Thoughts on Joan?

129 replies

WhiskyCollins · 10/08/2026 11:36

Stuggling to decide on a name for my week old baby girl!

Nothing on the pre-birth shortlist quite works.

Looking for something short - frilly or overly feminine girls names aren’t my taste and her surname will be double barrelled.

I like Niamh, Tess, Erin and Joan but there’s just something about Joan that is drawing me in. Interested to hear other thoughts and if people are seeing/meeting many baby Joans these days?

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ZoyaTheDestroyer · 12/08/2026 07:38

treatmenaicly · 11/08/2026 19:13

You can't predict that every name that was popular at a certain time will definitely make a come back. 100 years ago Mildred was in the top 20 and before that Gertrude, but I can't see either of them ever coming back - they certainly haven't so far.

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I… did not make that prediction in the slightest! I can’t find Mildred or Gertrude in the top 20 at all in the 20th century - in E&W Mildred’s peak was #72 in 1904, and Gertrude’s was a bit higher at #33 in the same year. I’d agree with you that if the 100-year rule were infallible then they would have come back by now.

If we did want to consider what might be coming down the line , the 1934 top ten was:
Margaret
Jean
Mary
Joan
Patricia
Sheila
Barbara
Doreen
June
Shirley

I don’t think they’ll all resurface in the next decade (and I think the Triumph bra has well and truly done for poor Doreen) but a number of these have already been mentioned on this thread. It was just as unthinkable twenty years ago that anyone would name their child Ivy or Elsie and they have both broken the top ten in recent years.

LancashireButterPie · 12/08/2026 08:54

I like Joan but prefer Jane.

ImpunityJane · 13/08/2026 15:19

I have come across two babies called Joan (nn Joni) and one Jean recently

Mimilamore · 13/08/2026 17:34

Love it… due a revival

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