What names will define this generation?

[Buddhabowl]

I'm fascinated by names and how trends come and go and names become associated with a certain type of person, age etc.
My DM is late 60s and all her friends are called Sue, Linda/Lynne, Brenda, Jackie.
If you see the name Brenda, the chances are that person is of that age range and you naturally just assume that they are before meeting them. I have a name that is dated to my generation too and will one day become a 'Sue' type name.
What names will define this generation do you think? Names like Isabella rocketed in popularity but I feel like it is classic enough to maintain popularity for long enough not to be too pidgeon-holed, same possibly for Florence.
I think maybe Evie, Ava, Isla for girls, I'm really not sure for boys...
Most of my dad's friends are Mike Dave or John or Bob (Robert), but they are all fairly classic names that you also meet on younger men. The Keiths, Barrys, Brians are more pidgeon-holed I guess and not sure what their equivalents would be.

This isn't knocking any particular name, I think some of these names are really nice despite their popularity but just interested to see views from other name nerds

Darkergreener is great for visualising what names will likely date (at least in England and Wales) - any name that has shot up in popularity from barely used to top 20/30 or so in the last couple of decades is likely to date imo (so yes - Noah, Arlo, Archie, Finley, Isla, Ava, Mia, Ivy etc....there are so many).

I disagree that most popular names will date though - if you go super timeless ie. never left the top 100 historically, you likely won't have to worry about that. So Elizabeth for girls (or maybe Alice or Maria which have also rarely left), or the 11 timeless boys names (including George which was mentioned earlier- yes, it's very popular now but has always been well used statistically).

Names like Jack or Charlie are interesting - they are very popular now but since John and Charles have always been very well used (and many of those older John's and Charles's were known as "Jack" or "Charlie"), I'm not sure they will date as much as people might think.

Obviously the alternative to picking a timeless name would be to avoid the top 50/100 names totally. But as others have mentioned you still risk the name rising - especially if it's part of the current trends ("vintage/retro", "boys name ending in an O", "2 syllable girls name ending in "A" , "traditional nickname ending in an "y/ie", "surname as first name" - this basically covers about 80 -90% of the most popular names!)

@HopefulHetty

Alfie

I was thinking Alfie before I even opened the thread.

Maybe Evie and Alfie.

@Thatgirl1990

Unfortunately I think everyone on mumsnet has a very bad idea about what names are proper classics, for example I’ve seen comments about Emily being classic and deep down I think everyone knows it’s very dated to the 2000s🥴it will be the Karen of 2040 and to me it sounds like an American blonde girls name, I mean it was the top name there for 12 years.

names.darkgreener.com/#emily

Er

It’ll be funny to be an old lady and see all the little babies called Emma, Gemma, Michelle, Rachel, Nicola, Sarah (late 70s baby).

I was talking to a Londoner the other day called Kylie (on the phone, work related) and I could almost guarantee you she was born late 89s and named after Charlene from Neighbours .

There was a smaller pool of names in the past, so a small number became generation-defining. Thanks to social media, the name pool has widened.

Emily has been in the top 100 since the late 70s so a modern classic and not really tied to a particular generation.
www.ons.gov.uk/visualisations/dvc363/babyindex.html#1,Emily

However I agree that it shares characteristics with a lot of the on trend names starting with E or ending with Ie!

I think double barreled, full of vowels and shorts (nicknames?) Is a good shout.

@Thatgirl1990

Unfortunately I think everyone on mumsnet has a very bad idea about what names are proper classics, for example I’ve seen comments about Emily being classic and deep down I think everyone knows it’s very dated to the 2000s🥴it will be the Karen of 2040 and to me it sounds like an American blonde girls name, I mean it was the top name there for 12 years.

I'm starting to think you really don’t like the name Emily…!

I think names like Olivia and Amelia and Isabelle etc will span a few generations though…so not necessarily as specific as names like ‘willow, Ivy, Evie’ which seem much more of a trend (and one which might not last as long?) a bit like Joanna, Amy, Gemma of my generation (80s) which seemed to be popular for a much shorter space of time and therefor much easier to guess an age!

I see Emily as a classic. I know Emily's my age and teenage and baby Emily's, it is also a popular name throughout history.
Very few names maintain a continuous level of popularity at all times. Charlotte is similar I think.