Anyone else on here not keen on classic names?

*name their children, obviously

My kids don’t have classic names, I think they’re a bit bland and ‘filler’/‘couldn’t be bothered’ personally.

Having said that I’m looking forward to having grandchildren with ‘classic’ names along the lines of Pamela and Clive 😄 if my kids name their grandchildren after my and DH parents they’d be along the lines of Sheila and Robert.

I like traditional names, my name very much marks me out as born in the eighties!

I like ‘old fashioned’ names like Jean, Dilys, Eric and Edmund.

But i’m not a big fan of the more recently popular classic names (think popular in the 90s/00s) really. Thomas, Jacob, Olivia and Amelia do nothing for me.

Every single name is made up! Some were made up long ago, others more recently.

Amare, Gru, Kacey, Jadrien, Summer. Are these modern names?

I don't like classic names that are/have been overused eg Sarah, Stephen, Oliver, Theo etc

I do love underused classics eg Vincent, Quentin, Antonia, Valentina etc

John
Michael
Paul
David

Do you know many babies with the above names?

The concept of classic is peculiar... It doesn't mean traditional or classical (as in Horace for instance). Like a pp said, it means inoffensive, plain. I would add to that commonly used. For some people those are positives.

They DO go out of fashion though. Names like Rebecca and Sarah and Sally for example are currently dated and out of fashion. Yes they will come back around but at the moment if someone names their daughter that I’d think it was horrible and I know most of my friends would have the same reaction.

People act like classic names don’t date, but they do. Names like William, Charles, Constance, Josephine, Victoria, Etc seem incredibly dated, ugly dull to me. Yes some people are always using the names but that doesn’t mean that they sound nice in every era. I’m sure there’ll be a time when they have a revival and sound fresh again but at the moment I think they sound very dated. Most popular names date, and then are revived, regardless of their age.

What names do it for you?

Much prefer traditional names because they never go out of fashion.

I grew up having to clarify which one of the many kids with my name I was - now I do the same at work. Traditional names are asking for "which one are you?" I think it's a bit boring.

Could you give us some examples of modern names you like too please? Just for contrast?

I find them really boring, but each to their own!

I love baby names, I’ve worked with children for many years and I love it when I hear uncommon names. I admit that once you hear a name so many times, it doesn’t seem very special anymore and just feels very ordinary and plain - Olivia, Harry..

I strongly dislike names which are common names which have been “made” unique by spelling them different - Emily : Emmaleigh

I would love a baby Margret but I know everyone would just think it was ridiculous and she would probably get bullied. X

Can someone give examples of modern names....

Jayde? Chardonnay? Finn? Brandon, Cameron, Kieron?

Melanie or Julie? Presumably neither classic nor modern?

Of course it ok to choose a modern name. Personally I usually prefer more traditional names although I do like some modern names, like others it depends what they are.

I think there are some names that children will be embarrassed of when they are older though, I know a couple of teens who use their middle names for this reason. When their parents named them, I did cringe and think the names were setting their children up for ridicule and it did happen. Not that that is right but it does happen unfortunately. I mentioned one of the 'unusual' names on a baby names thread to my nephew and he said that the child would probably get bullied. I do think parents need to think about the name on a teenager and an adult not just a baby/toddler.

I have a very unusual name, and am always being asked to spell it. So much so that, after over 60 years with the bloody thing, I go slightly cold when being asked for it. Daft, but that's how it's affected me.

Yeah I don't like them either! They make me roll my eyes and yawn.

Depends what you mean by classic. I don’t like made up faddy names - I think kids aren’t fashion accessories.... but there are lots of unusual or foreign gems that I like that fall outside the ‘classic’ bucket

Personally I prefer classic names. I think a "modern" name dates you to a specific time period but there are plenty of nice modern names out there. I don't like names that are too unusual. As a shy child I hated standing out by having an unusual name. I think if you give your child a very non-traditional name, it's sometimes nice to have a classic name as a middle name so the child has a choice of what to use when they are older.

As pps have said it depends what you mean. Non-classic/modern can mean lots of things.

But if you know what you like then don't look on MN for advice because obviously you are saying the majority of people on here disagree with you. You shouldn't care about that though if you are secure in your own taste.

I think MN primarily dislike names that pigeon-hole people into a particular social group, and that may not help the child as they grow into an adult and want to be judged on their qualities rather than their name.

Whether that's right or not is of course, up for debate.