Advertisement

100 vintage baby names experts believe will be popular again soon

Photo credit: Getty Images
Photo credit: Getty Images

From Cosmopolitan

Baby names trends roll in cycles, like many things. One of the most popular trends to have emerged in recent years is the recycling of old-fashioned names.

Recently, the Office for National Statistics released the most up-to-date data on baby names from all births that took place in the year 2018 – and it proves just how much the vintage baby naming trend has taken hold. Because two names have, for the first time in almost 100 years, re-entered the ‘most popular’ list.

The boys’ name Arthur was a firm fixture in the top 10 names for boys in the early 1900s, but after 1024 it dropped off. In 2018, however, 94 years since it was last listed – Arthur regained its spot in the top 10.

Ranking at number 7, with 3,644 babies having been called Arthur, the name was the only new entry in the top 10 names for boys in 2018. It replaced Jacob, which dropped down to 11 in the most recent data set.

Likewise, a vintage girls’ name also soared in popularity in 2018, for the first time in almost a century. Ada was last included in the top 100 girls’ names in 1924, but hasn’t ranked since. In 2018, the name made a comeback, being the 65th most used name for baby girls, with 811 babies given the name Ada.

It’s thought the newfound favour for the names Arthur and Ada may potentially have been inspired by the characters in Peaky Blinders, as the monikers Tommy and Esme have also risen in popularity since the BBC series debuted.

Photo credit: BBC
Photo credit: BBC

If you’re inspired a bit of the old-fashioned when it comes to naming your future child, baby naming website Nameberry drew up a list of names that all featured within the top 500 most popular back in 1918 - just over 100 years ago - but which haven't featured in any of the top 1,000 names in recent decades. These, Nameberry predicts, are likely to becoming increasingly selected by parents keen to call their children something unique.

You won't spot any Olivias or Olivers in this list...

Girl's names (in alphabetical order):

  1. Agatha

  2. Alpha

  3. Althea

  4. Augusta

  5. Avis

  6. Bernadette

  7. Beryl

  8. Bessie

  9. Birdie

  10. Carmella

  11. Cleo

  12. Delia

  13. Dixie

  14. Effie

  15. Etta

  16. Fay

  17. Geneva

  18. Gertie

  19. Ida

  20. Inez

  21. Ione

  22. Iva

  23. Lelia

  24. Loretta

  25. Lorna

  26. Lottie

  27. Louella

  28. Lucinda

  29. Lula

  30. Lulu

  31. Mamie

  32. Maude

  33. Merle

  34. Minerva

  35. Minnie

  36. Muriel

  37. Myrtle

  38. Odessa

  39. Olga

  40. Opal

  41. Pauline

  42. Philomena

  43. Polly

  44. Rosalind

  45. Rosella

  46. Roxie

  47. Sibyl

  48. Theda

  49. Winifred

  50. Yolanda

Boy's names (in alphabetical order):

  1. Abe

  2. Alphonse

  3. Ambrose

  4. Archie

  5. Barney

  6. Benedict

  7. Booker

  8. Burl

  9. Cecil

  10. Chester

  11. Claude

  12. Clement

  13. Cleveland

  14. Cornelius

  15. Dale

  16. Dewey

  17. Dorsey

  18. Doyle

  19. Dudley

  20. Edmund

  21. Ferdinand

  22. Floyd

  23. Forest

  24. Garland

  25. Grover

  26. Hiram

  27. Homer

  28. Isadore

  29. Kermit

  30. Lemuel

  31. Lowell

  32. Lucius

  33. Luther

  34. Ned

  35. Noble

  36. Norris

  37. Ollie

  38. Perry

  39. Pete

  40. Roscoe

  41. Rufus

  42. Sol

  43. Stuart

  44. Thaddeus

  45. Ulysses

  46. Vito

  47. Waldo

  48. Wallace

  49. Ward

  50. Wiley

I look forward to a future of retro-sounding Effies, Merles, and Wallaces.

Follow Cat on Instagram.

You Might Also Like