Vintage Baby Names
I was asked by a magazine interviewer recently why I thought some vintage names come back and others don’t. Why Cora and Flora and not Dora? Why Edward and not Edwin? All of which got me thinking about the influences that do propel names out of the attic and into the spotlight.
The most obvious and evident of these is the celebrity factor in all its manifestations. Stars’ names, stars’ baby names and the names of characters they play:
Some examples:
Scarlett—Yes, the name of Miss Scarlett was used by a handful of parents following the publication of Gone With the Wind, but it wasn’t until Ms. Johansson burst on the scene that it really took off, bringing it now into the Top 50.
Isla –This old Scottish name was barely heard of or even pronounceable in this country before the emergence of the rising redheaded star Isla Fisher. Now it’s one of the fastest rising girls’ names—it entered the list in 2008 and is now at Number 167, with almost 2000 little American Islas born last year.
Sienna—Siena was a picturesque town in Tuscany until English actress Miller publicized the Sienna spelling and was instrumental in advancing her name into the Top 300 in the US, the Top 40 in England and Wales, and Australia.
Ava—And yes, stars of the past can also continue to exert an influence far beyond their own era. The sultry Ava Gardner was in her prime in the 1950s, yet became a 21st century hit, in the Top 10 for the last decade.
It’s also celebrity parents who have revitalized a whole raft of neglected names of the past, as in:
Agnes—Jennifer Connelly & Paul Bettany
Alice— Tina Fey
Birdie—Busy Phillips, Maura West
Clara— Ewan McGregor
Cyrus— Claire Danes & Hugh Dancy
Elsie— James Morrison, Ioan Gruffudd
Ethel— Lily Allen
Hattie— Tori Spelling
Hazel— Julia Roberts, Emily Blunt & John Krasinski
Olive— Isla Fisher & Sacha Baron Cohen, Drew Barrymore
Otis— Tobey Maguire, Olivia Wilde & Jason Sudeikis
Pearl— Maya Rudolph, Jack Osbourne
Silas— Jessica Biel & Justin Timberlake
Violet— Jennifer Garner & Ben Affleck + several others
Winnie— Jimmy Fallon
Indelible characters in blockbuster books and movies and TV shows have spawned a large share of the vintage name renaissance, particularly from franchises like Harry Potter and Twilight . Here are just a few:
Dexter—Dexter
Downton Abbey—Cora, Edith, Mary, Sybil, Elsie
Frozen—Elsa
Harry Potter—Arabella, Minerva, Lavender, Luna, Poppy
Matilda—Matilda
Sex and the City-Charlotte, Miranda
The Fault in Our Stars—Hazel
To Kill a Mockingbird—Atticus, Scout, Harper
Twilight—Edward, Isabella, Bella, Rosalie, Jasper, Emmett, Esme, Ephraim
And then there are less concrete factors.
The British Influence—Let’s face the fact that our cousins across the pond have been way ahead of us in certain significant trends. The vintage Amelia is their #1 name and Poppy is Number 7. It was the Brits who started the whole vintage nickname revival trend, with Evie, Millie, Rosie, Maisie, Ellie, Elsie, Tilly, Alfie, Archie, Freddie, Charlie, Theo, Frankie, Louie, Ollie, Teddy, Ronnie and Sonny all on their Top 100. As are Mad Men-era names that have yet to make it back big time in the US: Arthur, Harvey, Stanley, Leon—though there are signs that may be coming.
Sight & Sound—Both visual and aural pattern trends can lead to the advancement of some vintage names as well. A couple current ones:
S-ending boys—Otis, Atticus, Augustus, Rufus, Linus, Lucas, Silas
Ella girls—Bella/Isabella have led to Stella, Arabella, Mirabella, Anabella
Ett boys—Everett, Emmett, Beckett, Bennett
The X-factor—Dexter/Dex, Felix, Axel, Knox, Maximus, Maxine, Beatrix, Xavier
One thing leads to another: Emily to Emma to Ella to Elsa to Elsie
So what could bring back Dora or Edwin? It might just take one cool character or one cute starbaby.