# Have you ever met a man over the age of 50 with one of the following names? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 31, 2017, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-met-a-man-over-the-age-of-50-with-one-of-the-following-names/805612 "2017-12-31T03:51:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Lamoral](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lamoral/32/16078_2.png) [@Lamoral](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamoral)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2017, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-met-a-man-over-the-age-of-50-with-one-of-the-following-names/805612/1 "2017-12-31T03:51:05Z")
Zach Tyler Adam Chad Ryan Evan Josh Chase Kyle Justin Dustin ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2017, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-met-a-man-over-the-age-of-50-with-one-of-the-following-names/805612/2 "2017-12-31T03:55:06Z")
Evan is a very common Welsh name and has been for many years. I have also met two men over 50 named Adam. The others, not yet. You just added Justin. One of my state parliamentarians is called Justin (Madden) aged 56. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2017, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-met-a-man-over-the-age-of-50-with-one-of-the-following-names/805612/3 "2017-12-31T03:58:15Z")
Adam, Evan, Josh, Ryan, and Kyle. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2017, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-met-a-man-over-the-age-of-50-with-one-of-the-following-names/805612/4 "2017-12-31T04:00:05Z")
Do last names count, or only first names? My uncle Evan is well over 50. As for the others, I can’t think offhand of any that I’ve met personally, but there are quite a few I know by reputation. For example, famous Adams over 50 include Adam Sandler (yes, he’s now over 50), the famous 18th century economist Adam Smith, and, per the Bible, the first Adam ever. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2017, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-met-a-man-over-the-age-of-50-with-one-of-the-following-names/805612/5 "2017-12-31T04:00:20Z")
I’ve never met him but the most famous Dustin is Dustin Hoffman, who is 80. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2017, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-met-a-man-over-the-age-of-50-with-one-of-the-following-names/805612/6 "2017-12-31T04:02:11Z")
Some of those names date back to biblical times, so I wouldn’t say they’re uncommon before 1967. That guy Adam is featured in the first part of the book of Genesis. Joshua is another biblical name, and has been shortened to Josh for a very long time. Zachary Taylor was President of the United States. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2017, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-met-a-man-over-the-age-of-50-with-one-of-the-following-names/805612/7 "2017-12-31T04:04:03Z")
I seem to recall that a lot of “cool” names for American guys in the 80s were things like Brad and Corey and Cody. Presumably many of those will be in their 50s now. Contemporary names for my generation where I grew up are fairly boring, standard ones, though falling out of favour now. David, Andrew, Gregory, Stephen, Mark, Tony, Robert, Martin, that kind of thing. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2017, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-met-a-man-over-the-age-of-50-with-one-of-the-following-names/805612/8 "2017-12-31T04:04:35Z")
Dusty, in his 60s. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2017, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-met-a-man-over-the-age-of-50-with-one-of-the-following-names/805612/9 "2017-12-31T04:17:39Z")
The [Baby Name Voyager](http://www.babynamewizard.com/voyager) tool lets you see the popularity of names in the US over time, going back to the 1880s. I’ve written a little historic fiction and have played around with this to see if names I’m considering for characters are too modern. I didn’t check all the names in the OP’s list, but “Chad” for instance was (barely) in the top 1,000 most popular names for boys in the 1940s and peaked in popularity in the 1970s. “Kyle” was (again barely) in the top 1,000 as far back as the 1890s, became increasingly popular starting in the 1940s, and peaked in the 1980s and '90s. ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2017, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-met-a-man-over-the-age-of-50-with-one-of-the-following-names/805612/10 "2017-12-31T04:42:35Z")
Actor Ryan O’Neal is 76. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2017, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-met-a-man-over-the-age-of-50-with-one-of-the-following-names/805612/11 "2017-12-31T05:09:11Z")
Yes to Zach(ary) Adam Chad Ryan Josh(ua) Chase Dustin If you don’t think there are men over 50 named Zack, Adam, or Josh, you’re probably not in a Jewish family. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2017, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-met-a-man-over-the-age-of-50-with-one-of-the-following-names/805612/12 "2017-12-31T05:14:34Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > “Chad” for instance was (barely) in the top 1,000 most popular names for boys in the 1940s and peaked in popularity in the 1970s. It’s probably not a coincidence that _Medical Center_ (starring Chad Everett) was a popular show during the seventies. ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2017, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-met-a-man-over-the-age-of-50-with-one-of-the-following-names/805612/13 "2017-12-31T05:41:38Z")
Yes, in fact every one of them. More than one Ryan and more than one Kyle. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2017, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-met-a-man-over-the-age-of-50-with-one-of-the-following-names/805612/14 "2017-12-31T06:01:18Z")
Actor Kyle MacLachlan is closing on 60, and Clint Eastwood’s son Kyle will be 50 in mid-May. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2017, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-met-a-man-over-the-age-of-50-with-one-of-the-following-names/805612/15 "2017-12-31T07:26:31Z")
When I was growing up, I had a neighbor named Tyler; he’d be in his early 60s now if he was still living. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2017, 9:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-met-a-man-over-the-age-of-50-with-one-of-the-following-names/805612/16 "2017-12-31T09:56:53Z")
I’ve never heard of anyone around my age named Asa but some younger people are. (It’s another Old Testament name, one of the Hebrew Kinds, IIRC.) When I was in elementary school, we had to read stories about American colonists and pioneers (part of the standard indoctrination of the day). Girls were often named Jennifer, a name I had never heard of IRL. It has since become a common name. Names come and go in fads and cycles. But a lot of the names you think are new are just old ones coming back into vogue. This seems especially true with names from the Bible, especially from the Old Testament. Moshe (Moses) and Mordecai are very popular Israeli names. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2017, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-met-a-man-over-the-age-of-50-with-one-of-the-following-names/805612/17 "2017-12-31T11:18:15Z")
When I was a child, I recall including Josh, Adam, and Justin among my friends. They would be, like me, over 50 now. And though it wasn’t in the OP’s list, I also had a friend named Taylor. Tay, as we all called him, would also be over 50 now. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/22080_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2017, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-met-a-man-over-the-age-of-50-with-one-of-the-following-names/805612/18 "2017-12-31T12:51:15Z")
When I was a kid, there was a Kyle up the street from us. This was in the 60s, so he’d be in his 50s now. ---
**Author:** ![Penfeather](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penfeather/32/384_2.png) [@Penfeather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Penfeather)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2017, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-met-a-man-over-the-age-of-50-with-one-of-the-following-names/805612/19 "2017-12-31T13:13:58Z")
I went to school with a guy named Chad. Whenever anyone asked “Where’s Chad?”, the cry would go up “In Africa!”. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2017, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-met-a-man-over-the-age-of-50-with-one-of-the-following-names/805612/20 "2017-12-31T16:19:14Z")
My son Adam will be exactly 50.5 tomorrow. We knew another one, a few years older, and liked the name, so used it. Dustin Hoffman is 80. I think I’ve seen some of the others too. Names do go in cycles. When I was on sabbatical one year at Penn, there were two women in the office named Janet and Mary and it was a bit of cognitive dissonance that Janet was the older since when I was growing up all the Janets were my age and all the Marys older. But of course, this Janet was my age too and the Mary was of a new generation that had come back to that name. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-ever-met-a-man-over-the-age-of-50-with-one-of-the-following-names/805612.md?page=2)