this upcoming decade’s trends- predict with me

[chiatta]

So we are still having the major revival of Victorian to 1940s names. It started with Evie, Ava, Elsie-Mae, that sort of thing. Then the Alfies, Hectors, humphries, Alfreds, etc for the boys. At the moment I know of some Margots, Beatrixes, Florences, Ava just being born. My great-grandma was a Margot.

I think an 80s-90s resurgence could be on its way- Emma, Louise, Lauren, Jennifer, Tiffany, Christina, Kayleigh, Rachael, Claire, Stephanie.
Boys: Jason, Christian, Matthew, Ryan, Luke

I’m thinking at the end of this decade we could see a revival of 50-70s names- Tracey, Lorraine, Christine, Linda, Angela, Carol, Beverley, Elaine, Lesley. men are less obvious, names like Stephen, Richard, Gary, Kenneth, Keith, Trevor, Colin

Another idea is more global names irrespective of a baby’s heritage to reflect places being more multicultural.

I think an 80s-90s resurgence could be on its way- Emma, Louise, Lauren, Jennifer, Tiffany, Christina, Kayleigh, Rachael, Claire, Stephanie.
Boys: Jason, Christian, Matthew, Ryan, Luke

I never thought of this but it makes sense. These sound fresh after the frilliness of Margot, Beatrix, Florence etc.

I agree the Claire's and Sophie's are a coming 😄 which is fine names go in cycles don't they ?

I think we'll deffo see mid century names coming up quite quickly - eg
Patricia, Susan, Jean (I can already see that Jean is on the up amongst my younger colleagues), Jane, John, Amanda, Angela, Robert/Bobby, John/Johnny, James/Jim, Bill rather than Will as a nn for William, Richard (nn Dick?!), Malcolm, Graham... I think these more classic ones will be the first wave, and the ones we think are a really naff (Carol, Trevor, Elaine, Bernard) will take a bit longer.

I think a full 70s/80s/90s revival is a while away, but think the trend for a wider variety of names in use will continue - so we will see some of these circling back quickly. Emma and Sophie have never gone away really - they seem to have become classics.

Yes, I think we'll definitely see more international names too. Not so much as a trend, but just a reflection of varied heritage.

I also wonder if names will become more acceptable to be a bit odd. Say,
November, Rain, Winter, Pebble

I can can see the next batch of dated names coming back in. Dorothy, Ivy, Wilfred and Albert will get tired sounding and be replaced by Barbara, Patricia, Donald (or maybe not!) and Walter.

I can see more unisex, word inspired nature names, such as Ocean, Sage, Harbour, Forest, Storm, etc. Animal names too: Bear, Fox, Wren. Flower/plant names will continue to rise, but new parents will look for less usual flowers: instead of Rose, Poppy and Daisy, names like Marigold, Magnolia, Maple, Blossom, Primrose, Acacia will become more mainstream.

Popular names now (for boys and girls, but particular girls) tend to very soft sounding, vowel-heavy, liquid names: Eliana, Aurora, Arya, Olivia Lilia, Willow, Amelia. This means that even though Eliana for example, is outside the top 200, and there might be no other Eliana’s in her class, it doesn’t sound distinct from the mainstream. I can see a move away from this, towards harder sounding names as parents want something more sonically distinct. Margot is leading the way on this with a hard G sound, while still having the trendy O sound at the end.I think more names with hard B, D, C/K and G sounds will rise in the future. Possibly a start to the end for -ie/-y nicknamey names for boys, but they are still very popular now, and can't see it fading quickly soon.

Scandi names will rise in popularity, names like Ingrid, Astrid, Leif, Stellan - the names which fit the harder sounds for girls names and softer sounds for boys. I don't think that the trend for mythological names is going anywhere either - Atlas is rising massively in popularity at the moment - but it's still widely seen to be a vanishingly rare name (judging by a recent AIBU). I think that in the next decade these names will be seen as a completely normal choice.

Names will continue to diversify. The percentage of babies called the top name has decreased massively over the years as parents look for more different names for their children. Babies with names in the top 100 will decrease further and further in number.

@toastofthetown I agree with your post re earthy names. I work in a nursery and I have children in a different nursery and know of more than 1 of the following -
Rain / Rayne / Raine
River
Primrose
Blossom
Eden
Wren
Willow
Forrest

Rain river primrose blossom Forrest is potentially one of Jamie Oliver’s children 😂😂

I can’t see 70s names coming back just yet - Tracy, Sharon, Kevin etc.

However, I think some more traditional classic names that haven’t been so popular in recent years - Andrew, Helen, etc.

I think we're going to get more "neutral" modern names, where you won't immediately know if they're a boy or girl eg Taylor, Blake, Avery, Cameron, Billie, River, Harper, Drew, Hayden, Rowan etc.

I think Scandi and Germanic names will become more popular in the next few years. Freya, Astrid, and Greta are already on the up, so I could see the following names appealing to new parents: Juni, Annika, Lotte, Ingrid, Malik, Lars, Magnus, Soren, Otto, Karsten, Jonas, Arnold (Arnie), Axel

Malin not Malik!

Names are often a sign of the times, so my predictions are:

Pandemia
LockDan
Coronia
Zoom
Louroll
Enaitchez

I think there will be more surname type names. Already seen the likes of Jackson/Jaxon, Bailey, Taylor, Harper, Cooper.
There will be influence from foreign names more Arabic names, Hindu names as well as Germanic and Scandinavian names, Indian names.

Also influences from films.

@Kumquatsquash

Names are often a sign of the times, so my predictions are:

Pandemia
LockDan
Coronia
Zoom
Louroll
Enaitchez

Love these!

I don’t think we are anywhere near the names from the 1930s being mainstream yet. They are still unusual. These are the top ten girls’ names from 1934 in the U.K.
MARGARET
JEAN
MARY
JOAN
PATRICIA
SHEILA
BARBARA
DOREEN
JUNE
SHIRLEY

I think it'll be a while before we see a revival of 70s/80/90s names, but they will come around again. There are some nice names like Michelle and Louise which were really popular and will probably have a come back at some point.

It's also interesting to note that not all names from a period get revived. Some names seem to still be tainted or tastes have changed that they don't have appeal like they did.

I agree with MimiDaisy.

For instance, I struggle to see that Mildred will hit the top 10 any time soon. I am also not sure that names like Barbara and Shirley will go 'mainstream' yet (perhaps among some trying-to-be-different demographics.) It's very hard to shake associations such as 'my mum's friend is called Shirley' or 'Barbara is the name of my neighbour who just had a hip replacement.'

I've heard that names including the letter 'V' are currently rising. Ava is obviously popular, but Violet and Ivy have been becoming more common too. So Victor, Ivan and Viola may become more popular over this decade.

I find that girls names that are "soundalike" to popular current names come back quicker. So with that in mind I can see Freda, Cora, Sylvia, Vivien and Lillian all coming back in the top 100 sooner rather than later.

For boys, maybe some of the more traditional ones will make a comeback to top 100 in the next few years, as they become more "Grandad" names than "Dad" names - John, Robert, Peter, Phillip, Hugh.

I know of a young Barbara, Joan (more than one), Mary, and Jean. I had Joan on my own shortlist too. That generation of names is clearly on the march!

I'd like to see names like Peter and Paul come back

For girls Patricia and Barbara

I can see Daphne having a big revival (Bridgerton) for girls

I think the trend for old lady/old man names will continue

Girls: Dorothy, Rita, Mabel, Maud, Nellie, Nancy, Pearl, Vera etc

Boys: Albert, Ronald, Leonard, Frank, Wilfred, etc

Basically everything @toastofthetown and @partyatthepalace said.

Definitely agree with the Mid Century trend - I think solid, traditional ‘Enid Blyton’-style names could have a resurgence - so things like Susan, Daphne, Helen and Margaret for girls and Peter, Robin/Robert, Richard and Laurence for boys.

Stronger, consonant heavy names for girls as parents tire of cutesy diminutives and frilly, über-feminine choices. Fewer -ie and -a endings.

Also agree that Scandi-style names will become more popular, as these fit well with other emerging trends. DD is a Greta, which actually hasn’t risen that much since she was born a few years ago, but I can also see Frida, Astrid, Ingrid, Linnea, Soren, Stellan, Axel, Magnus and so on becoming more mainstream.

The nature names trend is here to stay, with more offbeat and adventurous choices moving beyond flowers and trees - things like Forrest, Meadow, Ember, Harbour, Snow, Prairie and so on. Also aspirational ‘values’ names such as Peace/Pax, Honor, Story, True.

Saw an interesting article recently on Nameberry, which they’d called ‘Cottagecore’ names - basically homespun, gentle-sounding names that reflect the antithesis of all the stresses we’re going through at the moment - so things like Clover, Mabel, Harriet and Flora for girls and Ambrose, Asher, Silas and Jasper for boys.

I think Jane/ Jean/ Joan/ June/ Janet will become the new Eva/ Evie/ Ava etc for girls.

For boys, I’m seeing a move away from diminutives towards insisting on full version of traditional names. Children are often named after their parents’ grandparents so I predict David is the next popular name along with John, James, Richard, Thomas, Michael, Robert. I think the ever popular Ben and Sam will become Benjamin and Samuel.

The 20s and 30s names have to come back first: Irene, Marion, Alma, Vera, Jean, Joan, Peggy, Gwen, Sylvia, Freda, June, Daphne, Dennis, Eric, Leonard, Raymond, Morris, Bernard, Edgar, Edwin, Victor, Hugh, Walter, Ivor etc