Why are Albert, Stanley and Violet OK but.....

Hahaha, this is so interesting! I kind of escape it because my son has a Welsh name (actually two very old ones - but most Welsh names are ancient) and any other children I may have in the future will also have Welsh names. Somehow the Welsh ones don't date quite as much - although every third girl in my generation is called Nia, and almost none are now. But it's not an old-fashioned name.

Anyhow, my pennorth: I was at school with a Mabel, my age (33 since you ask...) who always hated her name and now calls herself Caroline.

And my favourite 'dated' name - sorry to anyone of this name but I doubt there are any in their thirties or younger! - is Margaret. It's totally disappeared as a name for girls now, I swear. Never met a single one younger than my mother. Margarets, don't hide away: I actually like the name. (Although not the most famous one...)

Hee hee! My MIL is called Barbara (63) and she had sisters called Brenda and Jackie (Jackie was quite a few years younger and seems to have crossed a name-boundary).

FIL sometimes calls her Barbie, which sounds weird on SO many levels!

We have a slight cat problem too - we would probably like to call a possible future DD Rosie, but the cat I inherited is already called that. She's very old, so hopefully it won't continue to be an issue....

Ah, yes, I knew a very cool (at least he thought so) Spanish teenager called Raymundo - not quite the same in English

I work with a lot of Europeans, and a interestingly quite a few of them (in their 20s and 30s) seem to have mid 20th century UK names e.g.

Raymond
Dennis
Frank
Barbara
Martin
Linda

Might be wrong, but I can't see Raymond making a comeback anytime soon...

Reality - I would have liked to called DD Megan but PIL have had 2 dogs called Meg, which Megan would inevitably shortened too, so it went out the window very early

I agree about Richard, Peter, etc. I would choose one of those in preference to the current trend of Stanley and Arthur, either of which I can easily envisage toppling Jack from the No. 1 spot.

Just my opinion though (I speak as someone who has DCs with extremely popular, but very enduring, names).

sorry for being dim, but why the shock at baby's being called Richard, or Peter or Alan, all good classic boys names. I don't understand the fashion for calling babies really cutsie names that "suit them as a baby", they're only a baby for such a short time...

Lucy is a classic name-it is another one that doesn't date.

If you strip away all the associations, Sharon is a beautiful name, nice sound and nice meaning (princess/one who laughs or garden of roses).

I have a 2 year old with Irene (pronounced Iree-nee),as her middle name. It was nearly her first name but it just didn't stick.

My grandmother was called Lucy - she would be 87 now so the name Lucy was very before it's time when she was young.

My uncle was called Herbie (not Herbert, christened Herbie) and this was well before the crazy run away car became popular in the cinema.

When a close friend named her newborn son Harry 16 years ago, everyone looked agog! Harry? What an odd choice! Now every class in ds's school has a couple of Harrys.

I think that Richard is a lovely name! It may not top any lists for popularity but it is never dated.

I know a 12yr boy called Roy which just sounds so wrong on a child imo. I also came across a baby Gordon a few weeks ago.

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Still no explanation for why Richard is shocking I see - or is it that everyone is a Jane Austen fan and thinks it is not respectable??

"He was a very respectable man, though his name was Richard" (Northanger Abbey)

i could add half a dozen others but will offend half of mumsnet.. i reckon barry will be back, when people get bored of harry

My ds2 has a classmate called Richard.

I can remember when he was born, my dh and I were slightly shocked at a baby called Richard - seemed really weird. Have got used to it now though.

I now know a baby called Peter, this will take some getting used to also.

I quite like Pat or rather Patricia which is my mum's name; we toyed with it as a middle name for DD but eventually went for Rose (now that is eternally popular) after my late MIL.

Least likely, imo, to make a comeback would be Cyril - it's just plain wrong!

I know a 12-year old Philip and an 11-year old Gary. Co-incidentally they go to the same school.

My parents/in-laws/aunts and uncles are called Barbara, Philip, Carol, Christopher, Janice, Nigel, Denise, Linda, Susan, Roger, Julie, and Ian. They range from 62 to 49 ... none of their names are in the top 10 are they???
But then, the next generation back includes/d Frank, Olga, Vera, Margaret, Cyril and Lesley (man and woman) so they aren't overly popular either!!
DH's nan is called Jessica; that's pretty enduring.

My nan is Barbara and her name was soooooo fashionable when she was young, everyone called her Babs and she was the girl to be seen with!

I don't know any young Barbaras.

My Grandads have all been quite plain English names, John and Charles and George.

My children got lumbered with similar names.

Names that must not be revived:

Derek
Barry
Brian
Colin

Pam
Pat
Doreen
Mavis

What's wrong with Richard??? (Genuine question)

At least it isn't the name of a grumpy character from the original cast of Coronation Street (Albert Tatlock, Stanley Ogden and Violet Carson -who played Ena Sharples. Ena anyone?)

My DS, 13, has a girl called Barbara in his class, a name I normally associate with the 60+ category along with Brenda! I also know of a young teenager with the first name of Brian.

I also dislike Stanley, Albert, Violet, etc, mainly because I have old and deceased distant relatives with those names and as a young child, I found them all a bit scary.