It's finally happened...70s and 80s names, are they back...?

[Freetodowhatiwant]

The people I was at school with in the 80s are making a come back! I have just heard of a couple (East London based and both quite arty/trendy) who are friends of friends and they have called their baby girl... Lisa.

There were several Lisas in my school so it was really popular (Lisa Marie Presley probably had something to do with that).

Now I think about it I guess it is quite a nice name; short, not too cutesy with its A ending rather than an IE or Y... What names have you heard recently that have surprised you?

We haven't had hyphenated names for a while - Sarah-Jane, Mary-Ann, Peggy-Sue, Maggie-May, Penny-Ann, Pamela- Sue. All good characteristically 70s names.

I prefer Claire, Helen, Lisa, over Isla, Lily, Poppy any day

Deborah, Susan, Barbara, Jean, Jane, Ruth, Philippa ( especially shortened to Pippa).

Votes here for Lisa , Caroline and Linda. Love some names from that era . Our DD is Julia , she is 9. Don’t regret her name for a moment!

I’ve seen Linda mentioned a few times. I’ve always liked Belinda.

I know 2 Samantha's and a Emma all under 7 and a baby Sharon who is 13 months old

I teach. 1200+ pupils. We have a
Steven
Paul
David
Antony
Wayne (Jr)
Andrew
Simon
Philip
Christopher
Shane
Amidst all the Charlies, Joshs, Joes!

Girls
Kirsty
Claire
Mary
Lisa
Maria
Natalie

I don’t think my name will be making a comeback any time soon 😂

I have a real fondness for the name Samantha, I think it’s lovely.When I was little I desperately wanted to be called Jennifer, because the Jennifer in my class had WHITE Mary Jane shoes I was so jealous! I also think Maxine is due a comeback.

I love the names Peter, Andrew, Christopher, Simon, Daniel and David but don’t like the shortened versions as much as they still sound dated.

Lisa, Laura, Leanne, Louise, Lorelei, Lauren, Lucy...I like the L names from my school days much more than many I hear today.

I'm not keen on the names that are popular now - Ava, Eva, Lila, Isla and the long names picked to use a nn like Tilly, Milly, Evie, Rae ...

Welsh name threads always give a list of 1950s and 60s names that are best forgotten, or that I know so many people with that name that it has been worn out.

Clare, Lisa, Caroline, Simon, Peter etc are SO much nicer sounding than the twee names currently used eg Evie, Ellie, Poppy, Eddie, Alfie, Teddie etc.

So thank god this cutesy fashion is ending!

I was born late 70's. In my class at school there were loads of children called
Sarah
Lisa
Melissa
Michaela
Tanya
Donna
Hailey
Michelle
Joanne
Julie

James
Stewart
David
Simon
Peter
Mark
Matthew
Andrew
Ian

Someone I know has just had a baby and called her Hannah. I thought that's unusual nowadays!

Cinderella would be nice if one were confident. Cinders or Cindy for short. Maybe as a middle name, because the pantomime association ( and 'Look behind you!') would be very annoying.

( Certainly excellent for a Persian kitten).

Wow it's very interesting to look at the names regarded as old by British people. Louise has been in the girl top 10 names for years. Is Kevin an old man's name ?! It was the most given name in the 90's here ! But it is regarded as a "poor uneducated people name".

The names I'd never could bring myself to call a baby is : Jacqueline , Claudine , Bernadette , Patricia , Géraldine ( anything in dine or line) , Stéphanie , Aurélie and the worst Véronique!

For boys anything like Emile , Sébastien/Jérôme/André ewwww. Unless you are one of those Iam-so-educated wannabe.

Maybe it depends where you live because I know a fair few Lisas of all ages! I teach an 11 year old one and know another who is about 6. Several in their teens and twenties.

I work in a school with a majority population of students from China. It’s interesting that most of the student’s ‘English’ names are on your lists. Very 1980s. Joanne, Sarah, Cathy, Ashley, Eric, Daniel, Bradley, Derek
In contrast the Chinese students in my high school in the early 90s had names that were very grandma like Florence and Genevieve.

Maybe we could look for future trends in names.

Know a baby Ray(mond) which is cute. Would love to see Simon make a comeback. Its a lovely name

Working in a girls school where most of the pupils are not white, I always find these threads really strange. Tracy, Sandra, Anne, Jessica, Michelle, Lisa, Leanne, Joanne, Clare etc are all pretty common among our secondary age students. There is one particular class with 4 Michelles in one form group of 30. I had two Tracys in my year 11 class of 24 last year. This idea that these names died out in the 80s is pretty alien to me and obviously doesn’t apply in urban, ethnically diverse areas.

@Jaimeles, I know people called Jacqueline , Claudine , Bernadette , Patricia , Géraldine, Stephanie, Sébastien, and André and they are just their names. The thing is that I only know one or two of each.

All these baby Kevin’s!!! You’ve got to be kidding!!!

I know a 5 yr old Debbie, I was surprised asI don’t know any under the age of 30.

Whilst I haven't met any young Lisa's I wouldn't say it 's a particularly dared name.

Names like Laura, Sarah and Louise are timeless. I know a baby Laura, it's a beautiful name.

Love this thread!

I went to school in the 80s with:
Nicola
Emma
Stephanie
Helen
Victoria
Jennifer
Michelle
Joanne
Lindsey
Rebecca
Carla
Laura
Natalie
Rachel
Louise
Kelly

Andrew
John
Christopher
Jonathan
Mark
Ian
Steven
Paul
Craig
Anthony
Lee
Neil
Peter
Michael
Christian
Timothy

Out of all of those, under the age of about 30 I only know of one Jennifer, one Michael & one Jonathan!

I do like Emma, Rachel & Carla and Anthony, Christian & Christopher though.

I also like Joanna, Kirsty & Louisa which have been mentioned.

Interesting stuff!