The next baby name wave?

[miyajima90]

I'm interested in how to spot where names are going to go next out of curiosity and thinking ahead a little bit. I hated having an old fashioned name when I was at school. Equally I felt sorry for the kids for whom there were loads of others in the year group (Hannah, Laura, Gemma were abundant when I was a kid).

I like the idea of finding a name that is ahead of the wave, as it always makes the adult seem quite young and cool even when they're not haha! Eg I know a 30 year old Alfie, and about six 2 year old Alfie's! So many parents I know complain that their child's name became popular as soon as they were born.

Obviously turn of the century / wartime/granny / grandad names like Evie, Iris, Ivy, Albert, Archie are super popular right now, but what will be the next trend? Does it follow that 60's and 60's names will be the next thing? Susan, Barbara, Mike anyone??!

I could see some of the popular 1950s names coming back. Some of them are nicer to the modern ear than others!

By the time the next naming cycle comes round those names will be granny-chic as opposed to being associated with the middle aged.

Caroline
Susan (or Susannah, Susie)
Deborah

Peter
Anthony
Frank

Yep I'm thinking:

Lillian
Lorraine
Graham
Jacqueline
Gail
Shirley
Martin
Alan

Yes, I think Susan, Deborah, Peter and Anthony will definitely be back, along with other 1950s type names...

Marilyn
Barbara
Angela
Jill
Valerie
Pamela
Jane
Anne
Stephanie
Dorothy

Michael (Mick)
John
Brian
Terence
Lawrence
David
Martin
Raymond
Nicholas
Colin

I think some of the 60s/70s names might become popular again too...

Rachel
Victoria
Emma
Sarah
Heather
Tina
Julie
Amanda
Helen
Claire

Mark
Richard
Christopher
Paul
Jonathan
Timothy
Philip
Andrew
Stuart
Patrick

The 1940s/50s names probably.
Whatever the Sussex baby is called.

I agree with PPs regarding 40s names. Susan, Patricia, Peter...

But I also think nature names are going to grow, things like Fox, Bear... maybe some of the lesser used flower/tree names. And celestial names like Aurora which is growing already (and also Sleeping Beauty, I know).

And perhaps "surname"-y/trade names, for both sexes, though they might be peaking now (and often get labelled "chavvy" here).

Anne
Kate
Lisa
Helen
Tracey
Deborah
Julie
Lorraine
Laura
Dawn
Jane
Kelly
Donna
Faye
Nicola
Michelle
Hayley
Linda
Melanie
Kayleigh
Sharon
Karen.
Stephanie
Tina
Joanne
Jennifer
Antonia
Clare
Courtney
Wendy
Yvonne
Rachel
Rebecca
Sarah
Fiona
Jill
Jodie
Kathleen
Amanda
Carol
Leanne
Stacey
Cheryl
Melissa
Heather
Andrea
Angela
Sheila

Mark
Paul
Anthony
Neil
Nigel
Eric
John
Gregory
Jeff
David
Lee
Peter
Robert
Raymond
Ryan
Dean
Nathan
Steven
Martin
Craig
Jimmy
Christopher
Colin
Keith
Aiden
Carl
Sean
Jordan

I would say, the Renaissance 1300-1600

BOYS:

Aldo
Bosch
Benvenuto
Dante
Fabritio
Cervantes
Galileo
Giotto
Prospero

GIRLS:

Gianetta
Isabetta
Minerva
Tullia
Simona
Lavinia

Missi - loving your list

Thanks, Petal!, I think it's kinda cool too!

Hope it happens!

Names always circle around, don't they. Names such as Linda Sharon and Tracey would have been virtually unheard of 20 years ago. However They're quite retro and chic, now and I suppose nan type names.
Give it another say 15 years names such as Ava Grace Lily Ruby will be dated.
Like names such as Chloe Jade Molly . are starting to date now arent they
Of course there are always exceptions to the rules. I go on this huge quiz site Sporcle and I often do quizzes on the top the top baby names. One quiz Top 1000 baby girl names 1975 and names such as Aurora Summer Autumn. Mia Molly are all on there, so a head of their time then I guess.

When I was in school in the 60s, in Wales everyone was called one of the following English names.
Lots of Welsh names too, but they seem more timeless.

Linda
Beverly
Cheryl
Tania
Susan
Deborah/Debbie
Sally
Karen
Denise
Jane

Nicholas
Andrew
Mark
Robert
David
Christopher
Scott
Martin
Michael
John
Hugh

OMG, wow Awwlookatmybabyspider - no offence to anyone but I hate all the names on that list! I hope this doesn't' come true!!

Yes I think you're right. The coolest people I know have babies called Frank, Barbara, Margaret and Wendy.

Maybe the more traditional 1960s names like

Paul
John
David
Michael

Emma
Jane
Sarah
Claire

David and Peter are brill.

I love Caroline as well!

I think what happens is people search for 'unique names' and then they all end up using from those current unique name lists.

When I was looking for my daughter I noticed Aria was at the top of a few lists like that. And low and behold.. There are now Aria's popping up everywhere. (I didn't choose from one of those lists in the end... There were only 5 babies with her name in 2017)

It's often the name of a recently-arrived-on-the-scene celebrity. Names like Britney, Marilyn, Rihanna, Skylar, Darcey, Jenna, Shannon etc give a big hint as to when they were born.
The names seem fresh at the time.

I came across lists of the top 100 baby names for the 1900s, done every ten years. So 1904, 1914 etc.

Comparing those top 100s with the current top 100 (for England and Wales) then for girls the biggest overlap is 1904 (31 shared names), then 1914 (28 shared), 1924 ( 22) then 1934 (14). After that it's very low single digit overlap. Based on that, for girls names I don't think we're heading for the 50s quite yet - more 1930s and 40s names to come first!

Interestingly for boys the extent of the trend isn't quite as noticeable; an overlap of 28 in 1904 and 11 at the lowest year

So for girls, looking at 1934 I'm going to go with these being climbers soon...
June
Dorothy
Kathleen
Sylvia
Beryl
Betty
Rosemary
Hazel
Ruth
Thelma
Daphne
Peggy
Vera

Love Caroline as Caro is a lovely shortened name

Judy
Ingrid
Bunty
Lydia
Jane

Whatever the new Dr who companions are called.

Amelia, Rose, Martha, Clara all became more popular after they were used in the show.

Possibly names from Greek mythology. I see a lot of Zeus’ children’s names suggested on here and other forums.

I think the cycle of boys names is faster than girls. There seems to be a lot more ‘classical’ boys names.

Just looking at the boys names more

For the girls there were only two names which appeared in every decade from 1904-1994 and in 2017 (it's possible they dropped out in between, I CBA to look!). Elizabeth and Maria

For boys there are 11; George, William, Thomas, James, Alexander, Edward, Joseph, Daniel, David, Michael and Charles.

Boys names don't seem to age as badly - looking at the old lists of top boys names there are far fewer names where you can't imagine it really being used now.

Wonder if that's because there are far more famous historical male figures so we keep hearing the names more? Plus tendency to name after fathers/grandfathers seems to me to be far stronger than naming after mothers

I'm hoping that Sharon and Tracy don't make a comeback, not Brian and Kevin. Those names still. Make me think of Ford Escorts, mullets and white socks with slip ons.

My 30 year old son couldn't understand why my jaw hit the floor when he suggested Alison.
It's actually a lot prettier than many of the names being used now but just sounded dated to me.
So yes, 50's and 60's are coming I'm sure.

Frederick
Bernard
Geoffrey
Julian
Malcolm
Gary
Wayne

Janice
Sandra
Jacqueline
Brenda
Marion
Angela
Elaine
Deborah