Truly Timeless Girl Names

Girl Names
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Continuing the discussion from Are These Names Timeless?:

I have now done extensive research on this because that’s what I do, and I am pleased to present to you the list of truly timeless girl names. :smiley:

These are names that have ranked in the same range every year since records began (1880) and had existed in heavy use long before that. [name_m]Even[/name_m] if some of them have not always been the most popular, their popularity has remained fairly stable over time. (And none of them have ever ranked lower than the 330s within the US Top 1000.) They are very old, but not tied to one particular era or decade, which makes them feel as if they never go out of style. Basically, you can never go wrong with any of these names.

[details=“[name_f]Anna[/name_f]”]
Lowest Ranking: #106 in 1971
Current Ranking: #63 as of 2019
[/details]

[details=“[name_f]Caroline[/name_f]”]
Lowest Ranking: #329 in 1956 (during the period where [name_f]Carolyn[/name_f] was more popular)
Current Ranking: #61 as of 2019
[/details]

[details=“[name_f]Catherine[/name_f]”]
Lowest Ranking: #243 in 2019
Current Ranking: ^^
[/details]

[details=“[name_f]Elizabeth[/name_f]”]
Lowest Ranking: #26 in 1945 &1948
Current Ranking: #14 as of 2019
[/details]

[details=“[name_f]Emily[/name_f]”]
Lowest Ranking: #273 in 1962
Current Ranking: #12 as of 2019
[/details]

[details=“[name_f]Esther[/name_f]”]
Lowest Ranking: #324 in 2000
Current Ranking: #167 as of 2019
[/details]

[details=“[name_f]Julia[/name_f]”]
Lowest Ranking: #142 in 1977
Current Ranking: #99 as of 2019
[/details]

[details=“[name_f]Katherine[/name_f]”]
Lowest Ranking: #121 in 2019
Current Ranking: ^^
[/details]

[details=“[name_f]Lydia[/name_f]”]
Lowest Ranking: #333 in 1975
Current Ranking: #94 as of 2019
[/details]

[details=“[name_f]Margaret[/name_f]”]
Lowest Ranking: #188 in 2009
Current Ranking: #127 as of 2019
[/details]

[details=“[name_u]Maria[/name_u]”]
Lowest Ranking: #159 in 1916
Current Ranking: #106 as of 2019
[/details]

[details=“[name_f]Mary[/name_f]**”]
Lowest Ranking: #127 in 2016
Current Ranking: #126 as of 2019
[/details]

[details=“[name_f]Rachel[/name_f]”]
Lowest Ranking: #202 in 1951
Current Ranking: #191 as of 2019
[/details]

[details=“[name_f]Sarah[/name_f]”]
Lowest Ranking: #119 in 1959
Current Ranking: #81 as of 2019
[/details]

I would like to add, as a final note, that these are timelessly popular names. There are plenty of other classics, I am sure, whose popularity also remains quite stable, but they are generally more obscure than these. I would like to do some follow-up posts to this one featuring more research on names that maybe aren’t as timeless, but are undeniably classic. And I’d be willing to do a boys version as well, so let me know if you like this sort of thing and would be interested!

Let me know your thoughts! Are any of these on your list because of their timeless appeal? [name_u]Or[/name_u] do you prefer a name that’s a little different and not so common?

** Yes, [name_f]Mary[/name_f]'s popularity has not been as stable what with its huge drop in popularity since being at #1 for forever. But I still counted it because it remains in heavy use and is still just outside of the Top 100 with little to no fluctuation since 2010.

([name_f]Emily[/name_f] also has a gap, but not being below #273 since who knows when? I’d say it counts.)

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This is so cool! [name_f]My[/name_f] favorite from this list is [name_f]Anna[/name_f], although really they’re all lovely. I do tend to prefer slightly less “classic-y classic” names personally, but I can 100% see their appeal–they’re strong, beautiful, versatile names with history galore. And while most of my favorites probably aren’t quite this timeless, I do love the idea of names that aren’t tied to one specific generation or era. Thank you for sharing!

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A lot of these are on my list: [name_f]Anna[/name_f], [name_f]Catherine[/name_f], [name_f]Elizabeth[/name_f], [name_f]Margaret[/name_f], and [name_f]Mary[/name_f]. This was such a cool idea, thanks so much! I’m really sad to see [name_f]Elizabeth[/name_f] so popular, but I would still use it on a future daughter.

I would love to see a boys one if it’s not too much work for you.

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Elizabeth 100%.

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Not at all! It’s work I enjoy, honestly. I’d make it my real job if I could! I just only want to do it if there’s interest. :slight_smile:

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This is interesting, thank you!

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Anna and variants of [name_f]Elizabeth[/name_f] are names I would be adding to my list.

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This is interesting, thank you. I would like to see a list of more girls names that were never common but remained fairly stable in use.

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I find this very interesting! Some of these are surprising - the only ones I anticipated were [name_f]Anna[/name_f], [name_f]Catherine[/name_f] and [name_f]Elizabeth[/name_f]. Others like [name_f]Caroline[/name_f], [name_f]Esther[/name_f], [name_f]Margaret[/name_f], [name_f]Lydia[/name_f] and [name_f]Mary[/name_f] seem older/more vintage to me whereas [name_f]Emily[/name_f], [name_f]Rachel[/name_f], [name_f]Sarah[/name_f] and [name_f]Julia[/name_f] seem more 1960s-1990s, although I am speaking from a British perspective so perhaps a British list of timeless names would look different… [name_f]Elizabeth[/name_f], [name_f]Margaret[/name_f] and [name_f]Rachel[/name_f] are the only ones on my list - but that is due to them being honour names. I would be interested in a list of ‘classics’ - perhaps more of them would be on my list?!

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How interesting! Thanks for sharing :slight_smile: I’m surprised to see [name_f]Julia[/name_f], [name_f]Lydia[/name_f] and [name_f]Esther[/name_f]!

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Thank you for sharing your wonderful work and research! Congratulations! It’s a very interesting information.

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Thank you! What an interesting list.

These are great names, many being on my own list!

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Cool!
I’m surprised that [name_f]Abigail[/name_f] isn’t here…

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I was a bit, too, honestly! And there are others I thought would have been pretty popular always, too, like [name_f]Emma[/name_f] and [name_f]Hannah[/name_f] and [name_f]Grace[/name_f]. But they often slipped too far down in the rankings to count. Still, they are definitely strong classics with a timeless feel! :slight_smile:

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I had no idea [name_f]Esther[/name_f] was so popular right now! It’s a lovely name but I definitely thought it was not in favor right now. I think timeless classics are very much my style of name, so I was beaming happily all the way down this list.

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Thank you. I think you have nailed “timeless”. Excellent list.

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No, nor had I! I knew it was in the Top 200, but I didn’t realize it had always been above 350! That one and [name_f]Rachel[/name_f] probably surprised me most that they made the cutoff. :slight_smile:

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Esther is the only one on this list that really surprises me! I love this data and how thorough you were. NB’s “never left the top 1000” blog post is one of my all-time favorites, but this is even more specific!

Caroline, C/Katherine, [name_f]Elizabeth[/name_f] are some of my favorites. And maybe also [name_f]Lydia[/name_f] and [name_f]Emily[/name_f], though those feel trendier right now.

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Such great research!

I’m a massive fan of classic names I’m using [name_f]Lilia[/name_f] for my daughter I love that it’s a classic across Eastern Europe which is where my mums family originate from. You honestly cannot go wrong with classics my favourites from this list are [name_f]Anna[/name_f], [name_f]Caroline[/name_f], [name_f]Catherine[/name_f] and [name_f]Elizabeth[/name_f] but they are all beautiful choices really.

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[name_f]Lydia[/name_f] kind of surprises me. I know its a classic but its not one I hear very often and I have never met a [name_f]Lydia[/name_f]. I like [name_f]Lydia[/name_f] but yeah would have thought [name_f]Abigail[/name_f], [name_f]Grace[/name_f], [name_f]Hannah[/name_f], [name_f]Deborah[/name_f], or [name_f]Laura[/name_f] would have been on this more so. Or Eve!

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