# Names you don't hear much these days **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 8, 2009, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-you-dont-hear-much-these-days/502371 "2009-07-08T21:50:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![ashman165](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e8cbc/32.png) [@ashman165](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ashman165)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2009, 9:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-you-dont-hear-much-these-days/502371/41 "2009-07-09T09:08:11Z")
Jesus Christ. (Thank you, god, for that one!) ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2009, 10:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-you-dont-hear-much-these-days/502371/42 "2009-07-09T10:30:28Z")
**FCM** , I’d be very surprised if your name doesn’t go through a renaissance over the next few years. > [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > Never met a single person named Henry in my entire life. Not a young man, not an old man, not a baby. Nobody. My grandfather had a brother named Henry who died two years ago; I never met him. I played soccer with a Henry when I was a teen in the late 70s. It was an out of place kind of name even then. It was an old man name that didn’t fit the wild, coltish young man it to whom it was attached. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2009, 11:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-you-dont-hear-much-these-days/502371/43 "2009-07-09T11:06:04Z")
> [@ashman165](#): > > Jesus Christ. > > (Thank you, god, for that one!) Come on over to my hometown and I can introduce you to four guys named Jesús, lastname Cristo. It should be five but the one who was my classmate died when we were 15 ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2009, 11:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-you-dont-hear-much-these-days/502371/44 "2009-07-09T11:08:30Z")
> [@emcee2k](#): > > Wow, huge decline in newborns named Katrina since 2005, according to that site. Wonder what that’s about. I just checked Monica. It was dropping anyway, and didn’t seem to have a particular precipitous drop after…you know. Surprising. > [@BiblioCat](#): > > I teach preschool part-time, and I’ve had a Stella, two Eleanors and a couple of Joes over the years. Julia seems to be popular again, as does Frances. Ava is another one. Yup. It’s the “old people name” trend. It’s interesting how some grandma names come back and some don’t. There are Eva/Avas and Stellas and Eleanors everywhere around here. (My son is Arthur–I didn’t mean to be trendy!!) I never would have thought of Joe as a grandpa name, though, even though my grandpa was a Joe. > [@thirdwarning](#): > > Cheryl? > Cindy? Cheryl is good, though the “y” makes it a little fancy! Some other good ones from this thread: Carol, Nancy, Lorna. Cindy doesn’t count, because it’s a nickname for Cynthia. But it is part of the parallel trend–Longer names almost always getting nicknames that fit into the 2-syllable y-sound-on-the-end model. Or the even simpler 1-syllable variation. -Patty/Pat (Patricia) -Peggy/Peg (Margaret) -Vicky (Victoria) -Ginny (Virginia) -Kathy/Cathy (Catherine/Katherine/Kathryn) -Ronnie/Roni (Veronica and others) -Betty, Liz, & others (Elizabeth) And there were a lot of 1-syllable or shorter 2-syllable full names that were popular for the boomers: -Ann/Anne -Joan -Jean -Amy -Jill More of my mom’s friends. She has a lot of friends. Barbara is a notable exception to all of this. These days, girls are likely to be called by a full name, even if it’s 3 syllables or longer: Elizabeth, Stephanie, Alexa, Madison, etc. And people are tending to use the longer/slightly fancier versions of names–Lauras are Laurens, Julies are Julias, etc. You can tell I put entirely too much thought into these things. ---
**Author:** ![freckafree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/freckafree/32/3050_2.png) [@freckafree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freckafree)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2009, 11:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-you-dont-hear-much-these-days/502371/45 "2009-07-09T11:35:56Z")
> [@Markxxx](#): > > The easy way to remember Frances/Francis is > > h **E** r -\> franc **E** s > > h **I** m -\> franc_i_s Aw, _that’s_ no fun! 😛 Re: Henry, my boss’s daughter and her husband named their son Henry when he was born last year. It is a fine name! ---
**Author:** ![Auntbeast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Auntbeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Auntbeast)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2009, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-you-dont-hear-much-these-days/502371/46 "2009-07-09T11:42:56Z")
I forgot to comment on Robert. Grandfather Robert, Nephew Robert, Nephew Robert, Friend Robert, Friend Bobby. We are inundated with Roberts. I can send you some if you get lonely. And yes, two consecutive grandchildren were born Robert. I guess no one like Grandpas middle name, Samuel. Haven’t met too many men Sams, plenty of girls though. ---
**Author:** ![jabiru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@jabiru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jabiru)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2009, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-you-dont-hear-much-these-days/502371/47 "2009-07-09T12:03:05Z")
I knew the OP was about my age when I saw ‘Denise, Ruth Karen’ etc. The rest of my class was name Christine, Susan or Deborah. You never hear those names anymore either. ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2009, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-you-dont-hear-much-these-days/502371/48 "2009-07-09T13:47:55Z")
> [@emcee2k](#): > > Oh, mine will be a Bob, I’ll make sure of that. My father wishes he weren’t a Bob, but he couldn’t avoid it. My brother has been more successful. Some people call him Rob, which he tolerates… barely. My eldest son has been very adamant about what he likes to be called. You address him my the diminutive of his name at your own peril. ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2009, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-you-dont-hear-much-these-days/502371/49 "2009-07-09T13:49:54Z")
> [@Auntbeast](#): > > We are inundated with Roberts. I can send you some if you get lonely. And yes, two consecutive grandchildren were born Robert. I guess no one like Grandpas middle name, Samuel. Haven’t met too many men Sams, plenty of girls though. We just named the newest Samuel. We were pleasantly surprised to discover that Samuel [Magill] is an actual Historical Person [TM]. ---
**Author:** ![Kingspades](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecae2f/32.png) [@Kingspades](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kingspades)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2009, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-you-dont-hear-much-these-days/502371/50 "2009-07-09T14:40:21Z")
There’s a whole set of names that I find so old-fashioned as to be comical. Names like Otis, or Gladys, or Stella, or Herbert, or Ethel. In my book these make fantastic names for pets or inanimate things. For example, two of my friends in college named their computers Jeremiah and Virgil. Our Civic’s name is Millie. Two of our cats are named Eleanor and Chester. ---
**Author:** ![Mahna\_Mahna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e47c2d/32.png) [@Mahna\_Mahna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahna_Mahna)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2009, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-you-dont-hear-much-these-days/502371/51 "2009-07-09T15:11:36Z")
**Kingspades** , I’m glad I’m not the only one who does that. 🙂 At the moment, I am the proud owner of an iPod named Petunia, a bike named Clementine, and a vaccuum named Reginald. The cats came pre-named, so their names aren’t quite as silly as I’d have liked. However, I fully intend to name my next pets Reginald or Millicent (assuming they let me do so). ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2009, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-you-dont-hear-much-these-days/502371/52 "2009-07-09T15:21:22Z")
Isabella _used to be_ a name you didn’t see too much, but is now too common. I like the name, but it is now too tied with sparkly vampires. ---
**Author:** ![badbadrubberpiggy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/57b2e6/32.png) [@badbadrubberpiggy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/badbadrubberpiggy)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2009, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-you-dont-hear-much-these-days/502371/53 "2009-07-09T15:35:46Z")
> [@thirdwarning](#): > > I’ve heard the same thing all my life about my own name. I’m a good twenty years past my time. But I think it’s coming back. I’m hearing about more baby Alices these days. I dont’ know if it’s just cycled around, or if there’s a celebrity I don’t know about. Alice is a major character in the Twilight series, so that may part of it, plus the general trend for “old fashioned” names coming back into style. I think the whole trend starts with people who want to use known names/spellings for their kids, but don’t want to use incredibley common ones, either - so the names that start getting chosen are the ones their grandparents & great-grand parents have/had. ---
**Author:** ![dwc1970](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a183cd/32.png) [@dwc1970](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dwc1970)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2009, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-you-dont-hear-much-these-days/502371/54 "2009-07-09T15:42:40Z")
Yeah! I currently rank #5 and I was born in 1970. Biblical names never go out of style. My school was full of Jennifers. We even had three Jennifers in a class of 25 or so students (about a 1:8 ratio when you think about it). Melissas were also popular. As for boys’ names, those tend to be names that have stood the test of time and are still popular today- Mike, John, Mark, Kevin, etc. It seems that boys names don’t go through as much in the way of trends the way girls names do. These days it’s all about Brittany, Jayden, Kaylen, Brayden, etc. It seems that names ending in “n” are getting a lot of mileage lately. ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2009, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-you-dont-hear-much-these-days/502371/55 "2009-07-09T15:44:33Z")
> [@Auntbeast](#): > > I forgot to comment on Robert. Grandfather Robert, Nephew Robert, Nephew Robert, Friend Robert, Friend Bobby. > > We are inundated with Roberts. I can send you some if you get lonely. And yes, two consecutive grandchildren were born Robert. I guess no one like Grandpas middle name, Samuel. Haven’t met too many men Sams, plenty of girls though. I’m a Robert, and came really close to having a son named Samuel. Thankfully, he wound up being a former friend’s. As for nicknames, Rob is the only acceptable one for Robert. Bobby’s a boy’s name, and Bob just doesn’t sound right. ---
**Author:** ![fizzestothetop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e79b87/32.png) [@fizzestothetop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fizzestothetop)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2009, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-you-dont-hear-much-these-days/502371/56 "2009-07-09T15:45:43Z")
> [@Argent\_Towers](#): > > Never met a single person named Henry in my entire life. Not a young man, not an old man, not a baby. Nobody. My grandfather had a brother named Henry who died two years ago; I never met him. A couple that I’m friends with had a baby last year and named him Henry. It’s not really my most favorite name in the world but it’s nice to know someone out there is trying to keep the classics alive! ---
**Author:** ![Nutty\_Bunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/d07c76/32.png) [@Nutty\_Bunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nutty_Bunny)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2009, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-you-dont-hear-much-these-days/502371/57 "2009-07-09T15:50:12Z")
I was born in 1970 and when I went to college in 1988, I had SEVEN friends named Jason. And I didn’t have a ton of friends, so that’s really impressive. > [@Green\_Bean](#): > > They are just nice, simple, no-nonsense names that NOBODY is using any more! How long has it been since you’ve met a baby named… > > -Susan My 3 year old daughter. Admittedly though, she is named after my mother who was born in 1946. I wanted my child to have an uncommon name and my husband and I were disagreeing about which mother’s name to use as the middle name. So we used both names. Her middle name is Joan, since I preferred Susan as a first name. ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2009, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-you-dont-hear-much-these-days/502371/58 "2009-07-09T15:53:08Z")
> [@Kingspades](#): > > There’s a whole set of names that I find so old-fashioned as to be comical. Names like Otis, or Gladys, or Stella… We named our daughter “Stella.” (I can’t wait to get her her first pair of cat’s eye glasses, to go with her name.) ---
**Author:** ![Snickers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Snickers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snickers)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2009, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-you-dont-hear-much-these-days/502371/59 "2009-07-09T15:54:36Z")
> [@Lacunae\_Matata](#): > > According to my brother, “Bob” is a name for a used car salesman or a telemarketer or a televangelist. Not for a grown man working in a respectable profession. Hey! My dad’s a Bob, and he’s a doctor. Tphhbbbthpbt to your bro. ---
**Author:** ![Time\_Stranger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5fc32e/32.png) [@Time\_Stranger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Time_Stranger)\ **Post date:** [July 9, 2009, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-you-dont-hear-much-these-days/502371/60 "2009-07-09T16:01:12Z")
My grandmother’s name was Arilla, which I’ve never heard anywhere else. I’ve always wondered if it was a take on Ariella or Ariel. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-you-dont-hear-much-these-days/502371.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/names-you-dont-hear-much-these-days/502371.md?page=4)