Old man cool

Boy Names
1

I went through the top 50 from 1916 to see what the current stats are and see what’s actually being brought back, what’s in need of a revival, and what has disappeared altogether.

I did this with girl names so I wanted to see if it was similar for boys. It seems boy names from the top 50 in 1916 have stayed on the top 1000 for boys even 100 years later, while lots of girl names have disappeared from use.

What are your favorites? What do you think is in need of a comeback? Any that you think had too strong of a comeback? [name_f]Do[/name_f] any of these surprise you one way or another? Discuss!

Rising in Popularity
[name_u]James[/name_u], [name_m]Charles[/name_m], [name_m]George[/name_m], [name_m]Thomas[/name_m], [name_m]Walter[/name_m], [name_m]Harold[/name_m], [name_m]Henry[/name_m], [name_m]Arthur[/name_m], [name_m]Harry[/name_m], [name_m]Louis[/name_m], [name_u]Howard[/name_u], [name_u]Francis[/name_u], [name_m]Leonard[/name_m], and [name_m]Leo[/name_m]

Declining in Popularity
[name_m]Frank[/name_m], [name_m]Paul[/name_m], [name_m]Richard[/name_m], [name_m]Raymond[/name_m], [name_m]Albert[/name_m], [name_m]Donald[/name_m], [name_m]Ralph[/name_m], [name_m]Kenneth[/name_m], [name_u]Willie[/name_u], [name_m]Joe[/name_m], [name_m]Ernest[/name_m], [name_m]Anthony[/name_m], [name_u]Lawrence[/name_u], and [name_m]Andrew[/name_m]

Staying Steady
names with only slight fluctuation the past 5 years, mostly due to being classics, some obviously more popular than others
[name_m]John[/name_m], [name_m]William[/name_m], [name_m]Robert[/name_m], [name_m]Joseph[/name_m], [name_m]Edward[/name_m], [name_m]Carl[/name_m], [name_m]Jack[/name_m], [name_m]David[/name_m], [name_u]Roy[/name_u], [name_u]Stanley[/name_u], [name_m]Eugene[/name_m], [name_m]Samuel[/name_m], [name_m]Alfred[/name_m], [name_u]Michael[/name_u], and [name_m]Peter[/name_m]

Out of Use Names
[name_m]Clarence[/name_m], [name_m]Fred[/name_m], [name_m]Earl[/name_m], [name_m]Herbert[/name_m], [name_m]Elmer[/name_m], [name_m]Norman[/name_m], [name_m]Bernard[/name_m]

2

I don’t seem to mind many of the ‘old lady’ names coming back into use, but ‘old man’ names are a different story for me. Many I just find so incredibly heavy and dated, and I just cannot seem to see them on a modern child/teen.

I don’t see the appeal of [name_m]Harold[/name_m], [name_m]Walter[/name_m] & [name_u]Howard[/name_u], nor [name_u]Stanley[/name_u], [name_m]Alfred[/name_m] & [name_m]Eugene[/name_m]. I can see a couple of pop culture trends going on though which may explain a couple of the modern day uses: [name_m]Louis[/name_m] & [name_m]Harry[/name_m] (One Direction), as well as [name_u]Howard[/name_u] & [name_m]Leonard[/name_m] (Big Bang [name_m]Theory[/name_m]).

3

@sunniva, Agreed! I think a lot of them have to do with nicknames. People seem more okay with naming a girl just [name_f]Betsy[/name_f] or just [name_f]Dottie[/name_f], but when it comes to a boy they want him to have a “full name” and therefore [name_u]Howard[/name_u] is used though he will only be called [name_m]Howie[/name_m] or [name_m]Harold[/name_m] is used and he will only be called [name_m]Harry[/name_m]. It’s interesting if you think about it, most of these names have never left the top 1000 while a large portion of the girls list from 1916 has.