Is Vivienne going to be faddy?

[EstherE]

I thought of it as quite a classic name but have heard it screeched in the park and supermarket a few times lately. Is it going to be a 2024 Arlo?

I think so on the basis that I know 2 in their 70s, one in her 40s and then three under the age of 2 (and I probably only know about 10 children under the age of 2). Also, I found myself a few years ago thinking "ooohh, if I had a DD now, Vivienne & Susannah would be on my list" when they hadn't been anywhere near it 15 years ago when I had my DC. Something must have triggered that thought!

I’m 48. The only one I’ve ever known with this French spelling.

The biggest issue for me is that I grew up in the 80’s, so in “The Young Ones” era. Primary school kids in North West England at that time did not know about Vivienne Westwood or even Vivien Leigh, despite spelling difference. But all the lads in my brother’s class 2 years ahead knew about Vyvyan from The Young Ones.

Any young Vivienne is freed from that stigma, but I still dislike hearing the full version of my name, and always ask work colleagues, etc not to use it. I know the likes of the dr’s surgery, bank, etc will. I can just about manage that.

it'll be interesting to see how it's placed when they finally release the last lot of baby name stats.

My name is Vivienne and I’ve never liked it! I’m 62, it almost always gets shortened to Viv. I barely ever hear anyone else called the same name. It always gets misspelt too.

I am obviously of a certain age but can't hear the name Vivienne (Vyvyan) without imagining Ade Edmunson's character in The Young Ones!

Sorry!

I've seen it on here a lot. Seems to be well liked. Never actually met one. To be honest i don't really know how you say it. In French i can kind of guess but in English is it just like Vivian?

Arlo is an older name than people give it credit for. I would guess Vivienne would date a bit but no more than Esme, Evelyn, Elsie, Ivy, Ava etc. I actually don't think there's anything wrong with a name dating though, or signifying that you belong to a particular generation.

I work woth someone who is a Viviane.

Yeah, it's just pronounced the same as Vivian in English. I know what you mean, though, the spelling makes me want to stress the ending.

I know Arlo has old roots, but it went from being virtually unknown to there being one in every playgroup very quickly. It's one of those names that the older generation don't even recognise and you have to explain it to them the first time they come across it. Vivienne's not like that.

Thanks! Yep the spelling does make me want to stress the last syllable too.

I'm glad names like Vivian, Lilian, Marian are coming back (actually not sure if Marian's coming back, but it should!) - they're nice names.

Totally take your point about Arlo. Went from the odd random American historical figure to every playgroup, as you say.

Cannot believe I had to scroll so far for this! (And it is **the only reason I was reading the full thread)

I don't really hate Tommy or anything, but I know of three kids that are only given the name Tommy (worse in one case, Tommie). Will never understand how that's preferable to a classic name that comes with the choice!

Also, never even made the Vera/Veronica connection before. You learn something new every day!

My dd is almost 2 years old, we named her Vivian after my mother and we call her Vivi for short. I don't know any other babies/toddlers by that name and that's what we wanted, an old fashioned underused name.
The other option was Elsie but when we met her, Vivi suited her better.

Me too.

To my ears Vivi-en sounds very pretentious and Vivi-un or Viv sound the opposite. I'm not keen.

I class it with Clara, Margot and Olive .All great names but very on trend in the last 10 years or so. I am not sure how classic it is; I knew a couple or Viviens when I was young , neither had the redundant NE.

I absolutely love it. Was on my list for my second child (but he was a boy). We’re in Kent / SE London and haven’t heard it here for our DS’s peers (he’s 3) or any of their younger siblings. Only thing that puts me off a little is Viv. Vie is nicer, in my opinion, if it must be shortened, but you’d have to work hard to get people to use it.

Makes me think about Pretty Woman straight away, Hollywood prostitute 😬😂