How will this name date?

[newcastlecoal]

Hi, I've read a few times that some people think Lily is faddy and will date quickly. Do you think this is true considering that it's been around for years in a way that other names that pinpoint the owner to a specific decade, for example Tracy or Sharon, have not?

I think that in 70-80 years time there will be old peoples homes filled with Lily's, Evie's and Molly's, just as there are now.

Lily is not faddy / specific to a certain decade.
My great aunt Lily died three years ago, aged 101!

I think it's a lovely name, and very traditional.
It won't date.

Any name that has been used more at one particular time than another will date. Eg Lily - not many around from the 80s, lots around from the OOs.

Altho I agree it's not faddy in the same way Eg Jayden is.

Lily will be to our children what Sarah or Tracey is to us. Very popular names get associated with the era they were very popular.

Is Sarah dated? I think its really pretty.

Tracey isn't.

Lily wont be the same as Sarah, Tracy, Jane.

It's fairly classic but I think it'll be one of those names you can date quite easily. I also include Isabel/le/obel/bella and Olivia in the same pot. 10 years ago I would have included Chloe, Lauren and Jessica.

All nice enough, but very popular.

I personally think its timeless and beautiful tho very popular at the moment.

Sarah is a classic and won't date. Lily comes somewhere between Sarah that won't date and Tracy that has dated. Ruby, Pearl,Elsie, etc are the ones that will date.

Sarah is a classic and wont date???

It has 1970's positively engraved all over it

No it doesn't.

I think it is the vast rise in names that cause them to date. Names that are popular over a long time tend not to date be as faddy as those which have a sudden rise.

So has Lily had a sudden rise...?

If you have a look at the name stats between 1996 and 2010

Lilly rose from 375 (89 births) to 39 (1512 births)
Lily rose from 85th (651) to 4th (4257)

So it has gone from 740 babies in 1996 to 5769 babies in a 14 year period.

And that's before you add in the hyphenated names...

Lily mae - from 3795 to 241
Lily rose from 3795 to 268
lily may from 1914 to 285
lily mai from 0 to 480
lily ann from 1755 to 730
lily grace from 0 to 758

and there's similar rises for these hyphenated names but spelt Lilly and there are the other spelling variations to consider such as Lillie.

Whereas, if you compare it to a name not considered as Faddy - say Elizabeth (often cited on here as a true classic and therefore not easy to date) over the same ten year period, it went from 26th to 49th in the same 14 year period.

Similarly, Sharon was not invented or a new name (apparently been around since the 1920s) but it reached no 10 in the UK name stats in the 1960s and was 17th in 1974, but has not been in the top 100 since the 1980s (according to wikipedia) - its the huge rise and decline in popularity that makes it 'faddy'.

So yes, I would consider Lily to be faddy.

pinkpyjamas - you have just shown that it is a cyclical name and will date.

There are old ladies with the name, little babies and toddlers with it, but hardly anyone in between.

Therefore - it will date.

My own name is exactly as you describe. I'm named after my grandmother, born turn of last century, and the name was popular then. When I was born, my Dad says that apparently a load of them turned up in the obituaries - all the old ladies with my name passing away! When I was given it in the 70s it was considered positively old-fashioned (and not in a good way!) as not enough time had passed before people were ready to like it again.

Now - it (and its variations) are back in fashion and so over-used as to be considered dull by many. It's Isobel.

The fact that my grandmother and quite a few of her peers were called it doesn't prove that it's timeless, but rather that it's cyclical/faddy and will date! :)

Sarah is a bit of an odd one.

It is an enduring name, but it had a huge surge in the 70s which means that it sounds a bit too dull and familiar to our ears and is why very few babies are called it these days. Now that we're parents, we're looking for different sorts of names from those we associate with people our own age.

It is a classic name that is just out of favour a bit right now. Nizlopi - maybe you're a bit younger than some of us - perhaps the 70s Sarah extravaganza passed you by. Ask anyone of us born then if we know many and the answer will inevitably be yes.

The DCs know a huge number of Saras and Sarahs. Every class they have been in has had at least two. They all tend to have a sister named Rachel. Maybe there's something in the water.

Lily will be, and is, already dated. I'd say it's about 5-10 years old in popularity.

That doesn't mean to say it's not a lovely name. It is really gorgeous. But it's a bit like Lauren - it's had it's day and is a little bit passe.

Sarah was very popular in 70s but I knew several when I was at school,I am older, and as a supply teacher I come across hundreds of names and there are always Sarahs. It is a classic, like Elizabeth and Catherine. If I had a girl I would use it and it wouldn't date the DD.
Anyone called Lily is very old or very young. There will probably always a few, people like flowers as in Daisy or Rosie. It isn't quite as easy to tell the age as with Ruby, Pearl, Linda, Maureen, Patricia, Elsie etc.

Yes, of course it will date. Anything that becomes 'fashionable' e.g. bellbottom jeans in the 70s, the name Sharon in the 60s, the name Chloe in the 1990s etc, - anything that becomes VERY popular quickly will inevitable become unpopular as people tire or it.

Names or fashion that never make it in the top 100 (e.g. the classic navy polo shirt) will not date as it has never become trendy.

SodoffBaldrick curse this youth of mine!

I think Lily is quite a classic name. There was quite a gap though with hardly any girls called Lily for a very long time. But I don't think it's a faddy name. It's very pretty. And it will have its ups and downs in popularity.

I agree that Lily is pretty now. But 20 years ago not many liked it enough to name their daughters it. So yes, I think it is going to 'date' due to having risen very quickly up the ranks (and having to fall down again as it loses popularity).

Sarah is not dated.

Sarah and Elizabeth are the only two girl names that have been in the Top 100 in the UK EVERY YEAR since the lists were first compiled in the late 19th century. That's pretty God damn timeless to me.

Not wanting to sound morbid - but walk around any graveyard and there are many Lily's of varying ages!

I personally think Lily is a timeless classic, like Eizabeth, Sarah, Rebecca, Catherine, Charlotte, Emily etc

Now put that alongised names such as oh i don't know Sharon, Tracey, Kylie, Melanie, Daisy