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Baby names

Find baby name inspiration and advice on the Mumsnet Baby Names forum.

Girls names I would like to see in use again

73 replies

Awalkinthefreshair · 16/02/2021 18:09

All from my era, and all names I love.
Which of these (if any) do you think are due a revival?
Also do you know any under 10's with any of these names?

Catherine (my favourite spelling)
Caroline (love the nn Carrie or Callie)
Emma (always wanted to be called this as a child)
Victoria (although dislike Vicky and Tori)
Rebecca (I'm ok with Becky)
Claire/ Clare (unsure which spelling I prefer)

OP posts:
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WhistlersandJugglers · 17/02/2021 00:35

It's Song for Whoever by The Beautiful South. Deborah, Anabel too.

Rubybluesy · 17/02/2021 00:50

I like Julie too

VienneseWhirligig · 17/02/2021 01:45

Jacqueline and Elaine are very pretty (but are the names of my sister in laws).

I like Mary, Jean, Judith, Dorothy, Miriam and Linda.

Interesting about Laura - objectively it's a pretty name, but I have never met one I liked. Also Julie - DH had an ex called Julie and she was a horror so it's put me off Grin

Ijustlikedthename · 17/02/2021 20:56

Victoria
Vanessa
Melissa
Genivieve
Claudia
Janine
Elsie

danascully96 · 17/02/2021 21:07

I’ve got Julia and Laura on my list. I’m 25, so I never thought of them as terribly dated.

Also, I like Jennifer. It’s a “girl next door” name, makes me think of Matilda’s Miss Honey. Jenny is a sweet nn too.

Sad that girl names are so much more reflective of social movements and objects, whereas boy names remain, by and large, classic.

RoseMartha · 17/02/2021 22:31

Jennifer
Amanda
Katrina
Sarah
Melissa
Joanna and Joanne
Nicola
Lisa
Louise

I dont think Emma has ever really gone out OP.

SylviaPlath1984 · 17/02/2021 22:33

We have just settled on Catherine if this current pregnancy brings us a girl, really happy to read so many people like it as much as us!

Five67Eight · 18/02/2021 02:50

Sad that girl names are so much more reflective of social movements and objects, whereas boy names remain, by and large, classic.

Ooh, really.....?!

Gary, Barry, Trevor, Colin, Norbert, Philip, Anthony, Ross, Clive, Simon, Bradley, Mark, Brian, Clinton, Wayne, Shane, Jayden, Kayden, Donald, Ernest, Archibald, Howard, Brent, Albert, Cecil, Clifford, Lionel, Graham, Murray, Roger...

I could go on.

Arguably some of these verge on retro/vintage - but I do not think boys’ names are not as subject to the vagaries of fashion and likely to date (sometimes badly) as girls’ names!

mathanxiety · 18/02/2021 02:54

Margaret
Christine
Michelle
Annette
Karen (yes, yes, I know)
Nicola
Therese
Debra/ Deborah
Kay
Paula (and Pauline)
Bernadette
Sally
Alison
Sonia
Leigh
Laura
Colette

groovergirl · 18/02/2021 03:02

Among the 13yo girls I know (DD's friends and schoolmates), there are three Catherines/Katherines, plus Emma, Caroline, Rebecca and Victoria.

So yes, OP, the classics are holding their ground.

danascully96 · 18/02/2021 03:21

I said @Five67Eight "by and large." Giving me examples of boy names that aren't classic isn't changing my mind because I'm not denying they exist. What's sad for boys is that names that are worn by girls, in large enough numbers, are deemed unusable eventually. However, overall, I think it's much easier to name a girl than a boy.

Statistically, girls are given more unusual names than boys : time.com/4322881/baby-names-girls-boys/

Boys also have a long history of being named after their fathers, so classics tend to stay in rotation through the decades much more consistently for boys than for girls.

danascully96 · 18/02/2021 03:22

easier to name a boy than a girl* Sorry, typo

winterphoenix · 18/02/2021 03:50

I know a fair few young Catherine’s and Caroline’s.

I also think Alice and Mabel are making a comeback again (which I love!) sometimes Alys although I prefer the traditional spelling!

Fucket · 18/02/2021 04:03

My dd aged 5 is on your list OP. It’s a classic name and has been used for centuries in this country. I love that her name has been used in works of classic literature, is regal, and lovely songs are dedicated to her name, and yet is not popular the moment. A combination of unique and traditional at the same time. I’m sure as period dramas become popular again these names will come back into vogue.

Blacktothepink · 18/02/2021 04:23

Pippa
Maxine
Lisa
Sarah-Jane

groovergirl · 18/02/2021 08:35

@Fucket Victoria? I love it too. It's DD's middle name. I also love the Kinks song!

Edenember · 18/02/2021 11:28

I don’t like any of them. They’re just too strongly associated with my generation in my head, regardless of many being ‘classic.’ I do incongruously love Sarah though despite it being one of the top names of my generation. I just like how it sounds. Mary is lovely too, I always think of the little one from three men and a baby and how it was an unusual generational choice even back then.

Jeschara · 18/02/2021 20:15

One name no one mentions is Pauline, I know quite alot of them.

CharlieBoo · 18/02/2021 20:23

Dorothy

Five67Eight · 18/02/2021 21:30

Hmm, I think we’ll just have to agree to disagree Dana.

Even ‘classic’ boys’ names that are associated with my generation are not used very much at all, at the moment.

I went to school with Davids, Peters, Michaels, Johns, Simons, Marks, Richards, etc. it’s very unusual to hear babies being called those names now.

At the moment, the fad re boys’ names is the variation on a nickname - Harry, Archie, Charlie, Freddie, Albie, Alfie, etc. (not unlike the current fad for Daisy, Ruby, Milly, Ellie, et al.).

And then the surname range - Hunter, Ri/yder, Harrison, Jackson, Miller, Harley, Cooper, etc.

And then ... the more ‘left field’ range - Milo, Felix, Orson, Asher, Silas, Forrest, Flynn, Atticus, Wolf, Fox, Zephyr, Rocco (and these aren’t even very left field - they’re just some of the names that have circled my kids’ schools and pre-schools).

I don’t expect to change your mind! But personally, I don’t see any difference between the range, cycles (in and out) of fashion, and choices of more unusual names for boys than for girls.

I find this topic particularly interesting because I was given a very cyclical name - it was very fashionable in the early 1900s when lots of girls were given it. I was then given it in the 1970s when it was considered so old-fashioned (I’m named after my GM) - my Dad said they were popping up in the obituaries every other day and he wondered if they’d made a terrible mistake). I disliked my name growing up. But here were are now, and the name (and its variations) has dominated the top 10 for over a decade. I like it now!

AlackAlasAlackaday · 18/02/2021 21:38

Love Helen, Anna, Clare. Catherine (and variations) are very much of a time for me - I live in a not very large neighbourhood and know 12 of them aged 35-50.

groovergirl · 19/02/2021 00:32

@Five67Eight Now I'm intrigued. Early 1900s? Now in the Top 10?

Olivia
Millicent (Millie)
Evelyn (Evie)
Amelia

It's nice to be in fashion a little later in life! Wink

Five67Eight · 19/02/2021 01:00

Don’t really want to out my name, but think more along the lines of the Downton Abbey cousin!

As I say - it and its (several) variations. Wink

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