Basic Baby Names: Laura, Lily and Lucas

by Sophie Kihm

“Basicness” has been a part of the zeitgeist for years now. To be basic is to be a follower of the trends and immersed in mainstream culture. It’s often portrayed as a bad thing—basic people are considered unoriginal, boring, and predictable—but there’s an upside to basicness, at least when it comes to basic baby names.

Basic baby names connotes “every-girl” or “every-guy” vibes. They have a long history of use and have retained a certain level of popularity over the years. Because of this, it can be difficult to accurately guess the age of someone with a basic name.

We can project many different personalities onto people with basic names, because we almost certainly know more than one person with the name. A  child with a basic baby name won’t feel pressure to live up to any ideals suggested by their name because there is no collective idea of who a Sarah or a Benjamin should be.

Unlike basic people, basic baby names are anti-trendy. While there may have been times when they were most popular, basic names are enduring favorites and remain reliable choices.

These baby names are inoffensive, dependable, and almost timeless. In fact, another name for basic baby names would be modern classics. Below are 30 basic baby names. Which ones would you add to the list?

Basic Girls:

Basic Boys: