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Baby names

Find baby name inspiration and advice on the Mumsnet Baby Names forum.

Original poster

What names which were popular in the past haven’t yet made a comeback?

109 replies

Urbanbeetler · 24/06/2018 07:53

Susan was a name which you often heard in the 60s. And I went to school with a number of girls called Donna, Jacqueline, Nicola and Marie. And boys called Graham, Colin and Barry.

Will these names ever come back in fashion again, or are there a subset of historical names which miss revivals and will forever be consigned to a particular patch or 30 or so years other than the odd naming here and there?

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JiltedJohnsJulie · 24/06/2018 19:25

Glad to see my name is on the list, it was awful at the time and hasn’t improved with age.

Not met any young Adrians yet.

ImAGoofyGoober · 24/06/2018 19:24

Louise

PatchworkElmer · 24/06/2018 19:20

Frank
Sarah

likeacrow · 24/06/2018 19:16

Ronald

aaatozedd · 24/06/2018 19:15

Mark
Paul
Neil
Michelle
Tanya
Ian
Joanne
Simon

MrsMrsMrsMrs · 24/06/2018 19:02

Brenda
Glenda
Maureen
Beverley

Wilber
Bertram
Percival

LoveInTokyo · 24/06/2018 18:59

I really like the name Joanna, which seems sadly dated now.

Pauline sounds a bit plain when said by an English speaker but when said by a French speaker it sounds more like “Polline” and it’s lovely.

I’d like Margaret to make a comeback.

sweetboykit · 24/06/2018 17:32

Whenever I hear Amanda I think of Rachel in Friends saying A man duh.

IAmALamp · 24/06/2018 17:26

Nicola
Melanie
Gareth

Sugarpiehoneyeye · 24/06/2018 17:18

Beryl
Joyce
Veronica
Andrea
Beverley
Linda
Gillian
Irene

ForgetMeNotCat · 24/06/2018 17:15

I can't imagine Susan never coming back. It's a nice name, along with Susie. I'm less keen on Sue.
Clare I think will come back at some point
I like it along with Sarah and Mary. I like the "air" sound

letsallhaveanap · 24/06/2018 17:12

Yes I know a baby Pearl at the baby group I go to!

Shockers · 24/06/2018 17:08

Darren, Sharon, Wayne, Rita.

deptfordgirl · 24/06/2018 16:59

And I taught a 16 year old Dorcas a couple of years ago. Isn't it another name for Tabitha in the Bible?

deptfordgirl · 24/06/2018 16:57

Pearl is very popular around here.

hildabaker · 24/06/2018 16:55

Clive, basil,
Pearl, Angela, Jennifer, Mavis, Fiona, Augustine, Gillian

SilverySurfer · 24/06/2018 16:46

Names I can recall from when I was young:

Pamela
Barbara
Susan
Patricia
Jean
Doreen
Janet
Joan
Dorothy
Linda
Deborah
Sheila
Elaine
Maureen

Brian
Roy
Colin
Barry
Geoffrey
Daniel
Graham
Philip
Norman

I bet a lot of these will never come back into popularity (with any luck)

MariaMadita · 24/06/2018 15:51

Gary?

I really like Gloria :)

MorrisDancingViv · 24/06/2018 14:55

Names that were popular in the 60s-80s will come back into fashion (give or take) once those people are old enough to be grandparents/great grandparents with grandchildren old enough to reproduce as many people do still honour family members in reusing names and will look to use uncommon (for their generation) names. 10 years ago Mabel was unusual, now there's plenty and is regularly offered up as a suggestion on here.

But, over the past three years I have met a:-

Baby Brenda, baby Lindsey and a primary aged Barry and a handful of Sylvia/Sylvies (which honestly makes me go Hmm as I swear all my mum friends are called Sylvia so it's a very fusty name to me).

Victoria is still a top 100 name.

MikeUniformMike · 24/06/2018 14:29

I know an adult Dorcas. I quite like it.

The celeb with a little girl called Barbara is Victoria Coren-Mitchell. I quite like Barbara too. It makes a change from all the overpopular names.

Sophronia · 24/06/2018 13:36

I know someone who just had a baby Rachel.

These ones haven’t come back: Edna, Gertrude, Mildred, Myrtle, Gladys, Bertha, Marjorie, Phyllis, Blanche, Muriel, Hilda, Clarence, Herbert, Harold, Horace, Arnold, Cyril, Cecil, Gerald, Humphrey, Eugene etc.

I think it’s too early for names like Sharon, Deborah, Lisa, Michelle, Gary, Colin and Graham.

bananasandwicheseveryday · 24/06/2018 10:45

DaanSaaf

80's names like Michelle, Kelly and Dean.

'Michelle's was popular in the late 60's and through to the 70's, probably as a result of the Beatles song.

I think that fewer people follow 'fashion' for their name choices these days. When I was at school it was common to have several children in the class with the same name - out of the 31 in my primary class, there were several Julie's, Deborah's, Michael's, Stephen's. In fact, there were probably only about 10 actual names, spread among the 31 of us. That doesn't happen now. People are more likely to choose a name for reasons other than it being currently popular. So I wouldnt rule out anything coming back. Not even Trevor. 😁

viques · 24/06/2018 10:38

I think Rachel as a name got killed off by Friends! THough funnily enough Phoebe survived.

I think it is sad that some of the beautiful semi precious stone names like Coral, Beryl,Pearl, have gone by the board whereas others survived like Ruby,Emerald,Jade , Amber and have even become a bit tired.

chipsandgin · 24/06/2018 10:30

Gary and Nigel, as well as Sharon and Tracy, can't imagine a re-run of them!

OublietteBravo · 24/06/2018 10:28

Sandra. Which is strange because it’s actually quite a nice name.

Roger. A very old name, but not coming back into fashion any time soon.