Name trends in other languages/cultures

[Sheleg]

When Israeli DH and I were choosing our DD's name, some interesting points came up about name trends. Some of the Hebrew names I suggested, he laughed at because they were "old lady" names or too "posh".

His own name is from the 1990s trend in Israel of rejecting traditional names and choosing nature inspired ones like Tal (dew), Gal (wave), Stav (autumn).

I'd love to hear about such trends in other languages!

On here, suggestions for a [language] name will get you posts of names that were popular several decades ago.

For example, if you asked me of some israeli names, I'd think of people I know and suggest their names or the names of their children, who are now adults.

The name trend in my culture (Asian) seem to be all English names at the moment! I know 2 Olivias born recently which is such a popular English name!

In my own language, Welsh, trends are vaguely similar to English trends. Current names tend to end in -i for girls and -o for boys.

The Eve/Ellie type names are still popular (Efa, Ela, Elin etc). Harri and Jac are still popular for boys.

Grandad and granny style names are getting more popular.

My more die-hard welsh relatives seem to go for slightly unusual names.

Trend for baby names in Turkey right now=
Girls:
Asel
Eylül (pronounced: eylool)
Alya
Beril
Idil
Ceren (p:jeren)
Mila
Boys:
Hakan
Atlas
Teoman
Kuzey
Fürkan
Kaan

In the Netherlands, the top names for 2020 are mostly English, but all seem a bit dated to my ears. Probably similar effect to the previous comment that Dutch parents encounter adult American actors, so they're 20 years behind. Noah, Sem, Liam, Lucas; Emma, Julia, Mila, Tess. There were only 807 Noahs and 685 Emmas though.

Here's an article with the top 10 of each nos.nl/artikel/2363406-noah-en-emma-blijven-populairste-voornamen.html

Lots of recently popular names in UK are 'little old lady' names though!
Mabel
Esme
Lily
Ruby
Etc

Astrid is very much liked on MN- little old lady name in Sweden

A couple of years ago I worked on a labour ward in the Netherlands and every other baby boy was called Luca/Lucas or some variation thereof

I'm Emma and a German boyfriend commented that it was a name for grandmothers in Germany. That was about 15 years ago. Swedish and Dutch colleagues have had babies called Emma in that time, so I suspect it's made a comeback in at least some parts of mainland Europe. (It is a good name for working across different languages, in terms of spelling and pronunciation.)

When naming my dd my chinese pil said it was fashionable (6 years ago) for girls names to be cutesified by repetition of a single syllable for eg. Yi Yi.

I was also told that Chinese names will always be 1 syllable family name then 2 syllable personal name.

Another Israeli trend I've noticed are male/female names that have become unisex in recent years like Yuval, Tal, Bar, Amit eg Yuval is one of the most popular girl's names currently but was a boy's name 20 years ago.

As Tea69 above said, alot of British-Asian families are rejecting ethnic cultural/religious names and having completely English or English sounding names. Totally their choice of course.
Certain names seem to be very popular such as Dylan, Sienna etc.
Both my kids have traditional Punjabi/Sikh names and it almost seems frowned upon by some of our community.

I'm half-English/half-Welsh but born and raised in England. My Mam and I see Welsh names very differently.

Some of the names I like she's like 'are you birthing a 70 year old?' But I don't have the associations that she does as I've never lived in Wales and am not fluent. Equally some of the names that are trendier in Wales in the last 10 years or so - Seren, Osian and Macsen for example, get an 'huh?' reaction from her (she hasn't lived in Wales for 40 years so missed the newer trends).

I don't listen to her opinion

Lots of short names for children over the last 5 or 10 years in Slovenia.
For girls, you hear these a lot:
Ema
Lara
Zala
Eva
Mia
Nika
Lana

Boys:
Luka
Jaka
Maks
Nejc
Jan
Lovro
Aleks

Their parents' (30s/40s) names are mostly something like:
Nina
Petra
Tanja
Spela
Maja
For the mums, and the dads are:
Miha
Marko
Klemen
Matej
Ales

The older generation (grandparents, over 50s) are frequently:
Ladies:
Polona
Zdravka
Lidija
Mariana
Marija

Gents:
Janez
Branko (Branomir)
Mirko (Miroslav)
Marion
Jose (Josef/Josip)

@orangenasturtium

Another Israeli trend I've noticed are male/female names that have become unisex in recent years like Yuval, Tal, Bar, Amit eg Yuval is one of the most popular girl's names currently but was a boy's name 20 years ago.

Yes! I have a female SIL named Tal, and also a male cousin-in-law Tal.

Haha yes i often read the French name suggestions to my French DH, they are often wildly outdated or just sheer made up. Mind you, he wanted to call our firstborn Stewart, so... 😬

@allTsubasa1 do you know if are Mila & Milan Turkish-origin names? They're not ones I've come across before seeing them in our top 10, and I initially assumed the boys were named after the Italian city! We have a large Turkish population in NL, so maybe they're Turkish babies rather than the result of a very nice summer holiday.

stodgystollen the name Milan is also really common across the former Yugoslavian countries. But it's pronounced Mee Laan here not Mill An like the Italian city. So I think it's unrelated.

Most popular names given to babies born in France in 2019 - top 10:

Girls:
Emma (most given name)
Jade
Louise
Alice
Lina
Chloé
Rose
Léa
Mila
Ambre

Boys:
Gabriel (most given name)
Léo
Raphaël
Arthur
Louis
Lucas
Adam
Jules
Hugo
Maël

That's interesting re: French names! How do they pronounce Jade, I wonder? Like in English, or a more Gallic "zhaaad"?

@Sheleg Jade is pronounced with a French accent so ‘zhaad’.

The French names are interesting. I know multiple French 30-somethings of all of them. In the UK, I wouldn't expect to meet many 80s named babies (Emma/Claire/Gemma etc) so maybe French naming trends go slower than British ones or there are more decade-neutral names. Although I guess you wouldn't meet many French baby Kevins/Jessicas/Cedrics now, even though I know plenty 30-somethings of them!

The intello chic fashion now are 3rd republic names like Félix or Madeleine (so 19th century, great-granny or great-great-granny names). Previously, regional eg Breton or Occitan or Italian and Spanish style names were popular (Enzo, Inès).
'American' names like Brandon and Kimberley indicate watching a lot of day-time television and are judged.
Until quite recently the état-civil registration was very strict so you didn't get silly made-up names or spelling mistakes but that is changing.

@stodgystollen, fashions for names from another culture tend to be about 25 -35 yrs behind.

Usually a celebrity will inspire a name, and that celebrity will usually be an adult - film/pop/sports star, and their first name will probably have been popular when they were born.

Examples would be Saoirse (Little Women) or Cillian (Peaky Blinders), or Eden (footballer) and Amelie (film).

Fascinating thread!