Emerging trends?

[Cortina]

Well we've had old lady chic, what else do we sense is being revived or an emerging trend? I've noticed:

WW1 boys off to fight for their country: Cecil, Julian, Gerald, Wilfred etc (possibly old man chic but somehow 'older' than this even and more classic at the same time)?

40s/50s - Daphne, Pamela, Gloria, Hester, Judith, Primrose

The becoming acceptable but formerly thought of as pretentious:

Tatiana
Ophelia
Octavia

Arlo

Which names will top the lists in 10 years plus?
Willoughby (not hugely popular but think may catch on)

Nora
Gillian

Albert
Wilfred

The really hideous old lady names- Enid, Maud etc - are creeping in now, aren't they?

I predict a few of the 70s and 80s girls names like Michelle, Caroline and Lisa coming back some time soon.

Can't believe Enid coming back - is Doris coming back too?

Plain names are coming back for girls:

June
Joan
Mary

and for boys, getting more imaginative
Rafferty

Not long before the Gladys', Ethels' and Gertrudes' PYT? :)

Maybe that's how it works, the 'best' of the 1950s followed by the 'worst' of the 1950s (by then these will have chic novelty value)?

So at first you have Daphne and then Barbara and Joyce?
That sort of thing?

Is Joan coming back belgo? really? It's my name and hideous IMO.

I always though Vera was the ultimate in dowdy - but think it is sounding quite glamorous now.

A lot of the prigs and spies in school stories seem to be named Vera.

Agree that 'old chick' and 'classy' names are still growing in popularity: Albert, Arthur, Quentin, Wilfred, Lucian, Anastasia, Ophelia etc.

I think the 1950s names are not quite yet due for a revival as they are still in use by lots of 50-60 year olds.

You see I quite like Joan, it's beginning to sound fresher than it did. A slow burner. Who would have thought Constance would get popular? I loved this as a child and named my dolls Constance, seems I was ahead of the rest! :)

Thinking of 10-20 years time plus, bigbluebump.

All of our dolls were named William!

Yes, I guess in 20 years or so when our children look to name their babies, names used by their grandparents (as they are slowly dying out) will probably appear different and elegant again.

Foreign versions of quite ordinary boys names - Jacques, Luca, Tomasz etc.

John must be due a comeback soon.

I've also noticed people fall in love with a nickname and then find a longer version of it to use on the birth certificate (or when the child has been naughty!!)

Some 80s names must be getting more used too, for those poor nippers unimaginatively given their father's name.

Cuppateajanice - Nico falls into that category!

This is still "old person chic" though, isn't it? It's just that the gateposts of what counts as old are moving inexorably onwards.

Probably more of a move towards the surnames-as-first-names thing (Beckett, Delaney, etc.)

Am not sure it is completely, I think that's just one major trend?

For example frillier names don't seem to raise eyebrows as they did in the past.

Many older people I know thought they were doing a child a disservice by not giving them a pleasantly plain name that would 'go anywhere'. When I've questioned them they say you should always think about the child in the future and not yourself :).

Yes, but what counts as "plain" versus "frilly" changes over time, as does what is "pleasant" or "unpleasant". So "pleasantly plain" can cover an extremely wide range and is not itself immune to the vicissitudes of fashion.

I think names are like fashion. We get bored of current trends names/styles and always look for 'different', 'new' ones.

Also, people seem less concerned about 'class' than they used to, so names previously regarded as 'posh' are now used much more.

Yes, I think names were much more closely linked to class in days gone by.