Do you think there will ever be an 80’s name revival?

[Wotsitone]

Catherine
Georgina
Sarah
Michelle
Leanne
Julie
Joanne
Amanda

?

Out of these I would only consider Sarah

Yes there will be. But not yet. Once the 80s babies are grandparents or even grandparents they’ll make a come back.

10-15 years ago I’m sure the thought of an Arthur / Ada / Iris Etc was bonkers but all popular names now

I remember my mum saying when Prince William was born people couldn’t believe how awful and old fashioned it was.

Same with Brian, Richard and Susan... I can’t see them making a comeback at all but I’m sure they will....

Are they 80s names? Julie, Michelle, Sarah,
Joanne etc seem a bit earlier. I was born in 84 and classmates where Hayleys, Katies,
Emma, Stacey, Zoe, Natalie, Danielle, Lynsey, loads of Amy/Amies, Vicky, Hannah, Nicola, Toni, Leila, Talia, Kelly, Kerry, Kayleigh, Claire, Jenny, Louise, Kathryn, Olivia, Laura, Lucy/Lucie, Tara, Sara, Zara, Stephanie, etc we did have a Leanne and an Amanda though.

I know babies born recently with 70s/80s names like Sarah and Laura and I don’t think Catherine ever went anywhere, it’s still a classic. I know a little Georgina as well.

Names that are really 80s like Kylie, Tiffany, Stephanie, Danielle, Kelli, Stacey, Linzi etc I think will be quite a long time in coming back around again.

That being said I do like Daniella which is quite 80s.

I actually quite like Amanda (although I’m not so keen on Mandy)

I agree that those names are more 70s than 80s.

I think of Amy, Emma, Gemma, Hannah, Jane, Jenny, Kimberley, Rebecca, Rachel and Tamsin as more 80s names.

Oh and Jodie

Yes, of course. Many of them are still popular today.

Top 100 girl and boy names in 1984 in England and Wales:

SARAH
LAURA
GEMMA
EMMA
REBECCA
CLAIRE
VICTORIA
SAMANTHA
RACHEL
AMY
JENNIFER
NICOLA
KATIE
LISA
KELLY
NATALIE
LOUISE
MICHELLE
HAYLEY
HANNAH
HELEN
CHARLOTTE
JOANNE
LUCY
ELIZABETH
LEANNE
DANIELLE
DONNA
KATHERINE
CLARE
STEPHANIE
STACEY
LAUREN
JOANNA
KERRY
EMILY
CATHERINE
SOPHIE
ANNA
JESSICA
ZOE
KIRSTY
KIMBERLEY
KATE
JENNA
CAROLINE
NATASHA
RACHAEL
AMANDA
KATHRYN
KAREN
ALEXANDRA
JODIE
ALISON
SARA
JEMMA
CARLY
HEATHER
HOLLY
RUTH
FIONA
MELISSA
ANGELA
SUZANNE
KATY
MARIE
NAOMI
CHERYL
MELANIE
SALLY
JULIE
CHARLENE
JADE
SIAN
TRACEY
ELEANOR
DEBORAH
MARIA
LINDSEY
ABIGAIL
LINDSAY
SUSAN
ALICE
GEORGINA
AIMEE
JANE
KIM
CARLA
CHRISTINE
DAWN
TANYA
JENNY
ANDREA
LYNDSEY
JACQUELINE
LYNSEY
CHLOE
MARY
LEAH
TONI

CHRISTOPHER
JAMES
DAVID
DANIEL
MICHAEL
MATTHEW
ANDREW
RICHARD
PAUL
MARK
THOMAS
ADAM
ROBERT
JOHN
LEE
BENJAMIN
STEVEN
JONATHAN
CRAIG
STEPHEN
SIMON
NICHOLAS
PETER
ANTHONY
ALEXANDER
GARY
IAN
RYAN
LUKE
JAMIE
STUART
PHILIP
DARREN
WILLIAM
GARETH
MARTIN
KEVIN
SCOTT
DEAN
JOSEPH
JASON
NEIL
SAMUEL
CARL
BEN
SEAN
TIMOTHY
OLIVER
ASHLEY
WAYNE
EDWARD
SHAUN
AARON
MOHAMMED
GAVIN
LIAM
NATHAN
ALAN
GRAHAM
ROSS
KARL
MARC
ADRIAN
PHILLIP
PATRICK
LEWIS
COLIN
RUSSELL
CHARLES
SHANE
GEORGE
SAM
MATHEW
JACK
RICKY
DALE
TONY
JOSHUA
ALEX
DOMINIC
BARRY
LEON
MOHAMMAD
TERRY
GREGORY
DANNY
BRIAN
KEITH
ANTONY
KIERAN
JUSTIN
BRADLEY
JORDAN
MARTYN
LEIGH
ABDUL
DAMIEN
STEWART
ROBIN
IAIN

80s- yes
70s- never!!!

Give it sixty or seventy years, I reckon.

Fgs where have you been, they are already back.

Thanks for posting that list from the year I was born!

I’d still consider using these as at least middle names and perhaps first in some instances.

EMMA
REBECCA
CLAIRE
RACHEL
NATALIE
LOUISE
HANNAH
HELEN
CHARLOTTE
LUCY
ELIZABETH
CLARE
LAUREN
EMILY
CATHERINE
SOPHIE
ANNA
RACHAEL
ALEXANDRA
HEATHER
HOLLY
RUTH
MELISSA
MARIE
NAOMI
ELEANOR
MARIA
ALICE
CHLOE
MARY
LEAH

CHRISTOPHER
JAMES
DAVID
DANIEL
MICHAEL
MATTHEW
ANDREW
RICHARD
PAUL
MARK
THOMAS
ADAM
JOHN
BENJAMIN
STEPHEN
NICHOLAS
PETER
ANTHONY
ALEXANDER
LUKE
JAMIE
WILLIAM
JOSEPH
BEN
OLIVER
EDWARD
LIAM
NATHAN
MARC
PHILLIP
SAM(UEL)
MATTHEW
ALEX
DOMINIC
LEON
GREGORY
DANNY
ANTONY
ROBIN

This link is a bit of fun,
www.ons.gov.uk/file?uri=%2fpeoplepopulationandcommunity%2fbirthsdeathsandmarriages%2flivebirths%2fdatasets%2fbabynamesenglandandwalestop100babynameshistoricaldata%2f19041994/historicname_tcm77-254032.xls

I don't think that many names popular in the 80's (eg. Sarah, Laura, C/Katherine, Emma etc for girls and Matthew, Michael, Christopher, Andrew etc for boys) will ever go away or be truly "out" since they are classic names that are well used historically - in classic novels, by royalty or biblically (depending on the name), they are just not top 50 currently.

However some of the less classic names haven't aged well (and I can't see them making a comeback for at least another 50 years when they might sound fresh to our grandchildren!) Kimberley, Samantha, Stephanie, Leanne, Gemma, Nicola etc are all a bit of their time as are Shane, Ashley, Bradley, Jordan, Craig, Jason etc

I dont know the eras they are from but names i adore if i ever have a girl would be Linda or Carol.

I’d say Catherine, Georgina and Sarah are quite classic rather than 80s.

At least half of your list is 60s and 70s, not so much 80s.

I was born in 88 and know people my age with all of those names. Catherine is timeless though.
80s names may sound a bit dated now but at least they're proper names unlike the made up names of today with weird spellings (yes I know all names are technically made up but you know what I mean). Give me a nice normal name like Michael any day over something like Tyielor.

I was talking about this the other day with friends my age (35) and also my mum, as I’m pregnant and have Rebecca, Catherine/Katherine and Beth on the list. They seem much more like names for actual people to me compared to the cutesy likes of Evie that most of my 6yo DD’s classmates are called. Incidentally my DD’s name is Alice so I guess classics are my taste. The likes of Kimberly, Nicola, Leanne etc are more 80s style and a step too far at the moment but no doubt they’ll come around again! My friends my age are Vicki (Victoria), Rachel, Claire, Amy and a whole load of Lauras.

Those saying they are not 80s names, I was born in the 80s and those were my classmates names?. I have recently met a little Joanna, a little Jodie and two little Eleanors so yes they must still be around but not very popular. I can’t see Michelle, Julie, Barry and Keith making a comeback but as you say look how popular Arthur and Alfie etc are now

From that list I think the below are typical 80s names that are unlikely to be super popular any time soon - the rest are more 'classic' names that never really went away.

GEMMA
SAMANTHA
NICOLA
LISA
KELLY
NATALIE
LOUISE
HAYLEY
JOANNE
LEANNE
DANIELLE
DONNA
STEPHANIE
STACEY
LAUREN
JOANNA
KERRY
ZOE
KIRSTY
KIMBERLEY
JENNA
CAROLINE
AMANDA
KAREN
JODIE
ALISON
JEMMA
CARLY
RUTH
MELISSA
ANGELA
SUZANNE
CHERYL
MELANIE
SALLY
JULIE
CHARLENE
JADE
SIAN
TRACEY
DEBORAH
LINDSEY
ABIGAIL
LINDSAY
SUSAN
AIMEE
JANE
KIM
CARLA
CHRISTINE
DAWN
TANYA
ANDREA
LYNDSEY
JACQUELINE
LYNSEY
LEAH
TONI

That was interesting - a lot of the classic names I deleted were near the top of the list. So maybe it's 'safer' to pick a name in the top 30 than a name in 30-100 if you don't want to risk an outdated name...?

Having said that, I have a friend who just called her baby Abigail, and another who called her Megan (maybe that's more 90s), so they certainly haven't died out...

I was born in the 60's and I know plenty of people of a similar vintage with those names - with the exception on Leanne, which is pure 80's.

They are classic names, which have never really gone away.

A lot of 80s names are really lovely (there was a reason they were popular first time round), they were just done to death when we were young. They'll be back when they become granny/grandad names at the latest.

Sarah, Claire, David, Laura, Rachel, Rebecca, Matthew, Jonathan, Robert - all lovely.

They are all ‘60s names. I was born in the ‘60s and I had people called every single one of those names, several times over, in my year at school -bar Georgina and Leanne. I’m called one of those names too.

My 4 year old is named one of those names on the 84 list.... when we named her at birth we had quite a few "oh we haven't had that name in a long time"
Then the health visitor turned up and said
"How strange, haven't had that name in years but had another this morning!

I was worried we'd inadvertently chosen a name that was about to become popular... but so far there hasn't been any others!

Her class is filled with very "now" names...