Nameberry has talked about the “100-year” or “four-generation” rule before with how long “old” names have to wait before sounding “new” again, and how names only one (i.e. today’s new parents) or two (i.e. [name]Baby[/name] Boomers) generations since their peak are often rendered unfashionable.
Let’s take a look at the names that are now three-fourths of the way around the “old is new again” circle, which falls roughly around the ones popular during the 1920s and 30s. Which ones if any do you like? Any that you think if you were to bestow on a child now would be something that would make them feel ahead of the curve when they become popular again for their kids’ generation?
I took a look at 1930. Of the top 100 for girls, [name]Mildred[/name] has a good meaning and [name]Florence[/name] has a nice flowery feel to it that has come-back potential imo.
For boys, it’s much tougher. I went down as far as 500 for a good sampling since boys’ names don’t vary quite as much quite as often. [name]Buster[/name] seems like it has some potential with the popularity of Mythbusters. [name]Garland[/name] is had been off the charts for a while and even here on NB they seem to have forgotten it was a popular boys name during the first half of the century since it only lists the name as feminine. It still strikes me as masculine but I’m afraid if it does make a comeback it will be as a girl’s name If I were brave enough to name my kids [name]Norbert[/name] or [name]Sylvester[/name] I would. [name]Both[/name] could use some renewed respect.
I tried looking at 1925. I think basically the entire top ten for that year-particularly [name]Dorothy[/name], [name]Helen[/name], [name]Ruth[/name], and [name]Virginia[/name]- have a pretty good chance of coming back. They’re already somewhat popular with hipsters, and those trends tend to catch (like [name]Stella[/name] and [name]Charlotte[/name].) [name]Evelyn[/name] (12) and [name]Frances[/name] (11) are already back, and I could definitely see top 100 names [name]Shirley[/name], [name]Marjorie[/name], [name]Lorraine[/name], and [name]Alma[/name] returning as well. I can’t see [name]Mildred[/name] ever making a comeback, though.
The boys have SO many classics it’s really tough to say. Most of the names are already at least somewhat popular. I think the two with the most potential to rise in the future are [name]Harry[/name] and [name]Arthur[/name]. [name]Arthur[/name] shares the -er ending that’s currently popular, and there’s a glee character called [name]Artie[/name]. [name]Harry[/name] I’m almost certain will rise, partly due to Mr. [name]Potter[/name] and partly because of the prince. I really wouldn’t be surprised if some of today’s kids pick [name]Harry[/name] or [name]Ron[/name] for their children ([name]Hermione[/name] may be a stretch, though.)
I think a lot of the boy’s names are pretty consistent. Names like [name]James[/name], [name]John[/name], [name]William[/name], [name]Charles[/name], [name]Thomas[/name], [name]Joseph[/name], etc are still decently popular. Some like [name]George[/name], [name]Raymond[/name], [name]Gerald[/name], [name]Eugene[/name], [name]Howard[/name] and [name]Norman[/name] sound like “old man” names to me and I wouldn’t personally use them.
For girl names, I’m already seeing a lot of these coming back, especially as middle names. I think there are a lot of people that love these older names, but aren’t quite brave enough to use them in the first name spot. Ones I think are still pretty common: [name]Margaret[/name], [name]Elizabeth[/name], [name]Carolyn[/name], [name]Evelyn[/name], [name]Catherine[/name], [name]Ruby[/name], [name]Eleanor[/name]. Ones I think can make a comeback:[name]Mary[/name], [name]Betty[/name], [name]Nancy[/name], [name]Beverly[/name], [name]Judith[/name], [name]Kathleen[/name].
(this was for 1930s btw but some of the names are the same. I mostly looked at #1-75ish).
I love [name]Shirley[/name] (: Honestly, I do. I know lots of ladies named [name]Shirley[/name] who are in their 40s/50s though, which is a bit off-putting, and I totally understand how unattractive it sounds to most people as well. Ones from the 1920s/30s girls lists that I think will definitely come back sooner rather than later (if they haven’t already) are…
*are already pretty popular / well-used in the UK, particularly [name]Alice[/name] and [name]Ruby[/name].
As for the boys, the UK seem to be far more open to older names too. LOADS of Charlies, Alfies, Archies ect. The ones I can see returning from the boys are…
[name]Arthur[/name]*
[name]Albert[/name] (I know a few [name]Albie[/name]'s here. Kind of a catch on from [name]Alfie[/name], I think.)
[name]Ralph[/name]
[name]Louis[/name]
[name]Roy[/name]
[name]Leonard[/name]/[name]Leo[/name]*
[name]Alfred[/name]
[name]Stanley[/name]*
[name]Billy[/name]*
[name]Joe[/name]*
Some of these are already coming back, or seem to be gaining interest, at least among those of us Nameberries.
The ones I have a hard time imagining coming back are the ones that still feel like grandparent names: [name]Barbara[/name], [name]Shirley[/name], [name]Norma[/name], [name]Donald[/name], [name]Howard[/name], [name]Joyce[/name], [name]Edna[/name], etc.
If I were brave enough to name my kids [name]Norbert[/name] or [name]Sylvester[/name] I would. [name]Both[/name] could use some renewed respect.