Names that WON'T make a comeback

[Greenandcabbagelooking]

Some older names I don't think will be returning:

Ethel
Enid
Sheila
Carol

Archibald
Gary
Brian
Reginald

Any to add?

Isn't Dolly short for Dolores? I certainly can't imagine that coming back! But I can't imagine calling a child Dolly either. It's a ridiculous diminutive

Dolly is a nickname for Margaret. I know an elderly lady named Dolly and the babe suits her. Margaret is a classic and won’t ever go out. I know a couple of baby Maggies and Megs and the Frugality names her little daughter Peggy.

A little research told me Dolly is also short for Martha which I wasn’t aware of beforehand.

• name not babe !!!

@Maduixa why would Jemima and Benedict be forever unusable in the US?

I think all names will come back eventually.

I mean, the old man/lady names will be considered dull and overused by the next generation and they’ll start looking for names that haven’t been used in decades. And boom, suddenly there will be a burst of little Roys, Barrys, Keith’s, Deirdres, Karens, Rita and Carols! We’ll probably end up with a generation of grandchildren names that make up cringe, much like grandparents now can’t understand how some of their generation names have come back.

And even I’m surprised at some names I’ve heard used lately - Agnes, Ethel, Agatha, Sybil, Audrey, Mabel. Personally I find these names horribly dated and I can’t believe they’ve been revived, but I know more than one baby Audrey so I’m must be in the minority!

Although I suspect Boris and Donald might take a while to recover....

Deirdre
Tracy
Ann-Marie
Elaine

Percy
Dwayne
Wayne
Darren

I agree with many others and that almost any name can have a comeback. I’ve heard that names come in 100 year cycles. Names from the 1920s are now catching people’s attention again. I think it also depends some on where you live. I’ve noticed Florence comes up a lot on these threads but where I live (USA) I have never ever heard Florence as a first or middle name for a child. Oliver here is used, but not nearly as popular. Some of the names I’ve seen listed here, I do know children with those names.

This thread is basically my baby list of names we had a few months ago! Our sons names are both in this thread.

Our girls names list included: Nora, Rita, Susanna. All mentioned here as never to be used again. I like them, and they are family names so we would have probably used one as a middle name at least.

Karen
Gertrude
Myrtle

@zigaziga I think both those names could revive in the US, but Benedict Arnold was a traitor in American history over 200 years ago. Jemima is (a beautiful name) in the US maybe associated with a (now retired) brand of syrup. Jemima was a slave woman and the bottles of syrup were often shaped in her image. Jemima was a “mammy” character, and so to older Americans it would have that overtone. As the brand has not been produced for around 20 years I think the name will lose that connotation. I will say that when I was pregnant and told people in Canada I was thinking of that make they all made faces and referenced Aunt Jemima, and I don’t even think we had the syrup up here, just the ads on tv (as we’d watch American and Canadian tv channels).

Godfrey
Humphrey

@Ritascornershop thank you!!!

There's a big trend in my country of birth (non-English speaking) to give babies English language names. But not really current ones, the ones that are popular over there are really random and a bit dated, such as:

Nicole
Yvonne
Rachel
Jane
Patrick
Kevin
Phillip

I don't get it, they all sound a bit ridiculous with local surnames.

Ones in the Uk I don't think will be back soon:
Maureen
Janine
Janice
Valerie
Vera
Doreen
Pauline
Sharon
Sandra
Brenda
Bridget
Margaret
Tracey
Lesley

And for boys:
Gary
Barry
Roy
Jeffrey
Donald
Arnold
Colin
Clive

Karen 😂😂😂 honestly I feel so badly for all the Karen’s out there especially as I’ve always liked the name since outnumbered x

I actually really like Enid OP! 😂

All names will eventually make a comeback. I can't see any baby Gary's for a while, but I'm sure when our great grandchildren are trawling lists looking for something "vintage" and unusual it'll make it's resurgence!

Janet.

I know preschool aged kids called Ian, Alan and Veronica.

I don't think Aimé (masculine) or Emil will come back.

I know a little Veronica and an Emile
Can't see Susan or Sharon coming back either.

Susan is a really pretty name imo

Karen
Maureen
Mildred
Doreen
Bertha
Annette
Norma
Kathleen
Odette

Percy
Clive
Keith
Kevin
Craig
Gary
Gregory
Terrence
Trevor
Victor
Wayne

Julie?

@Greenandcabbagelooking

Some older names I don't think will be returning:

Ethel
Enid
Sheila
Carol

Archibald
Gary
Brian
Reginald

Any to add?

I know an Archiebald (archie) and a Reginald (Reggie) babys. Not sure of the others.

Well a lot of my family names look to be condemmed then

In my family there are the following names born in different generations

Born in the 1960/70s - Brian , Ashley (boy), Ruth, Carol, Julie, Susan, Tina, Ann, Jennifer, Mary, David

Born in the 1920/30s - Margaret, Keith, Jeffery, Patricia, Christine, David, Hilary, Oliver, Fred, Audrey, Peter, John

Born in the 1890/1900 - Oliver, Amy, Ivy, Florence, Nelly, Rose, Joan, Dorothy, Jack, Albert, Robert, Frank

Born in the 1990s - Michael, Matthew, Sophie, Jasmine, James, David, Chloe, Grace, Charlotte, Alice, Katie, Laura, Ella, Georgia, Samantha, Alaina, Sybil Rachel, Millie, Edward

My DDs chosen names for when she has children are Delilah and Theo, but she may change her mind as she is a long way from having babies.

One name I dont think will come back is Desmond.