Popular names of the next decade: predictions

It would if it we were discussing popular names for dogs. Bloody loads of canine Lunas!

Phew! Pleased to see that Luna hasn't featured!

I would love to meet a baby Desmond!

I agree, I think most Richards would go by Rich or Richy. I actually find Will/Willy potentially more teaseworthy.

Ashton seems to be becoming popular where I live - I've met or heard of about 5 little boys called that in the last 3 or 4 years, and recently saw it on some personalised tat for the first time.

Re Richard is unlikely to come back because of Dick IMO, I don't agree, because by the time it started to become less popular, most younger Richards were known as Rich, if they shortened at all. Just like young Williams are usually Will, not Bill.

I also expect the cutesy names to fall out of favour soon e.g. Evie, Ellie, Poppy, Izzy, Archie, Alfie etc. Names are likely become stronger and possibly longer again.

' a dear friends'? My apologies. 'dear friends'.

My grandma (Lily) had sisters Ethel and Bertha, and a dear friends Ada and Betty. Her nephew/age mate was Bunny (Albert).
Lily is already over-popular so I'll go for the names of her friends and family. I'm looking forward to seeing all the little Ethels, Berthas, Adas, Betties (? Is that the plural of Betty?) and Bunnies toddling about.

I agree with dowager that the frills and ultra-feminine names will likely fall out of fashion within the next few years (I, for one, am sick to death of them!) in favour of names that are stronger and less 'pretty'. I also see the cutesie names going; I think we will finally begin to see the back of 'eternal childhood' names like Poppy, Daisy, Alfie, etc. as people start using names that are a bit more serious.

I wonder if there will be increasing polarisation in baby naming in terms of uniqueness, with one set of parents opting to be 'unique' by reverting to picking very standard names that people just don't use anymore (Mary, David, etc), and the other set searching further out (like, out of the top 500 instead of out of the top 50) for names that others aren't using. As society continues to globalise I wonder if it will also become increasingly acceptable (across classes) to use names from other cultures.

I defiantly think the flower names (Daisy, Poppy etc) will start to filter out of the top 50 in the next couple of years. Both Ruby and Lily will fall rapidly.

More of the classic names for both girls (Emma, Megan, Abigail, Lucy etc) and boys (Adam, Daniel, Samuel, Matthew, Benjamin, Luke etc) that have been in the top 30 for the past 10-20 years will continue to drop and be just bordering the top 100.

Imogen peaked in 2010 at 26th and has shown a decline since. Its unlikely to reverse and go up again.

Olive is still on the up, but I don't think will last 10 years because of the popularity of Olivia.

Rita and Audrey are definitely on the way up and set for big things though.

Imogen will be top ten within a few years.

I am also betting a resurgence of 20s names :- Rita, Olive, Audrey

Boys will always have a fair chunk of Classics in the top ten, but I think John will come back

-a endings are already mainstream.

Isabella
Isla
Ella
Bella
Eva
Ava
Stella
Mia
Maya
Mila
Georgia
Leila
Freya
Amelia
Emilia
Helena

The list goes on.

'A' endings are symptomatic of the current feminine, frilly trend, and I think there will be a move away from that, towards more consonant (sounding) endings:

Agnes
Margaret
Helen
June
Joan
Edith

Etc...

-a ending names will be next for girls I think,

Ada
Greta
Nora
Rita
Lara etc

Not so sure about the boys.

I agree Nadia there will be a 20's revival for whimsical romance and a 50's revival for an ironic retro twist but apart from a handful of very cool, slightly Scandi-inspired names like Astrid, Nina, Stella, Erica, we have a way to go before the 60's and 70's names make a comeback.

Keith
Kevin
Duncan
Gordon
Barry
Peter

Deborah
Louise
Michelle
Muriel
Gertie
Donna

I don't know about that, haven't we got to get through all the 1920s/30s/40s names first?

I'd put my money on names from the late 60s early 70s like??Paula??Carole??Debbie??Clare??Sandy??Elaine??Angela??Jenny??Fiona??Jayne??Susan????Etcetera

Don't really agree with that about Richard, RedToothBrush. Last time it was popular, (1960s) Richards would be either known by their full name, or Rick or Ricky. Nobody used Dick as it was old-fashioned apart from the associations. Think of Rik Mayall, Rick Astley, or 'Rick-aye' on EastEnders.

Similar with Frances and Fanny. Nobody would use Fanny nowadays for obvious reasons, but it hasn't stopped Frances being reasonably popular.

Richard is unlikely to come back because of Dick IMO. Its around the 250 mark at the moment but has been in steady decline and there is no sign of a reversal.

Robert has already crept back up into the top 100 so I think its well placed to be very popular - possibly top 10 in a decade. Especially as Bobbie which is currently more popular looses favour.

For boys look out for Bodhi, Chester, Axel, Walter, Clark, Vinny, Ian, Carson, Remy, Abraham, Asher, Johnny, Otto, Douglas, Marshall, Noel, Dougie, Buddy, Hugh, Rex, Woody, Quinn, Kit, Archer, Rudy, Otis, Wyatt, Abel, Troy, Clayton, Ernest, Lawson, Ezekiel, Ronan, Bruno, Deacon, Monty, Bryan, Calvin, Timothy, Brian, Solomon, Hector, Franklin, Laurence, Julian, Rafferty, Benedict.

For girls Saffron, Nicola, Valentina, Verity, Dolly, Ellen, Stephanie, Adriana, Billie, Miriam, Samantha, Anastasia, Elisa, Aurelia, Annabella, Antonia, Dorothy, Vivienne, Sasha, Wren, Helena, Arianna, Audrey, Bianca, Diana, Henrietta, Marley, Ana, Clementine, Alba, Hazel, Emmy, Cora, Betty, Joanna, Nora, Iona, Athena, Fearne, Pixie, Fearne, Renee, Piper, River, Margot

All between 250 and 500 with upwards movement - yet to peak.

I was basing my guesses on the fact that Jack, Oliver and Lily are still so bloody popular even after their "peak". I think the names I suggested (Isla, Isaac and Jacob) are here to stay and will be at the top of the charts over the next decade.

Florence will be well past its peak in ten years time. As will Arthur.

I hope the baby-ish names fashion passes (all those -ie endings). I think looking at the change in threads on here in the last few years that stronger girls names will become more fashionable, and probably more gender neutral names for girls (although think some of those might still sound quite American to us). Absolutely agree that Margaret is due a revival.

As far as boys names goes I think we're due a revival of Richard and Robert at some point.

I think 'old' names are going to continue to come back into fashion so names like Dorothy, Florence, Elsa, Margaret for girls and Arthur, Clement, Quentin and John. A lot of names on this thread are already past their peak and are already starting to sound dated e.g. Evie, Ella, Sam and Noah...