Midcentury Names 📺

Hello berries!

Lately I’ve been really into midcentury names, names that were popular around 1940-60. I love their still-a-little-dusty, not quite ready to come back style. Some of my favorites would be [name_m]Roger[/name_m], [name_f]Irene[/name_f], [name_f]Susan[/name_f], and [name_m]Gerald[/name_m].

I’d love to hear what some of your favorite midcentury names are! I usually think of American/western names, but I’d also be interested to learn what names would be considered midcentury in other cultures too! I can’t wait to hear what you come up with!!

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[name_u]Love[/name_u] Susan/Suzanne, one of my friends has a 1 year old named [name_f]Suzanne[/name_f], I think it’s adorable

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For fun, here is the top 10 in [name_u]France[/name_u] for the period 1940-60:

Girls:
[name_u]Marie[/name_u]
[name_f]Françoise[/name_f]
[name_f]Martine[/name_f]
[name_f]Monique[/name_f]
[name_f]Nicole[/name_f]
[name_f]Chantal[/name_f]
[name_f]Annie[/name_f]
[name_f]Christiane[/name_f]
[name_f]Jacqueline[/name_f]
[name_f]Catherine[/name_f]

Boys:
[name_u]Jean[/name_u]
[name_u]Michel[/name_u]
[name_m]Alain[/name_m]
[name_m]Bernard[/name_m]
[name_u]Daniel[/name_u]
[name_u]Christian[/name_u]
[name_m]Gérard[/name_m]
[name_m]Patrick[/name_m]
[name_m]Jacques[/name_m]
[name_m]Philippe[/name_m]

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Whoooo boy, I have tons of these :joy:

Algernon
Art
Bing
Boyd
Clifford
Earl
Earnest / Ernest
Elmer
Eustace
Floyd
Francis
Gale
Grover
Harold
Kermit
Leon
Leslie
Lester
Lloyd
Loren
Lowell
Marion
Marvin
Morris
Osmond
Raymond
Seymour
Stanley
Stirling
Vernon
Wallace
Willard
Woodrow

Alvina
Arlene
Blanche
Cathleen
Colma
Dina
Dolores
Doris
Earline
Eileen
Ernestine
Ethel
Eulalie
Fran
Gladys
Irene
Jean
Lois
Margery
Maxine
Muriel
Myrtle
Nadine
Prudence
Sally
Shirley
Sybil
Verla

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some of my faves are…

Jillian/Jill/Jilly
[name_f]Nancy[/name_f]
Kathleen/Kathie
[name_f]Joanie[/name_f]
[name_u]Beverly[/name_u]
Constance/Connie
[name_f]Sylvia[/name_f]
[name_f]Bonnie[/name_f]
[name_f]Lorna[/name_f]

[name_m]Terrence[/name_m]
[name_m]Kenneth[/name_m]
[name_u]Curtis[/name_u]
[name_u]Robin[/name_u]
[name_m]Hugh[/name_m]
[name_m]Ralph[/name_m]
[name_u]Micky[/name_u]
[name_m]Leonard[/name_m]
[name_u]Sidney[/name_u]
[name_m]Jared[/name_m]

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[name_m]Ferdinand[/name_m]
[name_m]Marius[/name_m]

[name_f]Marijke[/name_f]

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Lately, I’ve found myself coming around to more and more names of this style! I don’t think they are quite ready to come back yet, as you said, but I’m getting excited to hear them pop back up in another couple of decades or so. :blush:

Yes to [name_f]Susan[/name_f] & Roger!!

[name_f]Anita[/name_f]
[name_f]Berenice[/name_f]
[name_f]Claudia[/name_f]
[name_f]Constance[/name_f]
[name_f]Cynthia[/name_f]
[name_f]Dolores[/name_f]
[name_f]Elaine[/name_f]
[name_f]Judy[/name_f]
[name_f]Kathleen[/name_f]
[name_u]Leslie[/name_u]
[name_f]Linda[/name_f]
[name_u]Marie[/name_u]
Paula/Pauline
[name_f]Sharon[/name_f]
[name_u]Shirley[/name_u]
[name_f]Theresa[/name_f]

[name_m]Albert[/name_m]
[name_u]Billy[/name_u]
[name_u]Clarence[/name_u]
[name_m]Eugene[/name_m]
[name_m]Frank[/name_m]
[name_u]Howard[/name_u]
[name_m]Lewis[/name_m]
[name_m]Jimmy[/name_m]
[name_m]Raymond[/name_m]
[name_m]Richard[/name_m]
[name_u]Tommy[/name_u]

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[name_m]Hi[/name_m] there.

I love the idea of these names, even though I can’t get on board with actually liking them myself. That being said, whenever I rarely meet a little tyke named [name_f]Susan[/name_f] or [name_m]Roger[/name_m], I’d be delighted!

The only ones that I kind of like are…

[name_f]Anita[/name_f]

[name_f]Colleen[/name_f]

[name_f]Cynthia[/name_f]

[name_f]Ellen[/name_f]

[name_f]Gloria[/name_f]

[name_u]June[/name_u]

[name_f]Kathleen[/name_f]

[name_u]Louise[/name_u]

[name_u]Marie[/name_u]

[name_f]Valerie[/name_f]

And there really aren’t any boy names! There are quite a few boy names that I like that were popular mid century, but they were also popular before and/or after.

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Ooh, okay, I’ve got just the one: wondrous, wiry Wanda! :boom:
I absolutely love the name. It’s so punchy and sharp with that W beginning, but cheery and simple all the while. Feels quite rosy to me. I think she suits this feeling to a tee:

Others I quite like are Norm and Davy for boys, plus Barbie and Midge for girls!

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Sooo many fantastic boy names had their turn in the spotlight this era! [name_m]Bruce[/name_m], [name_m]Carl[/name_m], [name_u]Charles[/name_u], [name_m]Dennis[/name_m], [name_m]Kenneth[/name_m], [name_m]Paul[/name_m], [name_m]Peter[/name_m], [name_m]Philip[/name_m], [name_m]Richard[/name_m] (especially Rich!) [name_u]Robert[/name_u], [name_m]Roger[/name_m], [name_m]Thomas[/name_m] (in Australia this is more of a 90s name), [name_u]Walter[/name_u], [name_m]Wayne[/name_m].

[name_u]Arthur[/name_u], [name_u]Edward[/name_u], [name_u]George[/name_u] and [name_u]Henry[/name_u] were well in decline by then, but still in the top 50.

The only ones that I don’t like even a little are [name_m]Larry[/name_m], [name_u]Jerry[/name_u] and [name_u]Roy[/name_u].

For girls, I love [name_f]Ann[/name_f], [name_f]Karen[/name_f], [name_f]Mary[/name_f], [name_f]Nancy[/name_f] and [name_f]Susan[/name_f]. I don’t especially like as many as the boys’ names, I think because names like [name_u]Shirley[/name_u] and [name_f]Linda[/name_f] peaked a lot more dramatically and feel more dated. I somewhat dislike the sound of [name_f]Patricia[/name_f] somehow.

You also had classics like [name_f]Helen[/name_f], [name_f]Margaret[/name_f] and [name_f]Ruth[/name_f] in decline, which were great.

In Australia, [name_f]Lynette[/name_f] was a lot higher, which I really like. [name_f]My[/name_f] beloved [name_u]Kerry[/name_u] had her heyday, and [name_f]Jennifer[/name_f] was huge here before it was in the US. (Jennies are usually boomers here, not [name_f]Gen[/name_f] Xers.) And we had [name_f]Robyn[/name_f], which I love more than I think I should. :sweat_smile:

[name_m]Gregory[/name_m] peaked a little earlier here, which I like. (We liked it before [name_m]Gregory[/name_m] Peck appeared in To Kill a Mockingbird. :sunglasses:) We also got [name_m]Brian[/name_m], [name_m]Christopher[/name_m], [name_m]Colin[/name_m], [name_m]Ian[/name_m], [name_m]Rodney[/name_m] and [name_m]Trevor[/name_m] all before they were really a thing in the US, and [name_u]Leslie[/name_u] was big for boys — I love all these.

I also love this era of [name_m]German[/name_m] names! [name_u]Early[/name_u] on: [name_m]Peter[/name_m], [name_m]Klaus[/name_m], [name_m]Wolfgang[/name_m], [name_m]Manfred[/name_m], [name_m]Dieter[/name_m], Bernd, [name_m]Gerhard[/name_m], [name_u]Michael[/name_u], [name_m]Rainer[/name_m]. For girls, [name_f]Brigitte[/name_f], [name_f]Christa[/name_f], [name_f]Gisela[/name_f], [name_f]Hannelore[/name_f] (there’s only top 20 data but I assume this is also when other -lores like [name_f]Roselore[/name_f] came in), [name_f]Helga[/name_f], [name_f]Ingrid[/name_f], [name_f]Karin[/name_f], [name_f]Renate[/name_f], [name_f]Ursula[/name_f]. Later also: [name_f]Birgit[/name_f], [name_f]Christine[/name_f], [name_f]Martina[/name_f], [name_f]Susanne[/name_f] (zu-ZA-neh) and [name_m]Andreas[/name_m], [name_m]Norbert[/name_m], [name_m]Stefan[/name_m] and [name_m]Thomas[/name_m].

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I love [name_f]Irene[/name_f] and [name_m]Roger[/name_m]! Though they feel more 1920s to me for whatever reason

Some other favs of midcentury:

[name_f]Nancy[/name_f]
[name_f]Beth[/name_f]
[name_f]Betty[/name_f]
[name_f]Bonnie[/name_f]
[name_f]Ruth[/name_f]
[name_f]Susannah[/name_f]
[name_f]Dot[/name_f] / [name_f]Dottie[/name_f] / [name_f]Dorothy[/name_f]

[name_u]Dale[/name_u]
[name_u]Kirby[/name_u]
[name_u]Timothy[/name_u]
[name_m]Chester[/name_m]

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Thank you all for these incredible suggestions!! I am absolutely loving so many of these :heart_eyes:

Yes!! For the longest time I struggled with boy names, but once I started looking into this era I felt so much more inspired!

Yeah, many of these names were very popular throughout the early twentieth century, I personally just associate them with midcentury more!

I can totally see them as midcentury names as well! I think it’s just because i’ve been focused on names from the early twentieth century lately haha

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Timothy :smiling_face_with_three_hearts: (this is an 80s kid name in Australia)
Kirby :heart_eyes:

I love Dale, but its steady ranking from at least the mid 50s to the start of the 90s in Australia just makes it feel like a classic Australian name, not really associated with an era here!

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I made a list of names that were most popular in each decade between 1900 and 2020 for boys and girls in the UK, so based on the 1940s-1960s lists, these are my favourites! :smiling_face_with_three_hearts:


GIRLS
Catherine, Christine, Diana, Diane, Elaine, Elizabeth, Geraldine, Helen, Jane, Julie, Pauline, Rosemary, Sally & Valerie

BOYS
David, Ivan, John, Patrick, Philip, Robert, Robin, Stephen & Vincent

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[name_f]Irene[/name_f]
[name_f]Jennifer[/name_f]
[name_f]Sharon[/name_f]
[name_f]Lynette[/name_f]
[name_f]Sandra[/name_f]
[name_f]Ruth[/name_f]
[name_f]Ann[/name_f]
[name_f]Colleen[/name_f]
[name_f]Jessica[/name_f]
[name_f]Marcia[/name_f]
[name_f]Denise[/name_f]
[name_m]Jared[/name_m]
[name_m]Collin[/name_m]
[name_m]Brian[/name_m]
[name_u]Ryan[/name_u]
[name_u]Dylan[/name_u]
[name_m]Raymond[/name_m]
[name_m]Harold[/name_m]

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anne
annette
arlene
betty
carolyn
eileen
elaine
ellen
irene
janice
jean
joan
joanne
kathleen
kathryn
laura
marianne
marie
marilyn
mary
maureen
pauline
rebecca
ruth
susanna
sylvia
virginia

benjamin
charles
christopher
daniel
david
frederick
jack
jacob
james
john
joseph
raymond
samuel
stephen
theodore
victor

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