I just noticed this on the page for [name]Heather[/name] and am wondering if there was any identifiable reason (some type of pop culture event, perhaps) or if it was simply the Zeitgeist/people starting to see the name as tired en masse for no specific reason. I found it odd that the steep decline didn’t set in closer to 1988, when Heathers was released (it did drop a few places in 1988 and the following years and slowly declined further from 1991-2001, but not as sharply) and instead occurred over a decade later. Any negative associations from around that time?
And what do you think of [name]Heather[/name] in 2012?
That’s probably when the generation of Heathers and classmates of Heathers started having kids, and it was such a trendy name back then that they didn’t want to use it for their own kids, or maybe they knew Heathers and didn’t like the association.
I found this topic so interesting since I was just thinking about it too! Not to use or anything, but I had run into a former classmate named [name]Heather[/name] and being the name geek that I am it made me wonder why I don’t hear that name being used at all anymore.
I thought it was pretty then, and I still think it’s pretty. Not nearly as overdone as some of the other nature/flower names being used today! I think it would be refreshing to see it again.
I’m 27 and grew up with A LOT of Heathers. I just think for my generation, (many of whom are having children right now,) the name [name]Heather[/name] is quite common and a little stale.
Personally, I really like the way [name]Heather[/name] flows. I’m a big fan of botanical names in general and [name]Heather[/name] is a nice addition to that list. Unfortunately, because of the many Heathers I know, it just wouldn’t work for me.
Im 17 years old and my name is [name]Heather[/name]. Personaly i loved my name. because it isn that common anymore i loved that my name was unusual at school and i havent met anyone who is my age with the name [name]Heather[/name]. i also like that i think i suits a name for a little baby as well as an adult
My dear friend who is like a sister is a [name]Heather[/name], and I’ve toyed with the idea of using it (maybe in middle…but maybe first?) to honor her down the road. She’s actually the only [name]Heather[/name] I can recall knowing, besides a distant cousin.
I think this is a really interesting question - I’ve wondered about it myself. The ideas about the movie [name]Heather[/name] and the general passe thing are plausible, but the problem is - [name]Jennifer[/name], [name]Jessica[/name], [name]Ashley[/name], etc., aren’t suffering quite the same fate. I mean they have dropped off steeply but are actually still all in the top 200, I think.
A few theories:
Many of the names of that era start with perennially relatively popular letters. I think H is a less stable/popular letter. And just the sounds in it are maybe a little clunky/unpopular in general? It’s actually really close in structure to [name]Esther[/name], which to many people is very old lady.
2)Many of the names of that era are close to a longer-standing classic ([name]Lauren[/name]/[name]Laura[/name], [name]Alicia[/name]/[name]Alice[/name],) or have nicknames that may have had history in their own right ([name]Jenny[/name] for [name]Jennifer[/name], [name]Jess[/name]/[name]Jessie[/name] for [name]Jessica[/name]). [name]Heather[/name] doesn’t really have any of those features.
I think flower names may be extra-subject to being in and out. [name]Lily[/name] which is so huge right now, and has been for most of the years the charts have existed, fell off very steeply I think for a while in the era of [name]Jessica[/name] and [name]Jennifer[/name] (if I’m remembering right - maybe [name]Heather[/name] replaced it : D?). [name]Myrtle[/name] is a name that was hugely popular that just never came back.
Did [name]Heather[/name] Locklear do something awful I don’t remember? : D Although come to think of it, [name]Jennifer[/name] has had [name]Anniston[/name] and Lopez and [name]Love[/name]-[name]Hewitt[/name] and [name]Gardner[/name] to carry it on, [name]Jessica[/name] has had [name]Alba[/name] and [name]Simpson[/name] and [name]Sarah[/name] J. [name]Parker[/name] - [name]Heather[/name] hasn’t had as many celebrity bearers to inspire ongoing use.
I would love to meet a small [name]Heather[/name]! I do think the name is pretty enough, although I don’t love the sound enormously - my positive reaction would be more due to my friend than the name itself.
And a small [name]Heather[/name] certainly wouldn’t be likely to share her name with classmates.
I think it is a lovely name. Because I have an older cousin who was born in 1975 with the name, I have always been very close to it, and maybe can’t evaluate it totally objectively. It took me a while to realize that “heather” was a word/flower name, but after I did, it became even lovelier to me. It evokes a gothic beauty to me–like ‘The [name]Secret[/name] Garden,’ ‘[name]Jane[/name] Eyre,’ and ‘Wuthering Heights’–the heather on the moors.
Of course, there is the film “Heathers” and the image of [name]Heather[/name] Locklear, but really, I think that those connotations are diminishing more and more.
Personally, I see it as a soft, lovely, botanical name that would stand out today in the sea of Lilys and Roses and Daisys.
And I don’t hate [name]Heather[/name]. But I don’t like it either. I like some other names that were big in the '70s-'80s for babies more, mostly the ones that were on their 100 year cycle like [name]Amy[/name] or [name]Amanda[/name], and have an classic history to fall back on.
I do like botanical names, and I give [name]Heather[/name] points for that, but I love SO MANY that I don’t need to add a 23rd one to my list, you know?
I will say I would rather see [name]Heather[/name] than [name]Harper[/name]. Maybe that’s all that happened, all the little Heathers are being named [name]Harper[/name] and [name]Hayley[/name]?
[name]Heather[/name] hit its high as most of the other botanicals hit their nadirs- as [name]Lily[/name], [name]Violet[/name], [name]Rose[/name], [name]Ivy[/name], and [name]Hazel[/name] came back into the mainstream, parents looking for a botanical name went to them ([name]Daisy[/name] and [name]Iris[/name], too, but they never fell quite as far as the others). It almost looks like [name]Heather[/name] alone held the ‘botanical’ niche for nearly 15 years, and therefore lost its botanical feel and just became a popular name. The other aspect of [name]Heather[/name]- as a symbol for scotland- seems to have been taken over by the popularity of Celtic names ([name]Fiona[/name], in particular) and place names like [name]Skye[/name] and more recently [name]Isla[/name] ([name]Islay[/name]). Once [name]Heather[/name]'s been obscure for a couple of years, I think the botanical and Scottish aspect will become more evident again and keep it in steady use. It might not take too long in obscurity, either- [name]Amanda[/name] has started sounding more romantic and less dated to me recently,
I’ve always thought [name]Heather[/name] was beautiful, I’ve only known one [name]Heather[/name] in my life and she was equally beautiful. I love the soft sound and the fact that it is a botanical name. Sadly, I can see how it’s dated, I think people who are just a bit older then me {I was born in 91 so people who were born in the 80’s or 70’s} knew a lot more girls’ with this name so now it seems dated. [name]Even[/name] to me it has always made me think of the 80’s but I’ve always thought it was pretty. Probably my favorite name used around that time.
