Maybe the internet is skewering my view but it seems like [name_f]EVERY[/name_f] type of name falls into a popular, trendy category:
Old-fashioned, elegant names like [name_m]Atticus[/name_m], [name_f]Maeve[/name_f] and [name_u]Eloise[/name_u]
Profession names like [name_m]Thatcher[/name_m] and [name_m]Archer[/name_m]
Last names as first names: [name_m]Bennet[/name_m], [name_m]Johnson[/name_m], [name_u]Carson[/name_u]
“Hip” names that end in -ley or -ly ([name_u]Oakley[/name_u]), or -aiden ([name_u]Aidan[/name_u], [name_u]Jayden[/name_u], [name_u]Brayden[/name_u]).
Hippie nature names are kind of making a comeback too: [name_f]Luna[/name_f], [name_f]Ivy[/name_f], [name_m]Forrest[/name_m].
Are there any names that don’t fit into that categorie, besides timeles choices like [name_f]Jessica[/name_f], [name_u]Michael[/name_u] en [name_m]Tom[/name_m]?
Not really, I think almost every name can fall under a category you listed.
[name_m]Even[/name_m] [name_u]Michael[/name_u] can be considered “old fashioned” - I mean its from the Bible, so it’s been around a longgg time. lol.
I’d also put [name_u]Michael[/name_u] and [name_f]Jessica[/name_f] under the “1980’s baby boom” category. Does that even count as a category? Idk its the vibe I get. I was born in the 80’s and I knew at least a dozen of each of them. lol
Well, by definition it’s only the “timeless” names that are… well, timeless.
There are definitely less popular candidates in each of your categories, though, which feel on-trend rather than hugely trendy and overexposed.
Other than that, you could always look at names from other languages/cultures. I’m sure they fit into “trendy” categories too, but it won’t necessarily be apparent to others around them. Of course, foreign-origin names are arguably a “trendy” category in their own right…
Most, if not all, names come under some category and subjectively people may think they are trendy.
Someone said my kids’ names are trendy purely because they are uncommon. More and more people seem to be opting for more uncommon names and so by their definition, my kids’ names are trendy. I don’t particularly agree with that, but I thnk it’s a matter of perspective. Some names popular in [name_u]America[/name_u] and considered trendy, may be more uncommon somewhere else and so don’t seem as trendy there.
I agree with the other posters that it’s a matter of perspective. A name that sounds trendy to one person might sound very traditional to another. Or dated, old-fashioned or exotic.
For example, [name_f]Maeve[/name_f] doesn’t seem trendy at all to me since I am from an Irish community where that name has always been fairly common.
Pretty much what @choupette said. It’s really all about your perspective on naming trends. For example, I find lots of 90’s names like [name_u]Sierra[/name_u], [name_f]Angelica[/name_f] and [name_f]Amy[/name_f] still usable today, as well as older names like [name_f]Rosalind[/name_f] and [name_u]June[/name_u].
I do think you can categorise names though, but many names fall into at least 6 categories though. But that’s just my 2 cents.
The category that come to mind for me is names from the 50s-60s/Midcentury names. Especially names that had their own peak and aren’t otherwise classic ([name_f]Deborah[/name_f], for example is biblical, though [name_f]Debra[/name_f] feels trendier/of the times). This is a bigger category for girls, since many of the boys names are things like [name_u]Michael[/name_u], [name_m]Robert[/name_m], [name_u]James[/name_u] and [name_m]David[/name_m], all of which are fairly timeless. And you’d want to avoid the “old man/woman” names that continued to be popular then, but could be seen as on-trend now: [name_m]Ernest[/name_m], [name_u]Stanley[/name_u], [name_u]Joan[/name_u], [name_f]Marie[/name_f], etc.
Some that stick out to me as not quite ready for revival (and therefore not trendy): [name_f]Carol[/name_f], [name_f]Linda[/name_f], [name_f]Pamela[/name_f], [name_f]Patricia[/name_f], [name_f]Debra[/name_f], [name_f]Donna[/name_f], [name_f]Sharon[/name_f], [name_f]Cheryl[/name_f]. [name_u]Gary[/name_u], [name_u]Barry[/name_u], [name_u]Darryl[/name_u], [name_m]Wayne[/name_m], [name_m]Larry[/name_m], [name_u]Randy[/name_u].
I suppose the next generation after that is also not ready for a revivial, the names of the 70s or so. Think [name_f]Heather[/name_f], [name_f]Tammy[/name_f], [name_u]Stacy[/name_u], [name_u]Tracy[/name_u], [name_f]Mindy[/name_f], [name_f]Tonya[/name_f], [name_f]Misty[/name_f], [name_f]Brandy[/name_f]. [name_m]Todd[/name_m], [name_m]Kirk[/name_m], [name_m]Kurt[/name_m], [name_m]Craig[/name_m], [name_m]Dwayne[/name_m], [name_u]Shaun[/name_u], [name_m]Kent[/name_m].
I don’t consider these old lady names, but they also aren’t trendy. You can probably find people named these in most times through history but never a lot of them.
And so on… In other words, names that are so out of style they can’t possibly be trendy. Give it another 20 years and they could start to come back.
Some other names that don’t seem to be too trendy are certain old-fashioned or rare feminizations (where I live - could be different in other countries):