maggiethurstons's list "A List of Trendy Old Fashioned Names" of 20 great name ideas: James - Lulu!

A List of Trendy Old Fashioned Names

Old fashion baby names that are currently trending!

James for a girl? Believe it or not, this is one of the <a href="https://nameberry.com/list/79/boy-names-for-girls">boy names for girls"</a> gaining a lot of attention these days, since Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds shocked the world by choosing it for their eldest daughter in 2014 (after his late father).
 
Since then, it's become something of a celebrity baby middle name du jour, with high-profile parents including Coco Rocha, Kristin Cavallari, Nev Schulman and Brandon Jenner all having daughters with James in the middle spot.

James

State name Alaska stems from an Aleutian word for the land mass itself. The number of baby girls named Alaska has doubled in the past five years, and is sure to continue increasing as more place names are annexed as <a href="https://nameberry.com">baby names</a>. Wilder but as habitable as Dakota or Cheyenne, Alaska is a <a href="https://nameberry.com/girls-names">girls' name</a> choice for the future.

Alaska

Doris had long been on our so-far-out-it-will-always-be-out-for-babies list, and seemed to be written there in indelible ink. But there are signs of a sea change, that Doris could profit from the revivals of Dorothy and Dorothea.
 She may not look it now, but Doris was considered the paragon of grace when she was part of a group of s-ending names (Phyllis, Frances) fashionable in the 1920s, and it got another shot of life when attached to the perky Doris Day in the fifties. In classical Greek mythology, Doris is the daughter of Oceanus, god of the sea, who gave birth to fifty golden-haired sea nymphs.

Doris

This name of a character played by Kirsten Dunst in the movie Virgin Suicides, originally a novel by Jeffrey Eugenides, is gaining attention, also thanks to the heroine Lux, Lady of Luminosity in the League of Legends games. Luz is the Spanish version.
 
Influencer Brooklyn Larsen named her daughter Lux in 2026.

Ottilie is trending in the UK, where the pronounced T helps the name sound pretty and delicate, rather like Amelie and Elodie. Ottilie is less popular in the US, where many Americans pronounce it as a near-homonym for "oddly".
 
Sweet but stylish, Ottilie was once reserved for the British upper crust, to be spotted among The Telegraph name rankings, rather than in your average school class. However, it has been quickly climbing the charts since 2015, and in 2022, it debuted in the UK Top 100.
 
Rarely seen in the US since the 1880s, Ottilie does have a few cultural references: She is a key character in Goethe's Elective Affinities, Robert Louis Stevenson wrote a poem called To Ottilie, Franz Kafka had a sister named Ottilie, and it is the name of the protagonist in the John Wyndham sci-fi story Random Quest.
 
Probably the best-known Ottilie is the German journalist, abolitionist, and feminist Ottilie Assing, who had a long involvement with fellow abolitionist Frederic Douglass. Others include the Irish Jazz singer, Ottilie Patterson, and Ottilie Rue Sugg, daughter of British influencers, Zoe Sugg and Alfie Deyes. 
 
Popular among Nameberry users, Ottilie is both vintage and playful, with the sweet nickname options of Lottie, Tillie, Otto, and Otter.
 
If the popularity of Ottilie puts you off, or it doesn't sound right in your accent, you could try a variant, such as Ottoline, Ottilia, and Odile, or names with similar sounds and style, such as Odessa, Odette, Romilly, or Coralie.

Ottilie

Prescott is one of several distinguished, upper-crusty surnames beginning with P.
 There are several historical surnamed Prescotts, including William, a Massachusetts Minuteman and commander at the battle of Bunker Hill, and Samuel, a Revolutonary patriot who traveled with Paul Revere on the night of his famous ride. Prescott is also the first name of the father and brother of George H.W. Bush.

Prescott

Cute boyish short forms like Stevie, Scottie, Frankie and Billie are in some ways a relic of the past, when girls were given feminized versions of their father's names, but now, they're back in as stylish, stand-alone options. Teddy has some catching up to do, given as it was to around 60 American girls in a recent year, but it nevertheless makes lively and unexpected choice.
 
Traditionally used as a short for of Theodora, it could also work as a nickname for Dorothea, Dorothy, Theodosia, Odette, or Bernadette. 
 
Teddy entered the Top 500 for girls in The Netherlands back in 2019, with notable feminine bearers including singer Teddy Scholten and model Teddy Quinlivan.

Teddy

Lovers of the languid South Carolina city might be attracted to this rich-sounding name.  Could make an interesting update on Charles -- and can certainly work for a girl too.  Actor Joey Lawrence used it for his daughter.

Charleston

Though it has some distinguished political and tennis world associations, most modern parents would go for the more contemporary sounding Holden.  Tilden Park is a beautiful hillside wilderness in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Tilden

Evette could be considered a spelling variation of the French Yvette, a feminization of Yves, which has a botanical meaning, or a pet form of Eve, meaning life. About 50 baby girls were named Evette in the US last year, with three times that many named Yvette.

Evette

This occupational surname could find new life with those wishing to honor someone in their heritage who was connected to the tough-as-nails breed that was the pre-modern coal miner. Coll and Collie are some sweet nickname options to tone down the formality of this name.

Collier

Minnie was wildly popular at the turn of the last century — it was the fifth or sixth most popular name throughout the 1880s — but is completely obscure in the US today. Blame Mickey's girlfriend. Regardless, it's possible that the up and coming trend toward old-fashioned nickname-names — think Maisie, Mamie, Millie — may give Minnie (all on its own, not as a short form of anything) a new moment in the sun. 
 
In fact, Minnie has already broken in to the England and Wales Top 1000 and as of 2023, it ranked at #444. Traditionally used as a short form of Wilhelmina, Minnie could also be used as a nickname for a variety of names, including Minerva, Martina, Marin, Mary, Hermione, Jasmine, and Araminta.
 
Minnie Driver (born Amelia) has given it some modern celeb cred and there have been characters named Minnie in Dickens's Little Dorrit and Eugene O'Neill's Mourning Becomes Electra. Cab Calloway's "Minnie the Moocher" is a jazz classic, while "Minnie the Minx" (full name Hermione Makepeace) appears in the long-running British comic, The Beano.

Minnie

A word name that has sailed onto birth certificates of both genders, especially since Liv Tyler used it for her son.  For boys, Saylor and Sailor are used about equally, but were together given to about 100 baby boys last year....and 1000 baby girls.

Sailor

Bartholomew is an apostle's name that's been out of favor for centuries but might appeal again to the parent in search of an old but rare choice. The challenge could be to avoid the Simpson-ish nickname. That character, by the way, has the full name of Bartholomew JoJo Simpson, and creator Matt Groening came up with Bart as an--uh oh--anagram for brat. Two old alternate nicknames are Barty and Tolly.
 Ben Jonson's 1614 comedy Bartholomew Fair is set in London on St. Bartholomew's Day. Charles Dickens used the name in Bleak House, and, more recently, Bartholomew Cubbins is the protagonist of the Dr. Seuss books The 500 Hats of Bartholomew Cubbins and Bartholomew and the Oobleck

Bartholomew

If you’re a fan of the annual animated Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, you’ll recognize the name of Rudolph’s beautiful doe sweetheart, pronounced cla-REES—uncomfortably close to the Silence of the Lambs pronunciation.  Clarice was the name of the wife of Lorenzo de' Medici, and Clarice Cliff was a famed British ceramics artist. Though a Top 300 name from 1906 to 1934, modern parents might prefer the more delicate Clarissa.



Clarice

Saxon is unusual word name that nevertheless feels right on trend, with that sharp X in the middle and that two-syllable-ending-in-n pattern. Reminiscent of Roman but not yet so popular, Saxon is one to watch out for. 
 The word 'Saxon' is used to describe a number of Germanic tribes from the early middle ages, who conquered and settled in England to become the Anglo-Saxons. It is the name of numerous places, in the US, Switzerland, and Germany and it's also a 70s rock band, an alias of the recurring Doctor Who character, The Master, and the title of a series of books by Bernard Cornwall.
 
Elon Musk has a son named Saxon; Saxon Gregory-Hunt is an Australian weightlifting champion; Saxon Sydney-Turner was a member of the Bloomsbury group; and Saxon Sheffield and Saxon Kent are recent social media influencers.
 
With its slightly musical sounds, its outdoorsy but upper crust vibe, its similarities to Roman, Soren, Paxton, and Sebastian, it is no wonder that Saxon was a fast rising choice in the UK in 2022.

Saxon

Candace, an ancient title of a dynasty of Ethiopian queens mentioned in the New Testament, is associated both with actress Candice Bergen and Sex and the City writer Candace Bushnell. 
 Both spellings were most popular in the 1980s, but the sticky sweetness of nickname Candy undercuts the popularity of the name today. About 50 baby girls were named Candace last year, and half that many given the Candice spelling. 
 William Faulkner used the name Candace, shortened to Caddy, as a main character in his 1929 novel The Sound and the Fury.

Candace

Fable, like Story, is a word name with real potential, combining enchanted tale-telling with a moral edge. And soundwise, it would fit right in with the likes of Abel and Mabel.

Fable

It may be the hippest of hispter neighborhoods, but as a baby name Brooklyn is now on the decline: down from a peak of 120 births for boys in 1999, and over 7000 births for girls in 2011. 

The most famous male bearer of this name is the eldest child of David and Victoria Beckham, now a successful model and photographer in his own right. The name is now overwhelmingly female, given to 3200 baby girls and only 57 boys last year.

Brooks would be an on-trend alternative for a baby boy.

Brooklyn

Lula has a firecracker personality, a singing and dancing extrovert. Interesting that Lulu was a Top 100 name when the Social Security list was born in 1880, but it's been sliding ever since and has not been in the Top 1000 for decades. Modern parents in love with Lulu might well reverse that trend.
 Lulu is the now grown daughter of musicians Edie Brickell and Paul Simon. In the Swinging London sixties, Lulu was a popular single-named Scottish singer--whose birth name was Marie.