THE FOUR-GENERATION RULE
It takes at least four generations for names to sound appealing again for babies. The names of today’s moms and dads – names popular from the late sixties through the eighties – are for the most part too familiar to foist upon an innocent newborn. You’ll find a lot of young parents but not many stylish babies with the following 1970s-style names:
girls
AMY
DANIELLE
ERICA
ERIN
HEATHER
JENNIFER
JESSICA
JULIE
KAREN
KATIE
KELLY
KIM
KRISTIN
LAUREN
LINDSAY
LORI
MEGAN
MELISSA
MICHELLE
STEPHANIE
TRACY
Boys are a little more complicated, as styles don’t change as fast and more boys are named after their dads. Still, these are found far less frequently now than in the 1970s.
BRADLEY
BRIAN
CRAIG
DARREN
DENNIS
DEREK
DOUGLAS
ERIC
GLENN
JEFFREY
KEITH
KEN
KEVIN
SCOTT
STEVEN
TODD
Even less attractive are the Baby Boomer Names, dowdy and old-fashioned. Out out out are:
girls
BARBARA
BEVERLY
BRENDA
CAROL
CONNIE
DEBRA
DENISE
DIANE
DONNA
GAIL
JOYCE
JUDY
LYNN
MARILYN
PATRICIA
SANDRA
SHARON
SHEILA
SHERRY
boys
ALAN
BRUCE
DONALD
GARY
GERALD
JERRY
LAWRENCE or LARRY
LEONARD
RICHARD
ROGER
RONALD
WAYNE
It’s not until you go back four generations, to names popular around the 1920s, that you start to find some appeal. Names from that decade that are beginning to find a new audience among modern baby namers, for stylish newborns, are:
girls
ALICE
ANNA
CLARA
EDITH
ELEANOR
ELLA
EVA
EVELYN
FLORENCE
FRANCES
GRACE
HAZEL
IDA
JOSEPHINE
JUNE
LILLIAN
LOUISE
LUCY
MARGARET
PEARL
ROSE
RUBY
VERA
VIOLET
boys
EDWARD
RAYMOND
WALTER
JACK
HENRY
ARTHUR
LOUIS
FRED
JOE
SAMUEL
LEO
RAY
THEODORECHESTER