Chronologically incongruous names in books

[CormoranStrike]

Anyone ever bemused by this?

I’m reading a crime novel, set in Edinburgh in 2018.

There are three 11-year-olds in it, called Alan, Jimmy and Rick. Are any kids of that age Calle debate these days?

I expect 11-year-old boys to be Jack, Lewis and Jayden.

Any other examples?

My sister is called Emma and we lived in the US when she was a child (early 90s). It was so uncommon that that she was routinely called Emily by teachers. So I think in Friends it is a hip, unusual name.

I know quite a few Emmas who are 18-25 now.

Really interesting thread OP. It’s not the same as a novel but Along the lines of American names in British settings. I remember watching an American TV show (reality about birth) where the couple said they wanted a “traditional British name” for their daughter. So they called her Carrington

Teacher in England. Teach 2 Jimmys at the moment. Have a couple of variations of Rick - a Rich and a Ricky.
Have taught two Alans, the last one left about three years ago. Both known as AJ as in Alan Junior

Most of the Emma’s I know are in their 30’s or 40’s, but I have met a number of primary school aged Emma’s.

I think that Karen is a really unlikely name for the daughter in Outnumbered and wonder why they chose that.

Yes lilyfire even my 12 year old ds who’s just watched them all on boxsets said that Karen seemed like a different name choice with the other names.

Reading a Lynwood Barclay book where the 17 year old son is called Derek. Not much mention of technology beyond old computers so I thought it was set in the 90s. The dad quit his job as a driver to earn a living cutting grass. Pre credit crunch. A different era.

It's set in 2010.

Thanks @Cormoranstrike
I’m already a huge fan of Logan
Stuart Macbride’s Ash Henderson books are also excellent - shame there aren’t more of them

American authors naming British characters can go very wrong,I am so tired of reading books set in the UK who either have names that we don't see here - I've never met a Peyton and I work with the public of all ages,or are completely wrong for their age.There seem to be a lot of 25-35ish Pats in books I've come across,whereas in RUKL a Pat will be older than me and I'm 58!

I think sometimes when you know someone with a name that is 'not of their era' when you are still young, you don't realise that it is unusual because it seems normal to you.

So when I was at school in the 80s and there was a girl in my class called Wilma, it didn't occur to me that it was an unusual name for a little girl of that age.

Lilyfire and notreallyhere2, I read that the child actors in Outnumbered chose their own characters' names. I think Karen is a very mature choice for a five? year old. At five, I would probably have chosen something like Tinkerbell or Rosebud.

@treaclesoda that's interesting, I'm also NI and know loads of Emmas. I'm mid 30s, the most common names in my year at uni were Emma, Sarah, David and Andrew. My workplace is 25% Julie.
I have found call the midwife to be really good getting the baby names right for the era.

Bit of a tangent, but there's a point in the Green Road by Anne Enright where a character gets really drunk on rum babas. That's like getting drunk on fruitcake. It completely yanked me out of the story and made me really cross.

I read an Angela Brazil school story with a heroine called Lesbia which wouldn’t work today.

I’m an editor and I quite often have little tussles with my authors about names not fitting! Sometimes I win, sometimes I don’t...

I remember one crime writer with a new standalone featuring a (supposedly) dashing, maverick Male detective called.... Gary. I gently said I didn’t feel the name was quite right. He pondered, completely agreed and re-named him Kevin

It's used to be quite traditional where I live, for farming families in particular, to name a firstborn son using his mother's maiden name. As a result I know quite a few octagenarians who have names that sound like a fictional American detective.

There's a boy in my 7 year old DD's class called Jimmy (we're in Scotland)
Alan is an older guys name, like 30 plus.
Not sure about Rick.

Just on the Friends thing. Emma was the fourth most popular girls' name in 2002 in the USA. So certainly not unusual for its time.

www.babycenter.com/top-baby-names-2002.htm

I kinda like incongruous names... reminds me that despite the list of most common names and the perception that we can 'age' people by their name due to our personal experience, there are always going to be regions and families who buck the trend. I know 4 Alans under 20, a couple of Ricks/Rickys and 1 Jimmy. I also know a few recent Pauls, Stephens, Johns, Marys, Sarahs and Peters. And if a family had an Alan, I would sort of expect sibling names to be in a similar vein.

I'm also fascinated by families that have a mix of unusual names for the era and totally popular or traditional choices. Love it

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/3333149-Outnumbered-why-is-Karen-named-Karen?msgid=80182050

Thread here about why is Outnumbered Karen called Karen.

While doing my family tree I found a Priscilla born in 1694 which was a bit unexpected.

My friend's daughter is called Emma (4) and son James (7). I did think Emma was quite a muted name and couldn't she be more creative but fair play she'll be the only one in her year!

I read a novel set in present day England last year about a group of young people in their twenties, the main characters were Kath, Ray and Phil. Huh ?

That's right Goldilocks.

My sister is called Emma, she's in her mid 40's and there was about 5 other Emma's in her class at school.