Maybe a controversial question!

Like OP I'm also surprised and disappointed at how many people on here love the "classics" (which to me translate as plain dull) names and are so quick to criticise anything not falling within the William/Thomas name remit.
However I think slightly older mums are more likely to consider less play it safe, middle of the road names, their extra life experience may well have shown them how these names might not stand out/are 100s of others called the same and additional age = confidence to not just follow the crowd but dare to be a little different maybe??

I'm 32 for what its worth but constantly surprised by how many of my friends (who I thought were quirky/individual) end up choosing very boring, middle of the road names for their DCs.

I'm 48 and have had all my DC, none of whom have conventional names. HTH.

I'm 40 and chose a very unusual flower name for DD. Lots of my younger 20's-30's friends chose traditional safe names for theirs. I don't think it's age related as much as mindset or personality.

A) many women in their 40's have babies. It's not just for women in their 20s and 30s

B) Both James and William at in the top ten baby names. You may be married to one; your daughter may well get married to one too.

William and James are both currently top 10 baby names in England and Wales. Michael is in the top 100. Andrew is outside of the top 100 so less popular for babies right now.

There are thousands of people who have recently become parents who like these names enough to have given them to their sons. Presumably plenty of these people will be in their 20s or 30s. Not all parents are put off by the prospect of their new born baby having a name that is "standard" or that may also be relatively common among adults.

Its not an age thing, its a class/peer/education thing.

I've been really surprised by the large number of posters who seem to be very pro standard names such as Michael, James, William, Andrew - and have very strong opinions against mildly alternative names

I'm not sure that's really true. There are lots of names on here that definitely fall into the mildly alternative category that attract a lot of love from posters (Romilly and Rowan are two that spring to mind). It depends which threads you read.

Made up names and unique spellings are usually met with dislike though.

Derek is a FIL/Grandfather name, rather than a DH name these days, IMO. Not that there's anything wrong with that. Christopher is a classic.

Are you suggesting that the age of the parent determines the type of name someone chooses? I really don't think it does... Maybe the culture within which you live, and the peers you have, would have an impact, but not just your age.

Dsis is a decade younger than me and lives in a rather rough urban area, and yet the name she chose for her DD was exactly, exactly, what I had decided on.

I don't think I explained that very well, I suppose it's not much to do with age. I don't think Christopher/Chris is a husband name, it's a perfectly good name for a baby born in this generation too. Derek is a husband name

You're wondering if Mumsnet has posters who aren't 20/30? Really?

Have you been here long?

Of course people who frequent the baby names topic are not all going to be in their 20s or 30s. Names that you think are unusual, old fashioned or just not to your taste all depends on many factors including where you live as well as what age you are.

I had my son when I was 18, I named him James. He's now 3.5, I am 22 and still like traditional names.
It's not generational, it's just personal preference. I like quite classic names. Nothing to do with how old I am

But not everyone in their 20s/30s would pick a non-husbandy name. They wouldn't all have the same taste. At baby group there are mums in that age range with a Desmond, Michael, Steven. Maybe I've misunderstood your point?

I think its very hard to find 'different' boys names most of the more convincing ones happen to be more classical. Got to say I'm not a fan of them. Like to add, some of my family have picked them out of the bible... (they are not christian) I mean we have moved one from that type of thing surely?

I think my answer maybe more controversial than the question.

Goodluck :) I'm struggling with names big time

I think people on this forum are generally very pro classic names which have been around for generations and stand the test of time, as opposed to trendy names which will date to a particular era.

Depends on what you think your peers are. I think many different ages and backgrounds comment on names. It's not only 20/30 yr old mums to be. And even they will have very different opinions on names.