Which names do you predict will go rancid in a few years, like Sharon and Tracy did?

[LadyThompson]

I am not saying I don't like these names...but some names get too popular and then they start to smell a bit and seem naff

For girls:

Jade
Ruby? It's the second most popular girl naem nowadays
Aimee
Anything-Mae

For boys:

Rhys
Jayden
Logan

Gosh, so Rancidgate rumbles on!

I genuinely didn't realise it would cause such a stink. All I meant was, some names, such as Sharon and Tracy, started out all fresh and lovely, then went mysteriously and dramatically mouldy. Names which go off to such an extent are in the extreme minority. However, there are lots of very popular names from the same time as S&T, many of which I think still sound quite nice - Clare, say. What, then, went wrong with Sharon and Trace? It can't be just popularity; I don't think it's a working class thing either, for all those people who mistakenly thought I was on some sort of class crusade (I'm such a woolly liberal I'm practically KNITTED, and avoid use of the word chav precisely because I think it's, well, pejorative). Besides, if you want to talk about the working classes, I'm sure there are lots of working class Sarahs from the 1970s, for example (what's wrong with being working class anyhoo?) and that name isn't derided, like Sharon. I believe it's still used.

Anyway, given that my own name is at least RANCIDESQUE, and someone has mentioned it at last, I don't think I've got an axe to grind. I'm sorry if the fact that occasionally some names decrease in popularity to the point of being mocked is offensive, new and potentially devastating news for people. It's a shame, but isn't a cue to a) get humphy about it; b) start burning wax effigies of me or c) hold me personally responsible for other names people bring up on this thread. I am not in charge of the interesting phenomenon of names going 'off', and I haven't, to date, shot Bambi.

There's an interesting debate about the converse as well - why some (also rare) names still get used over centuries, and not just decades (like Anne, or John). Someone also made the point that given the popularity, then notorious demise of Diana, you might expect her name to have more impact on the name charts than it has. I've really enjoyed reading some of the responses, so thanks v much to those who played along in good spirit, and to those who took mortal offence, if all you've got to worry about are random people suggesting little Fruitbat's name might become less popular in time, take a look at some of the more serious threads on this site where people have genuine problems, wholly deserving of our sensitivity, tact and empathy.

PS - It's LISA!

Oh, you've really let me down with Lisa, I was convinced it was going to be Kimberley or Beverley.

I don't think Lisa's soooo bad. Not very popular for small children these days, but probably not the Hilda of tomorrow, either.

I know The whole class hang up thing we have here is very tiresome. I think it's because there's a section of the middle classes that can be quite insecure, though that's a whole other thread (which I haven't the energy to start)

Thanks Edam. I almost - ALMOST - like it now. Like someone else said, I am even coming round to Tracy as a result of this thread. Hey, this could be the start of a naff names renaissance. We could call it: " NEW DAWN..."

(Hastily adds nothing wrong with Beverley or Kimberley, just very much of an era. Honest!)

i guessed your name!!!! whats my prize?????? i actually googled the 5 most popular names of 1970s or something like that, and it was in the top 5, so i knew it would be one of them!! its not that bad if you ask me,

Your prize, Matildax, is....I'll have to come back to you about that one. Well done though. My sister is called Debra so whoever mentioned that in the same sentence as Lisa did very well (was that you too?)

Yes, Mrs Woolf, I agree about Sarah. It's still good. But what I was asking was how come it didn't go the same way as Sharon? Because it had been popular long before?

A friend of mine was going to use Sarah for her new baby (but she had a boy).
Surprised me as she had a list comprising mainly of Edith, Freya, Evie, Lily, Poppy and all those kinds of names - by which I mean currently quite popular - but then settled on Sarah. (Actually she also liked Trudy but another friend beat her to it).
Anyway, it was a boy.

And has called him something (in my humble opinion) quite dull.

My name, incidentally, is also quite dull. And 70's.
Although there is a child at my DD's nursery with my name which surprised me.

Booo
My middle name, however is quite similar to Sarah and I quite like it.

These things are so nation specific as well, aren't they? Kevin is still, I think I am right in saying, pretty cool still in France and the US, but pretty cheesy here.

Perhaps the key is to pick a name that's been around for yonks and yonks, and not one that people only started using within the last 20 years. Family names are nice. My daughter is going to have two of her Grannies' names as middle names. I wonder if we'd been as keen if the names had been Joyce and Ethel, though?

nope did not mention debra,
i think sharon and tracey, became 'common' the same way charmaine and courtney are going... (huge apologies in advance to all the mums of either name, but i dont like them, and they both remind me of designer tracksuits, hideous clown necklaces and that kind of tat. the names sharon and tracey,( well around here anyway) reminiscent of shell suits, and dodgy fringes, and stupid amounts of gold chains.
its like pavlovs dogs, you hear the name sharon or tracey and you think of loud mouthed scruffs!!!!! before you all start attacking me, i am just giving MY opinion, i can occasionally be wrong!!!

Yes, I was wondering about Courtney last night [armies of mothers of Courtneys with flaming torches start forming militias and marching t'ward the thread]

lmao lady t. ive got to go out with my (beautifully named) dcs now, but will be with you in spirit!!!
bye for now all xx

Hi there, thread still going!! I was thinking of the names that were very popular when my eldest dd was born in 1991. Apart from Jade which (cringe) i considered myself, popular names tended to have 'ina/ ena' endings ie Serena,Sabrina, Katrina, Karina, or names ending with an 'a' sound, such as Lenita, Melissa, Lamara etc At the time these sounded exotic, although now quite age-ist (15-22 age group)they are not bad but not lasting names so possibly the future sharon and traceys.

I didnt choose any of these as i knew someone else already with each of them!!

Just remembered names ending in 'elle' were also about in abundance ie chanelle, chantelle, cherelle. These tended to be popular in the more deprived communities.

Oddly, Loriycs, I was called Serena for the first three days of my life as I was very quiet. But then I cried until I was 2 so I was called Lisa instead

Lisa is a pretty name actually, its just not ready for a comeback yet as most of us went to school with so many Lisa's. It will be back in vogue with a future generation I'm sure.

Liza? Quite likey....

Never met a Liza so always wondered is it pronounced as Leeza or with the 'I' sound as in Eliza?

I know two both pronounced Leeza.
Both mid thirties I think.

But then there's Liza Minelli pronounced the other way isn't there. Perhaps too confusing.....
Gone off it now!

Thanks. It could be (fractionally) worse. I haven't met another Lisa for about fifteen years (though there must be zillions out there), and I think this has helped me to come to terms with it. Was vv amused that it was voted No 2 in the list of Names of Girls Most Likely to Sleep With You on the First Date. I think No 1 was Tracy, but not sure...