What do you think are the Sharon/Tracy/Michelle names of this generation???

TheSecondComing- no offence intended- like I said, my 2 chn's names are in the op, which has humoured me.
Maybe it's the Frankies I know...

Sharon and Michelle did, I think, get paired up in the popular consciousness.

Eastenders.

That's a good point about Michelle. People have conveniently left it out because whilst it undoubtedly was very common (ie. overused) they don't see it as common (ie. every working class.) I was born in 66 and the names that stick in my head as being absolutely ubiquitous from that era are Sharon,Tracey, Debbie, Karen, Jackie, Julie and Lisa.

They were the hardcore group of names that we heard over and over again, and there was at least one in every class. They were not necessarily very working class names, just very popular ones.

Although my more middle class schoolmates tended to be called things like Ruth, Stephanie, Elizabeth, Bridget, Jane, Catherine.

Yes, a lot of posters have ignored the inclusion of Michelle in the OP. They have got hung up on Sharon and Tracy because these did get paired up in the popular consciousness.

It didn't start with 'Birds of a Feather' though - it was already a bit of a cliche by then. As I said way back, I think it was the writer Keith Waterhouse who started the whole Sharon & Tracy thing. And he merely picked out two popular names of the era. It could just as easily been Michelle and Claire, or Karen and Lisa for example. And they are all nice names.

i was born in 68 my names michelle :)

Sorry about all the typos, the letters on my phone are tricky to tap accurately.

I really DONT think it is very me!

I have a typically 80s name and I really think it is very me and sometimes I think about changing it. My DD has a name mentioned on here and we still love it but she wont answe to it as she changes it hourly to things like Annie, Jane, Belle, etc it just depends on what film or book character pops into her head.

If I could change my name, I would call myself Megan.

One piece of advice tho... Don't use your favourite name for your cat, you might have a baby 4 years later and wish you hadn't. :( learned this the hard way.

The name is the only thing that a parent has some control over when they have a child. They can't make it look like them or be good at the same things and half the time you can't even make them behave properly so it is that little bit of you (your taste) that you are guaranteed they will have. I think that is why it is such a touchy subject. it isn't nice to hear someone say nasty things about the name you have thought about for 9 months.

But not popular does don't automatically mean good taste, there are some names I have only heard of once or twice which I dislike and then there are some really common ones that I think are lovely. And other people would think the opposite.

names generally become common because people like them so if your child has one of these then it is because lots more people thought it was a nice name :)

And wouldn't the world be a boring place is we ALL liked the same thing.

As for the negative connotation, that's impossible to predict because that was basically based upon a very popular television program. So guess if they make a program about Chavy type people called Lilly and Poppy in the future it may have the same effect on those names (just an example by the way don't think these are Chavy!)

CeliaDeBohun, is it necessary to bark "You're being ridiculously oversensitive anyway" at someone on an anonymous internet forum?

Perhaps you should chill out a little

And no, I don't have a son called Findlay! Lovely name though!

I would think it would be names named after alcoholic drinks, made up names and names that are half one name and half another.

Names come and go, we had a Kevin and an Alan in our class at school. There were two Sharons and a Tracey.

I have one of the names in the OP. I'm from a wc background,but would say I'm pretty much a Guardian reading left wing middle class liberal now. I have always loathed my name, not only does it not suit me,but it makes it very easy to pin point my age. In one class at primary school,out of eleven girls, five of us had the same name. I still give my mum stick for letting my (late) father pick the girls names, and when I was picking my sons name I was careful he didn't befall the same fate!

Come on then otherside out with it!!

At school in the 80s with lots of girls called Catherine and boys called Richard.

I think Michelle and Claire became popular because of songs - would a song have the same effect these days when the music scene is much more diverse?

I have a name that was very unusual in the 80s but is often named as "chavvy" these days. If you call a child an unusual name today, there is a good chance it will become a common name in ten years time. It is why the classics endure.

I called my child a name that is about 300 or so on popular lists, but suspect it will grow in popularity.

"Actually, as so many of you seem to have strong opinions on what's over-used/chavvy/will date, I'm assuming you've all made impeccable name choices of your own?"

I'm not sure I can claim to have made an 'impeccable' name choice myself but ds's name was only used 13 times last year so is clearly not a 'trendy' name! It may not be to everyone's taste, but we love it .

hotpinkgingham - my daughter is called Lauren, which I've read on mumsnet numerous times, that it is chavvy.

I don't want to out myself, but my son's name is a name that was popular in my Dad's generation (it is one of David, Hugh, Stephen, Christopher). I think you just need to choose the name you love, and be done with it. There will always be someone who doesn't like it.

my DS's name is on nearly everyones list! Everyone thought it was very unusual/original when he was born 10 years ago...now nearly every 5 year old boy has the same name!

I am so glad I wasn't on MN when we were name choosing as I would have been completely paranoid

I am a child of the 60's - (5 Sarahs in my class of 15 girls, immediately following the birth of the Queen's niece). My name, however, did not become no. 1 in the popularity charts until the late 70's. As a result, those that know me by name only, automatically make assumptions about my age - leading to poorly hidden surprise if we ever meet in person.

Thanks I will add oversensitive to my list of shortcomings

Ds2 is Findlay as it is my Grandmother's maiden name. We call him Fin for short and I couldn't give a toss whether it makes some people's "teeth curl" when they hear me call him that.

It's lovely to know that there is something else I am being judged for as a parent, this has really brightened my day! Thanks for letting me know how ubiquitous and common place my son's name is.

I thought you couldn't give a toss?
You're being ridiculously oversensitive anyway.

Ds2 is Findlay as it is my Grandmother's maiden name. We call him Fin for short and I couldn't give a toss whether it makes some people's "teeth curl" when they hear me call him that.

It's lovely to know that there is something else I am being judged for as a parent, this has really brightened my day! Thanks for letting me know how ubiquitous and common place my son's name is.

That's just what everyone does though and everyone here is using excellent recent hindsight. Chloe is a nice name, it's just that lots of people thought so at the same time.

You'd have to go classic or unusual to avoid the possibility of being part of the next big trend but you can't prevent the possibility that some new celeb will make the name forever theirs or a known one will use it, sparking a copycat trend.

I'm going to stop looking before I get so depressed I have to scrap my carefully considered name choices and just call the baby 'baby' because I'm too put off by judgemental comments to choose

If other peoples' views on your prospective DC's name bother you that much then you may as well call him or her 'Baby' because there is no name that somebody, somewhere won't dislike :) My DS has an old fashioned 'dad' name that just sounds dated, not cool and retro, to most peoples' ears. I've seen plenty of comments on here about it being dated, dull, ugly sounding etc. So what? DH and I still love it and that's all that matters. Honestly, don't take it so personally.

We're in the same position HotPink and I'd ignore 'judgement', you have to accept that not everyone will like any choice of name, so choose what you want.

I have noticed though that some of the names discussed a lot on MN, so which appear to be becoming very popular, may be increasing but are still outside the top 100. Also, looking at regional variation, they are more representative of London than anywhere else.

I've seen my favourites dropping like flies as they've gone up the popularity charts, I've met people with them or others have used them. The one little used family name I thought I was safe with was mentioned a couple of months ago in relation to a 'celeb'. Bah!