Babynames threads of the 70s - what would they have been like?

[ConFuschias]

Something along the lines of:

I have a Darren and a Karen. Would it be too much to call DC3 Sharon?

Nancy
Michelle
Cheryl

Maggie It's funny you mention Melanie (my sister's name) - I'm 35 and have only ever come across 3!

(1979) There were about 5 Karens in my year, several Joannes and actually quite a few Emilys.

Debbie/Deborah
Claire (loads of)
Lynsey/Lindsay
Emma
Kirsty
Sarah/Sara
Laura
Gemma
Angela
Helen

BOYS were all called

Kevin
Keith
Michael
David
Jonathan/John
Andrew
Lee
Scott

Totally agree that everyone's middle name was either Jane or Louise (mine was Jane)

in my year they were
jeanette
hazel
christine
janet
karen,lindsay
julie
helen
jane
barbara
linda
louise
jennifer
kim
claire
lesley
joanne
margaret
and the boys were
david
steven/stephen
pete
andy
giles
ian
michael/mike
anthony/tony
geoff
phillip
tim
paul
gary
miles
robert

I was born in 1970..and my school classes were full of -

Nicola
Lyn/Lynn/Lynne
Karen
Gillian

Robert
Stephen
Derek
Michael

We didn't really have that many Sharons or Tracy/Traceys (there were millions of Nicolas though)

My middle name is Jane but I have always been called it (i.e. not my first name) - if your first name is Jane, do you have a middle name and if so, what is it? (Louise? )

Is Emma too old-grannyish?

I don't know any in my neck of the woods - dare I use it?

and does it flow better with the middle name Jane or Louise?

I was planning on naming my daughter 'Julie' but my husband returned from the Registrars and announced that he'd changed it at the last minute to 'Juliet' without consulting me.
AIBU to be concerned that she'll be mocked for being 'different' with a foreign and archaeic name?
Also, I know I'm only his wife but shouldn't he have discussed it with me first?

BTW this is a true story and the owner of the name, thankfully, loves being slightly unusual and exotic.

its strange how the name claire keeps cropping up. I am a clare, i didn't know another clare/claire/clair while i was at school or even in my early twenties. Then i went to a party in my late twenties and i was one of four clare's there. I was amazed. I thought i had am unusual name growing up. Now i know loads of clare's, last saturday i was at a preschool birthday party with ds, and 4 of the 8 mums were called clare/claire. I know 2 of the the other preschool mums are also called clare/claire, it was the sophie of the late 60's/early 70's

Many Clair/Clare/Claire's in my school. My parents are Irish and my name is still unusual. I longed to be Michelle, Sarah, Nicola or Louise.

I love my name now but it took many years

I'm Irish too and there was an awful lot of Marys and Margarets around! John, Michael, Paul and Tommy were all big for boys. Almost every family I knew had a John and a Mary!

Skihorse, I was also surprised looking at some of the names people have mentioned as being 70s..eg Nancy. That's either bridge-lady in pearls or boden toddler on her way to baby signlanguage!! It's not a 30 somthing !!

Melanie is a lovely name. There were two in my year, so maybe that was a statistical anomaly! There were about five Jennifers. It was ridiculous. Five claires, 3 nicolas, a sarah, a Sara, 2 Suzannes. People just chose their names off the top 20 list as though that was the rule I think.

Bathsheba, we didn't have many traceys or sharons either. I think that was late 60s.

So Traceys and Sharons would usually be about 43ish or older. Does that sound about right??

I'm 44 and the class was full of Sharons and Tracey. Also popular were Linda (they were always the cool ones) Elaine, Claire, Lesley, Joanne, Gary (cool back then) Michael, David and Stephen.

Names considered posh in our comp were Heather, Catherine, Emily, Aiden, Christopher and Miles.

Lynne
Barry
Pete
Kevin
Julie
Lorraine
Karen
Imogen
Angela
Lesley
Elaine
Helen
Hillary
Martin
Sarah
Josephine
We also had an Ashleigh, which was unheard of!

Most popular names at my primary school were
Nicola
Debra
Sharon
Tracey
Amanda
Samantha
Joanne

Boys:
Gary
Darren
Peter
Lee
Ke vin

In a very rough area of Manchester though.

I'm Irish too and a lot of the names already mentioned would have been rarer there - most of my classmates were Mary, Ann, Theresa, Catherine or Deirdre or variations of... Jackie & Caroline were still popular due to the Kennedys...

Only knew one Sharon in the whole school and it was considered unusual!

The names considered most unusual in my year were Kirsten & Natalie.

If i call my daughter Katy or Kate will people always lengthen it to Kathryn?

based on my 1st form register in 1989 which went Kate, Kathryn, Katy, Katherine, Catelyn! also in the same year group were 2 other Catherine's and 1 other Caitlin.

I'd like something unusual for this baby and have a feeling it might be a dd... am thinking Rebecca or Abigail, but are they are too wacky?

(Several of both in my school plus all the others already mentioned.)

'I have a dd Sarah Louise, my neighbour has a Sarah Jane and my neighbour on the other side has a Sarah Elizabeth. A new neighbour opposite, who seemed lovely at first and makes fantastic vol au vents, has just had a dd and called her Sarah Louise Jane Elizabeth. Are we being unreasonable to think she is taking the piss?'

LOL dungeonbutter

Most popular name in my school seemed to be Claire - I was always one of 3 or 4 in the class. Most had the same middle name, Louise, too.

I was born in 1964 and my gang was:

sarah
sarah
susan
susan
kim
tracey
beccy

others were:

christina
karen
gillian
diane
emma
angela

boys:

sean
john
paul
grant
david (several)
richard
stephen
robert
duncan

blimey can't believe I can remember so many!

I was born in 1988 and am nodding and grinning my way through this thread and the ensuing nostalgia!

My 17-year-old sister is in a class where virtually everybody's middle name is Jane, Anne, Claire or Louise (my forename!).

What always amuses me about the 60s/70s names threads is the fact that 75% of the names mentioned were still in the Top 50 or so in the early 90s. I know of heaps of Kellys, Helens, Gareths, Marks etc in their late teens... then in kids born post about 92/93 they all tail off suddenly.

I guess it's just one of those zeitgeisty, 'edge of generation' things where trends seem to go on perpetually and then disappear as suddenly as they arrived over the space of about a year or two.

Thanks choosyfloosy.