I don’t know… being born in 1972, it seemed like the most common names for boys when I was a kid were Michael, followed by Christopher. The rest of the popular names were the usual Paul, Matthew, Dan, James, Stephen, Robert, etc…
Old books likewise. Jane Austen will throw in an occasional Isabella or Frederica, but it’s mostly Anne, Jane, Mary, Catherine, and similar.
Born in 1953; in my elementary school class there were 25 boys, 4 of whom were named John.
There is a song that supports the premise; “Every Tom Dick and Harry’s called John”.
My elementary school class, covering 1957 to 1964, was very traditional for the time. Three Johns, two Davids, one William, one Paul and one Ralph (which was rather old-fashioned even then.) On the girl’s side, three Susans and one Suzanne, two Patricias, two Barbaras, two Cathys, a couple of Lindas, Dianes and Deborahs, and a smattering of one-offs on both sides. Few of those names survived the 1960s.
When my son was born in 2005, we named him after his grandfather (who was still alive at the time - it’s a Sephardic thing), and were criticized for giving him an old-fashioned name. Now, 18 years later, his name is in the top-10 of male baby names in my country. What goes around comes around.
I’ve seen that name around here, in one case a first name. Apparently it’s a German surname. No idea if it relates to the common name John.
Do you guys have exceptional memories, or a record of your elementary school roster? Either way, I’m impressed.
I can remember exactly two names from elementary school. A girl I had a crush on, Sarah, and my best friend, Richard (who went by R.B.)
I’m kinda surprised that you don’t.
But I spent 8 years with more or less the same bunch, a few of whom were best buddies (Peter and David). So it seems natural that those names – some, not all – are permanently engraved in some brain cells.
Tangentially: when this cohort got to high school (1968-1971) all* the girls in school were named Debbie, Cindy or Pam.
And when I coached a Little League team circa 1994, all* the boys on the team had J-names: Justin, Jared, Jarrod, Jacob, Jeremy…
*not literally.
It was fifty years ago, and I’m bad with names of people I met last week!
Oh, back to 6th grade, we did have a Susan.
To the OP, my grandson is named John. So maybe it’s coming back.
I don’t have either- what I do have is classmates who still have the 8th grade book with everyone’s name and photo who have posted it on Facebook. Twenty years ago I could not have told you the name of everyone I graduated with but now I can.
My father was called Jonathan, and he was “Jon” his whole life.
I went to a small-town elementary school with largely the same group of kids from kindergarten through 6th grade. I haven’t looked at them in years, but I still have the class group photos, on the back of which my mom wrote down everyone’s names. There were a few kids who came for a year or two, then went, and I can still remember their names and what they looked like. When you’re that age, you mind sucks up everything and stores it away, no matter how trivial.
On the other hand, I retired a year ago from a company where I worked for 14 years. There was a woman in another department I encountered often, but every time I saw her in the hallway, I could never remember her name. (It was Cindy…not a tough one.) The old brain ain’t what it used to be, I guess.
I remember some of the names of the kids in my elementary classes - not many, but I remember full first and last names of a few kids I knew for just a couple of years when we were 9 or 10 and who I haven’t seen since. The name of the new neighbor I met last week? No, that’s gone completely.
I don’t think this is it - the top lists have a lot of Jacob, Noah, Elijah type names that are even more Biblical.
I noticed the same. What does seem to have happened is that the Biblical names which have fallen out of popularity are mostly New Testament names: John, James, Mark, Thomas, but also Paul and Peter (both of which were in the top 50 during the 1960s, and aren’t even in the top 200 now), while the ones which have gained in popularity are mostly ones from the Old Testament.
I’ve got a pretty good memory. In my junior kindergarten class, the first two names on the morning roster were Urus and Tahani (both were, I assume, Indian girls). I don’t remember all the names in that class, but there was, for example, also a Franklin, a Debbie, and a Sandra. In Grade 1, the first three names were Craig, Mark, and Cayley…
since the topic has run its course quite well so far … pls allow me a slight tangent (probably targeted mostly to the US-folk here):
When did Dick (=Richard, right?) … turn into dick (male reproductive organ) … in the wider society?
- was there a trigger-event?
- up until what year/decade was is ok (no heads turning) to yell “dick” across the street, summoning Richard and when did this start to get awkward?
- How do current Dicks (e.g. Cheney) deals with this (he’s dead, isnt he?)? … do people try to get rid of this nickname
It seems like an interesting side-angle to the topic of evolution of names
Sadly, Dick Cheney is not dead.
As I noted upthread, it seems to have occurred in the 1960s (more or less), as I can’t think of many adult Richards born in the '60s or later who chose to use “Dick” as their nickname, instead opting for “Rich,” "Rick, “Richie,” etc.
Some older Richards have chosen to continue to go by Dick, including my father (born in 1933), Dick Cheney (born in 1941, and yes, he’s still alive), Senator Dick Durbin (born 1944), Dick Vitale (born 1939), Dick Cavett (born 1936), Dick Butkus (born 1942) and Dick Van Dyke (born 1925).
This website has a list of “famous people named Dick,” and most, if not all, of them, are born prior to 1960.
They’re only mostly dead. You never know when a once-popular name will make a comeback (like “Emma” or “Sophie”).
Yeah, we’ve had at least one thread about the disappearance of “Dick.” Thing is, I can’t think of very many younger Bills or Bobs either—they’re much more likely to be Will or Rob nowadays.