How much has your taste in names changed?

[BryKP]

Hi all,

So I'm only 21, still at university and not even in a relationship right now! So no babies for me just yet. But my best friend is due June 10th with her first son and she is really stuck on names. I thought it would be a good idea to just have a browse on here to get some suggestions for her.

This has got me thinking though about how different my preferences may be now compared to when I actually have kids myself (hopefully by my late 20s!) I see a lot of names on here that I love but I'm sure there will be whole new baby name trends in 6 or 7 years, and loads of names I love now may be way too over used by then. Are there any names that you loved a few years ago and would have used had you been pregnant then, but wouldn't use now?

Beyond all recognition thankfully.

My name choice aged 19 was..........Jordan.

For a boy OR a girl

They change so much!

When I got to an age where babies were possible, I always kept note of my favourites. Maybe a list every two years. As a nearly retired lady, my 20s names were bloody awful!

Yes massively. Bonnie-Jean hyphenated and all!
Your taste is also influenced by your partner's taste. DH pretty much rejects 90% of my suggestions lol.

When I was about 10 years old I was adamant I would have 4 children called Peter, Michael, Lindsey and Emma.
By aged 20 I wanted 3 children - Rhys, Joseph and Kirsten.
Now aged 30 (ish) I would like 2 children and front running names include Nathan, Leon, Sophie and Chloe.

So yes taste in names (and number of children wanted!) has changed over time!

I think most peoples taste in names changes with trends, so I am now trying to avoid anything too trendy!

Oh it definitely changes, partly I think because you're influenced by trends (even subconsciously), but also because you change so much, especially over the course of your twenties. At least, I did :)

When I was a teenager I liked really 90s popband names like Aaron, Joshua, and (for a girl) Kristen.

At your age, at uni, I remember being influenced by literary characters and wanted a girl called Sophia Micòl. Much flouncier, more unusual pretentious names. I liked Giacomo or Iacopo for a boy (I do speak Italian though!)

My tastes now (aged 28) are a bit less out there, less desperate to be unique and clever, more classic and timeless for boys. Though I still like foreign, unusual, pretty names for girls.

Hugely change!

When I was 17 I loved the name Chelsea Leanne!!

Ha!

When we played Mums n Dads as kids, my boy names were Mark and Graham!! Pmsl!

I have 2 boys now....neither of them called those names.

If they had been girls they would have been Annabel Amy and Sofia Oriele.....nothing like Chelsea!

In contrast to the other posters my tastes haven't changed much I'm only 20 but I've been thinking about baby names since I was tiny :p

When my brother was born if he'd been a girl I was told to pick the name as my parents couldn't agree I said Elizabeth. And I would call this baby Elizabeth if it wasn't too similar to dps daughter's. There aren't any names I've previously liked which I now hate but there are several I like more or less. Also dps opinions have made me consider other things. Books and films do make me temporarily LOVE a name I like only like though.

My taste didn't change between my teens and my 20s. I decided, aged 16, that if I had 2 daughters they would be called Elizabeth and Eleanor. I had DD1 when I was 29 and DD2 aged 31 and they are, indeed, Elizabeth and Eleanor.

However, if I was having babies now, I would choose different names.

My favourite boys name ever goes back 30 years. I named DS1 it and it's still my favourite now.

A lot - if you'd told me 15 years ago if call my son Henry I would have fallen off my chair!

*I'd

My teenage babies would've been Jackie, Tracy and Corey for a boy - you can probably guess my era from that!
In my twenties a girl would've been Chloe, Molly or Megan and a boy Oliver.
My dcs are not called any of those. I still like my twenties names but our surname is bloody awful, sorry, difficult and didn't go.

In my early 20s, my favourite names were different to those I prefer now (31 now). I liked Mia and Sebastian then but have since gone off them.

I prefer dd1's middle name to her given name and wish I'd been stronger and pushed for that middle name to be her first name.

I like names now that sound kind of flouncy (to my ears): mostly flower names for girls, as well as Victorian 'virtue' names.

Meaning is extremely important to me. My own dds names have significant meanings to us and, although trends change and my own tastes fluctuate, those meanings hold firm.

Oh, and I remember naming my first baby doll as Abigail.

Sophia, Annabelle and Camille are names I've loved for ages, but curiously have never used
Oh well, if there's ever a dd3 ...

Always been fascinated by names, remember reading a Collins pocket names book for fun (!) as a primary school kid! Loved what I thought of as American names as a teenager - Chad, Jordan, Matt, Corey
Girls names - liked ones such as Nicole, Julia, Kirsten and Kristen
Now, meanings have a huge factor and love biblical names. Would never have thought I would name my kids what we did, but I do love them..the meanings are v important to us both
DD1 if had been a boy would have been Noah - could not believe it when the name became so popular a few years later!!

Favourite names in my 20s were amber and adele. I recently had a baby girl and called her Faye so yes they do change. Although I've always liked Leah. OH didn't like it though (just as well - wouldn't have worked calling her Faye Leah (Failure)

I love Russian history as a teenager and so Anastasia was my favourite name. I did not use it when i had my daughters in my late 30s.

Very interesting question OP:

When I was a little girl playing with dolls, they were called Amanda, Samantha and Jennifer. Terribly 'exotic' names back then. I wouldn't dream of using any of them now although have to admit with reluctance that I retain a certain fondness for the name Samantha but not enough to use.

I've been influenced by work colleagues, friends and music. For a while I loved the name Ramona because of Bob Dylan, equally Martha because of Tom Waits. I've also been turned off names due mainly to reality tv shoes and not clicking with certain people with that name.

With age, I've reverted to older names and I'm more influenced by literature. I'm tired of very popular names. I'm also more interested in using family names.

To sum up, my taste is changing all the time. My daughter is only two years old and while I wouldn't change her first name, I would change her second name.

Taste has changed some. My favourite girl name stayed from 10 years old until I had my daughter at 34, when I used it. The others on the list changed frequently. I liked Rebecca at 14, Jordan and Devon at 18, Georgia and Aislin at 27. The boys varied less. If anything I think how much I care what others think has changed the most. I used to take friends' and family members' opinions into account, at least somewhat. Now I couldn't care less what others think. I like what I like and name my children whatever seems to fit them. Anyone who doesn't like it is free to name their own children whatever they choose.

When I was about ten, I liked Lauren, after Lauren Bacall, and it was before it was everywhere. I've always liked Samantha- I see it as a witch's name, probably because of the tv show Bewitched. Likewise, Abigail from The Crucible, which I did use when I had my first dd at age 23. Nowadays, aged 40 and not planning to have any more children, I favour Morgana for a girl. I will just have to have several pets .

My tastes changed massively. I remember in my late teens liking Kayla and Kayleigh - anything with a K. In my 20s I didn't really think about it as I kind of went off having kids. In my thirties I thought about names again and was set on Gabriella for a girl (I never thought about boys names!) and then when it came down to it and I was actually got pregnant and started to look at names Gabriella got edged out.

When I was 7 I called my baby doll Charlene as this was the name of the actress that played Lucy in Dallas .

When I was 13/14, I thought I would call my daughters something like Savannah, Pascal, Tempest or Storm.

I'm in my late thirties now. I have two little boys. If I'd had girls they would be Tabitha and Sylvie/Freya/Stella (we never could decide). I'm grateful every day that I didn't have girls when I was very young!!!

My taste hasn't changed at all :/

I've always liked very traditional (plain) names like James for a boy. The girls name I like and will use if I ever have a daughter has been my favourite since I was in primary school.

:D

In my teen i always wanted Andrew for a boy. Now my DH is Andrew