On trend names and attitudes towards them

Oliver was #6 in 2003!

You know, Karen is actually a really nice name...

There are two little Audreys at my DD's nursery. It's still an 'old lady' name in my mind (particularly as it was the name of one of my grannies), but taken in isolation it does have quite a pretty sound.

My cousin was born in 1997 and given the middle name Arthur. It definitely seemed an odd, very dated choice at the time

Darren! I hadn't realised but I knew two Darrens in my primary school years - and none at all ever since. Near 40 years of no Darrens. How odd.

As someone who has a horrendously dated name from the 70s/80s... I bloody hate this trend of bringing back old lady names. Who has ever looked at a new born baby and thought "Oooh, you look like an Ethel!!"

Sorry meant to say 'another colleague'

Around 15 yrs ago a colleague of mine called her son David Harry, which happens to be exactly the same name as my brother. I found it amusing when another cousin commented that Harry was OK, but David was a bit old-fashioned, because we'd thought the exact opposite growing up some 30 years earlier.

Audrey is actually increasing in popularity.

Also,I love Audrey! Would seriously have considered it if it hadn't been my parents' cat's name!

Agree about the names from Hong Kong. I used to teach at a summer school for pupils from Hong Kong and also had a Eunice. Also remember a Prudence, Karen, Stella and Coco.

Eunice!!! Maybe they were looking for inspiration in really old school stories, like Daisy Pulls It Off! (Which was probably a play now I come to think of it, and a very funny take on the school story genre.).

When I was about 8 someone gave me a school-story book entitled 'Audrey, A New Girl'. That's one I hope will never back a comeback! The book was pretty rubbish, too.

As for Agatha, I can't understand anyone looking at a tiny newborn baby girl and saying, 'Yes, I think Agatha would suit her.' Ditto the once fashionable Gertrude - it was the name of a granny's neighbour and at over 80 my granny married her husband years after Gert (as she was known, ugh) had died.

@GETTINGLIKEMYMOTHER that is a fantastic insight. I never thought about Ruby that way. (Mind you, will Agatha ever make a comeback?!)

This reminds me of the girls I went to school with who were from Hong Kong. Those who were Christian tended to pick a name at confirmation or just before they got packed off to boarding school, and they (or their parents) often picked a name from a dictionary of names with no idea of the sort of context or any sort of connotations that might be attached.

So I was friends with:

Ginny
Ada
Eunice
and many more

and my dad couldn't believe how old-fashioned their names were. I was 12 so had no idea; I just accepted their names and got on with it, but he just couldn't get over it all.

Although, even as a 12 year old, I did did think Faustina had a particularly unfortunate name. She told me picked that one herself because she liked how it sounded strong! Which I suppose it does...

Some names never really date.

I am probably a lot older than most on here, so names like Mabel, Florence and Violet conjure up the wizened, whiskery old great-aunts I knew as a child, so could never have imagined using them for my own dds. Ditto the likes of Albert for the whiskery old great uncles smelling of pipe tobacco.
Younger parents will not have those connotations.
One name that's been popular in recent years - Ruby - always conjures up for me the adenoidal, half-witted kitchen maid in a typical Agatha Christie - the one who 'saw something but didn't want to get mixed up with the police' and ended up strangled in the broom cupboard.

I think hearing other people use a name can give you the courage to use it. I have always found the names Karen, Alan and Angela lovely. I wouldn't use them at the moment because they are unpopular, and ultimately my dcs have to live with the public opinion on their name, not me.

Another one who was shocked at Lily Allen with her choice of Ethel, followed by a much trendier Marnie!

I was at dd's school this week and saw the new reception class and heard some of their names. There is a Peter and a Gary. Not normally heard these days in little ones.

I was ahead of the game with ds as he's a 15yr old Oliver which was not popular when I had him in 2003. He was named after a cat

I wonder if there will ever be any more baby Barry's?! :)

Yeah I definitely think you just get used to hearing names that after a while they sound normal. I'm not really keen on a lot of the older names that have come back recently - like Albert and Margot ! I don't think I'll ever get on board with those lol. But some of the older names are nice, too popular though!

I wonder when the 90s names will make a come back, like Jennifer, Stephanie, Amanda ! Lol

@passwordfailure I think David is already having a comeback ! I've met about 5 baby David's this year at baby groups !

Sarah

I disagree that boys names are becoming more feminised. More and more of the vowel ending male names are being used for girls.

I think names ending in the Ron/REN sound are harsh and ugly though.

There’s def a trend for prettier sounding girls names now. More end in ‘a’ than in the 60/70/80s.

Boys names are becoming more feminised with more ending in vowel sounds.

I think it was William and Harry's births that started the old people names trend. It would have been unthinkable to use William at that time otherwise. It was all about nice sounds then - if you think about the names in isolation Sharon, Darren, Karen, Julie do sound nice. Timeless classics are safest surely? Rebecca, Rachel, Catherine or do they have a timeline too? I shudder at the Margarets and Ethels though, they were horrible first time around!

deptford

My grandmother (just turned 80) simply cannot get over all the little Lily’s and Ivy’s...they are “old lady names” in her mind

I’ve always loved the name Arthur but it is a family name, so point proven perhaps op.

I can see names like Anne and Pamela making a comeback. Less so Irene (unless it is the Eye-ree-nee pronunciation) and Phyllis.

Lily’s Allen’s choice of Ethel still stands out to me as being incredibly ugly, even amongst the other “old people” trendy names.

I think the royals brought George back to trend