I am planning on having kids in the next five years and I am wondering how to go about picking out names that will be popular 20 years from now. I always thought it would be fun to have a name that became popular when I was old enough to enjoy it as an adult. (But wasn’t outrageously teasing-prone as a little kid in the mean time.) I don’t want a name that seems cutting edge and then becomes super popular when my kid is 3 or 4. Then it seems like the name choice was just part of that larger trend. Many names seem to become popular when a character on TV, etc. is given that name. Then a lot of babies are given that name which is then out of style by the time they are really ready to enjoy it. I know some Franceses, Sophias, and Charlottes in their 20s who seem pretty darn stylish right now! I have looked at some of the older decade lists but am interested in other approaches, too. Any thoughts?
Naming trends repeat, so look at the names from decades past which are popular now, find the decade which seems to have the most names from the top, say, 50 in the current top 50 as well, and then pick a name which was popular a couple of decades later (make sure it’s nice, of course, and not very obviously going to stick in that decade).
Alternatively, send your children to drama school and a couple of decades later babies will be being named after them as they collect their Oscars 
([name]Just[/name] kidding!)
I hope this helped!
I predict: will come back in style with the Yupsters*, with the Hipsters**.
[name]Allen[/name]*
[name]Barbara[/name]*
[name]Bernice[/name]**
[name]Bert[/name]*
[name]Betty[/name], [name]Betsy[/name], [name]Bette[/name]*
[name]Dean[/name]*
[name]Dorothy[/name]*
[name]Edith[/name]*
[name]Frank[/name]*
[name]George[/name]*
[name]Gilda[/name]**
[name]Gladys[/name]**
Gomez**
[name]Hector[/name]**
[name]Helen[/name]*
[name]Herbert[/name], nn [name]Herb[/name]**
[name]Herman[/name]**
[name]Irene[/name]*
[name]Joan[/name], [name]Jeanne[/name]*
[name]John[/name]*
[name]Kenneth[/name]*
[name]Leona[/name]**
[name]Martin[/name]*
[name]Mary[/name]*
[name]Maud[/name]**
[name]Olga[/name]**
[name]Patricia[/name]*
[name]Richard[/name]*
[name]Robert[/name]*
[name]Shirley[/name]**
[name]Stanley[/name]**
[name]Sylvester[/name]**
[name]Yvette[/name]**
[name]Yvonne[/name]**
[name]Zelda[/name]**
[name]Wilfred[/name]**
My friend is a [name]Freya[/name] (super popular in the UK now) and she hates that her name used to be cutting edge and is now incredibly popular. Everywhere she goes she hears little girls being called by her name and she really resents it. My name is still hanging out in the bottom of the Top 50 and has moved up very slowly over the last 30 years, but I would hate if it became the next big thing. Something to consider anyway.