Classic names that are currently underused

[HoneyandRum]

It's mostly boys names that come to mind

Mark
Matthew
Luke
John (all the Gospel writers then!)
Jonathan
Paul
Stephen
Gregory
Peter
Andrew
Philip

Mary

Oh I've realised that my list is all made up of names with a history in the Christian tradition so that might explain why, with the decline in church attendance? Would that really be a reason or is it purely fashion?

Squoosh agreed. The US population is at least 25% Catholic so that also explains Michael's continued popularity there too. Gabriel survived much better better in Ireland for the same reason.

Other classic Catholic names
Teresa
Francis
Xavier
Benedict
Raphael/Raphaela
Clare
Patrick
Bridget
Maria

Not to say non-Catholics don't use them but Catholics consistently do.

Cross-post on Bridget and Francis

We had a neighbor called Bridget back in the US she was born around 2003. Her parents said they had never met a Bridget they didn't like. Her brother was Jack.

There aren't many names beginning with B or P (I don't count Phoebe!) that are popular right now?

Boris?

I know lots of Ben / Benjamin

We are going for Mary if we have a little girl.

More underused for baby girls?

Ellen
Caroline
Jane
Frances
Rachel
Joan
Ann/Anne
Deborah
Virginia
Sally
Patricia
Dinah

www.theatlantic.com/sexes/archive/2012/12/why-dont-parents-name-their-daughters-mary-anymore/265881/

This is a nice article on the use of the name Mary. We are both Catholic.

TheApprentice hello Mary !

Interesting MrsPaddy but I wonder why he doesn't also follow Maria/Marie as those of Latino descent are a large section of the population and most are at least nominally Catholic. I agree with him on the naming trend for more individual name choices.

Zeb as rather fantastic though! Mentioned as a grandad's name. Is it safe enough to have a Zebeedee these days [showing my Magic Roundabout age]?

Susan
Helen

Michael
Peter

Patricia
Theresa
Simone
Maria
Mary
Helen
Felicity

Paul
Steven
Stephen
David
Richard
Nicholas
Andrew

Barbara

Colin
Lesley
Julie
Sharon
Stephen
Adrian
Kay
Phil

Just realised. You said " classic" OP

Yes, Honey, that was pretty obvious wasn't it? I would like it if Kate and Will's baby is a girl and is called Mary - its due a comeback I think! Incidentally I am not Catholic but Mary was the only name my Dad liked in the baby book apparently!

Rebecca and Sarah are still in common use for babies - they're both in the top 100 for 2011 anyway.

I don't know if they're classic or not but names I haven't seen on anyone under 13 for a long time are:

Amanda, Angela, Barbara, Brenda, Belinda, Caroline, Clarissa, Celia, Diana, Erica, Frances, Freda, Gloria, Gwendoline, Heather, Irene, Julie, Janet, Jane, Jean, Joan, Laeticia, Marjorie, Maureen, Monica, Muriel, Patricia, Pamela, Prudence, Ruth, Rita, Susan, Shirley, Sandra, Theresa, Ursula, Veronica, Virginia, Winifred, Wilhemina, Yolanda, Yvonne, Yvette.

Alistair, Nigel, Norman, Ian, Frank, Gareth, Graham, Colin, Derek, Darren, Martin, John, Timothy

I think boys names are a) less numerous anyway and b) don't go out of fashion so much

My daughters are Sarah and Mary.

Sarah might still be top 100, but it's been sliding down the list for several years now, and it's certainly not as widely used as it was at the height of its popularity. When my Sarah (3) was born, I got a lot of, "oh you don't hear that a lot these days, how beautiful" comments. In fact people still say today, "how refreshing to hear of a Sarah among a sea of

*daughters' names - d'oh!

Mary is a lovely name and will be a lot more cutting edge due to being so little used for babies.

Sarah
Elizabeth
Ruth
Robert

Anthony - is that being used in the UK at the mo for babies?

Mary is making a big comeback in Ireland. I know at least 2 baby Mary's.

That's interesting that Mary is already making a comeback in Ireland, the last batch would only be in their mid to late 40's by now.

I'm a bit torn on Mary, on the one hand I love it's elegant simplicity, on the other hand I don't like the Virgin Mary connection and the fact that I and every other Irish woman my age has Mary as their middle name.

I can think of a number of girl's names that I think of as being elegant / grown up, which don't seem popular:

Audrey
Evelyn
Miriam
Ursula

Generally pick up a D H Lawrence book and choose a woman's name at random!