Mum and Dad names

[lolianja]

... as opposed to the Gran/Grandpa chic that seems to be all the rage at the moment. We've decided on Anna for out little one in utero but had we been expecting a boy, we toyed with names like John, Mark, Andrew etc, that possibly sound moderately passé rather than completely archaic. I'm 20 and find there's something both cool and comforting simultaneously about names that were still in - but just starting to drift out of - fashion when I was at school. I'm thinking Nicole, Karen, Nigel (can't abide this one but it's a good example!) etc etc.

So, just for fun. What Mum/Dad names do we like/can we think of etc.

I have also come across a baby Frank and his big brother Vincent (age 3).

Rachel doesn't seem old to me at all. Rachel is JUST as popular as Hannah in Ireland. Loads of Hannahs and loads of Rachels. The only name that occurs twice in my dc's class is Rachel.

I really like Jillian with a J, not normally a fan of spelling changes though. Jillian, Richie, Billy, Bobby, Susie, Victor, Donald, and although I'm not ready for Geoffrey again, I think Jeff could be a good sibling name for a Finn,,, somebody is going to do it soon, and if they're chic and copiable, they'll bring Jeff back into fashion!

I'll sulk if my children call their children Trevor. Trevor or Barbara. NO WAY, I'll sulk for a decade if my grandchildren are called Trevor and Barbara.

keith, ian, terry,richard, peter, ivor,kelvin

jackie, denise, sharon, angela,mary,kay, gail

I like peter and angela! (and no they're not my parents names!)

When I was at school everyone seemed to be called:
Diane
Sharon
Tracy
jane
Julie
Michelle
Karen
or if you were really lucky Clair!!!
Boys were all
Dave
Mark
Paul
Ian
or ultra sophisticated ones called themselves Steve (after the 6 million dollar man!!!!)

Roger
Denise

Yeah squeaver, you might be right about 2 generations.

All these Archies and Arthurs and Mabels and Graces were born in 1900 and then again in the 1990s.

So all these 60s/70s names will be back in 2050 hope I'm here to see it!

lunamoon you must be as old as me (surely not posisble )

I'm trying to work out at what stage names like Paul, Mark, Ian, Gareth, John, David etc became passé. Must be as late the mid 90s, because they were the Joe Ordinary names when I was at school, and my 18-year-old sister's class at my old comp is littered with the above. I'm only 2 years older and there were 3 Nigels in my year group.

Geoffrey was HUGE in the late 80s/early 90s. I have something like 3 dozen Geoffs in my extended network on Facebook, all aged between 17/18 and 24/25.

That's interetsing. Paul certainly reached its peak name-wise in the mid 60s (paul McCartney, see).

I don't know a single one under 25 and I know a lot of small children (not many teenagers tho).

I do know the occasional John or David aged 5 or so but they are usually the only one in the class/year/school.

Surprised at all the Geoffs aged 17!!! That's a real middle-aged man's name to me. (sorry to all 20yo Geoffreys out there)

I can no longer think of Pamela without the Gavin and Stacey intonation of "Pamelarrrrr"

Ahem, anyway
Helen
Shirley
Gaye
Roy
Trevor
Edward
Frederick

Names, apart from Helen, I cannot imagine ever calling a baby.

When I was at school, ( I am 37 so they are old enough to be mum/dad names to the OP!)
we were all Joanne (me,hate it)
Nicola
Catherine
Claire
Jane

boys were nearly all Matthew, Paul, mark and Stephen, which to me don't seem as dated as the girls names.

DD1 has my aunts name as her middle name - Helen

DD2 has my mums name as her middle name - Alison

DS has my dads name as his middle name - James

First names are Jessica, Rebecca and Daniel.

Dh's mum and dad are Margaret and Sam. No way on this earth could I call a child Margaret.

my mum is doreen. NEVER not ever. (And she was named after her mum, lol!)

I like margaret, love Maggie as a nick name. But dodgy relative with the name. And for a lot of people, Thatcher will be the main association with the name, which is a shame.

I really like Margaret and it was on our list for our DCs (who turned out to be DSs)

Am now convinced that a lot of the 70s names must have lingered for quite some time. I'm rotten with birthdays and not spectacularly good with faces after a certain amount of time, but I never forget names. I started year 7 in 1999 and there were more Craigs, Pauls, Marks, Gareths, Carls, Elizabeths, Amandas, Debbies and Claires than there were Joshuas, Maxes, Ellas, Lilys etc. And names like Alfie and Ruby were unheard of. I remember one Alfie in the year above me getting grief for having a "coffin dodger name" - this was in 2002! And there was a little girl called Ruby in the same class as my youngest sister (now 17) at primary school called Ruby. I dimly class my mother commenting on what a frightful, antediluvian, knitting-needle-and-cats name it was. I suppose that will have been around 1997 or 8. Now it's in the top 3!

The rise of the current most popular names (with the exception of things like Tom, James, Matt etc which have been in since the year dot) really must be more recent that I initially assumed. This thread's been great food for thought so cheers for all the contributions folks!

LOL at all the posters who instantly thought of grandparent names.

Boys - Nick, Mark, Neil, John, Andrew

Girls - Alison, Rebecca, Lisa, Dawn, Julie

Philip, Jonathan, Brian, Ian, Robert, Gavin, Stephen (just make a list of old boyfriends!)
Jennifer, Helen, Diana, Joanne, Nicola, Denise, Sharon, Kerry, Karen

In the supermarket I heard

'we have a little lost boy. He is two and his name is Gordon'

How unusual, I was thinking as I pushed my trolley. Perhaps named after Mr Brown or Mr Ramsey. Then two minutes later

'Sorry, it's Jordan'

Hmmm. My name is all over this thread.

OMG I know loads of baby Trevors.

Oooh, I love these kind of names, especially for girls - Alison, Karen, Julie and Simone are my favourites.

I was at school with lots of Claires, Gillians, Debbies and Amandas - Mark, Matthew, Ian and Simon for boys.

Lol my mum and dad are joan and brian and dh parents are karen and robert

In the 70s it was always something with louise as a middle name lots of claire louise, sarah louise ect

Some of these lists sound like a Beautiful South song!
I think Janet is highly underrated! (My Mum's name!)

Janet
Barb
Christine
Sue
Trish
Pauline

Roy
Bob
Ken
Jim
Dave
Sid

Just a few of my parents friends!

laughalot - 80s too! There were two Gemma Louise's in my class.