I have been thinking about how I am now out of touch with Today’s Babies. For a long time there, I knew lots and lots of families having babies, and my kids were all young and in school with a lot of young kids, and I knew their friends’ siblings’ names too, and I felt pretty In Touch. But now, I keep getting surprised by trends happening outside my view. This is surely what happens to every grandparent-aged person, which explains why so many of them(/us!) say things like “But that’s an Old Person Name!!” and “Wow, THAT’S an unusual name!!”—often about names currently in the Top Ten.
Recently someone told me they’d chosen a very old-fashioned name for their baby, and I was surprised to find out the name was Millie. I would not have put the name Millie in the category “very old-fashioned”—but I am a full generation older than these parents. It made me wonder what other names current parents might think of as Old Person Names—and which of the names I’D consider Old Person Names they’re getting ready to surprise me by bringing back!
I was wondering if some of us who ARE still in touch with Babies and Baby-Havers would share with us what they’re hearing. Not just the statistics we can see by looking at the Social Security Administration’s baby name data—but actual on-the-ground, in-the-daycares/preschools/friend-groups data.
This could be answered in a variety of ways: you could say some TRENDS you’re seeing, or you could say some particular names you feel like you’re hearing everywhere now; you can say just one name that’s caught your attention or you can make a long long list.
One of the littles at my kids’ daycare is named Barnaby, which I initially found surprising (and then charming)!
Amazing!! I wonder if they got it from The Willoughbys movie?? The ultimate naming fail where the parents just don’t care enough to give their twins separate names aka Barnaby A and Barnaby B….
Yes we know 3 under 2
Oh, shew. I was afraid this was going to be a retirement announcement, and I want to be around while all of us are rejoicing or lamenting the names of our grandbabies!
I’ve seen a return of 80s-style boy names on my younger cousins and in-laws who are now in the baby phase: Zachary, Brandon, Justin. It’s kind of weird. I also met a new little one with the name Crow, which I thought was so close to Crew that I was surprised I hadn’t heard it before.
Alas, I am not really in touch with Babies and Baby Havers, but I shall hit post instead of deleting this comment :)
Dorothy is a name I’ve heard surprisingly frequently- I know three 3-4 year old girls named Dorothy. Lucia is another name – I know three 0-2 year old Lucia’s and another infant with it as a middle name.
I am in it the thick of it. Everyone I know is having babies! But so much depends on geographical location/urban vs. rural/cultural hotspots anyway. You said you wanted the looong list, right? Here’s many of the babies I know born in the last two years:
Frances (born this week!)
Margot
Joseph x2
Hudson
Genevieve
Luke
August
Ruby
Nicholas (this one surprised me)
Millie (from a young hip couple…see, not old-fashioned!)
Violet
Helen
Desmond
Peter (x2, one called Pete)
Leland (called Leo)
Charlotte
Kai
Sophia
Eden
Jonah
Jude
Reina
Kit (boy)
Celeste
Isabel
Matthias
Wyatt
Rose
Alice
Sebastian
Bodie (boy)
Felicity
Juniper
James x2
Ingrid
Mila
Josephine (called Jo)
Theodore
Sierra (surprised by this one also)
Marianne
Lily
Margaret
Evan
Claire
Cooper
Ivy
William
Gemma
Clementine
Wow, when I type it out I really do know a lot of babies!
I guess I should add that there were a few unusual names that I didn’t include for privacy reasons, (but I thought I’d mention it because otherwise the list appears a little strangely to be all top 1000 names.) I met as well a newborn pair of twins from Mali that had the most gorgeous names, full of l and r and sh sounds. I am embarrassed to say that I cannot for the life of me recall them, which is my loss because they were stunning!
I work in the church nursery at a big church, and also still have youngish kids and siblings with babies and toddlers. So I feel like I somewhat know the local flavor of baby names.
I feel like I see different categories.
One is the kind of trendy, “made up” types of names:
Braxton, Paxton. Knox is VERY trendy here.
Then there are classics, some trendier than others, but like William, Charlotte, Rose, Elliot, etc.
And then lastly would be the kind of clunky old-fashioned names like Beatrice, Arthur, Harvey, Harriet, Mabel, etc.
Lyla. Two in a month! This is kind of shocking to me. That’s OLD to me.
I have a span from grandchildren all the way down to our own one-year-old. So I am in-touch but outside the trends.
Every once and a while, someone will make Jennifer an honor name in the middle, and I feel like Jennifer needs a LONG break.
Funny I know a dozen Lylas (with a few spellings) under 12 yrs old.
The under 2s in my social circle include Robbie, Brooks, Lucy, Sam, Addison, Blair, Briar (boy), Austin (girl), Elwin, Isabella, Natalia, Oliver, Eliza, Monroe, Daphne.
I heard a mom call her toddler son Maverick today at the grocery store.
I know probably half a dozen little girls named Hazel.
My mom, who is the principal of an elementary school, says she’s been noticing a lot of Maeves in the younger grades (although I know that’s not quite “today’s babies”.)
Other than Hazel, I feel like I don’t actually run into very many repeated names so it’s hard to identify any trends.
My co-worker just named her baby Bernadette (and seems to be calling her the full name AFAIK). B’s older sister, still a toddler, is Marilyn.
Another baby I know is Cordelia. She has very young parents which seemed relevant to me when I heard her middle: Aphr0dite.
Oh my goodness! I literally named Bernadette in my comment below without seeing your comment. 😂 It’s happening!
There’s a Bernadette “Bernie” at my son’s daycare!
I haven’t really noticed a shift in the past ten years or so! It’s still the same kinds of names where I live.
I am expecting a shift when these Gen Z-ers start having more babies… I think we’ll see names from the 50s and 60s like Dolores, Linda, Norma, Muriel, Bernadette start to make a comeback. They’ll be the new hip “old lady” names. And I can’t wait for the eventual resurgence of Amanda and Ashley and Jessica and Andrea and Christine and Melissa. Then I’ll know I’ve lived a full life. 😂
I met a baby Nancy a few months ago! That’s my own mother’s name and, to me, very tied to her generation.
But then I thought that it’s an old name, with plenty of history behind it, and that grandparent names often seem fresher than whatever you generation thinks of as parent names. I wouldn’t be surprised if Linda, Deborah, Judith, and a few others come back in style soon enough.
I know a baby Judith! It struck me as very fresh! Unclear whether the nickname Judy would catch on but I guess you never know!
I hope my name comes back. I’d love to meet a few baby Susans! To my ears, the name has worn very well, with sounds I still find fun to say out loud.
I have no idea if this is an actual trend or just a weird coincidence, but my 4-year-old daughter’s daycare is full of sibling pairs who have names that are SO similar that I would have thought they would rule each other out:
Kinlee and Caylee (sisters)
Emma and Ella (sisters)
Brielle and Brinlee (sisters)
Annabelle and Abigail (twins)
And another set of twins whose names are super similar, but so distinctive I don’t want to put them here. I don’t know how their parents keep them straight!
Noa, Ella, Sienna for girls
Jack, Asher for boys
I was thinking of some of the ones already named by previous commenters, like Frances.
I would also add Cecilia.
One other trend I am noticing a lot of is the name James as a middle name for girls. I have seen it so many times (including by Blake Lively who may well be the trendsetter here).
I actually think James as a middle for girls is on its way out…that was more like a first half of the 2010s thing. I haven’t seen a new baby girl with that middle for a minute, although it was very popular at one point.
People age 65 and up thought Levi was a really strange name in 2022. I had to tell them “like the jeans” multiple times. But the name is in the top 20.
I just got a new grandbaby, as did 3 of my friends and relations on 3 continents.
I have been surprised by two girl names; Elsie x2, and Nellie! My newest granddaughter is Fae. Which sound old, but with a different spelling.
The one boy is Jack, so nothing surprising there.
My great grandma and her sister were named Nellie and Elsie! They were born in the 1910s-1920s.
Right now I know multiple baby girls named Hazel and baby boys named Leo. Previously, I was encountering lots of young Lilys, Noras, and Margaret and Finns, Landons, and Olivers.
Small children I’ve run into recently, besides the above-mentioned Nancy, seem to have a lot of smushes ending with -lyn (Adalynn, Braelyn) and what I think of as new vintage names (Sofia, Georgia, Norah). Boys often have surname names (Greyson, Connor) or names with that -o ending (Theo, Leo, Mario).
A lot of the names you guys suggest on the regular sound old lady to me since they’re from my eldest grandparents and my youngest great-grandparents’ generation. in fact, the women were Edith and Frances, lol.
My daughter is Edith and I would consider Frances for a second daughter!! Hahaha
I love the name Edith and was worried it would be too old-lady when my daughter was born, but I don’t have any regrets using it. We haven’t met any young Edith’s personally but I have heard about friends’ nieces named Edith or other friends of friends connections.
I am personally related to 2 girls named Everly who are 4-5 years old. I know 2 Millies and 2 Judes in the under 5 age range as well. I know at least 3 young Augusts.
Here’s the babies under 3 who I know:
August
Mia
William
David x2
Isla
Isabella
Olivia
Casper (boy)
Layla
Ava
Emmilene (rhymes with bean)
Charlie
Noa (girl)
Milo
Josie
Delaney
Winona
James (girl)
Perry (girl)
Best friend wanted Vera for her baby recently. I was shocked. That seemed very old to me.
In general, a lot of Layla/Lila/Isla.
Boys – I must not know a lot of toddler boys because I can’t come up with trends!
10+ years ago, three different couples we knew all named their baby girls Vera. It amazed me then and it still amazes me now! It’s such an older woman name to me and was jarring for me at the time on a baby. But clearly, others felt differently!
Wow – 3 baby Veras!!
That’s wild.
Walter is a baby name that I’m starting to hear more.
Hannah
Freya
Beckett
Addison
Bennett
Adrian
Eva
Charlotte
Hazel
Emma
Oliver
Maggie
I expected to see more old fashioned grandma names. But, once I actually listed the babies I know (2 or under), a new pattern emerged! Many parents are choosing old fashioned but single syllable and snappy – Jude, Gus, Max, Mae, June. For demographic purposes, the babies I know tend to have college educated parents in their mid 30s, located in the cities and suburbs of the US east coast.
Augustus (Gus)
Beckett
Bennett
Bryson
Caden
Calvin
Camilla (Millie)
Cassidy
Charles (Charlie) x2
Chloe
Emily
Finneas (Finn)
Forrest
Genevieve
Grace
Jackson
Josephine (Joey)
Jude
June
Kaden
Kayleigh
Mae
Maeve x 2
Marguerite
Marigold
Max
Miles
Millicent (Millie)
Nathan
Nell
Riley (girl)
Sophie
Theodore (Theo)
Travis
Wilson
Zara
I have two three year olds so I feel pretty in touch with the baby/toddler set here in the Northeast US! I see a lot of longer feminine names: several Elianas, two Ophelias, Estelle, Ariella, Aurora, and Aurelia. For old-fashioned names, we had Helen and Billie (girl) in our toddler library class and recently met a young Agatha at a birthday party. There’s a young Goldie at their preschool and I love her name. Nature names abound, we know Willow, Winter, Luna, and Rose. The name we encounter the most for girls is Lily, we know three (only one is Lily officially, the others are Lilith and Liliana). For boys, Liam, Ezra, Levi, Theodore, and Henry are big. I feel like I meet a lot of young boys with surname names too.
Replying to myself: Totally forgot that we know two Fionas (age 2 and age 3)
I’ve heard lots of surprising boys names recently: Leon (x2!!), Wade, Leopold, Eugene, and Jeffrey.
The baby girls in my circle all seem to have pretty standard top 100 names other than my own daughter (Bernadette who goes by Birdie). I see Bernadette has been mentioned a few times in the comments and we recently met another one at the zoo, so maybe its poised for a comeback?
In my circles the trending baby names seem to fall into a few categories:
1. The Fuddy-Duddy to Hip Pipeline (I heard a mom calling for “Jasper” the other day!)
2. Unusual Nature Names: along the lines of “Canyon”
3. Names that are totally made up. Highly unique and difficult to understand or spell.
I know a new baby named Joanne (after her great grandma). I was charmed. I guess it makes sense that we’ll start hearing more “Baby Boomer” names, at least for girls – Barbara, Linda, Sharon, Joanne, Sally, Susan… I think these names will sound new and appealing to young parents, just like Olivia, Emma, Ava, Sophia, and Isabella did when I was having babies.
The names I hear on repeat in my area:
JACK!/Jackson/Jaxon, Henry, Theodore/Theo/Teddy, Oliver, Alexander/Alessandro/Alejandro, Gabriel, Sebastian, Luca, Lorenzo/Enzo, Gael, Max/Maxwell/Maximus/Maximilian, Maximiliano, Leonardo/Leonidas/Leo
Amelia, Sophia, Olivia, Leilani, Eleanor/Ella/Ellie, Isla, Addison, Malka, Charlotte. Lots of flowy A names: Ayesha, Aisha, Amaya, Ayra
Surprising names I’ve encountered on kids under 5: Seymour and Mitzi (twins!), Barbara, Lois, Agnes, Sally, Helen, Karen, Melvin, Elaine, Hal, Edna, Richard, Lawrence “Larry”
I know a Frances and a Nancy, both under 2. Lots of Hazel and Nora, and recently met my first baby Esther which definitely feels more “grandmother” to me. I too hope Susan and Susanna make a comeback, I wanted to use it but my husband couldn’t deal with the thought of her being called “Susie”.
My sister is a young Susan (Gen-X, not Boomer) and has never been called Susie. I would have loved to use Susannah to honor her but never got the chance.
I know a little Susan! She goes by Nellie though
I work in child welfare so the parents tend to be young, and they use a lot of Disney names. They also love the letters X , the K sound, ending the name with an eee sound and apostrophes are still in fashion. Even when they pick a traditional name like Michael, they will zhuzh it up or individualize it somehow.
Nora & Hazel for girls; I’ve also met multiple Eloises (!).
Elliot(t) and Theodore for boys. I’m in a Midwestern city.
Two best friends from high school have an Elliot, Theodore, & an Eloise. The others are Lydia & Claire.
Midwest:
Henry
Leo
Theo
Liam
Evelyn
Hazel
Harriet
Names with El: Ellie, Ella, Elle, Eloise, Elodie, Ellery (all girls)
Ellis (boy)
Lots of J names – James, Joshua, Jack, Josie, Julia. Overall, still pretty much classic revival – in addition to the J names, Charlie, Daniel, Nathaniel, Teddy, Gabe, Samuel, Peter, Madeline. (My social circles are shockingly tilted toward little boys!) Lots of classic, formal names w/the kid going by the short, friendly nickname – Charlie, Teddy, Gabe, Sam, Pete, Jack, Maddie, etc.
I have a baby and am around a lot of kids.
Lots of Layla/Leila, always with the ay sound, never Lilah. Ellie variants are still big. Eleanor, Eliana, Eloise, Ella.
Mias EVERYWHERE.
For boys, a lot of British-tinged names – Rhys, Arthur, Oliver.
In the last year I have seen two Martha’s (both from large Catholic families). That is my Mother’s name (who is one of 6 siblings and Catholic) and I think of it as being dusty and plain….maybe Amish, lol.
From a recent class of 2-3y:
Most sibs are under the age of 8
Ashton
Emery (b)
Miles sib: August
Skye (g)
Linus sibs: Hugo, Jude
Elizabeth (Ellie) sib: Bennett
Madeline (Maddie) sibs: Hannah, Emily
Rosslyn (Roz) sib: Avanelle (Nellie)
Oliver sib: Cecelia (CeCe)
Clarke (g)
Weston
Ewan
Cliff sibs: Millie, Brooks
Luke sibs: David, James
I also feel out of touch with baby names – my kids are still young-ish, but my nieces and nephews aren’t quite old enough for their own kids. My husband’s are, but only one recently had a baby, named Dominik.
Recent babies I know tangentially include a Henry, Estelle, Jet (a nickname, I don’t know his legal name) and Piper.
Also, my daughter’s teacher just retired to spend more time with her grandbaby who is named … Bruce!
This is my dad’s name, I’m still having a really hard time fitting it to a baby, but I understood it to be an honor name, in this case.
I also just met a baby Bruce!
I know two Bruces that around 6 years old!
I have a three kids under 6, live in the South, and send my kids to camp on the East Coast in the summer:
Traditional boy names, made nicknames, on girls: Scottie, Stevie, Bobbie, Charli/e (not short for Charlotte)
Boy names with go-to one syllable nickname that stay the FULL name: Robert, Christopher, Joseph, Nathan
Family surnames as given name: Don’t want to give too many examples because some are identifying, but range from more popular and what-I-would-normally-associate-as-a-name (Reese is good example) to less popular and not traditionally given name-like
Also, some that don’t seem to fall into any category that I’ve seen on multiple babies very recently: Graham for boys, Cosmo for boys, Rory for boys and girls
This reminds me of the first time I watched Rogers and Hammerstein’s State Fair in the late 90’s. The middle-aged mother is named Melissa, and the young adult daughter is named Margy. I remember thinking that was so backwards from the style at the time I watched it! Now of course, we have a lot of Gen X moms named Melissa who may very well be naming their daughters “old lady names” like Margy.
It is so so common now, but I have a hard time wrapping my mind around a family group with the parents named things like Austin and Kelsi and the kids are Florence and Arthur. Obviously no problem with that whatsoever, but my initial reaction is that it feels a little odd!
I’m in the Texas, here are some of the names of babies I’ve met this year.
Linda Lane, Virgil, Kymree, Josie, Logan (G), Lochlan (G), Jennifer, Kimberly (named for her grandma, is going to be called Kimmy), Whitten, Hudson, Eleanor, Nolan, Griffin, Collins, Teddy (short for Theodore), Jason (named for his grandfathers, called JJ), Elizabeth, Margaret, Hermine, Avery, Callum, Ellarose (sibling to Evaluna),
A coworker who just had a baby named her daughter Irene and I SWOONED! It feels old-fashioned to me, but it might be coming back in style.
My mom’s name (who is 77). Yay!
My youngest is 13, but my oldest is 19 and so is starting to know people who are having babies. Midwest US.
The newest baby I know of is Miles. Which made me think that I also know of a toddler Miles. Both have young Moms, like maybe 20.
My daughter’s former teacher named her baby Arthur. I was especially interested in this one, because as a teacher she will have seen all the names. I also know a 5 year old Arthur.
Another young couple just had a baby Eliza. And I know of an Elias.
Oh yes, I know a 5yo Eliza and a 2yo eliza
We just got the class list for my daughter’s upcoming preschool and it was a delightful mix of all kinds of things. A sampling of our midwest names for soon-to-be 4 year olds:
Elizabeth
Michael
Eliza
Joel (a surprise, honestly!)
Harper
Matilda (my daughter, often goes by Tilly)
Diana (I gasped when I saw this!!!)
Ava (not surprising, we know a dozen Ava baby/toddlers)
Maxwell
Lillian
Calen
Leo B.
Mckenzie (I cannot believe people are still using this?? it feels like people MY age named their daughters this because they loved it when we were kids)
Carter
Eleanor
Makenzie (another one!!!!)
Walter (heart eyes)
Isabella
Lucy
Avett (!!!!!!!!!!)
James
Thomas
Jack
My youngest is still in daycare. She is Ramona and has classmates named Lilly, Gabby, Stokelynn (cringe), David, Theo, Amir, and Teddy.
Oh I love Matilda nn Tilly…. and Diana is SO wonderful!
My kid is 4.5 and in her preschool class there was a Layla, a Lyla, and Leela, and a Layna. Notable is that all of their families have difference ethnic backgrounds!
Very curious about the background of Leela! That was my 85 year old Indian Grandmother’s name and I LOVE that name/
My cousins are all younger than I am and have young kids:
Isaiah
Joy
Solomon
Asher
Eloise
Micah
Jude
Frances
Wesley
Steven
Megan
Declan
Keegan
Ewan
I also know several people with multiracial families who have named their kids things that will work in more than one language:
Mattias
Lola
Carina
Coral
Dalia
Amaro
I am also right “on the ground” having babies (3 yrs, 2 yrs, and 5 months)…. some “Old Fashioned” names I have heard in person are:
-Clement
-Ivar
-Giorgio (nn Gio)
-Jeann D’Arc (pronounced John Dark)
-Margaruite
-Emmerich
-Otis
-Philomena
I live in the midwest and work in education, but with slightly older kids so I am about a decade off the trends. I am a social worker and work particularly with kids and families from low income and minority backgrounds. Among that cohort -iah names are (were?) huge. Mostly for girls but boys too. Aniah, Keniah, Jeremiah, etc. And honestly it a beautiful sound so I get it! Lots of Elijah’s too. Occasionally a throwback name like Lawrence, and sometimes word names like Messiah and King.
Among my high school peers (a little more working class, mostly white) there are lots of girls named Hadley, Charlie, Mia, Brynlee, things like that.
In my neighborhood (white, liberal city, probably more upper middle) old fashioned names for girls absolutely reign. Nellie, Louise, Greta, Amalie, even a Marnie (this one really surprised me).
Boys pretty across the board around here seem to have fairly popular or at least very familiar names, sort of no matter class or background (especially white families). Henry, Liam, Noah, Roman, Lincoln, Everett, Beckett, Joshua, Theo, etc.
I was surprised to see a baby Lance recently, and an Olive. There is also an Archer called Archie and a Gloria in my baby’s class at daycare. I am sort of on the earlier side of having babies compared to our friends, and when they talk about baby names they like it is very common for things like Edith, Kathleen, Harvey, and Jude to be mentioned.
I don’t know much about babies, but the teens and tweens in my hipster neighborhood have excellent names! I know multiple girls named Cora, Etta, Matilda, Marlo(we), Millie, Ophelia, and Vesta. I recently met a six year old Wilhelmina “Willa” and I know twins who are Theodora “Teddy” and Louise “Lou”.