Staying one generation ahead of "cool"

[NicknameMustbeBetween4and30Cha]

So, we all know the current wave of trendy vintage "cool" names being revived (Ada, Vera, Beatrice, Wilfred, Stanley, Albert, etc), but the problem is that kids don't appreciate how cool their names are! It's just their name to them! And by the time they're in their 20s and 30s and old enough to appreciate it, these names will all be done to death and boring. The new Clares and Emilys and Johns and Davids.

So what we need is a baby name that is not even close to being cool yet, but will be in 25 years. The cool names of the next generation! So that when my child is in his/her 20s, everyone will just be starting to think what a cool and unique name it is!

Any ideas?

[RoomWithALoon]

Cheryl
Christine - shortened to Chris
Pam

[Childrenofthesun]

I think the very next lot of formerly "old-fashioned" names to become popular again will be names of people who are now about 70 or 80, so not quite as old-fashioned as Ada and Vera and Albert seem now, but names like Alan, Brian, Raymond, Roy, Frank, Joyce, Sheila, Pamela, Mary, Irene, etc.

This. Look in Malory Towers or St Clare's for girls' inspiration! Patricia, Gwendoline, Betty, Joan. Sally was popular for decades so I think that could be an option that's not too time-restricted.

[hoping2018]

I love Judith but my husband won't let me!

[qumquat]

Love this thread! My mum (in her 70s) finds it utterly bizarre that babies are being called things like Iris and Alfred these days. She says the only baby with a 'normal' name she's come across is a baby David - which is of course a popular name for her generation to name their kids, but actually very unusual now. So I don't think current parents of small children are the best arbiters of what will be 'cool' next, other than that it is sure to be names people of our generation dislike!

[Lucy1103]

Margaret for sure- people will use it to try and beat Margot’s popularity

[RickOShay]

Love Gloria.

[Clawdy]

Marcia Eleanor, Harriet and Tessa are popular and used for babies now. Agree with you about the other names though.

[MarciaClark]

Gary needs to make a comeback!

Dale was a popular 70s name I think.

What about:
Mark
Paul
David
Barry
Christopher
Philip
Nicholas
Sean/Shaun
Stephen/Steven
Ross
Neil
Brian

And girls:
Carol / Caroline
Melanie
Helen
Catherine
Samantha
Emma
Rachel/Rachael
Cara/Kara
Julie
Jacqueline
Suzanne/Suzanna
Wendy
Jennifer
Tessa
Pamela
Jane
Eleanor
Harriet
Frances

[ABitOTT]

Trevor

Boy or girl. Think this is destined to make a comeback very soon. Would never in a million years have said this 20 years ago but now any name goes so why not?

[PurpleArmy]

Karen, Jane, Amanda, Gary, Cathy, Alison, Brian, Joanne, Patrick, Anthony, Peter, Timothy, Jonathan, Andrew, Helen, Tina, Joanne, Victor

Names from my Primary class in 1976

[SemperIdem]

notas

I really like the name Anita

[Sarahandduck18]

1940s names like

Robert
Jerry
Douglas
Roy
Gregory
Martin
Gene
Gordon
Jerome
Craig
Alan
Gilbert
Glen
Ted
Neil
Hugh
Sidney
Guy

Judy
Betty
Maggie
Donna
Kathy
Dottie
Joanie
Gloria
Marilyn
Bonnie
Phyliss
Pamela
Elaine
Christina
Rita
Gail
Carol
Lois
Jackie
Suzie
Patsy
Louisa
Marcia
Lorraine
Constance
Edna
Victoria
Audrey
Julie
Hazel
Angela
Jill

[notaswarmtomorrow]

There is no way on god's earth that names like Susan or Paul will ever be seen as cool, just no way I don't care how many decades tick by.

[Stabbitha]

Gemma, Kelly, Lisa. Dean. Stephen.. Paul. Gary.

[Quangot]

Just because it's a current trend to choose names from a couple of generations ago, that doesn't mean future generations will do the equivalent. They may go for other types of inspiration altogether.

[pipilangstrumpf]

They don't need to have been classics, they just need to sound 'new' to parents choosing them. Think of all the grandparents names currently coming back into fashion eg Florence, Elsa, Arthur, Alfred etc. Bet our parents wouldn't have imagined that!

[Mamabear4180]

I think an awful lot of names won't make a comeback because they were never real classics in the first place, just a thing of their time probably related to movies etc like Wendy.

I wouldn't gamble with a baby name or try for the cool factor. Pick a name you love regardless. Whimsical or nature names will always have a bit of cool factor so that's the safest bet.

[Enidblyton1]

I love this thread - if only a cool name made a person ‘cool’! Sadly it doesn’t

[qumquat]

Forgot about boys!

My friends and I at school had a rhyme for our dads' names: John, John, John, John, John, Don, Ron and Dick. I don't think people were feeling that imaginative in he 40s!

[qumquat]

As others have said the next generation of cool will be the names of people currently in their late 60s/70s, so:

Patricia
Susan
Valerie
Linda

... In fact nearly everyone I know of that age is called one of those names! I already know a baby Valerie whose parents are very cool so it is starting!

[AJPTaylor]

My great grandparents were Ada, Albert, James. (2 Adas)
My grandparents were Marjorie,Charles,Irene and John. My parents Derek and Eileen.
Me and my siblings typical 1960s names (no harking back). My children typical 1990s names that i thought were timeless (they are not!)
I am really not sure that this names coming into fashion isnt just a fashion in itself. I mean seemingly there are names like Arthur and Elsie around but i dont think it follows that other generation names will suddenly get cool. Names adapt. You never meet a little Lisa but you will meet Elise. You never see a little Angela but you will Angel or Angelica.

[Smoliver]

Tbh, there's some names that are popular now that I thought were way too old fashioned. It surprised to learn that they were popular! And then there are "uncool/old fashioned" names that I really like but then get criticised for being too old fashioned I can't win!

Classic names like Jane, Claire and Heather I think are really sweet. Some other old fashioned names that I quite like include...

Ruth (I know someone in their early 20's with this name and she is cool)
Lillian
Loretta
Diana (I blame Wonder Woman for that name obsession!)
Dorothy
Frances
Cynthia
Joanna
Bonnie
Patsy
Sally
Kathleen

Eugene
Winston
Walter
Leopold
Leon
Howard
Jim
Ray
Frank

[AJPTaylor]

For boys
Derek
Roy
Brian
For girls
Valerie
Brenda
Eileen

Names from the 40s and 50s.

[RedDwarves]

Stop aiming for something "cool" and pick something classic and timeless if you want your child to like their name. This is coming from someone with a timeless name. I don't necessarily love my name, but it's not faddy, everyone can spell and pronounce it, it has no negative associations, and it's never caused me grief.

Elizabeth
Isabella
Alexandra
Juliet
Catherine / Kate
Alice
Hannah
Josephine
Lillian
Emmeline
Grace
Lucy
Madeleine
Sarah
Eloise
Sophie / Sophia
Tabitha

James
Samuel
Matthew
Daniel
Robert
John
Oscar
Edward
Alastair
Benjamin
Reuben
Thomas
William

[buttercup54321]

Jane
Wendy
Denise
Lorraine
Linda
Debbie
Mandy
Tracy
Claire
Paul
Mark
Martin
David
John
Richard
Michael
Peter
Philip
Ian
Adrian
Clive
Derek