Names due for a comeback

Like Greta, Gretchen is a German Margaret diminutive that has become an American quasi-classic, though not much used today, having dropped off the list in 2009. She was at her high point in the 1970s, making it into the top 200.

A classic name with regal elegance--Queen Victoria, like other queens, had Regina appended to her name. She was a Top 100 name in the 1960s.

Shirley Temple almost single-handedly lifted the gloom of the Great Depression, and in tribute (and perhaps wishing for a similarly curly-headed, dimpled darling of their own), thousands of parents of that generation gave their little girls her name. In 1935, Shirley was the second most popular girls' name in the country with more than 42,000 babies named Shirley.

Though modern parents seeking to honor an ancestor named Thelma might opt for the airier Thea instead, Thelma is starting to make its way back onto adventurous vintage name lovers' radars. It is currently experiencing a modest revival in France, where it now ranks around the #300 mark.

Classic name used by the Romans, the Puritans, and the Bard, but pretty much taboo today due to the objectionable connotations of both its front and back ends.

A classic short form of Henrietta, also seen as a nickname for Mehetabel.

Old-fangled nickname could make dot.com era short form or middle name.

The French Canadian pop star Avril Lavigne put the spotlight on this name when she made the charts with "Sk8er Boi". It is simply the French form of April, the fourth month of the year, whose name might derive from the Latin aperire meaning "to open" in reference to the start of spring in the Northern hemisphere. Other sources suggest it comes from the Greek goddess of love, Aphrodite.