Midcentury Baby Names

As frozen in the pre-Beatles era as short white gloves.

Your friendly next-door neighbor...not your baby. Although Larry was once one of the most popular boys' names starting with L, that title now belongs to Liam.

A Top 100 name from the 1930s all the way through the 1950s, it's now firmly in Mom -- or Grandma -- land and supplanted for babies by Joanna.....or even great-grandmother Josephine. In its heyday, it had a host of variations, including JoAnn and Jo-Anne.

Some parents just use Steve on the birth certificate, but it doesn't have the breezy charm of trendy short forms like Max, Sam, and Jake. Regardless of how much you love Steve as a given name, it might be smart to give your son a longer option to fall back on.

Ever since Austin Powers enlightened Americans that "randy" meant "horny," it's been hard to take this name seriously, and Randy has declined in popularity since.

Judy was the nickname of choice for almost all the Judiths born in the 1940s and 50s; today's little Judiths are much more likely to be called Judith -- or, possibly, Jude.

A modern(ish) invented name, only in widespread use since the 20th century. It is a combination of the English word darling and the popular midcentury suffix -lene.

One of the first breakaway unisex baby names, Terry, used independently since the days of Terry and the Pirates, is still used for boys though it's faded away for girls.

For a minute or two this sounded more modern than Janet, now equally outmoded.

When Deborah seemed too formal in the laid-back sixties, Debra stepped in as a pared-down alternative, but the pendulum is about to swing back.

Peppy cheerleader name of the 1960s and 70s that's sure to evoke the Four Seasons song of that name.

Gone with Richard and Rick, Ricky has been falling since the turn of the 21st century. Probably still suffering from overuse in the 1990s.

Jerry is one of those short forms that, like Mike and Debbie, rose to popularity on the coattails of their formal versions. The equivalents today are nickname names like Ellie and Theo.

Laurie morphed into the more streamlined Lori in the sixties but now feels dated for a girl in either spelling. Update Lauren has been renovated as Laurel or Laura itself.

There are lots of Kathy moms and grandmas but very few babies, most of whom are now called Kate or Katie.

Much fresher Irish imports available for colleens now.

Pitt is the prototypical blond Brad.

See TERRY.