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?

[pouraglasshalffull]

There are a lot of middle aged men's names (Ian, Keith, Tony etc) that I just cannot see making a comeback, I hate them!

Was it last year that not a single baby in the UK was called Ian, definitely not making a comeback anytime soon!

[TinyRick]

I always think about this when I watch 'Bob's Burgers'. The kids' names are Tina, Gene and Louise.

[LetsSplashMummy]

I have a name which is currently fashionable for children, it doesn't make me cool to anyone, it just means people muddle me and my DD up all the time.

[ASliceOfArcticRoll]

A selection of names of young men in 1939-1945 as gleaned by me from the internet:

Gerald Reginald Lionel Leonard Vernon Geoffrey Richard Alan Ronald Roland Philip Kenneth Douglas Neil Martin
Harold Stanley Raymond Percy Derek Walter Giles Robert Arthur Gordon and many, many Peters.

[ASliceOfArcticRoll]

I think it's nice to go back in your family tree and look to names of your great grandparents. My first born I went for a modern name. After that I chose family names and they were interested to know about these people from their past. First born misses out on that.

[NoSleepTil2030]

Margaret and Susan are due comebacks I think, but probably as variations e.g. Maggie and Suzie. Maybe some forms of Lynn? Dorothy?

For boys I wonder if Charles will make a comeback, I've never met a young one. And it's been ages since I met a David under 30! Nicolas too maybe, don't come across many baby Nicks these days. Roy/ Ray / Raymond?

[NotAnotherJaffaCake]

Margaret/Margot are already back - I know three of them under 5.

Looking at my family tree would be no help - most people are called William or Mary!

[HJL2506]

My husband is called Derek and he's 31. I don't exactly think that's cool! I think name a child whatever you want, whether others think it's cool or not..

[rainingcatsanddog]

Plenty of boys called Charlie around. When I was at school cool girls called Charlotte was nicknamed Charlie rather than Lottie.

[Quangot]

Herod
Caecilius
Google
Ugg
Jailer
Satellite
Gobbolino
Urban
Neville

Anaconda
Terra
Doris
Priscilla
Pryce-Tagge
Gerda
Spye
Rockette
Priestesse

[NoSleepTil2030]

Oh yeah lots of Charlies but not Charles. Unless that's on their birth certificates...

[Threeandabit]

Names really interest me. They always have, and I would be willing to bet I spend much longer thinking about other people's name choices than is natural!

I still wouldn't deem someone's name "cool" just because it was picked 20-30 years before it become popular.

I have known an Isobel, Evie, Annabelle and Nancy whose names didn't fit with their generation. I didn't really think anything of it beyond noticing that the names were a bit out of step with their generation. I didn't view them as being cooler once their names got popular.

Just pick something because you like it.

[notaswarmtomorrow]

I cannot bear all those Linda, Yvette, Sue, Karen, Anita, Debbie type names. I do not imagine in a million years that anyone would ever like them or use them again they are just god awful (and I do have one of them sadly...)

I do love the idea of Guinevere, Isolde, Ophelia type names though.

[buttercup54321]

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

[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

[AJPTaylor]

For boys
Derek
Roy
Brian
For girls
Valerie
Brenda
Eileen

Names from the 40s and 50s.

[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]

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.

[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!

[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!

[Enidblyton1]

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

[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.

[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!

[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.

[Stabbitha]

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