So most of us here are probably familiar with this idea that name trends come in cycles (like most trends).
So I thought it would be fun to think about what names (either styles or specific names) you can see making a comeback at some point in the future?
Right now, it seems like names from my great grandparents’ generation are coming back - names like Agnes, Henry and Mabel.
My personal experience is that my parents’ names feel dated, my grandparents’ names feel a bit old fashioned but ready for a comeback, and my great grandparents’ names feel old fashioned but in a fresh, stylish way. So to my future children, my name might seem dated, my parents’ names almost ready for a comeback and my grandparents’ names will be the trendy ones again if that makes sense
My parents were born in the 60s/70s, so I’m assuming eventually we will get those names back too. I can’t wait to see baby Heathers and Kevins running around, it’ll feel so funny to me in some ways. I expect my future hypothetical grandchildren will be given these kinds of names lol m
But some names don’t come back - Agnes is in, but Gertrude is not. I’d love to hear if there are any names you don’t see coming back too!
(This was mostly inspired by a TikTok I saw of someone talking about being at a baby group and seeing mums named things like Kylie and Alyssa with babies called Agnes and Dorothy and thinking about how eventually Agnes and Dorothy might have babies called Keith and Michelle, who might then have babies or grandbabies named Kylie or Alyssa or Lauren or something, circling us right back)
One of the things I’ve noticed is that vintage names that seem to be too “clunky” are usually abbreviated into nicknames that become popular. [name_f][/name_f] Names I’ve heard: [name_m]Alfie[/name_m] (Alfred), [name_m]Albie[/name_m] (Albert), [name_f]Millie[/name_f] (Mildred), etc.
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I was born in the 50’s and names I’d like to see back are: [name_m]Jimmy[/name_m], [name_m]Billy[/name_m], Bobby/Bobbie, and [name_m]Mickey[/name_m].
I’d say these are already totally normal names in the UK, to be honest! I think the cycle is going to start speeding up (like all trend cycles in recent years) as people continually look for more ways to outshine other names. [name_f]So[/name_f] I wouldn’t be surprised if we see names from my parents’ generation (60s babies) like [name_f]Linda[/name_f], [name_f]Janet[/name_f], [name_m]Tony[/name_m], and [name_m]Mark[/name_m] come back sooner rather than later (I do already know a little [name_m]Anthony[/name_m], he mostly goes by his initials but is sometimes called Tony). [name_f]In[/name_f] terms of names from this crop that likely won’t come back any time soon, I’d say [name_f]Karen[/name_f], [name_m]Andrew[/name_m] (in the UK anyway), [name_m]Jeffrey[/name_m] and [name_m]Gary[/name_m]
People usually talk about the hundred year rule e.g. names take about one hundred years to come back into fashion. I think that’s typically true, though not all names come back. I believe [name_f]Gertrude[/name_f], [name_f]Bertha[/name_f], [name_f]Mildred[/name_f], [name_f]Myrtle[/name_f] and [name_f]Doris[/name_f] were all pretty popular in the 1920s but don’t show any sign of making a comeback yet. I suppose it depends on whether or not the names fit in with contemporary trends and fashions. Also, society is more diverse nowadays in terms of ethnicity and religion and the name pool is more varied than ever. [name_f]So[/name_f], even if these names do come back, they’re not going to be as popular as they originally were in the 1920s.
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Theoretically, popular 1960s names aren’t due for a comeback until the 2060s
[name_f]So[/name_f] many of these names are darling! And some of them I could see coming back pretty soon (like @persephonescrown[name_f][/name_f] was saying)! I know little kids named [name]Diana[/name_f] and [name]Elaine[/name_f], and I have a family member whose top girl name is [name]Joan[/name_f]. [name]Irene[/name_f], [name]Wendy[/name_f], [name]Leonard[/name_m], and [name]Murray[/name_m] I hope come back soon too! [name]Heather[/name_f] I’m sure will come back because it’s lovely, but I would guess that would take a little longer. I also wonder if people will ever reach even further back for new names and will see little [name]Hildegard[/name_f]s and [name]Sigfrid[/name_m]s running around haha.
As a person who has [name_f]Hildegard[/name_f] as the middle in one of my top three most likely to use combos for a daughter, I would love this! [name_f][/name_f] Such an underrated name!
@whatchamacallit[name_f][/name_f] yes I love this list! A lot them still feel a bit dated for right now (although I personally love them) but their time will come. [name_f]Belinda[/name_f] is one of my favourite girls names. I actually went to school with a couple of Nancys in the UK in the 2010s! But it was definitely seen as an old fashioned name, one of them ended up going by her middle name
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@miloowen[name_f][/name_f] yes I agree! I know loads of Millies but no Mildreds!
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@persephonescrown[name_f][/name_f] maybe I didn’t word myself well, they are definitely in now but I would say only in the last few years! [name_f]My[/name_f] cousin named her son [name_m]Henry[/name_m] in 2017 and most people hated it saying it was too old fashioned. Half the family tried to call him by his middle name. [name_f]Agnes[/name_f] has always been one of my fave girls names but a lot of people still tell me it’s too much for a baby born now but I did see it a lot when I worked at a maternity hospital in 2021-2023. [name_f]Mabel[/name_f] is another one I saw a lot when I worked there and still had a very polarising response. I really like [name_f]Linda[/name_f], and I love your ideas of [name_m]Tony[/name_m] and [name_m]Mark[/name_m]. [name_m]Tony[/name_m] is my dad’s name (not short for anything, just Tony) and I see it as a quintessential 60s/70s name because I also had several classmates with a dad called [name_m]Tony[/name_m]. A girl from my year had a baby in about 2016 and named him [name_m]Tony[/name_m] after her dad and it was not a popular decision! But I thought it was cute. I like [name_f]Karen[/name_f], too, but I’d worry about the online association so I think it’s one that will come back a bit later once that association dies down! I can definitely see a [name_f]Cynthia[/name_f] revival thanks to Wicked, too
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@choupette[name_f][/name_f] you are right, it will be interesting to see how other cultural/political/societal etc changes as well as trends impact what names come back. [name_f]My[/name_f] hypothetical grandkids are likely to be born around the 2060s (insane to think about) so I can’t wait to see what that generation are naming people! Sometimes I think we swing back between trends so I think this current generation of kids with very unusual names (often given to them by a parent with a popular name) might end up bringing back the “plain” names their parents wanted to avoid (and vice versa)
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@elizanerd[name_f][/name_f] I love your list! [name_f]Joan[/name_f], [name_f]Wendy[/name_f], [name_f]Elaine[/name_f], Leonard… How darling! I would love to meet a [name_f]Hildegard[/name_f]! I have lots of Hildas in my family, I’d be so excited if I met a [name_f]Hildegard[/name_f]
Wow this really surprises me! I have known a lot of Henrys around my brother’s age and younger (he’s in his mid twenties, best part of a decade younger than me). I suppose it probably varies regionally or just by different circles and what names people have encountered. A maternity hospital must be a great place to observe name trends!
Yes maybe it’s regional! I’ve never actually met a [name_m]Henry[/name_m] other than my little cousin. I know a lot of [name_m]Harrys[/name_m] (I’m 29 and often had multiple [name_m]Harrys[/name_m] in my class at school), but never a [name_m]Henry[/name_m]. I love the name but when I was growing up I feel like it was seen as a posh/rich person name
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It was definitely the coolest part of the job! Otherwise very stressful haha. But doing medical records work I got to build the babies’ records so I always got to see the names. You’d start to notice demographic patterns too [name_f][/name_f]- the name choices between younger and older mums, the local uni did a big recruitment drive in [name_f]Nigeria[/name_f] so we suddenly had all these cool and unusual word/virtue names and Nigerian names I’d not heard before, different religious backgrounds and how they approach naming.. it was very interesting!
[name_f][/name_f] Such an underrated name!