How will this name date?

And I agree that Alison is a lovely name. I think we'll soon see a trend away from cutesy names (Lily, Milly, Maisy, Poppy) to more 'solid' sounding names.

Why is it so 'wrong' for a child to be called Karen (whether in a tv series or in reality)? Karen may not be 'fashionable' but it is a perfectly normal, feminine, well known name. If they'd named her Poopy or Karoon or something, then it might feel 'wrong' but is Karen really that wrong?!

That one.

ugh.

Oh and I think Alison is a lovely name. They one will definitely come back in a big way in 20 years time.

And there are lots of classic names that aren't English speaking world classics. You could name your children John and Catherine only for them to go and live Latvia and be ultra exotic in a non-classic way. So you don't want to get too stressed out about wondering whether the name you like is a classic, a soon to be classic, aspiring to be classic, etc. etc.

You'll go grey.

Going back to Sarah, I couldn't agree more that it's timeless. There have been Sarahs in my family tree for generations and its spikes in popularity don't mean it will 'date'; it'll always be around (it's not my name, btw).

Lily is a bit more prone to cycles of popularity (Lily Cole, Lily Allen) and certainly not a classic IMHO, but if you like it, why not?

Things that really would become dated are names like Alison or Janet - there were soooo many Janets when I was at school (1970's, aargh), but when do you hear that name today? Pretty much women in their 50s. Instantly dateable.

Bucharest This annoys me too. Soaps always seem to give adult characters names like Lola, Finn and Alfie. I cannot believe there are lots of grown up Finns, Lolas and Alfies in circulation.

Benjamin is a cyclical name imo. I don't think you'll find that many over 50.

I also get the outnumbered thing, there is no way she would be called Karen. It would be like Jake, Ben and Emily or something. Why do the just not look at the most popular names for the year she is supposed to be born.

(CY- you've missed nothing- it was good telly for about 6 episodes and now is just cringingly awful. There is a child in it called Karen who is about 9 by now)

I almost had to not read the Karin Slaughter books because all her characters have names and surnames lifted from Wuthering Heights which for smalltown USA in the 90s/00s was just ridiculous.

and agree that Benjamin goes in the classic camp although I discounted it for my son because I know about 5 baby Benjamins born in the last 2 years. Lovely name though.

I often wonder if the really cool people are naming their babies Jason or Jennifer or Rachel. They are so cool that the "cool" old-man names like Arthur and Albie, Freddie etc are old news to them. So they are going back to the names from the 70s which is my generation. Imagine a baby Jason!! So uncool that it's cool!

Bucharest I don't know what Outnumbered is, but I know what you mean about fictional characters having the wrong names for their ages.

Nora Roberts (whom I love, don't get me wrong :o ) has a new trilogy with brothers in their thirties called Beckett, Owen, and Ryder. No way. I can see a family of American boys ten and under with those names, definitely, but...

Lily will sound very old fashioned in a couple of generations, in the same way it sounded very old fashioned 30 years ago when I was a child.

THat's not a reason not to use it though.

And feels (not levels)

Annoying predictive text....

Sorry so (not do)

I know lots of Bens under the age of 10 do it levels quite fashionable but you'd have to look at the statistics to see whether the name gained popularity.

Sally will come back when Karen etc do.

(does anyone else find it totally wrong that Karen in Outnumbered is called Karen? She just wouldn't be. She'd be called Molly.

Benjamin -I would place in the cyclical group, not the timeless or faddy group. How any gazillions of late-teen Bens are there?

My dd loves the name Doris. (which worries me somewhat )

I would have put Ben in the "Timeless Classic" camp. I know Bens my age, teenage Bens, child Bens, baby Bens and old Bens.

Interesting thread. My son is called Benjamin is this a faddy name?

Oh, and Caroline. Very upper middle class here. Not there, I hear. :)

It is very different in America Squoosh. For instance Dominic here in the States is very slightly-chavvy and 80's. It's on par with Brandon.

Robin I think that too! There will be pictures of our daughters in the future... "Pearl with her daughters, Tammy and Pamela..." :o

Robin -

I wonder if one day I'll have a beautiful baby Granddaughter called Barbara. :o at the thought! Maybe we'll call her Barbie for short...

I'm sure the DDs will be on their version of MN saying AIBU to wish my mother wouldn't be so rude about the name I've chosen for my DD. There'll be echoes of "YANBU, Barbara is beautiful name - my Grandma was Barbara. Such a timeless classic!"

Absolutely - Lily, Tilly, Evie, Archie, Alfie will all sound terribly dated and tired by the next generation. Our kids will be looking for 'new', 'fresh' names that they've not heard before - perhaps they'll love Barbara, Gertrude or Patricia - hard to imagine now, but very likely .