Malcolm and Colin less so.

Ok thanks for the info
But Leslie is the male version of Lesley
See also Francis/ Frances

I'm a 1950s Sharon, and had Tracy classmates. There was no issue with our names until the advent of Viz, and I still like my name. I don't think any names were 'chavvy' that I can remember from my faraway youth. Names which are perfectly acceptable now (Agnes, Martha, Daisy, Betty etc) were old lady names we'd never call our kids in a million years, yet here we are.

What I find strange now is this craze to have matching names in families - Mumsnetters asking for a name that will complement the name of their existing children. It's like everything is curated now. I do wonder if those people will be disappointed as their kids grow up and decide for themselves that, for example, instead of Genevieve they're going to be known as Jen (another name seen as 'chavvy' on here).

The English? I’m Scottish and half the girls I knew were called Lesley in the 70s! Quite a few Lindsay’s, too!

I have a good friend called Kylie. Born late 80s. She always says in the 90s and 00s, she hated her name, and thought people judged her for it. She likes it now though - being named after Kylie Minogue feels quite cool now, Kylie is seen as a national treasure..

I wonder if there will be lots of baby Dollys born this year and next, after the wonderful Dolly Parton?

I really liked the name Chantal and still do. I was a nanny in the South of France in my late teens and one of the lovely little girls in the family was called Chantal.

The name also acquired a certain glamour with the arrival on British TV of Chantal Cuer, who presented a wonderful programme called Téléjournal.

I knew a set of siblings called Gary, Sharon and Darren. There was also a brother called Shane 😊😆