How will this name date?

"I like Lily, I think it's pretty but FGS pleeeease don't use Rose as a middle name! Every single Lily I've ever heard of has been Lily Rose"

Or worse, Lily Mae!!!!!!!!!

Not "worse" in a horrible sense (it's lovely!) but in a "oh my god not another one" way!

Percy!

Haha! My gran was the same vintage as yours, Vulgar, and as long-lived. Her name? Florence!

My nan (born in 1880s) used to say whenever I mentioned my best friend Sarah " Ooo, SUCH an old fashioned name"

This was the 1970's.

There were at least 3 Sarah's in my class at school

She was an Eliza which was a majorly old granny name then.

I would have added Katherine/Catherine to the timeless list.

If it's not in the top 100, that is probably because the figures are split between the K and C spellings. Plus the other variations like Kathryn, and the Katharine spelling.

NB: I must admit, I'm stunned how rapidly Claire/Clare seem to have fallen out of favor, because along with Sarah and Emma, it was one of the 'Big Three' names of the 70s/80s.

Sarah and Emma have weathered the storm, yet Claire didn't. I wonder why? Did someone ruin the image of the name?!

I'm still baffled as to how anyone can say Sarah isn't timeless. Timeless names aren't always at the top of the charts, but they're always about, in steady use.

As I said in my first post, Sarah and Elizabeth are the only two girl names that have been in the Top 100 girl names in the UK since the lists began in the late 19th century, which says timeless to me.

If you need any further proof that Sarah is timeless, just look at some of the names that used to stand alongside Sarah, when it was at the top of the charts.

The other "hot name" of the 70s and 80s was Claire and where does Claire sit now? It ranked #747 in 2010. The spelling Clare is in the late 1000s.

Deborah ranked #613.

Gemma ranked #354.

Tracy/Tracey rank in the 3000s/4000s.

Dawn ranked #2392.

Sarah is still in the Top 100, along with Emma (another name that survived the perils of being uber-popular in the 70s and 80s) and Elizabeth. All three are timeless.

If Sarah was dated, it would have fallen from grace, like Claire/Clare, Deborah, Gemma, Tracey/Tracy and Dawn have.

Yes, boys' names are cyclical as well. The boys in my class were Michael, Stephen, David, Peter, John etc.

Then there was a wave of George, Thomas, William, Henry etc.

Now people are looking to the 'grandad' names of my generation - Albert, Fred, Arthur, Alf, Archie etc. and soon it will be Stanley, Ernest etc.

Alongside this are the American-style "surname names". Scott, Dean, Wayne gave way to Brandon, Kyle, etc.

Lily will date in my view. Also what if your daughter wants to become an engineer, fighter pilot, scion of industry?? "Welcome to the Board, Lily', or 'You're cleared for take-off, Lily', doesn't sound right does it? Pretty, but a bit too girly in my view. BTW, I'm a Sarah. I rather wish I'd been called something a bit more interesting to be honest.

I think of Lily has a lovely old name, but one which has had a massive surge in popularity in the last decade which will date the present wave.

Out of interest, most people are using girls' names as examples on this thread. Do you think boys' names work the same way?

"There are less than a dozen names that are timeless"

Have you had a look at the ONS statistics and looked at the thousands of names outside the top 250 names? There are lots and lots of 'classic' names, many that are only used 10 times per year.

LILY is a lovely name but not timeless

Oh this is one of my pet subjects! I hate hearing names being refferred to as 'timeless' or a 'classic'.

There are less than a dozen names that are timeless. Others are cyclical, this does not make them better or worse than the 'classics'.

My bil's sons are called Harry and Stanley and my Mil insists these are classics or traditional, no they are not, they are trendy.

I liked the person who talked about knowing a person from every decade with that name, my theory is, would that name be out of place in your grandparent's, parents, yours and your children's generations?

My name was a very trendy name, there were six in my class and as soon as I say or write my name, you can guess my age to within 6 or 7 years, I hate it.

My daughter is an Elizabeth

I would say that Sarah is a lovely name but it isn't timeless.

I like Lily, I think it's pretty but FGS pleeeease don't use Rose as a middle name! Every single Lily I've ever heard of has been Lily Rose, which is pretty but it reminds me of that irritating little girl on Green Balloon club.

Grr at Isabel being dated! DD1 is Isabel and I thought it was a classic name as I'd heard of one from each generation - but you're right there has been such an invasion of little Isabel/les/isabellas recently, that I fear it will :(. When I chose it there weren't many!

I'm not sure about Sarah being dated though - I know a baby Sarah.

I agree with Baldrick.

The curious thing to ponder is how a name suddenly becomes popular. Sometimes it's come to prominence through a film, book or celebrity (the film Amelie for instance).

But others seem to come out of nowhere, and while it's easy to avoid currently popular names by doing a bit of homework, you can never tell if the 'unusual' name you've chosen is at this very moment being picked by scores of other parents.

Well, ignore me, just looked up true meaning of DD2's name, tis not Celtic, tis Greek!!! , still love it!

I like the name Lily and if you like it, go for it. Who knows what will be a 'dated' name in a few years. My name was a very popular name in the 70's and I don't like it it but there a plenty of current/popular names now that I am not keen on too.

I chose classic Celtic names for my kids, neither fashionable not traditional. Some people turned their nose up at dd1's name yet I love it and most people think it's really nice. DD2's name gets lots of complements. I just didn't want them to have a commonly used named but didn't want an unusual name that people couldn't pronounce or spell properly. I have been very surprised (and chuckled inwardly) at the mis-spelling and pronunciation of dd1's name tho, so I guess you can't always predict.

Good luck with your decision.

By definition any 'popular' name will become unpopular and therefore dated.

It is inevitable: Lots of parents choose the same names for their children because they sound so lovely NOW. Our parents loved the sound of Clare, Rachel, Joanne and so lots of children were names these names. But, like with any other fashion, people tire of them when they start to sound/look a little tired/dull. So parents start looking for the next fresh, name ideas and new names start to become fashionable until these are overused and dull. It is excactly the same with fashion!

There are hundreds, if not thousands, of normal underused classic names outside of the top 100. Sure, there is no guarantee that they don't become 'fashionable' but you've got a higher chance than choosing an already popular name.

So, yes, imo Lily/Tilly/Milly/Evie type names WILL start to sound dated in a few years. They will be typical 2010s names and our children will find them as boring as we might find Karen, Tracy, Joanne or Rachel.

Lily is pretty. It's not as uncommon as it used to be and seems popular atm but I don't think it will date especially because it's such an old name and fits well in any generation.

Don't use 'Lil' though! I have a friend who calls her dd Lil as a short version and it spoils such a pretty name imho. I remember my grandma had a friend called Lil and I guess that's who springs to mind

Having said all of that, I seem to have inadvertently avoided faddy names for my DC. But should they suddenly become faddy, I wouldn't mind.

I agree it's nice to have a name that isn't the same as everyone else.. Having had a very popular name given to me, I chose less popular names for my children. However while I wanted them to avoid being one of many in their class, I wasn't bothered about their names dating them..

If I'm honest, Charlotte, Katherine, Elizabeth etc might be considered classic, but they sound very "familiar" and "dull" to my ears. Lovely names and all, but scream of familiarity.. no? I know A LOT, and I I'm honest more so in the Jennifer, Sarah, Claire generation..

Sarah is not dateable- I come across lots in schools today.

Shite, that was a bit of an essay!

Lily is not a name that will date it is a classic name and is lovely.

There's nothing terrible about having a name that sounds dated.

But it sort of defeats the purpose, in a way. People choose names they really, really like, which sometimes happen to be names that other people really, really like - hence their popularity.

Those names are chosen because they sound so lovely to our ears right now. But the switch comes that through over-use they cease to sound lovely and instead end up sounding dull, boring and predictable, and what was once considered so lovely about them is lost.

I mean - how many Joannes, Karens, Jennifers and yes, Sarahs does our generation know? Loads. They no longer sound 'lovely' in the way they must have done when our parents were choosing them. They sound (no offence intended) boring, eyes-glaze-over, 'oh, another one'...

If you chose a name less likely to date, then the chances are that names goes on sounding fresh well into adulthood and old age. The thing lots of people seem to miss is that this doesn't mean you're limited to the timeless classics of Elizabeth, Catherine, etc.

There are loads and LOADS of names which won't date the owner to a particular generation!! If you simply avoid faddy names.

There's miles of middle ground between timeless & classic - and faddy. And this is why many people are so keen to avoid faddy.

Names from literature, slightly left-field but recognisable names. God, there's a whole world of names out there that will not pinpoint your child to a certain age group.

Off the top of my head, I'd avoid Ruby, Daisy, Lily, Molly, Tilly, Evie, Isobel/abelle/abella, etc, etc, etc.

And choose something a bit different. Rosalind, Miranda, Helena, Eleanor/Elinor, Mallory, Merryn, Celeste, Louisa, Elle, Honor, Hero, Fenella, etc, etc, etc.

Obviously not all these names will be to everyone's taste (they're not all to mine). But if you put your mind it to, it's ludicrously easy to choose a non-faddy, and also non-run-of-the-mill 'classic' name. So yeah, there's nothing wrong with a dated-sounding name per se; but when you consider all the names out there at our disposal to bestow on our child as one of their main defining features for the rest of their lives, you can see why some people don't want to choose the same old names as everyone else.