# You know what you NEVER see? (Re: Baby Names and Trendiness)



## karina5 (Apr 15, 2006)

You don't ever see names from the 70's or 80's anymore. Think about it...people think nothing (as they should) of naming their child Henry or Hazel or Beatrice or Clementine or George or Eleanor or Imogene or Pearl or Olive or Emerson or Owen or Silas, etc.... (by the way, I like several of those names very much....).

But you don't ever meet a brand-new baby Jennifer or Melissa or Kelly or Kimberly (can you imagine a baby "Kim"!) or Julie or Tammy or Dawn or Wendy or Stacey or Kathy or Pamela or Brenda or Lori or Linda or Christy.

Boy names haven't changed *as* much but I would be surprised to hear of a baby Jeffrey or Todd or Scott or Dave (not David but Dave) or Mike (not Michael but Mike).

Wouldn't that be weird??


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## suprgrl (Sep 27, 2005)

I have a Silas over here!


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## karina5 (Apr 15, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *suprgrl* 
I have a Silas over here!


I have a young Silas in my life, too! I'm saying that you *do* find little Silas's. But you don't find a young "Jeff."


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## suprgrl (Sep 27, 2005)

Yeah, I know what you mean. I can't imagine a baby Jeff or Dawn ... those names belong to my 35 yo cousins!


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## mamazee (Jan 5, 2003)

I asked my daughter if she knows anyone with any of those names, and she does know a Catherine who goes by Cathy. That's it.


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## woodchick (Jan 5, 2007)

I know two young Jeffs- 1 year and 6years old. But I agree that mostly we just don't hear those names.

I assume it is because those names are owned by the current birth-giving generation. We are probably less likely to name our children after the kids we knew in school than we are to name them after our grandparents...

We have a Catherine but she isn't a Cathy.


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## karina5 (Apr 15, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *mamazee* 
I asked my daughter if she knows anyone with any of those names, and she does know a Catherine who goes by Cathy. That's it.


Catherine/Katherine is popular these days but "Cathy/Kathy" is not. Most little Katherine's go by Kate or Katie.


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## mama2mygirl (Dec 14, 2005)

I met a little Jennifer.


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## woobysma (Apr 20, 2004)

I think it's because all of us who grew up in the 80's and are now having kids probably know 10,000 Jennifers and Mikes and want something "different" for our kids, yk? We want our kids to be unique... it's sort of the opposite of the "retro toys from the 80's being popular again" phenomenon. Like, we want our kids to play with the same cool toys we did, but not be named after all our old friends


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## YesandNo (Mar 16, 2008)

Quote:

Henry or Hazel or Beatrice or Clementine or George or Eleanor or Imogene or Pearl or Olive or Emerson or Owen or Silas
It's so funny that you posted this. My area is overrun with these sorts of names, it's definitely the trend. I'm not sure why - I know people of MY generation certainly weren't naming their kids after grandparents. I think it's more aspirational. Those names seem not just old-fashioned, but prosperous (and very, very Caucasian).

I'm not immune. I just had a baby and most of the name that I considered were straight of the 1920s-1940s. But in the end I named her ...... DARCY. A name from my 1980s childhood. I bet she'll be the only one in her class!


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## Qestia (Sep 26, 2005)

Have you seen this? http://babynamewizard.com/namevoyager/lnv0105.html you can see the trends in the form of a graph, jeffrey and jennifer definitely peaked in the 70s.


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## Ellie'sMom (Aug 10, 2002)

Two of my cousin's kids are named Mike and Brad. Not Michael and Bradley, just Mike and Brad.

It's not my style, but I guess those really are unique names these days!


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## bri276 (Mar 24, 2005)

I named my DD Jessica- I get the "it's popular" comments, and I simply point them towards the social security website- it's not that popular anymore- she may well be the only Jessica in her class, unheard of in my schools!


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## lolalola (Aug 1, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *YesandNo* 
But in the end I named her ...... DARCY. A name from my 1980s childhood. I bet she'll be the only one in her class!

My son is named Darcy. We frequently hear "Darcy... I haven't heard that name in a long time".


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## NiteNicole (May 19, 2003)

Quote:

DARCY. A name from my 1980s childhood. I bet she'll be the only one in her class!
Did you have the Darcy doll?


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## OhDang (Jan 30, 2008)

it's because those names are so dated and WAY overused. People tend to want to name their kids names that they haven't heard all there life. When a name gets so overused it loses it's appeal.

But BTW I know a brand new little girl named Kimberley..it fits her good. No one calls her kim though. I know a little jennifer too, and my name is Stacy! lol


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## dubfam (Nov 4, 2005)

I have thought about this as well. When I was in school there were tons of girls named Jenifer, Christie or Nicole...Not to mention boys named Mike, Jason and Justin.

I have Owen and Silas!!


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## hubris (Mar 8, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *bri276* 
I named my DD Jessica- I get the "it's popular" comments, and I simply point them towards the social security website- it's not that popular anymore- she may well be the only Jessica in her class, unheard of in my schools!

I was JUST thinking of this tonight!

Check out the graphs on some of the names mentioned here:
baby name wizard


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## katheek77 (Mar 13, 2007)

Isn't the Duggar's newest addition a "Jennifer"?


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## kblackstone444 (Jun 17, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *karina5* 
But you don't ever meet a brand-new baby Jennifer or Melissa or Kelly or Kimberly (can you imagine a baby "Kim"!) or Julie or Tammy or Dawn or Wendy or Stacey or Kathy or Pamela or Brenda or Lori or Linda or Christy.

My little girl is Katherine, sometimes called Kathy... her best friend is Julie, called Julia... my son is Gary... there was a little boy in my preschool class last year names Oscar and a little girl named Shirley... and I like all those names better than most currently popolar names.


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## fiddledebi (Nov 20, 2003)

Yeah, I was sadly "Little Debbie" as a kid, to differentiate me from the older Debbie in the next class up in Hebrew school. I even changed the spelling to Debi in high school just to be different! And then I was "short Debi" as a camp counsellor, being only 5' tall. Now I play in a band with a woman named Deborah, and people decided to call her Deb, which she hates, or "banjo Deb," which I imagine she hates even more.

That is why my daughters have "weird" uncommon names. I got tired of someone picking a random qualifier to go with my name! My Ronni (Veronica) and Sammi (Samara) are the only ones they know with those names. I'll bet Sammi runs into some Samanthas, but probably not too many Samaras. And we've only met one Veronica so far -- and none who go by Ronni. *whew*


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## _betsy_ (Jun 29, 2004)

I just met a baby Heather, and I thought that while there were a million Heathers when I was growing up, I hadn't heard of a new baby Heather in a long time. She'll likely be the only one in her class.


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## Kapat (Apr 28, 2008)

DD1 has a friend named Heather, they're lots of nice and old names in DD1's classroom, there's another girl in her classroom with the name Blanche, and i know a Cathy and she's 2!

What about Ingrid's? or is that just a rare name?? lol (btw, my dd2 is Ingrid)


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## Aliviasmom (Jul 24, 2006)

Probably because people with those names are the parents. And a) most women don't name children after themselves b) men are seemingly less likely to do so and c) we're all able to remember being "Kelly M." or "Dave G." etc. and therefore don't want to bestow that on our children. We are more likely to name after our parents or grandparents, or to come up with a completely new name.


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## 63977 (Sep 14, 2006)

My Silas is due in July. It's still not that popular though, which is one reason I chose it. Of course, I'm sure it will be gaining.


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## VisionaryMom (Feb 20, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *karina5* 
Catherine/Katherine is popular these days but "Cathy/Kathy" is not. Most little Katherine's go by Kate or Katie.

Yes, our Katherine is Kate, but a couple of older Kathys have said, "oh, we're all Katherines!" Incidentally I told my husband "no Kitty," but he'd never even heard of Kitty as a nickname for Katherine. I know several, so I'm assuming that's regional!


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## dbsam (Mar 3, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *YesandNo* 
DARCY. A name from my 1980s childhood. I bet she'll be the only one in her class!

When I was a child I had a friend named Darcy and I loved and envied her name! (I was born in 1965) Our neighborhood was full of girls named Heather, Holly, Marcy, Chrissy, Amy, Dawn, Lisa, etc. I don't hear these names anymore.

A little off-topic but...I always wanted an 'exotic' name. So when I was confirmed I wanted Felicia or Venetia - but I couldn't find a saint with those names. So, I ended up with Felicity. Now it is a known name but in the 70's in our area the name was completely unheard of. Half of the church laughed when they read my name out - but then most of the girls chose Mary or Anne!


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## AbbieB (Mar 21, 2006)

If DS had been a girl his name would have been Autumn Dawn.

One reason we have rejected many of the mentioned names is because we know people with those names and we don't want our child named after them.


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## OhDang (Jan 30, 2008)

i love timeless names


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## thismama (Mar 3, 2004)

It's because the names are dated to our ears... they are 80s and 90s names, we have heard them our whole lives and we have associations with the names to people we know, etc. They are boring right now.

Give it time and they will be fresh again.


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## aprons_and_acorns (Sep 28, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Kapat* 
What about Ingrid's? or is that just a rare name?? lol (btw, my dd2 is Ingrid)

Ingrid was our girl name. I love that name. But we had a boy. His name is Ivo (sounds like EE-vo).


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## Sharlla (Jul 14, 2005)

Wesley hit popularity in the 70's while Seth not uber popular was the most in the last 20 years. I love both names.


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## queenjane (May 17, 2004)

My 12 yr old niece was looking through my old high school yr book, and in addition to laughing at all the big hair, wondered "Whats up with all the Amys???"....i guess not many girls in her grade are named "Amy", but it was SOOOO popular when i was in school. She was also horrified by "Renee"....again, very popular in my school, not so much in hers.

I'm a "Kathy"...ugh. I've still not forgiven my parents for that one, my life would have been different had i been a "Kate" methinks.









Katherine


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## theatermom (Jun 5, 2006)

I agree w/those who have said that many of those names are just too close to us. Trends take awhile to repeat.

I also think that our naming pool has broadened considerably over the past 15-20 years. We grew up with so many people who shared names, and now that we have a wider range of choices, we're taking advantage of it. We reach across cultures, religions, and decades to find names that speak to us, but seldom are tempted to reach into the limited naming pool of the 1950's-1980's.

We're also much more cautious about "taking" names from others -- we spend a lot of time and energy naming our children, whereas people from other decades really didn't. It used to be extremely common for cousins to share names, for example, and now we're worried if there's another kid on the same block with the name we're considering.


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## nextcommercial (Nov 8, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Sharlla* 
Wesley hit popularity in the 70's while Seth not uber popular was the most in the last 20 years. I love both names.

Those are two of my favorite names too. I would name a boy Wesley, or Seth now.

Some names seemed to be regional too.

I grew up in Chicago, where most boys were *Steve, Dave*, or *Mike.* But, when I moved to Phoenix, the boys were named *Kevin, Chris*, and *Scott*. There were maybe two boys named Mike in the whole town.


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## Viola (Feb 1, 2002)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *karina5* 
But you don't ever meet a brand-new baby Jennifer or Melissa or Kelly or Kimberly (can you imagine a baby "Kim"!) or Julie or Tammy or Dawn or Wendy or Stacey or Kathy or Pamela or Brenda or Lori or Linda or Christy.

Boy names haven't changed *as* much but I would be surprised to hear of a baby Jeffrey or Todd or Scott or Dave (not David but Dave) or Mike (not Michael but Mike).

Wouldn't that be weird??

My first daughter would have been named Jeffrey if she had been a boy.









But I know what you mean. I keep wondering when Lisa and Jennifer are going to make a comeback. Probably when my generation are all great grandmas.

I didn't know Emerson was a classic name, actually. I thought it was a surname that had become popular as a first name, like Madison or Taylor.


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## RainbowEarthFaerie (Oct 11, 2006)

I have a friend with a Henry and another friend that just had a George.

DS1 has a name that was popular in, not the 1980's but more like the 1880's. His name is Lucian.


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## AllisonR (May 5, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *lolalola* 
My son is named Darcy. We frequently hear "Darcy... I haven't heard that name in a long time".

OOOH - Pride and Prejudice. I LOVE Darcy. Hugs and kisses to your little DS.

Over here there is a real lack of names, because there are about 10 (OK, maybe 100) and everyone is named Lars Larsen or some such. And the names have not changed much since the 70s or 80s. Yes, the name Mogens is out of style, but I guess in 20 years it will be back in again. We named our DCs Kristoffer and Lea, because we wanted names pronounceable in Danish and English. There is one little DC I know named Indigo. Considered way crazy over here, but his folks are from the UK, so it is "forgiven". I love that name!


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## Shelsi (Apr 4, 2005)

That wizard thing was interesting. It appears Alexia just "started" in the 1980's and peaked in 2003. I wonder why people started using it? There's always a celebrity or something ya know? I don't know how we came up with her name....my dh just randomly came up with it and we loved it.


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## RainbowEarthFaerie (Oct 11, 2006)

Hey!! My DD is Alexia too!!!


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## thebarkingbird (Dec 2, 2005)

i've run into a few ambers and hannah's through my 4yo's activities. an ex coworker had a son named henry, called hank. maybe it's a regional thing.

did anyone see baby mamma? went saturday and there's a mom calling kids with silly names one of them is "banjo" and another is (i think) apple. i had to laugh at my own generation. of course, i have a boy with a girls name (named after his grandfather who had the same one) and another son named after a norse god.


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## Needle in the Hay (Sep 16, 2006)

You don't see many names from our parents' generation either, though. Or you might have the full names, but not the shortened forms (or different ones). Robert, but not Bob. Will or William but not Bill.
Carol, Janet, Linda--don't hear those either, really.

My older sis and I have dated names (mine more than hers, I think). My younger sis is 13 yrs younger than me and got a next generation name, but it has been a popular one and may become dated too.

I also notice how many people think they are choosing a unique name and then are surprised the next year when they see it on the top twenty list of names. They think because they didn't know anyone with the name that it must be unique or they think that somehow it just suddenly became popular as soon as they chose it. It's possible our parents didn't realize just how popular those names were when they gave them to us!


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## Hannahsmummy (Oct 12, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *mama2mygirl* 
I met a little Jennifer.

My new baby niece is called Jennifer/Jenny.

I think her mother had that in mind since childhood.

My own daughter's name is pretty old fashioned but made a comeback recently. These things come and go, like all trends.

Talking about being one of many, I am Michelle and in the 70's half of my class was called Michelle. When i was in the 5th grade, there were 5 of us.


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## Prane (Jan 8, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Needle in the Hay* 
I also notice how many people think they are choosing a unique name and then are surprised the next year when they see it on the top twenty list of names. They think because they didn't know anyone with the name that it must be unique or they think that somehow it just suddenly became popular as soon as they chose it. It's possible our parents didn't realize just how popular those names were when they gave them to us!


I'm a Courtney, my mom will insist to this day that nobody had that name until she used it. Really mom no other Courtney's in the 80's. That was not my experience. Of course I didn't know any other Aubrey's until I named my dd Aubrey


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## Twinklefae (Dec 13, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *thismama* 
It's because the names are dated to our ears... they are 80s and 90s names, we have heard them our whole lives and we have associations with the names to people we know, etc. They are boring right now.

Give it time and they will be fresh again.

Yup. When we are becoming Grandparents we will be horrified that our kids are saying how cool and up to date 'Barbara' 'Jill' and 'Bob' are. (Just like a lot of Grandparents these days are horrified that little boys are getting "old man" names like Max and Sam.)

ETA: I like the names Max and Sam, but had a Grandfather from the daycare go off at me about how they are names for old men.


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## Onemagicmummy (Jul 27, 2007)

i only know ONE other child with the same(ish) name as my Evie. a lady i know a BF group calle dher Baby Evangelina and my DD is Evangeline, it wa WAY populer in the 1800-1900 but after about 1930 it went out of favour, i dont know and one called Evangeline.
i also have a Abbiegael, a BEnjimin and a Harrison which are all semi-populer names

Kiz


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## lolalola (Aug 1, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *AllisonR* 
OOOH - Pride and Prejudice. I LOVE Darcy. Hugs and kisses to your little DS.











He gets "Mr Darcy" from family and friends.


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## emmasmommy (Feb 26, 2004)

There is a little girl in dd's swimming class named Heather, she is 6. There is also a Courtney and a Samantha at her daycare and those are also names I associate with my generation.

My dds are Emma and Annika. When we first told MIL (Swedish) that we were considering Annika she told us she didn't like it because it was an old lady's name, but when we lived in Sweden every Annika I met or heard of was probably between 25-40 yo. The Swedish 70's-80's names seem to be Anna, Jennifer (pro. Yennifer) for girls and Magnus for boys. Dh has several friends with these names and it was very hard to know who he was talking about when he knew 4 different people named Magnus!


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## NYCVeg (Jan 31, 2005)

My name is Amanda (in the top 3 most popular girls' names the year I was born and for several years after). I JUST met an Amanda under the age of 2 and I almost fell over--it's SO rare that I meet a kid named Amanda these days. We do know lots of Sebastians, Owens, Liams, Ezras, Emmas, Rowan/Rohans, Henrys, and Sophies. Also an Emerson, Hudson, Quinn, Simon, etc.


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## emmasmommy (Feb 26, 2004)

Just remembered there is also an Amanda at dd's daycare! She is 5. Dh liked the name Amanda when I was pg with dd1, but I vetoed it because I have a cousin named Amanda.


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## aprons_and_acorns (Sep 28, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *thebarkingbird* 

did anyone see baby mamma? went saturday and there's a mom calling kids with silly names one of them is "banjo"

How funny--we used to have a neighbor boy named Banjo. His parents were musicians and his mom was from Australia so I thought maybe that was a name used over there . . . ? It really suited him. He was a plucky kid!


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## aprons_and_acorns (Sep 28, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *NYCVeg* 
My name is Amanda (in the top 3 most popular girls' names the year I was born and for several years after). I JUST met an Amanda under the age of 2 and I almost fell over--it's SO rare that I meet a kid named Amanda these days. We do know lots of Sebastians, Owens, Liams, Ezras, Emmas, Rowan/Rohans, Henrys, and Sophies. Also an Emerson, Hudson, Quinn, Simon, etc.

I'm Amanda too! And I've never met a baby Amanda. It's good to know we're not totally out of style


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## bri276 (Mar 24, 2005)

I heard a mom calling "Amanda!" at the playground the other day and I couldn't believe it. She was only 4 or 5.


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## Katzchen (Aug 13, 2007)

I think it depends where you live. We lived in Columbus (Ohio) when our older DS was born and nobody batted and eye at our choice of Oliver. But now that we've moved to a more rural location people balk at Oliver and Jonas's names and think that they are too old fashioned (even the moms my age.)

Just in the last month at our local hospital we've had little girls named Kristi, Aimee, Chrissy, Stacy, Ashley, Lindsay, Megan, Carrie, Mallory, Brooke, Jamie, Jennifer, Amber and Stephanie. Even TWO Crystals.

The only old fashioned names I could find were Sarah, Tabitha and Maria.

People here just seem to love the 70's and 80's names still, and think that the older names that are in vogue now are ugly. (and I've gotten quite a few comments about how cruel I am to have given such cute little boys old man names.)


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## NYCVeg (Jan 31, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Katzchen* 
I think it depends where you live. We lived in Columbus (Ohio) when our older DS was born and nobody batted and eye at our choice of Oliver. But now that we've moved to a more rural location people balk at Oliver and Jonas's names and think that they are too old fashioned (even the moms my age.)

Just in the last month at our local hospital we've had little girls named Kristi, Aimee, Chrissy, Stacy, Ashley, Lindsay, Megan, Carrie, Mallory, Brooke, Jamie, Jennifer, Amber and Stephanie. Even TWO Crystals.

The only old fashioned names I could find were Sarah, Tabitha and Maria.

People here just seem to love the 70's and 80's names still, and think that the older names that are in vogue now are ugly. (and I've gotten quite a few comments about how cruel I am to have given such cute little boys old man names.)

Interesting! I live in a big, East Coast, urban area, and haven't met a single child with ANY of the names you listed in paragraph 2. We know a Jonas and two Jonahs, though! (I love the name Jonas, BTW: Have you read Lois Lowrys, _The Giver_?) OTOH, we don't get a ton of "hippy" names either (no Banjos or Wingspans here! Not even an Orion or a River). It's pretty much solidly in the trendy middle. Dd went to a class today and the other kids were named: Lucy, Orlando, Gabriel, Rohan, Maddie, Benjamin, and Sadie.


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## katheek77 (Mar 13, 2007)

Oh, btw, my daughter (born '06) is a Katherine called Katie. Had she been a boy, she would have been "Eric" (named after DH's deceased brother, whose real name was "Ryckman")...so, the 70s would have been back.
I (born '77) am a Kathleen called Kathee
My mother (born '56) is a Dawn. Called Dawn. Because that's really all you can call Dawn.


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## mammastar2 (Dec 17, 2004)

Dd has a friend (age 6) called Tina - I realized I hadn't seen that in a long while.


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## RadUnschooler (Jan 23, 2008)

I really wanted to name our son Tharren or however you spell it. Does anyone like that name? Mu husband says i can call him that if i want. Does anyone call their kids a name different than on the birth cert.?


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## babywolverine (Jun 13, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *katheek77* 
My mother (born '56) is a Dawn. Called Dawn. Because that's really all you can call Dawn.









My aunt is a Dawn, nicknamed DeeDee, which is another name you don't hear a lot anymore!


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## talk de jour (Apr 21, 2005)

I'm a Lindsay, and I can't say that I've met a single Lindsay any younger than about-to-graduate-high-school.

Although I was quite often one of many Lindsay/Lindsey/Lyndsey/Lindsys in the same class.


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## memiles (Feb 23, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *talk de jour* 
I'm a Lindsay, and I can't say that I've met a single Lindsay any younger than about-to-graduate-high-school.

Although I was quite often one of many Lindsay/Lindsey/Lyndsey/Lindsys in the same class.

My older DD is a Courtney. We had Lindsay on the list for dd2, but I decided to buck the trend of "names DH thought were cool when he was in high school".

DS, my stepson, is a Michael who has now given in to the pressure of friends who want to call him Mike. DH named him as well...........Michael Anthony, after the bass player from Van Halen. All I can say is that *I didn't have input in that one.









I finally won the naming battle with DD2, Ellison Violet. My mom begged me to name her after her, but I couldn't bear to saddle the poor girl with Pamela.


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## hubris (Mar 8, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Needle in the Hay* 
It's possible our parents didn't realize just how popular those names were when they gave them to us!

Mine sure didn't, they thought Jessica was a rare name! It went on to be the single most popular name across two decades.









I think there must be something in the popular culture that's not totally in our faces but still helps nudge many of us toward certain names. People think that Friends was responsible for the Emma boom, but really that boom was already underway before Ross and Rachael named their daughter. What suddenly made thousands of parents long to name their daughters Emma? Was it the sudden Jane Austen craze, or did the JA craze come from the same place that our lust for Emma, Ella, Stella, Isabella, etc is coming from? It's wild.


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## angelcat (Feb 23, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *bri276* 
I heard a mom calling "Amanda!" at the playground the other day and I couldn't believe it. She was only 4 or 5.


I know a 6 yr old Amanda.

I have a Rachel, and I worry ti isn't popular enough. I odn't know anyone her age (alsmot 3) with that name. But I love it, and it suits her!

I'm Rebekah, and my great grandma didn't like that because it was "so old fashioned". That was in '74. Yeah, I've run into many people around my age with that name.


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## Hopesmommy (Oct 23, 2006)

It just goes in cycles. I have no doubt that we'll have plenty of Jenifers and Cristys again.


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## onlyzombiecat (Aug 15, 2004)

Those names certainly aren't as popular but I don't think you can say we never see them. Many are still in the top 1000 popular names.

It is interesting how names become popular in cycles. Looking at the past 100 years, Jennifer started to become more popular as a name in the 50's and 60's and reached a peak in the 70's and early 80's. Mayber in another 50 years people will be using it more again to name their baby after Grandma Jennifer.

Naming a child Dave, Mike, or Kim has not been in the top 50 for at least the last 30 years in the US. David and Michael are still really popular (top 20).


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## dbsam (Mar 3, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Qestia* 
Have you seen this? http://babynamewizard.com/namevoyager/lnv0105.html you can see the trends in the form of a graph, jeffrey and jennifer definitely peaked in the 70s.


This site is really interesting. I put in 'Aubrey', a name I was considering for my daughter. Until the '70's it was used as a boy's name. And the name I really wanted, but my husband didn't care for - Leslie, was more popular than I realized.


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## bri276 (Mar 24, 2005)

Quote:

What suddenly made thousands of parents long to name their daughters Emma? Was it the sudden Jane Austen craze, or did the JA craze come from the same place that our lust for Emma, Ella, Stella, Isabella, etc is coming from? It's wild.
I think the latter. If I had to guess, I'd wager the majority of people who named their child Emma have not read or even heard of the book. I think it took off because it's a cute alternative to Emily, which is even more popular. And all the old ladies named Emma were people's great- or great-great-grandparents rather than direct grandparents they knew and associated the name with.

I really wonder where names are going to go 20 years from now. What wiill all the Noahs and Madisons be naming their kids?


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## Inci (Apr 22, 2005)

I'm getting tired of the super-old-fashioned names for young children... I know so many children under the age of 8 named William, Charlie, Sophia, Henry, Joe, Lucy, Joseph, Grace, Hannah, Jack, Thomas, Owen, Dennis, Isabelle, etc.

I don't know many young children with 70s/80s/90s names, but I do know a couple Laurens, a Carly, a Leah, and a Kelly.

I live in an artsy, green, hippie-ish town/know a lot of such people and thus know (or know of) young children named things like Sequoia, Wolf, River, Sage, Harvest, Zola, Ocean, Leaf, etc.


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## GooeyRN (Apr 24, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *fiddledebi* 
Yeah, I was sadly "Little Debbie" as a kid, to differentiate me from the older Debbie in the next class up in Hebrew school. I even changed the spelling to Debi in high school just to be different! And then I was "short Debi" as a camp counsellor, being only 5' tall. Now I play in a band with a woman named Deborah, and people decided to call her Deb, which she hates, or "banjo Deb," which I imagine she hates even more.

That is why my daughters have "weird" uncommon names. I got tired of someone picking a random qualifier to go with my name! My Ronni (Veronica) and Sammi (Samara) are the only ones they know with those names. I'll bet Sammi runs into some Samanthas, but probably not too many Samaras. And we've only met one Veronica so far -- and none who go by Ronni. *whew*

I know a young Veronica.


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## Shelsi (Apr 4, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *WhisperV* 
Hey!! My DD is Alexia too!!!

cool! I've come across a lot of Alexis but not Alexia


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## frontierpsych (Jun 11, 2006)

Funny how you used so many names from my family!

My sister is Melissa, my mom is Kim, my aunt is Julie, and my SIL is Tammy.

We considered Nancy for a girl's name... you don't hear that much anymore.


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## lerlerler (Mar 31, 2004)

As a Lisa born in the 60s with a million other Lisa's, I realize how much we all got pummelled by that name. WAY too common. I heard a Mom at the park the other day calling "lisa" and almost chocked. NEVER met anyone under 30 with that name.. and then there was this little girl.. Turns out her parents are new immigrants to the US... never got to hear EVERY other little girl with my annoyingly common name.

It actually sounds CUTE for their daughter.. but I still don't like it for me... I always was ambivilent about my name.. felt like I should have been head cheerleader or something.

Yea, yea, I could always change it, but my Middle name stinks as well and I never found one taht seems to fit...


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## Joyster (Oct 26, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *YesandNo* 
I'm not immune. I just had a baby and most of the name that I considered were straight of the 1920s-1940s. But in the end I named her ...... DARCY. A name from my 1980s childhood. I bet she'll be the only one in her class!

*Sigh* I love Darcy, I'd totally name my third boy this, but DH has vetoed it. One of his favourite hockey players has that name and for some reason he doesn't want our child to have the same name. What a crumbum! But I only know of two people who have that name, one born in the 70's and one born in the 80's.


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## Joyster (Oct 26, 2007)

Both my boys have old fashioned names too. Alexander is getting popular, but Nelson is still one we've heard few and far between. My girl's names (please god, let me have one lol) will be Victoria and Elizabeth. I haven't met any Victoria's, but do know a little sweetie with Elisabeth.

I know lots of Owens, Xanders, Xaviers, Masons, Jacobs, Briannas (or some variation of it) McK's, Sophies, Olivias and Jacks. I do actually know a Wolf, he's more of a monkey than a wolf though.


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## ashleyhaugh (Jun 23, 2005)

im ashley, and you dont see that very often anymore, although there was an infant ashlee in my room when i worked at a daycare a couple years ago. its all ashlyn/ne now


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## e(Lisa)beth (Aug 17, 2007)

Quote:

Jennifer started to become more popular as a name in the 50's and 60's and reached a peak in the 70's and early 80's.
That's for darn sure - I was born in '79 and I went to school with dozens of Jennifers, sometimes as many as six in one class.

Quote:



Quote:

What suddenly made thousands of parents long to name their daughters Emma? Was it the sudden Jane Austen craze, or did the JA craze come from the same place that our lust for Emma, Ella, Stella, Isabella, etc is coming from? It's wild.
I think the latter. If I had to guess, I'd wager the majority of people who named their child Emma have not read or even heard of the book. I think it took off because it's a cute alternative to Emily, which is even more popular. And all the old ladies named Emma were people's great- or great-great-grandparents rather than direct grandparents they knew and associated the name with.
I always planned on naming my daughter Emma after my great-grandmother (born 1907) and now that it's popular I probably won't, which makes me a little sad.

Quote:

I always was ambivilent about (Lisa).. felt like I should have been head cheerleader or something.
My nickname is Lisa, and the "head cheerleader" thing is always what I thought, too! Glad to know I'm not the only one.


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## lilyka (Nov 20, 2001)

I think a lot of the 70 and 80s names are making a comeback. jennifer is really starting to rise in popularity. I even cinsidered. My generation has avoided it like the plague so my dd wouldhave likely been the only Jennifer on the play ground. also Kathrine (but your right no cathies, just katies) Jeffy, Davey, Mary (large catholic population) Ashley, Hillary. Kimberly (kimmy).


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## MCR (Nov 20, 2001)

My three year old is Jennifer, I never thought about it being not so popular I just liked it. I wanted to call her Heather or Hannah, they were also on the short list.
My 14yo has friends called Sammy (girl) Michelle, Katie, and all kinds of older popular names.
I've noticed quite a few Ethan and Ezra around here. Still lots of Tylers and Morgan and Logan's.


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## RainbowEarthFaerie (Oct 11, 2006)

Ok, I have to know. Does anyone here know a Loki? That's DS2's name.


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## soso-lynn (Dec 11, 2007)

I have an Eleanor, we call her Ella these days. People usually dont think it s unusual until they see that she is not white. I think it might have something to do with the fact that they can never quite figure what ethnicity she is and are hoping for a clue from the name. They often assume that it was my grand-mother s name or something. I have also heard people say that it s a name for an old librarian lady.

At her daycare, there are 6 children, last year there was Mati, Mathias and Matthew. Matis is the number 1 name here for boys. William is also very popular.


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## tropicaldutchtulip (Jul 26, 2007)

Both of my twin girls have very different names and different spellings as well! I love the more unusual names! The one I hear of every so often but not the way I have it spelled, the other one I have never heard anything similar to it yet.


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## thismama (Mar 3, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *WhisperV* 
Ok, I have to know. Does anyone here know a Loki? That's DS2's name.

I know one! it's a very unique and nice name.


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## Needle in the Hay (Sep 16, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *RadUnschooler* 
I really wanted to name our son Tharren or however you spell it. Does anyone like that name? Mu husband says i can call him that if i want. Does anyone call their kids a name different than on the birth cert.?

Do you mean your DS who is around (I think) 6 years old? I would think only he could decide what he wants to be called.
But to answer your question, I do call my DS a name different than on his birth certificate. Almost everyone does, but we started that from day one.


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## kewb (May 13, 2005)

I'm a Kathy (just Kathy, it is not short for Katherine or Kathleen. And yes, I am sure. Leftover childhood issues). This thread made me laugh because dh and I were just discussing this very topic because I told him that Murray was a name that was ripe for a comeback.


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## VegAmanda (Feb 27, 2008)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *WhisperV* 
Ok, I have to know. Does anyone here know a Loki? That's DS2's name.


I do! But he's my parents' dog, so I doubt anyone will ever run into him in a kindergarten class. I named the dog that because Loki is in one of my son's favorite stories.

My 12-year-old is Joshua, a name that I wasn't 100% on board with, but that was seemingly at a lull in popularity in 1996 when I named him. Guess everyone else thought the same thing.


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## marybethorama (Jun 9, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *kewb* 
I'm a Kathy (just Kathy, it is not short for Katherine or Kathleen. And yes, I am sure. Leftover childhood issues).

I went to high school with Vicki, Cindy, and Laurie-none of them were short for anything. Oh yeah, Kristy, Jessie, I'm sure there were some Kathys too.

My middle name is Beth (not short for Elizabeth, just Beth). Every other Mary Beth I've ever met was christened Mary Elizabeth.


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## gabysmom617 (Nov 26, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *AbbieB* 
If DS had been a girl his name would have been Autumn Dawn.

That's beautiful. I love names that make you think of something beautiful.

Like at one of my previous jobs, I saw this beautiful little tanned girl with long straight blond hair, she was strikingly pretty. Her mom kept calling her Summer.

Then she wrote me a check, and their last names were Love. I asked her, if the little girl's name was Summer Love, and she said yes.

It just suited her to a tea. I told her I thought Summer Love was beautiful for her little girl.


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## bri276 (Mar 24, 2005)

Quote:

I haven't met any Victoria's
there are tons around here, most are Tori rather than Vicky, though. I looked it up, for 2006 it was #28. but that depends on the region, too, I'm sure.


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## GooeyRN (Apr 24, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *bri276* 
there are tons around here, most are Tori rather than Vicky, though. I looked it up, for 2006 it was #28. but that depends on the region, too, I'm sure.

Victoria's are common here.


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## dbsam (Mar 3, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *gabysmom617* 
That's beautiful. I love names that make you think of something beautiful.

Like at one of my previous jobs, I saw this beautiful little tanned girl with long straight blond hair, she was strikingly pretty. Her mom kept calling her Summer.

Then she wrote me a check, and their last names were Love. I asked her, if the little girl's name was Summer Love, and she said yes.

It just suited her to a tea. I told her I thought Summer Love was beautiful for her little girl.


Summer is a pretty name.

I had a friend named Dusty Dawn. She was always asked 'What is your _real_ name'. She heard, often, that her name sounded like a stripper name







.

I also worked with a woman named 'Cookie' - not a nickname. We worked in a professional male dominated field so her name really stood out!


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## GSMama (Jul 26, 2006)

I'm a Vanessa, born in the 70's...although I liked my name I always felt shortchanged in that I couldn't ever find pencils or anything with my name on them like the other Jennifers and Michelles I went to school with. My mom felt bad about it and to this day will occasionally pick up things with my name on them to compensate, lol!

My DD is a Georgia and seems to be the only one I've run into so far...I'm sure it won't be the case as she gets older though. We have a Jessica down the street and I think it's still a classic name...we're considering Rachael for our next one if she's a girl.

I went to highschool with a Misty Hill...


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## delicious (Jun 16, 2003)

so is clementine really popular now??? because that is on my short list if this baby turns out to be a girl. baby clem.


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## becoming (Apr 11, 2003)

I would bet money they'll be coming back around in the next 5-10 years.


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## thismama (Mar 3, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *delicious* 
so is clementine really popular now??? because that is on my short list if this baby turns out to be a girl. baby clem.

I think it is becoming more popular with British upper classes? That's my impression anyway. Check out www.behindthename.com... search Clementine and you can see the popularity. I really like the name.


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## jdedmom (Jul 11, 2006)

Two of my three boys are Brad and Troy. Definately popular names from the 70's and 80's. I liked the "classic" surfer names and both were influenced by Brad Pitt. Troy was a Brad Pitt movie.

My middle son has a very trendy name and I thought it was unique when we named him...little did I know. (his name rhymes with Aiden)


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## cottonwood (Nov 20, 2001)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *nextcommercial* 
Some names seemed to be regional too.

My firstborn is a Jake, and we were pretty disheartened when we found out it was the #1 boy name that year. I'd never met anyone named Jake before and though it was a pretty unique name.







But we have never met another Jake. Not one. Doesn't that seem a bit strange? On the other hand, my daughter's name is Willow, and even though it's something like #2000 on the girl list, we've met two other Willows in our small town.

I _love_ the name Clementine.


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## delicious (Jun 16, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *thismama* 
I think it is becoming more popular with British upper classes? That's my impression anyway. Check out www.behindthename.com... search Clementine and you can see the popularity. I really like the name.

oh thanks. i looked there. i appear to be in the clear. the only akward thing for me is i know someone who has a dd named clementine. but i have loved this name forevvvvvvvvveeeeeeeerrrrrrrrrrrrr.

i have a strong boy feeling though, so the point is probably moot !


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## Nankay (Jan 24, 2002)

I was born in 1966. I had the name Olivia picked out for as long as I could remember! When dd was born in 1994,of course I named her Olivia! The comments I got were, "Gee, that's OLD" or "Hmm..that's unusual"..or my fave.."Well.I guess she can always go by her middle name".

tee-hee..I must have started a trend or something....Now there are Olivias all over the place.


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## Jennifer Z (Sep 15, 2002)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Needle in the Hay* 
It's possible our parents didn't realize just how popular those names were when they gave them to us!

That's what my mom said. To a degree, she was right. It became popular a few months after I was born, when Love Story came out, but was already starting to be poplular. However, she had never met anybody with my name.


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## karina5 (Apr 15, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *delicious* 
so is clementine really popular now??? because that is on my short list if this baby turns out to be a girl. baby clem.


I know one little girl named Clementine who is about 10 years old and lives in Maine.


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## ashleyhaugh (Jun 23, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *GSMama* 
I'm a Vanessa, born in the 70's...although I liked my name I always felt shortchanged in that I couldn't ever find pencils or anything with my name on them like the other Jennifers and Michelles I went to school with. My mom felt bad about it and to this day will occasionally pick up things with my name on them to compensate, lol!

My DD is a Georgia and seems to be the only one I've run into so far...I'm sure it won't be the case as she gets older though. We have a Jessica down the street and I think it's still a classic name...we're considering Rachael for our next one if she's a girl.

I went to highschool with a Misty Hill...


lol, i still buy ashley stuff sometimes because i could never find it growing up- everything was always sold out









eta- i have a friend with a 1yr old jorja, and georgie was a name we were considering for a girl when i was pregnant with ds- until we learned we'd be in georgia when the baby was born, lol


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## dcgrl (Jun 13, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Inci* 

I live in an artsy, green, hippie-ish town/know a lot of such people and thus know (or know of) young children named things like Sequoia, Wolf, River, Sage, Harvest, Zola, Ocean, Leaf, etc.

I kind of think giving your kid a non-name is kind of limiting to the child. It's pressing your own vision/values on the child, and what if the child grows up to not possess the same vision/values? Can you imagine an investment banker named Ocean? Or a Senator Sequoia?

I know this is an unpopular opinion on MDC.

I named my son Michael Robert. Haven't met any other Michaels his age. I don't know where they live, but not in my town, which is littered with Henrys, Aidans, and Silases.


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## seeingeyecat (Oct 17, 2005)

I recently met someone who told a story about her frined "Earth Dancer". We also live in one of those hippy enclaves, but I was surprised the story teller could keep a straight face while repeating this woman's name throughout her story. Earth Dancer named her kids Spring and Rupert. Later than evening my husband and I had a conversation about what was worse: that this woman's parents gave her such a laden name, or that she chose it for herself in adulthood. I'm as crunchy as the rest of you, but would not give my kid a name that so obviously tagged her to this place and community. It should be her choice, and she should be able to escape my choices without obvious marks. However, the common-to-our-community practice of adopting a far out name, sheading you're birth name and turning your back on your past... seems a little pretentious to me. We are all products of the course of our lives. Isn't changing you name (and I dont mean adopting a nick-name or lengthing or shortening your name, choosing to use your middle name, or changing your last name to match your family) a denigal of who you are?
We decided the best situation possible is that Earth Dancer's parents gave her that as a middle name, giving her the (hidden) option of an authentic far-out hippy name should she grow to want to use it.

There are bunches of parents I meet who are unhappy their kid's name is in the top dozen of her or his birth year. In our play group there are a whole variety of Sophie/Sophia/Zophya's and Eva/Ava/Eve's as well as Aiden's and Owen's. It took birthing and naming a child to realise that my friends' Moms might have thought Jennifer Katlyn and Ryan were originals. Today, however, with google everywhere, there's no excuse to be surpised.

ps- Our daughter is named Auna Miriam. Auna sounds like Fauna or Sauna. Miriam is so I can call her Mimms as a nickname. I nearly named her Terran, as in Terrance without the last consenant sound. To me it sounds pretty and means "person of the earth" like Canadian means "person of Canada". It also shortens to Ren which I think is rather cute.


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## thismama (Mar 3, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *dcgrl* 
I kind of think giving your kid a non-name is kind of limiting to the child. It's pressing your own vision/values on the child, and what if the child grows up to not possess the same vision/values? Can you imagine an investment banker named Ocean? Or a Senator Sequoia?

I know this is an unpopular opinion on MDC.

I named my son Michael Robert. Haven't met any other Michaels his age. I don't know where they live, but not in my town, which is littered with Henrys, Aidans, and Silases.

I see this to an extent, but everything is putting your values on a child. Michael Robert is putting your values as much as Sequoia is... mind you they are values that will be more likely to fly under the radar in the culture. I did a poll here on who liked/disliked their common vs. uncommon names awhile back, and a lot of people were dissatisfied with common or popular names.

I think super out there, non-names or kree8tive made up weirdly spelled names are over the top. But I also think it's okay to give a more rare or odd name, at least as much as it is to give a common or popular name.


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## thefragile7393 (Jun 21, 2005)

I am hearing a lot of Sophias (and their variations), Jadens (and all their variations for either gender), Michaelas (and all their variations), Caitlins (and all their variations) and Victoria Isabellas.
If this one is a little girl I would like the name Jadis I admit....(C.S. Lewis fans may recognize it), but dh hates it (and any other name I've come up with). I met a girl when I was younger named D'arcy, and I thought that was a neat way to spell it...it's another one I would like.


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## NYCVeg (Jan 31, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *dcgrl* 
I kind of think giving your kid a non-name is kind of limiting to the child. It's pressing your own vision/values on the child, and what if the child grows up to not possess the same vision/values? Can you imagine an investment banker named Ocean? Or a Senator Sequoia?

I know this is an unpopular opinion on MDC.

I named my son Michael Robert. Haven't met any other Michaels his age. I don't know where they live, but not in my town, which is littered with Henrys, Aidans, and Silases.

I agree with a PP that any name--including Michael Robert--is a value judgment. I know a man who was given a very traditional name, much like your ds's. He now conducts New Age spiritual tours out in New Mexico and changed his name (first and last) to something much like the so-called "non-names" you listed above. How is this different than an investment banker or senator changing his own name to "fit" his profession? What if your son decides to become an eco-warrior in the Amazon and hates that he was saddled with stodgy old Michael Robert? (I don't, BTW, think Michael is really a stodgy name--it's one of my favorite boys' names--I'm just making a point). OTOH, you might be surprised--I know a few people with "hippy" names in very traditional fields, and it's really not that big a deal. And, hey, no one ever thought we'd have a viable presidential candidate (and possibly a president) named Barack Obama, either.


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## delicious (Jun 16, 2003)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *thefragile7393* 
I am hearing a lot of Sophias (and their variations), Jadens (and all their variations for either gender), Michaelas (and all their variations), Caitlins (and all their variations) and Victoria Isabellas.
If this one is a little girl I would like the name Jadis I admit....(C.S. Lewis fans may recognize it), but dh hates it (and any other name I've come up with). I met a girl when I was younger named D'arcy, and I thought that was a neat way to spell it...it's another one I would like.

oh, i like jadis! even though she was evile.

there are tons of names that end in S that i like, but our last name starts with S, so it sounds funny.


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## BAU3 (Dec 10, 2001)

This thread has made me giggle because I have(as you can see in my sig) a Henry, Charlie and a George....

I don't think much of trendiness or popularity with my kids names, more how they sound and that there are no others with that name in my town(very small town). My kids all named the next kids, to be honest..I just find the name thing to be kid of trivial... isn't that wierd?


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## colobus237 (Feb 2, 2004)

I do know a little Nancy, and she's the only little Nancy I've ever met. Stands out because it's not a "weird name," it's just unusual in this generation of toddlers.

I think our kids' names fit pretty well with the trend you described. Oh well.


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## queenjane (May 17, 2004)

My son is Seamus and its funny that in Ireland this is a very very common name, but here (esp where we live), not so much. I think we've met only one or two other Seamuses in the past 11 yrs. And he is always the only Seamus in his school, and i think the only one in our city. He definitely stands out, but in a good way. And to top it off, he was named before he was conceived, and yet came out looking exactly how you'd expect a "Seamus" to look (both his father and i have dark hair and werent expecting this redheaded little baby!)

Katherine


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## jillmamma (Apr 11, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Hannahsmummy* 
Talking about being one of many, I am Michelle and in the 70's half of my class was called Michelle. When i was in the 5th grade, there were 5 of us.

My little girl is Michelle.







Named partly just because we liked it, and partly because my sister's middle name is Michelle. Great name!


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## MelKnee (Dec 5, 2001)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *_betsy_* 
I just met a baby Heather, and I thought that while there were a million Heathers when I was growing up, I hadn't heard of a new baby Heather in a long time. She'll likely be the only one in her class.

My dd's name is Heather. She's 2yo.


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## kapatasana (Apr 5, 2008)

I'm a Kathryn and I was born in the 80's. When I was 4 or 5 I hated it. I wanted to be a Jennifer, Jessica, Melissa,Megan, or Ashley like many of the other girls I knew. Then when I was around 8, I hated it because it was too common, I wanted to have a really unique name that no one else had. Now I'm an adult and I love it. I'm glad I have a name with a lot of cute nicknames to choose from that's not "stuck" in any decade or era. I feel like it's really "Classic" and will never go out of style. So thanks Mom and Dad.
My sister on the other hand is a Kristyn, which is firmly planted in the 70'd/80's, but she liked her name too (mostly because of the "y" spelling, though she hated never being able to find name stuff as a kid).

I work with children and have definitely picked up on the "trendy" names around here.
I once had a pre-school class with 3 /5 girls named Emma.
Emma, Sophia, and Lily are huge. For boys I haven't noticed anything super trendy other than loooong bible names ending in "ah" or "iah" and it seems like every other baby being born is an Aiden (Please know I think these are all nice names though).


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## nolonger (Jan 18, 2006)

i was actually considering Lisa or Laurie if ds2 had been a girl for that very reason, but decided to save those names for my as-yet-unconceived dgd so she can be the cutting edge of trendiness.


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## lovemysunshine (Jul 13, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *nermal* 
I nearly named her Terran, as in Terrance without the last consenant sound. To me it sounds pretty and means "person of the earth" like Canadian means "person of Canada". It also shortens to Ren which I think is rather cute.

I call my 22 yo sister "Ren" all the time; her name is Lauren (Elizabeth).









I hated having a popular name growing up and it still feels kind of generic to me (I'm another Jennifer). In 5th grade, I ahd to be "Jennifer M-A" because there was another Jennifer M in my class.







: I hated when someone would call my house and ask for me like that, ugh. I made it a point as a teacher to just call the student by their first name and be sure to be looking at them when I said it, no initials required.

My mom also swears that she had no idea how popular my name was when she named me (after a little girl that had been in her class). I was born in 1978 and you would think she would have come across more of us by then. My dad gave me my middle name though and I







it because he gave it to me and it's unique without being out there~ Celeste.


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## JesseMomme (Apr 6, 2002)

6


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## musikat (Oct 30, 2002)

I am a Karyn, also not a popular name anymore. I was thinking about this thread just this morning and remembered I had a couple of "Mindys" in my class, as well as _lots_ of Melissas and Kristins. I even knew some Marys and Leslies. All names I wouldn't expect to see on a baby today. I would have named a girl Kathryn, but my mom's name is Katherine. And I know someone with a 4 month old named Amy. It was a suprising choice to me, since it's not one you see anymore.

My boys are Evan, Liam and Colin -- definitely following the Celtic "trend" these days.









Karyn


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## JesseMomme (Apr 6, 2002)

I don't see too many Nicholes anymore either.


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## kapatasana (Apr 5, 2008)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *musikat* 
I am a Karyn, also not a popular name anymore. I was thinking about this thread just this morning and remembered I had a couple of "Mindys" in my class, as well as _lots_ of Melissas and Kristins. I even knew some Marys and Leslies. All names I wouldn't expect to see on a baby today. I would have named a girl Kathryn, but my mom's name is Katherine. And I know someone with a 4 month old named Amy. It was a suprising choice to me, since it's not one you see anymore.

My boys are Evan, Liam and Colin -- definitely following the Celtic "trend" these days.









Karyn

This thread actually reminds me of my reaction to the movie version of Bridge to Terebithia that came out last year. I couldn't get past the fact that they decided to have it take place in the present time, but the kids still had the popular 70's names like Janice, Joyce, and Leslie, which though not impossible, is highly unlikely. I'm sure it's just because I'm a huge "name nerd" though. I wish the movie had taken place in the 70's, but since it didn't I'm glad they didn't re-name the characters.
I had a similar reaction to the graphic novel versions of The Babysitter's Club that were made to take place in the present (I know the artist really wanted them to take place in the 80's still but the publisher said no), you're probably not going to find too many Stacey's, Mallory's and Kristy's born today, but those names are still a little less trendy than the ones in the previous example.
I could talk about naming trends all day! I actually love a lot of the names from the 40s, 50s, 60's and 70's, Roxanna is one of our top girl names, I also like Dawn, Maureen, Janis, to think of a few. The 80s though, like many people have said, still feels too close for comfort.


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## JesseMomme (Apr 6, 2002)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *GSMama* 

My DD is a Georgia and seems to be the only one I've run into so far...I'm sure it won't be the case as she gets older though. We have a Jessica down the street and I think it's still a classic name...we're considering Rachael for our next one if she's a girl.


I only met one other Georgia in my lifetime, I thought that was a very pretty name though


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## teachma (Dec 20, 2002)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Shelsi* 
cool! I've come across a lot of Alexis but not Alexia









Alexa is more common in my area.

One name that would surprise me on a new baby girl? Susan! That goes along with Barbara and Carol, in my opinion. All those women are now 60.


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## jaxinsmom (Jul 24, 2006)

My ds was going to day care with a little Gladys, Godfree and Otis







But, like most names I find they suited the child to a tee!

I think choosing a name for your child is a difficult task -- it took dh and I 7 months to come up with Nellah for our daughter. I have yet to be able to find it on a babynames.com type of website and always has the little red spelled-incorrectly line under it. But we fell in love with it and thought it was elegant and graceful without being too 'out there'.
I do think people are judged by their names, we don't have any control over how others will react to our child's name.


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## JessicaS (Nov 18, 2001)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *GSMama* 

My DD is a Georgia and seems to be the only one I've run into so far...I'm sure it won't be the case as she gets older though. We have a Jessica down the street and I think it's still a classic name...we're considering Rachael for our next one if she's a girl.


My grandmother had cousin named Georgia and I always loved her name.

My name is Jessica, there are a lot of them, particularly here on MDC.


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## S.Raine-Drop (Apr 5, 2008)

I ALWAYS think about names that don't fit a baby but fit an adult, and vice versa. Like, my mom's name is Deborah (Debbie) and I just can't imagine calling a baby/toddler/teen that!


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## colobus237 (Feb 2, 2004)

Although, since you're going to be an adult for much longer than you're a baby, maybe it's worse to get a name that sounds great on a baby and silly on a grown person. All subjective, though.


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## Inci (Apr 22, 2005)

I disagree that parents who give their children "out there" names like Wolf and Sequoia are "pushing their values" on their children more than the parents who give their children super traditional names are.
And like another poster, I know a woman who is a spiritual teacher/herbalist and chooses to go by the name of her favorite plant instead of the boring/common 80s name her parents gave her.

Back on the subject of old-fashioned names... I love walking through local cemetaries and seeing all the names from the 1800s.
Does anyone know a child named Thelma?? Maybe I'm crazy, but the name is growing on me and sort of sounds cute!


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## Island Mommy (Mar 26, 2003)

It's funny how some of the names from the 70s and 80s are coming back but the big names of the 50s and 60s are still not back in favor.

I'm a Linda. Born in '63. We have a Linda/Lynda coffee club because there are 5 Linda/Lynda's on my street. All older than me.

Has anyone heard of a child being named Linda in the last 2 decades?? Lindsay, yes. Lindy, yes. But plain old Linda?

My best friends growing up were Karen, Carla and Carol. Loads of Karens in my school.

Oh, yah, and what about Sharon? So popular in the 50s and 60s but I haven't heard that one in ages either.


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## SugarAndSun (Feb 6, 2005)

I had no idea Owen was so popular until I named my son Owen! I just read it in the book and liked it. I actually almost named him Nathaniel, but we had already decided on Owen and DH said he already thought of him as Owen.


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## kapatasana (Apr 5, 2008)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Island Mommy* 
It's funny how some of the names from the 70s and 80s are coming back but the big names of the 50s and 60s are still not back in favor.

I'm a Linda. Born in '63. We have a Linda/Lynda coffee club because there are 5 Linda/Lynda's on my street. All older than me.

Has anyone heard of a child being named Linda in the last 2 decades?? Lindsay, yes. Lindy, yes. But plain old Linda?

My best friends growing up were Karen, Carla and Carol. Loads of Karens in my school.

Oh, yah, and what about Sharon? So popular in the 50s and 60s but I haven't heard that one in ages either.

I think Shannon replaced Sharon. There are a ton of Shannons my age, but neither name is common for babies born today.


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## Scalpel (Jul 6, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *YesandNo* 
It's so funny that you posted this. My area is overrun with these sorts of names, it's definitely the trend. I'm not sure why - I know people of MY generation certainly weren't naming their kids after grandparents. I think it's more aspirational. Those names seem not just old-fashioned, but prosperous (and very, very Caucasian).

I'm not immune. I just had a baby and most of the name that I considered were straight of the 1920s-1940s. But in the end I named her ...... DARCY. A name from my 1980s childhood. I bet she'll be the only one in her class!


I just had to comment...my DP's name is Darcie and her twin brother's name is Darrin. I just thought that was so cute.

Right now we are really liking the name Alexis....lexy, lex, alex..i like nicknames.


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## lotus.blossom (Mar 1, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Inci* 
Back on the subject of old-fashioned names... I love walking through local cemetaries and seeing all the names from the 1800s.
Does anyone know a child named Thelma?? Maybe I'm crazy, but the name is growing on me and sort of sounds cute!

My great grandmothers name was Thelma. She was a really cool lady. I'm thinking of using it as a middle name if I have a girl.

I had to laugh the other day when I was at story hour. They went around the room introducing the children and there were so many 'alternative' names... Logan, Liven, Lochlan (my son!) Liam, Jameson, Hunter, Dylan, Teagan, Suri, Zan, Braedon etc. It will be an interesting preschool class!


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## Onemagicmummy (Jul 27, 2007)

i can almost imagine in 100 year time some one walking through a cemetary and seeing Zan, Dylan, Braedon, and other alternate names and going, "oh thats cute, you dont here names like that theses days, i like it and think i will use it for my child" and starting the cycle again. its cool how names come in and out of fashion.

my name SUCKS, its nto even a realy name its made up of two names stuck together. Krystal and Kirstie so i am Krystie and EVERYONE gets it wrong. one girl in our street INSISTS on calling me Kristeen (THERE IS NO N IN MY NAME ARGHHHH) i do ont know of a skinge other Krystie spelt that way

Kiz


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## cjanelles (Oct 22, 2005)

I'm a Christi....one of 6 in my elementary school class.

I have a Jake (15), a Sara Claire (11)...and then I totally diverged...my DD2, the baby, is Willow (11 mos).

The recent babies in my circle of family and friends:

Ella
Avery (g)
RaeLyn
Isaac
David
Weatherly (g)

I guess that David and Ella are the most old-fashioned...although my Willow is really Willow Annabella Whitley R***, and we often call her Belle.


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## choli (Jun 20, 2002)

So I guess nobody names kids after family members any more? My family still names our kids after much loved relatives - an aunt, uncle, grandparent or parent that we want to honor. Fashion doesn't really come into it.


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## finn'smama (Jan 11, 2006)

I have a cousin who named her girls Amy and Joanna. To my ears they sound common and overused, but in reality, I think for their age group (both under 4) they are very unique. Unlike my ds1. I'd never heard of a Finn before we named him, and now we meet one his age almost everyday







:. I don't know any other Arlos irl though. There is a mama with an Arlo at MDC though









Quote:


Originally Posted by *hubris* 
I was JUST thinking of this tonight!

Check out the graphs on some of the names mentioned here:
baby name wizard

According to this, Arlo was the most popular in 1910 and hasn't been in the top 1000 since the '40's. Finn was not in the top 1000 in the '90's but ranked 456 in 2006!

A


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## YesandNo (Mar 16, 2008)

My prediction for most popular name of 2008: Lily. There were two in the nursery when I had my baby (6 weeks ago). I thought it was a lovely name, so mentioned it to my cousin works in a daycare, she said they have two infant Lilys - one who just started, and one due to start next week.


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## finn'smama (Jan 11, 2006)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *choli* 
So I guess nobody names kids after family members any more? My family still names our kids after much loved relatives - an aunt, uncle, grandparent or parent that we want to honor. Fashion doesn't really come into it.

I wanted to give my kids their own first names, but both have middle names that honour family members. I considered naming my first after my dad, but their last name is a noun and my dad's name is Harry. So not a great combo









A


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## kapatasana (Apr 5, 2008)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *YesandNo* 
My prediction for most popular name of 2008: Lily. There were two in the nursery when I had my baby (6 weeks ago). I thought it was a lovely name, so mentioned it to my cousin works in a daycare, she said they have two infant Lilys - one who just started, and one due to start next week.

I think so too. I know of quite a few baby Lilys.


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## JesseMomme (Apr 6, 2002)

6


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## Mama_Leah (Aug 1, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *choli* 
So I guess nobody names kids after family members any more? My family still names our kids after much loved relatives - an aunt, uncle, grandparent or parent that we want to honor. Fashion doesn't really come into it.

If we ever have another girl I'm thinking we might name her Mabel after my husbands grandmother, or to be a little less traditional Charlie after his dad who passed two years ago.

Our youngest is named Miranda and older women will say, "Oh, that's my daughters name!" So I guess it was more common about 40 years ago. Her middle name is Jayne so that's a nice common older name.


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## Mama_Leah (Aug 1, 2007)

Oh, and we know some people who do use mostly family names. Their kids are Anne, John, Cora, Thomas, Mary, Catherine and Henry.


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## mclisa (Jul 26, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *karina5* 
You don't ever see names from the 70's or 80's anymore. Think about it...people think nothing (as they should) of naming their child Henry or Hazel or Beatrice or Clementine or George or Eleanor or Imogene or Pearl or Olive or Emerson or Owen or Silas, etc.... (by the way, I like several of those names very much....).

But you don't ever meet a brand-new baby Jennifer or Melissa or Kelly or Kimberly (can you imagine a baby "Kim"!) or Julie or Tammy or Dawn or Wendy or Stacey or Kathy or Pamela or Brenda or Lori or Linda or Christy.

Boy names haven't changed *as* much but I would be surprised to hear of a baby Jeffrey or Todd or Scott or Dave (not David but Dave) or Mike (not Michael but Mike).

Wouldn't that be weird??

That's because their time hasn't come yet. You need to wait 10-20 more years and then they might be back in.


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## mclisa (Jul 26, 2004)

I used family names for #1, 3, and 4 for the middle names. And a combo of 2 names for #2's middle name. #4 has a family name for her first name too.

I think it is fun to have a story behind the name. You were named after...etc.


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## Jannah6 (Aug 29, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *harleyhalfmoon* 
My little girl is Katherine, sometimes called Kathy... her best friend is Julie, called Julia... my son is Gary... there was a little boy in my preschool class last year names Oscar and a little girl named Shirley... and I like all those names better than most currently popolar names.









My 60+ mom is named Shirley Ann







. I know one other Shirley and she is in her mid 30's.


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## a(TM)?Star (Oct 13, 2005)

I know a girl who named her LO Melissa.


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## kapatasana (Apr 5, 2008)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Jannah5* 
My 60+ mom is named Shirley Ann







. I know one other Shirley and she is in her mid 30's.

A very close friend of mine has a younger sister (around 11 oe 12 years old I think) who's name is "Anne Shirley". I love that name for a little girl.


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## Stinkerbell (Aug 11, 2005)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Qestia* 
Have you seen this? http://babynamewizard.com/namevoyager/lnv0105.html you can see the trends in the form of a graph, jeffrey and jennifer definitely peaked in the 70s.

great, thanks. Now Im obsessed with this thing


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## Hokulele (Mar 2, 2005)

I was *just* thinking today how I would be shocked if I met a baby Kelly or Michelle. But I have about three hundred friends with those names who are my age. (I'm in my 30s)


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## That Is Nice (Jul 27, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *theatermom* 
I agree w/those who have said that many of those names are just too close to us. Trends take awhile to repeat.

I also think that our naming pool has broadened considerably over the past 15-20 years. We grew up with so many people who shared names, and now that we have a wider range of choices, we're taking advantage of it. We reach across cultures, religions, and decades to find names that speak to us, but seldom are tempted to reach into the limited naming pool of the 1950's-1980's.

We're also much more cautious about "taking" names from others -- we spend a lot of time and energy naming our children, whereas people from other decades really didn't. It used to be extremely common for cousins to share names, for example, and now we're worried if there's another kid on the same block with the name we're considering.









:


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## That Is Nice (Jul 27, 2007)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *mclisa* 
That's because their time hasn't come yet. You need to wait 10-20 more years and then they might be back in.









:

I think it's cyclical. That name chart thing is cool.


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## Mandynee22 (Nov 20, 2006)

I haven't seen those names on a newbie either. With my kids, I wanted their names to mean something so popularity never came into play.
My DD's name is my mother's maiden name and my ex husband's mother's name hyphonated and her middle name is my grandmothers and her dad's grandmother's first name (both the same)
My son's name is the last name of the woman who took care of me much of my childhood and his middle is my dad's name (and my step father's, my cousin's and my step brother's for that matter lol)


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## marybethorama (Jun 9, 2005)

what fun!

My middle son's name (Harry) peaked around the turn of the century.


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## LynnS6 (Mar 30, 2005)

My name peaked in the 50s. Figures. I've never really liked my name.

What about:
Donald
Gerald
Sharon
Shirley
Helen
Janet
Claudia
Carl
Sylvia
Ralph

It makes me wonder what names will NEVER come back...


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## One Art (Nov 9, 2005)

It's intriguing to me that Emily is number one! It's been popular since the 1800s, with a low dip to #251 in the late 1950's. Heh.
I thought it would have faded in fashion by now... hmm... I only know of one little girl named Emily, all the rest are Emmas!

Oh, and to the pp, I know two little boys named Carl! It seemed strange when I first heard it........


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## RainbowEarthFaerie (Oct 11, 2006)

Yeah...Elizabeth has yet to drop out of the top 25 even I think in like 200 years too....lol


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## BananaBreadGirl (Apr 14, 2008)

I had fun posting my favorite names for future children into the NameVoyager thing. I want less common/trendy names for my children (someday).
Amos, Margaret, and Miriam are not surging in popularity.
Abijah, Hendrik, and Amity were not popular enough to show up. Adelaide, Elias, and Simeon are ones I like that are becoming more popular, even if not exactly common.


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