Why are Albert, Stanley and Violet OK but.....

[seeker]

....Brian, Kevin and Sharon aren't?

Is it that your Grandparents's names have gone round the clock and are cool again, while your parent's names have't, and the next generation will be populated by Tracys, Colins and Garys?

Albert, Stanley and Violet are TERRIBLE.

So are Brian, Kevin and Sharon.

There is no difference.

The only difference is about 50 yrs.

Imagine baby Roger and Richard

LMAO at schneebly's agreement

That is brilliant. I can't believe you agreed to it, or that he held you to it, or that you didn't tell him to piss off.

Actually I also have a bit of a soft spot for the name Alan and always have ever since I was a child.

Puffling, there is a little boy in my dd's nursery called Richard. He's not even two yet.

My dad is a Kevin and as much as I wanted to 'honour' him somehow in ds's name I just couldn't do it

Richard is a classic name- there are always a few.

One of my ds's best friends is Richard.

I know a baby Bernard. And a baby John.

I can't remember which way round it is but names cycle on 100 years for one sex and 110 years for the other. Does that help answer the OP?

There are some names though that should never come back

I would think it was slightly less than 100 yrs. This is why any Rubies are 80+ or under 10yrs and why Brendas are 60+ and will be back in about 20 yrs. Perhaps boys are longer which is why people are only just beginning to think that Ernest is a possibility. (I can't imagine a nursery with lots of little Ernests!)

My DS, 13, has a girl called Barbara in his class, a name I normally associate with the 60+ category along with Brenda! I also know of a young teenager with the first name of Brian.

I also dislike Stanley, Albert, Violet, etc, mainly because I have old and deceased distant relatives with those names and as a young child, I found them all a bit scary.

What's wrong with Richard??? (Genuine question)

At least it isn't the name of a grumpy character from the original cast of Coronation Street (Albert Tatlock, Stanley Ogden and Violet Carson -who played Ena Sharples. Ena anyone?)

Names that must not be revived:

Derek
Barry
Brian
Colin

Pam
Pat
Doreen
Mavis

I quite like Mavis! It means "blackbird"

• I think! Seeker hjas moment of doubt and rushes off to Google!

My nan is Barbara and her name was soooooo fashionable when she was young, everyone called her Babs and she was the girl to be seen with!

I don't know any young Barbaras.

My Grandads have all been quite plain English names, John and Charles and George.

My children got lumbered with similar names.

I know a 12-year old Philip and an 11-year old Gary. Co-incidentally they go to the same school.

My parents/in-laws/aunts and uncles are called Barbara, Philip, Carol, Christopher, Janice, Nigel, Denise, Linda, Susan, Roger, Julie, and Ian. They range from 62 to 49 ... none of their names are in the top 10 are they???
But then, the next generation back includes/d Frank, Olga, Vera, Margaret, Cyril and Lesley (man and woman) so they aren't overly popular either!!
DH's nan is called Jessica; that's pretty enduring.

I quite like Pat or rather Patricia which is my mum's name; we toyed with it as a middle name for DD but eventually went for Rose (now that is eternally popular) after my late MIL.

Least likely, imo, to make a comeback would be Cyril - it's just plain wrong!

My ds2 has a classmate called Richard.

I can remember when he was born, my dh and I were slightly shocked at a baby called Richard - seemed really weird. Have got used to it now though.

I now know a baby called Peter, this will take some getting used to also.

i could add half a dozen others but will offend half of mumsnet.. i reckon barry will be back, when people get bored of harry

Still no explanation for why Richard is shocking I see - or is it that everyone is a Jane Austen fan and thinks it is not respectable??

"He was a very respectable man, though his name was Richard" (Northanger Abbey)

Message withdrawn

I know a 12yr boy called Roy which just sounds so wrong on a child imo. I also came across a baby Gordon a few weeks ago.

I think that Richard is a lovely name! It may not top any lists for popularity but it is never dated.