Baby Name Predictions- what will be in the primary classes of the next decade.

[Hobbesmanc]

It's always fun to speculate which are the baby name choices of tomorrow- and what names will start to fade.

My forecasts include the following.

Strong gothic and medieval boys names will be popular. Following Edwards' revival look out for Edmund, Edwin, Godwin, Edgar, Hugo and Otto.

The popularity of Old testament names like Noah and Jacob will spread wider- look out for more Elijah's, Ezekial, Reuben, Malachi, Jonah, Jude and Barnabas.

Some mid century giants will come back into favour. I would be watching for Peter, David, Jonathan and Simon to start reappearing.

For girls I think that pretty feminine names will still thrive- I'd be looking for classic names like Cecelia, Celia, Celeste, Cecile, Cecily along with Della and Delia.

Twenties flapper names- or Malory Towers school girls are already back in vogue- Penelope, Audrey, Daphne, Pamela, Dorothy, Sybil, Sylvie, Marguerite, Betty.

Scandi chic might push Astrid, Greta, Ingrid or Soren onto UK parents list.

Finally I'm sure that new and classic none binary options will be popular. I love Jesse, Lark, Avery, Bright.

Anyone else want to play?

I think we'll see a lot of Nordic and German names like Sven and Karl, and names with stronger consonants like Inez.

I think everyone's a bit bored of the Mila/Ella/Lily type names.

I think we'll see a lot of nature names like Sorrel, River and Fern.

i think names due revival: Ernest, Walter, Leonard, Herbert, Orson; Dorothy, Ida, Winnie, hazel, nora, enid, esther, etta

frilly names for girls clementine, Aurelia, Seraphina, marigold, primrose, Rosalie, evangeline

nature/ place names river, forest, Caspian, Vienna, flora, clover, juniper, Daphne

I think Jude, Hugo and Reuben are already back. Have met a few babies and toddlers with these names since having DS3 6 months ago.

I remember having a conversation with my sixth formers a couple of years ago - they all seemed to hate the unique/unusual trend of names that has become popular. I think if / when they start having kids it will be a return to the classics so as you mentioned names like Peter and Simon, as well as William, Benjamin, Sarah, Catherine, Rose.

Hugo is huge already

Have recently heard of a baby Otto which seems utterly pretentious to me

The cutesy name trend (Alfie, Archie, Teddie, Poppy, Ellie etc) will end and people will probably prefer stronger and older names like

Dorothy
Agnes
Penelope
Primrose

Walter
Leonard
Clement
Quentin
Orson

Oooh great names there. I love Winnie and Norah (and Connie) and Dorothy is one of my all time favourites too

Lots of Reubens, Zacharys, Raphaels and Ezekiels around here already. Jesse is a biblical name (he was David's father) and not unisex.

Vowelly names will fall out of favour.

I think we will start to see names like;

Alan
Brian
Robert
Mark

And

Nancy
Susan
Christine
Jane
Betty

Just a feeling.

I think 70s and 80’s names will come back, such as Michelle, Paula, Tanya, Debbie, Julie, Lisa, Hayley, Clare.

Boys> Peter, Simon, Dean, Mark, Jason, Nicholas.

Zachary for sure- I've a teenage nephew Zac. Joshua, Noah, Jacob, Caleb I've seen coming through to. I like Jesse - maybe from Jesse Pinkman in Breaking Bad

I have a Hugo. It is already a top 10 name in France where we live, and its rising popularity in the UK doesn't bother me as we wanted something well known in both countries.

I like the fact that it fits the type of name which is currently in vogue but also has plenty of history behind it. My great great grandfather who was born in 1864 was called Hugo, and it's quite possible that the name goes back quite a lot further in my family tree.

I like the meaning too.

I wonder if the trend for vowelly names will be followed by some consonant-heavy girls’ names making a comeback. E.g.

Hazel
Judith
Bridget
Ruth
Astrid
Carmen
Kirsten
Heather
Frances
Lynn
Rachel

Every girl will be called Orla or Primrose. They're the oh-so-fashionable MN names for today.
Boys will be Otto and Otis.

Considering that people I know with names like Allison, Sharon, Mandy , Phil, Steve and Dave who were born in the 60s and 70s are becoming grandparents I expect a revival of those types of names.

Agree that people are likely to favour stronger, more ‘solid-sounding’ names, rather than the currently trendy cutesy and vowel-heavy ones - especially for girls.

Also agree that mid-century, ‘Enid Blyton-style’ names are likely to come back into fashion next - many of these also happen to fit the above ‘strong, sensible’ trend.

Nature and modern virtue names are likely to continue to be popular - but increasingly branching out from flower and plant names to incorporate more unusual choices and geography/astronomy-related names (I’m thinking things along the lines of Prairie, Haven, Pax and Orion)

Gender neutral names are also likely to increase in popularity.

Nature/flowery - River, Forrest, Fox, Oak, Primrose, Willow, Winter, Rain

Scandi & Eastern Europe - Katya, Maya, Inga, Ursula, Erik, Axel, Mila

Granny and Grandpa inspired names will move on to

Deborah, Pamela, Louise, Donna, Tracey, Michelle, Donna, Joanne
Nigel, Andrew, Mark, Peter, Paul, Wayne, Neil, Simon

Old people names from the turn of the 20th century, flower/nature names, God/goddess names and biblical names.

We may be quite nostalgic about high street shops by then, so I'm guessing Debenham, Woolworth, Smith, Dorothy, Mark, Spencer, Laura, Ashley, Ann and Summer.

Enid Blyton books shape a lot of my favourite names. I love Peggy and Norah from the Secret Books and Dinah from The Adventure ones. Also Daphne, Gwen, Pamela, Isobel from the School stories.