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 know a baby Jimmy

I know loads of small Jims or Jimmys (Jimmies?) - it's just a nn for James after all.

Susan tho yy and Elaine, Shona, I knew a Shona at school.

My friends (about the right generation because I'm very old) Margaret, Clare,David,Gail,Gordon, Paul,Clive, Nicola, Diana, Adrian, Nigel, Neil, Matthew, Michael, Jim, Sarah, Anna, Kate, Tim, Kevin, Sharon, Judith. Take your pick, young'uns!

I was born in the 70s and pretty much most people my age are called...
Rachel
Rebecca
Catherine/Kate
Emma
Joanne/Joanna/Jo
Sarah
Claire
Jenny
Helen
Lau ra

There seems to be more variety for boys without the same names cropping up again and again. They tended to be names like Mark, James, Robert, Richard, Nick, David, Ed - all quite decent names, actually.

In my parents' generation, the most prevalent names are...
Vera
Gill
Elizabeth / Liz
Patricia
Linda
Sue
Anne
Judith
Richard
John
Bob
Peter

My mum and dad are Eileen (Ellen) and Thomas

My ils are Leon and Rosalie

I want to bring back Julie is is such a pretty name

I agree, I always liked Julie.

I've just remembered, in the 70s, everyone had the middle name Louise or Jane. I think Rose, May and Grace are the equivalents today. They are all gorgeous names, but so overused. I have heard of people who have just dropped their "filler" middle name as it just seems so pointless to them!

LuciaRose - that's an enduring one. I'm a Louise, 50% of my female friends are a Something Louise and the rest are a Something Jane - and I'm a late 80s baby!

LR your username is one I have a string bond with

My mum's name is Suzette- lovely I think. My dad was Ray.

All boys's names with a V in are dad names:

Mervyn
Dave
Kevin
Neville
Vince
Vernon
Alvin

My mum and MIL's names are Jenny and Janet. Dad & FIL are Neil and Brian.

This thread is making me feel old as my name has been mentioned so many times and DH's as well.

My DD's middle name is May after my mum and grandmothers middle name and DS middle name is James which is a middle name that goes back several generations in DH's family.]

My generation of names at school were

Karen
Tracy
Susan
Pauline
Heather
Paula
Lynn
Jill
Angela
Kim
Yvonne
Deborah
Tani a
Wendy
Sharon
Tina

Boys
Tony
Stephen
Ian/Iain
Chris
Simon
Mark
Terry
Colin
Brian

there were loads of Nicolas at schol with me - some not very nice so it's put me right off that name! That and Danielle (who tried to bully me).

Been rummaging about for research, found the following pretty interesting given the contents of this thread.

The following names were all included in the top 50 or 60 baby names in 1992:

Paul, Mark, Ian, Stuart, Robert, Gareth, Carl, Timothy, Jason, David, Nicholas, Dean, Anthony, Steven, John, Christopher

Jennifer, Catherine, Sarah, Kelly, Claire, Helen, Laura, Elizabeth, Nicola, Heather, Ellen

So it seems the high incidence of the above names at my school in the 90s/early noughties was obviously a nationwide thing and not exclusive to archaic/retro pockets of society!

Am grinning a I look back at the post made by somebody in this thread who seemed amused at the idea of a baby Jimmy (James) - as of precisely a week ago I am now the proud "owner" of one!

There just weren't so many names around thirty or forty years ago. Honest!

I think that names like Paul, Mark, Sarah, Helen ? are definitely due for a revival. They'll soon be just as fashionable again as Ercol furniture and Denby Arabesque coffee sets.

Not sure about Gary and Sharon though. (Although I know an amazingly lovely Gary and an absolutely stunning, elegant and vibrant Sharon, she hastened to add.)

Crikey. This thread's 2 years old!

I know. I was hunting around for the Mumsnet judgement of names such as 'Paul' and 'Sarah' as my younger sister has both on her shortlist for her first child. They aren't names I considered for my children (she's quite a bit younger than me) but I do like them. I suppose I'll just have to check back in 20 years?

I do like a lot of these names - several are on our list (Judith, Angela).
I still cannot imagine a baby Brian though

Some from my school in the 60s and 70s:

Sally, Melanie, Lesley, Lyndsey,
Caroline, Susan, Jane/Jayne, Sarah,
Alison, Clare/Claire, Susan, Julie,
Deborah/Debra, Joanna/Joanne,
Jillian, Helen, Christina, Liza

Mum and Dad:
Nick (Nicholas) and Loll (Lorraine)

DH's Mum and Dad:
Judith and Michael

Arthur and Genevieve.
DP's
Harry and Sally (yes for real...)

Rebecca, Peter, Matthew & Helen

Robert, Daniel, Peter, Susie, Fiona, Melanie

think all of these would work well for babies but sound normal for adults too (i'm older than you)