I have heard that there tends to be around a 100 years before a popular name or name trend will have a resurgence. I work with the elderly and I have met so many ladies in their 90s with names ending in -lene/-leen (Arlene, [name_f]Marlene[/name_f], [name_f]Darlene[/name_f], [name_f]Charlene[/name_f], [name_f]Kathleen[/name_f], etc.) and even just ending in -ine/-ene (Maxine, [name_f]Geraldine[/name_f], etc.). I was curious if people who follow naming trends more closely than I do have noticed any sort of increasing use of these types of names because I really haven’t met anyone younger than 80 with any of these names, but really they aren’t as clunky as a lot of grandma-ish names are, so I feel they may come back.
[name_f]Maxine[/name_f] is making a comeback in the US! It reentered the top 1000 in 2016 and has been rising since, now at #614. I think the cool nickname [name_u]Max[/name_u] has helped make it popular, and possibly the influence of Stranger Things (though it looks like that character [name_u]Max[/name_u] wasn’t introduced until 2017).
The other names aren’t rising again yet (at least not enough to make the top 1000) but I think they could! Admittedly they still feel very dated to me, but I do like [name_f]Marlene[/name_f] and [name_f]Geraldine[/name_f] a lot despite that. (although I think [name_f]Geraldine[/name_f] is the least likely of the group to have a resurgence)
Wasn’t [name_u]Max[/name_u] as a boys name pretty popular around that time, and boys names on girls? I feel like that could have been the initial surge before stranger things. Thats really neat though, I didn’t know [name_f]Maxine[/name_f] was coming back! [name_f]Marlene[/name_f] is probably the only one I would actually consider using.
I do actually really like [name_f]Irene[/name_f] too, which could be the same trend
I’ve seen [name_f]Jolene[/name_f], Nadine/Nadeen, [name_f]Kathleen[/name_f] and [name_f]Maxine[/name_f] being used - but I wonder if their 2024 counterparts would be the -lyn names? Names like [name_f]Raelyn[/name_f], [name_f]Jazlyn[/name_f], [name_f]Gracelyn[/name_f], [name_u]Evelyn[/name_u], [name_f]Adelyn[/name_f] etc? They seem similar in that they’re popular(ish) names or word names with the suffix -lyn added on, like [name_f]Marlene[/name_f] could be [name_u]Maria[/name_u] + [name_f]Lene[/name_f], [name_f]Gracelyn[/name_f] is [name_f]Grace[/name_f] + [name_u]Lyn[/name_u], like [name_f]Darlene[/name_f] is a twist on [name_f]Darling[/name_f] + [name_f]Lene[/name_f], [name_f]Avalyn[/name_f] could be a twist on [name_f]Avalon[/name_f] + [name_u]Lyn[/name_u].
I do think [name_f]Kathleen[/name_f], [name_f]Marlene[/name_f] and [name_f]Charlene[/name_f] have potential - they sound like current popular(ish) names with a twist
Based on past usage, the -ine names are ready for their 100 year revival! People with -een names are mostly in their 70s, so I wouldn’t be surprised if they take longer. But that doesn’t mean they are not returning! [name_m]Just[/name_m] not yet.
(y-axis is ratio, so 0.05 means 5% of female births had a name with this ending.)
I know a couple Kathleens in their 20s/30s, but I’d be a little surprised to hear it on a baby. Names I expect to hear more of are [name_f]Marlene[/name_f] and [name_f]Maxine[/name_f]. [name_f]Geraldine[/name_f] has more of the clunky vibe that some people love, so I could see that one reviving a little bit.