Can you tell when someone was born by their first and middle name combo?

[TheSharpOpalOrca]

this seems to happen classic names a lot.

for example
Emily Catherine
Emily Jane
Emily ann
Emily Elizabeth

They sound like they would have been born at any time in history, from the Victorian times to now. There’s no way to pinpoint it .

Whereas Emily Rose sounds very much like a 90s/2000s pairing even though both names are established classics.

Another one would be Sarah Louise, very 70s/80s but Sarah Elizabeth is timeless.

I think people assume that if it’s two classics put together it won’t date but that’s not always the case, the middle name sets the vibe for the first name most of the time even if most people don’t hear it.

I’m in my mid 30s and everyone born at the same time as me either has the middle name Elizabeth or Louise (as do I)

Absolutely

First names like

Julie
Leanne
Jacqueline
Sarah
Rebecca
Chloe
Jessica
Olivia
Amelia

All can be dated to the decade pretty accurately

I’m in my 50s and so many of my school friends were Karen, Joanne and Sally

Some of us have names that don't belong to the decade you'd assume!

I’m mid 50’s, DD in her late 20’s and we both have Elisabeth as a middle name.

Elizabeth Grace born 1963

Same here. Also Sarah and Emma, and a few Carolines and Marys.

All my school friends were Becky, Hannah, Louise, Izzy, Amy, Jade and Lucy

Gen X - middle name Jane.
Millenials - middle name Marie or Claire.
Gen Z - middle name Rose or Grace.

Sarah only fell out of the top hundred for the first time since records began 1904 in 2017 in England and Wales. How on earth can you pinpoint a decade of use for a name with over a century of steady use?

Jane as a middle name has a ring to it from the 70s/80s i think.

Rose as a middle name - very many passing through primary and going up into secondary right now !

For the past few decades, most people seem to have picked one of the following girls’ middle names: Louise, Elizabeth, Marie, Jane, or Rose. Louise was very common in the 80s and those with that middle name went on to have babies with the middle name Rose in the 2010 plus.

I don't think there are any completely timeless names. When I was a child in the 60s and 70s Emily was considered an old person's name. Then it had a resurgence in the 90s early 2000.

Kayleigh is usually born late 1980s the Marillion effect.

When were you at school? My name is one of those but I'm older than the most popular use of it I think.

Any middle name Ann or Elizabeth were probably born in the 50s or 60s

My two sisters have those middle names. One is thirties and one is twenties.
My parents chose very traditional names for all of us though

Usually yes. XX Louise or Emma Jane was common when I was growing up.
I keep seeing emails in work from variations on Molly Millie Poppy Daisy Tilly Pippa Lexi and the (imho twee) ilk and I immediately think 'they're 19-25 and this is their first job' and 9 times out of 10 I'm correct. The same as they'd see my name and think 'shes obviously over 40' 😁

There was a law in the 70s that every girl had to have Jane, Louise or Joanne as a middle name. First names could be Karen, Claire, Sarah or Lisa.

31. I'm Louise Elizabeth 😂

When I was at school, all the girls with Laura, Hannah, Charlotte, Amy, Jessica, Emily, etc. All the boys were Tom, Sam, Max, Ryan, Daniel, Adam, Ben, Jake, etc lol.

There is more variety now. I think most things go nowadays and people don't really bat an eye lid, unless you've called your kid Barry or a completely made up nonsense name.

Yup- obviously don’t want to say exactly what it is but I was born in the mid 70’s and my name is a combo of 2 of the following

• Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel, Louise, Emma, Nicola, Joanne.

I'm 1990 and all my friends middle names are Sarah, Hannah, Marie, Claire. A few Janes as middle names too, but almost never as a first.

I know 5 people called sarah Louise or sarah elizabeth, its a very 83-88 name!

I think some names, like in my peer group there were a lot of Lee's, Tracey's, Laura's, Michelle's, Suzie's, Sarah's I was born in the late 70's and I think those names track. My own name is very classic I could have been born yesterday or 200 + years ago.

Jane or Anne as a middle name was very popular in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s.
Byt the 1970s, it was Jane or Louise.