Short, simple, classy and underused names

[YouTubeNamer]

List some names please for boys and girls ☺️

Rose. I really don't like it as a middle or hyphenated name (eg Amelia-Rose, Lily Rose etc) but as a single name I absolutely love it.

I know a 6 year old boy called Anthony, which is a fantastic name.

It's a rarity these days, I think.

John. Brilliant name, so underused!!
Seth
Robert
David

Clare
Sarah
Lucy
Helen

I was thinking today that Zoe is such a lovely, simple name.

@Fullofpissandvinegar

I know 4 Lara’s, so wouldn’t say that is underused. May Hope Thea John Luke Paul

I would say the same about Luke, as I know a few Luke's and Thea seems very popular at the moment. I think regional variation plays a huge part - Lara seems more common in places like London, but UK wide it has only just crept back into the top 100 this year (usually stays outside it). I agree that old- fashioned classic options like Hugh, John, Peter, Philip, Mark, Paul, Mary/May, Helen, Susan, Jane and Ann/e etc are safer bets in terms of current underuse, though.

Anne
Katie
Lorna
Lauren
Sophie
Faye
Jane
Sarah

Art
Ben
David
Ian
Seth
John
Jake
Jack
Louis
Liam

Rose
Cathy
Nell
Merryn
Faye
Lois

Billy
Joe
Tallis
Caleb

Cara
Lara
Mae
Bess
Nell
Beth
Ivy
Gina
Rae

Jude
Theo
Hal
Sean
Guy
Ian
Paul
Ray

Iris

Jane

Rory (though going up in popularity a lot)

Ruth
Jane
Blythe
Zoe
Faith
Flora
Carrie

Hugh
Seth
Gus
Rex
Rhys

Ines

Clara

Frances

Iona

Lucy

Silvie

Flora

Max

Louis

Patrick

Jago

Saul

Fred

Alice

Annie

Ruth
Emily
Lara
Clara
Beth
Julia
Jane

Adam
Hugh
Jack
Michael
Nathan
Peter
Samuel

Maeve

Helen
Esther
Ruth
Polly
Vita
Mara
Willa
Cora
Greta
Anne
Joy

Patrick
Alfred
Jon
Fred
Quentin
Tim
Gus
Mark
Zeb
Jonty

Fay (my personal preference over Faye)
Kate
Zoe
Anna
Molly

Ben and Joy

Is Ben underused (genuine question)?

Perfect if so. Many of these are not underused though I have to say (probably a few of mine too, it’s quite a tricky brief!).

Carol
Susan
Lynn
Laura
Marnie

Jacob
Peter
Jonas
Stephen

Is Ben underused (genuine question)?

Perhaps not in the past 10 years but in my experience it was massively overused between about 1985 and 2010. In any group of teen boys or young men there is pretty much always a Ben! (in addition to a Sam and a Jack). It may say Benjamin on the BC but they are all known as Ben so it's the opposite of underused.

Biblical names are a good starting point usually - though some are very popular again. Or the names of kings and queens.

Simeon
Simon
Joseph
Mary - lovely name and rarely used in this area
Elizabeth
Adam
Peter
Andrew
John
James
Phillip
Albert
Christian
Edward
Victoria
Paul
Mark
Anna
Emma
Gareth
Ian
Imogen
Lisa
Nicholas
Nicola
Nicole
Penny
Rachel
Rebecca
Stephen
Susan

@Frostythesnowwoman

Is Ben underused (genuine question)?

Perfect if so. Many of these are not underused though I have to say (probably a few of mine too, it’s quite a tricky brief!).

I'd say Ben is that good mix of underused for babies, but so popular in the past that everyone knows it. Works in most countries and for all ages too. I have a 5 and 3 year old, so know lots of young kids, and only know one Ben who is 4.

Benjamin was no. 33 in England/Wales top 100 names list in 2019 so although a lot lower than it would have been 10 years earlier I'm not sure that qualifies as 'underused'

Benjamin's mother may insist on using the full name but by the age of about 10 it's likely that all other people in his life will call him Ben