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

I know a young boy called Derek. It still blows my mind that his parents chose that name.

If Simon Cowell chose “Eric”…

So that's Gaz, Shaz & Daz.

Marie-Chantal anyone? She’s done far better in life than any of us, despite her name.

Named after a family member maybe ?
Although i wouldnt give it as a first name.

Lindsay is a tradition Scottish boys name that is still used in Scotland. See also: Leslie. But hopefully the English will stop using them for girls.

In the school I work at there are 2 Martins and a Kevin. There are also more than one Eric.

All these names that people say will never be back - they will, of course they will.
When I was growing up in the late 70s/early 80s I would have laughed at a Violet, Ivy, Mabel, Arthur, Alf as being old-fashioned ugly granny/grandad names. Now they are popular and everywhere.
My class peers were Darrens, Lees, Garys, Sharons, Debbies. As we approach the age where we might start to become grandparents, I expect these names will start to appear again. Many people like to name babies after grandparents, and that trend continues. Of the youngest children I know, there is a Lee, Ian and Susie!

My Grannie, who would be over 100 now, thought my daughters’ names were trashy. They are what you would think of as ‘old lady’ names, in the style of Florence and Mabel. She thought they sounded like cleaning ladies.

No. A slightly tacky name will always remain that way.
Children with surnames as first names in the American fashion ditto.
Odd trendy names likewise will always be odd fundamentally.

Names go in and out of fashion. But some are classic and have lasted the test of time for centuries. Elizabeth etc. Whereas Chardonnay will not. Nor would Brandon as opposed to James.

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

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 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?

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

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).

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

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

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!!

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

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 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.

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

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

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 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!