I am very aware of the fluctuation in popularity of almost all girls’ names. [name]Even[/name] if you can call a name a classic, you can bet that at some point during the 20th century, it was not popular. For instance, you may think of [name]Mary[/name] as a classic, but it is now outside the top 100 according to SSA.gov. And [name]Alice[/name] may be having a resurgence now, but in the 1980s it was definitely not so. [name]Margaret[/name] was popular back in the 1920s, but has waned since then. Are [name]Catherine[/name] and [name]Elizabeth[/name] the only names that have been consistently popular across the decades? Can you think of any others that would fall into this category? When naming a daughter, I would want to make sure you would not be able to tell the decade she was born in just from her name. Obviously, [name]Donna[/name] and [name]Linda[/name] were born in the 50s or 60s. I feel like [name]Olivia[/name] and [name]Ava[/name] will be just as telling in 50 years time.
I’m not actually pregnant, just wondering what other names you would classify as “timeless.”
Are you looking for something that stayed in the top 50? Or you want something that doesn’t reveal age? There are plenty of names that have stayed top 200 - and those really arent’ going to reveal age. [name]Rebecca[/name], [name]Anna[/name] – and yes, [name]Mary[/name]. It’s still actually a quite popular name. It’s just not a top 10 - but it’s nearly top 100. I think anything that doesn’t have major spikes is more likely to be timeless.
I think usage can wax and wane, to a certain degree, and a name can remain timeless-- for that reason, I think [name]Margaret[/name] and [name]Mary[/name] are timeless, and fairly consistently popular (both are still in the top 200).
Other names that I don’t think would give away the decade she was born in: [name]Nina[/name], [name]Diana[/name], [name]Rose[/name], [name]Miriam[/name], [name]Camilla[/name], [name]Caroline[/name], [name]Claudia[/name], [name]Helena[/name], [name]Anne[/name], [name]Laura[/name], [name]Cecilia[/name], [name]Jane[/name], [name]Celeste[/name], [name]Antonia[/name], [name]Frances[/name].
You mentioned [name]Catherine[/name] and [name]Elizabeth[/name].
*[name]Catherine[/name] has not dropped below 193 since 1880.
*[name]Elizabeth[/name] has not dropped below 26 since 1880.
Here are some other timeless names that come to mind:
*[name]Rebecca[/name] (has not dropped below 183 since 1880).
*[name]Julia[/name] (has not dropped below 142 since 1880).
*[name]Anna[/name] (has not dropped below 105 since 1880).
*[name]Mary[/name] (has not dropped below 112 since 1880).
*[name]Margaret[/name] (has not dropped below 188 since 1880).
*[name]Sarah[/name] (has not dropped below 119 since 1880).
It seems there must be many more, but I am having a hard time finding any other names that have consistently ranked within the top 200. I’ll keep checking the SSA Baby Name site at Popular Baby Names
Thanks guys. My name is actually [name]Catherine[/name] and my mother tried hard to give me one of the most classic names possible. I have thought of another name that would make this list - [name]Sarah[/name]. My favorites are [name]Elizabeth[/name], [name]Julia[/name] and [name]Anna[/name]. Any others?
Yes, your mother did give you one of the most classic names - and a very elegant one at that! Also, you are right that [name]Sarah[/name] is another. It has consistently been in the top 119 names.
[name]How[/name] are you figuring out the exact low spots? I can get them by hovering the mouse over the line but it’s hard to update year by year.
2 more I found:
[name]Rachel[/name] - dropped to 201 in the 1980s but basically other than that has been in top 200 since 1880.
[name]Maria[/name] - hasn’t dropped below 150
On this website: Popular Baby Names Click on “Popularity of a Name.” It will take you to a page where you can put in a name AND also put in how many years of statistics you want for the name. Tf you enter 132 (years) or a higher number, it will give you statistics going back to the year 1880.
Another with a timeless feel even though it’s fallen below 200 is [name]Laura[/name].
[name]Cecilia[/name], [name]Louisa[/name], and [name]Johanna[/name] also feel this way to me but I know the last two have even fallen out of the top 1000.
Wow - I honestly didn’t realize that my name ([name]Margaret[/name]) has never dropped out of the Top 200 since the lists began - not sure if that’s a good or bad thing.
My twin sister, [name]Elizabeth[/name] seems to have the most consistently popular name. I would tell her but I doubt she’d care!
Edited to add: Yet I notice that my middle name, [name]Mary[/name] has also proved consistent since 1880, yet looking at the SSA site my sister’s middle name [name]Ann[/name] is only five places from dropping out of the Top 1000 (with [name]Anne[/name] the late 500s).
So if you factor in our full names, my name is the more “timeless” of the two, so to speak. Does that make any sense?!