When parents with a traditional bent look for a fresh baby name, they look to the past. Not just one generation back, but four or five to the time of the baby's great-great ancestors. That generation of names has lain fallow long enough that the names sound new again. The names also take on a patina of grace and charm from the bygone era they evoke.
These antique revival names are especially popular for girls, as you can tell by a glance at the U.S. name popularity chart. Names like Emma, Olivia and Ava are all in the top-10. This graph of the number of Emmas born shows the classic revival trend:
Emma was an old-time favorite that had all but vanished, so now it sounds sweetly old-fashioned. Or take Olivia, another staple of "retro" and "old-fashioned" baby-name lists:
Wait a second. Where's the antique part? We all know that Olivia is a great-great-grandmother name...right? But if you look at the numbers, it turns out that a baby girl was actually more likely to be named Olivia in 1950 than in 1890. Huh.
Well, let's look at Ava instead. A recent article in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution about the antique name cycle claimed: "Old-fashioned names like Ava, Milo, Hazel, Hugo and Clara are coming back."
How's that for an old-fashioned name? And that graph is a major year out of date. More Avas were born in the United States last year than in 1880-1980 -- the whole century combined. How can a name "come back" when it was never here to begin with?
Perhaps they're even more antique than my graphs can show--say, top hits of the 1840s. But no, a check of census records says otherwise. The unavoidable conclusion is that Olivia and Ava aren't real antiques. They were timeless but uncommon names that are suddenly, dramatically contemporary. So why do we hear them as old-fashioned?
More on this next time....
Comments
A baby with the name Violet gets kudos everywhere she goes. People love this name for babies! Of course I loved it, but I didn't know I'd get the kind of reaction that I do when I take her places and people ask her name.
I absolutely love Scarlett, but my hubs doesn't (weirdo. ha ha). But maybe I can still talk him into it. He wouldn't go for Hope either. I like Hope, but it doesn't have the intensity of Violet and I worry about that (why? I dunno).
Ruby I go back and forth on. I can't decide if it's fabulous or scary. I want to love it, but do I? hmmm...
I also love Dahlia, but the legend of the Black Dahlia has always kept me considering it seriously.
I love the name Violet. It's funny, but a while ago I saw three adorable little girls, the oldest probably six and the youngest three, playing together in the park. They had dark hair cut in short, page-boy style bobs.
They were called Violet, Ruby and Iris. I found their names really charming and refreshing at the time (I still like them, but I can recognize them as part of a larger trend now).
I still have not met many babies names Iris, which is, I think, the most classic and strongest of the bunch.
So, what about Violet and Iris?
Oh, and Keren: great point about Shirley! It was a surname /boy's name and an interesting (and telling) choice for what is widely regarded as as Bronte's most "feminist" novel. I suppose it's another example of how qualities of strength, independence and spirit are associated with boyish names (but Bronte didn't always do this, and I'm glad, because I for one believe in the strength and dignity of JANE).
It's also the only novel she wrote that I haven't yet read. Hmm.
Tinka...my husband would never, ever go for that.
Though I could definitely see it as a nickname.
And Iris I'm not wild about. Sorry, I missed seeing that part before (I just saw Hope).
I'm also considering Zoe. I like the sound of Violet and Zoe together. Zoe means life and it's strong. And we call Violet V, so then we'd have V and Z.
Though I still like Scarlet/Scarlett best.
Oh, Maya, I forgot you mentioned Esme as a possiblity. It's my favorite of your choices, and it definitely gets my vote.
I've already raved about Esme; I think it's great on it's own. But I think that with Violet it's even better, and my reasoning is that many other choices run the risk of sounding kind of gimmicky. Violet can be a color, and paired with Scarlett or Ruby or Amber it comes off as thematic naming.
(I don't know why, but I'm not crazy about thematic naming - I know I'm contradicting myself here, as I volunteered Iris, which would give you flower-themed names, but I wasn't thinking about it at the time . . . not that there's anything *wrong* with thematic naming!)
Violet is very interesting in that way -the name definitely changes depending on the names surrounding it: it can sound delicate and dainty (as in "shy violet") alongside Hope, or tougher, more like a gal with moxie, alonside Ruby.
But Esme lets Violet maintain it's independence, and adds (I think) a little old-world elegance.
Delancy has been watching All I Wanna Do. I love your name, by the way. Recently read a book about a girl named Delancy.
Maya - I really like Zoe with Violet. And while I would stay away from the cheese factor of silly thematic names (Muffy and Buffy anyone?) I think slightly unusual names like Violet and Scarlett or Violet and Iris or Dahlia or some other not often used flower name would be cool - especially if you're into flowers. Or colors. Are you an artist or gardener by any chance? As many of the posters here have pointed out, often it is the parental personality that comes out in the naming process. In agreeance with Eleni I would say something like Rose with Violet might be too much.
I have never liked the name Ruby even though I know a very sweet old lady named Ruby. Just can't get past the image of an old-time prostitute for whatever reason (don't mean to offen anyone if they have/like this name - that's just what comes to my mind)
I don't really have anything to add except that I wanted to give a "shout out" to "smeghead" who posted first. A nice big Red Dwarf salute to you. :)
Another Olivia that might be influencing moms today is Mrs. Walton, mom of John-Boy and all the rest. The show was set in the 30s? 40s? and she was middle aged then which means she would have been born around the turn of the century. She's always the first Olivia I think of.
When I hear Olivia.. I think Aunt Olivia.. of of Road to Avonlea.. I think that is what gives it the old feel.. I like the name.. but I think of the word Liver...I know its not that close.. just like I like the name Oliver.. but Liver.. makes me have some bad feelings towards it.. What about Bridget to go with Violet or Lacey.. and I agree with the posts above.. another colour name sounds like a theme.. or a flower..
Ooh, I like Lacey with Violet. That's adorable.
what about Katerina.. and Violet.. or Portia kinda shakespeare although I like Lacey and Violet together too..
Lots to think about, but that's good because I love thinking about names.
Now I'm thinking Ruby is too much (I'm not a painter or a gardener). And Violet and Esme do sound good together - the one thing that keeps me from Esme is that there is a character Violet from the Lemony Snickett books - *and* an evil character named Esme Squalor. I hate it that the author had to do that - I love Esme and I know he's taking it from the JD Salinger story (which I love & why I like the name) but I hate to think of Esme in an evil villain sort of way. But I don't think it would deter me too much.
Anyway! Thanks to everyone for discussing this with me. I'm not huge on thematic naming either so, in the event that we need a girl name in the next year or two, it probably will not end up being a flower or color name.
But time will tell. I wouldn't rule out a flower name for a middle name (Esme Rose).
Meant to mention before the name Amelie. It's one of my favorite movies, similar to the classic Emily, yet different.
Eleni,
No. I don't think there's a formula. And the prototype is the particular popular name chosen to represent a category of antique names.
I think this is the case with Ava anyway. There were many "Vowel-Consonent-Letter 'A'" name at the end of the 1880's. Ada was particularly huge. But Ava (however it was chosen) came to represent that pattern to us. I don't think there WAS a Vowel/Consonent/A, 3-letter name popular in the 1970s-90s, was there?
I think this is also the case with Ellie, which the BabyNameWizard indicates isn't much of an antique. But, there were many "llie", "nnie", "ttie" and "ssie" names. Ellie is our representation of that pattern. There were certainly names of this pattern more recently (Jennie, Hallie), but thanks to Eleanor, this is the one that sounds antique right now.
I looked around in an attempt to PREDICT the upcoming hot names (vs. explaining the current ones) and haven't gone beyond noticing that Ellie wasn't big in 1906. Gem & Flower names might be a start.
I just had a look at the wizard, and it turns out that Hallie has a "classic revival Curve" and that Jennie was popular at the turn of the century and didn't really catch fire during the Jennifer-craze.
I am going to be unpopular and declare Ellie (my own grandmother's nickname!) a "forgery"!
Still at a loss for predictions though. (I mean who saw Evelyn coming?! That still amazes me!)
Jennie/Jenny did catch fire for Jennifers in England in the 60's. It was pretty much the norm to use the diminutive. I'm always surprised when US Jennifers aren't necessarily known as Jenny.
Esme sounds like a nickname, not a given name, to me. Probably because my first exposure to it was in the Terry Pratchett books, where it's a nickname for Esmerelda.
Eleni - Iris, Ruby and Violet 'go' nicely together - I just have trouble with the 'go together' concept. Are these children individuals or a matched set, like poodles or cushions? In a posh decorating magazine several years ago there was a family of children pictured, all in nice smocked dresses with identical short bobs, like little clones. It was seriously scary.
Ruby and Iris are pretty but I'm stuck in a time warp as I knew two elderly ladies by those names - once I meet a couple of little girls name Iris or Ruby it will become easier.
Tinka? Really unfamiliar - Tinker is still a popular dog's name. Again, meeting a child by that name might help.
Shirley was Anne of Green Gables' maiden name and one of her sons was named that too.
Melissa - one of the 70's Olivias in our neighberhood was always called Liver by her elder sister.
Valerie,
I am sure there are plenty of Jennys in the U.S. (I think probably Jenny is more common than Jennie, though I knew a Jeni). But apparently they (Jennie at least, I didn't look the others up) were nicknames rather than what appeared on the birth certificate.
Reading this post finally sums up the reason for all the names I can't stand. No offense to anyone who uses them, it's just interesting to me to finally have a category for the names I hate like Isabella, Olivia, Ava, and Hannah - they're all trying to sound like antiques but, to my ear, not succeeding.
Who am I to talk though - I love androgynous names for girls. My 6-month old daughter is named Parker. I get some odd looks and I'm sure she'll get them too eventually, as well as get mistaken for a boy when someone reads her name.
I do love Esme though. For Esme With Love and Squalor is the greatest story ever. Read it here http://www.freeweb.hu/tchl/salinger/squalor.html if you never have
I love Violet and Amelie. I think that it is so close to the classic name Emily that it gains strength from it, and that it being different also gives it strength.
R - what about Queen Isabella of Spain? 16thC?
You can hardly get more antique than Hannah, it's in the bible..
I know what you mean though R, I have the same reaction to Amelia. Too self-consciously cutesy Victoriana for me.
Thanks for posting the link to the story. What was Lemony Snicket thinking?
Always interesting comments here! I have to speak to the person who sees Samantha as a Victorian name because of its use in the American Girl book series for a 1904 character. I think you'd have to have searched far and wide to find a real life Samantha in 1904 America. My mother was born in 1906 and was a Gertrude. Her friends had names like Adelaide, Winifred, Helen, Mary, Margaret, and Elizabeth. And several more Gertrudes too!
Some names are actually coming back like: Lucy, Isabel(le), Helena, Adeline, Adelaide, Sophie.
Many names are twists on names that were popular 100 years ago:
Aline (1910/1920) / Alina(2000)
Lillian(1900) Lillie(1890) / Lily (2000), Lil(l)iana (2000)
Jennie (1890) / Jennifer (70's) / Jenna (2000)
Olive (1890) / Olivia (2000)
Helen (1910) Helene (1910) / Helena (coming back)
Lucille (1910) Lucy (1890) / Lucia(2000)
Sophie (1920) / Sophia (2000)
Isabel (1910) Isabelle (1910)/ Isabella (2000)
Adelaide (1890) Adele (1910) Adeline (1910) / Adeline & Adelaide coming back
Angeline (1910) Angelina (1910) / Angela (70's) / Angelina (2000)
Pauline (1920)/ Paulette (40's)/ Paula (50's) / Paulina (2000)
Elaine (40's) / Elaina (2000)
Lillie was actually popular at the turn of the century, not Lily.
Names ripe for comback:
Eloise or Eloisa
Irene/ Irena Irina
Louise/ Louisa (top 100 in Uk)
Dorothea(1910) Dorothy(1920) / Dorothea
Adela Adelina Adelia
I always thought the popularity of Ava was tied to the beautiful Kate Beckinsale who played the gorgeous, glamorous hard-to-get iconic girlfriend of Howard Hughes, Ava Gardner, in The Aviator. The Aviator grossed over 100M in box tickets sales in the US alone.
No, you guys are totally right, of course those names I listed (all 4 in the top 10 last year by the way) have obviously been used for 100s of years. I can't explain why they seem like such fake antiques to me. Maybe it is that Olivia, Ava, and Hannah sound like old and old-fashioned women to my ear. The names sound like they should have fallen out of style 100 years ago - and stayed that way. Oh, lump Sophia/Sophie, Ruby, Iris, and Rose in that group too. Ugh. But I wonder what it is that makes me hate those but love Violet, Scarlett, Ella, and Abigail.
But really, what do I know? 5 of the names I hate are in the top 11 last year. Clearly many think they are beautiful and have every right to. Laura, any insight as to why some love a few names in a group and can't stand others?
Oh, btw, never knew about Esme Squalor from Lemony Snicket. Love that Salinger inside joke (see the short story link above) even if she's an evil character!
How about one of these to go with Violet:
Amabelle
Audrey
Julia
i hope this is not off topic but someone brought up the name Lillie/Lily. i sort of like this name but it has connotations of whiteness for me. like it sort of makes me think if a white person uses it, it's veering toward white pride, and if a non-white person uses it, it's like... some kind of weird "i wish i was white" thing. okay maybe i'm crazy. and the asian teenage lilly i knew was sweet and smart and the baby lily i know has sweet, smart parents. (hrm, i'm not crazy about my mom's 60-something chinese-american friend lily though)
To go with Violet;
How about Alexa, Bronwyn, Claire or Miranda.
Also mentioned in an earlier post, Anastasia, Mariah, Evangeline and Elise. Also, something about "Tinka" made me think of Tatiana or Veronika for names.
Back to this idea of fake antique names, I'm wondering if we checked Olive instead of Olivia and Eve/Eva instead of Ava if we would get the results we first anticipated. Just as Emma turns up rather than Emily. Perhaps some of our antique names have a slight twist from the original. Just a guess.
I think the reason why Hannah, Ava, etc are becoming more popular has to do with the -a endings Laura talked about in a recent post. Ava in particular I am hearing EVERYWHERE in girls aorund my DD (1 year old)' age. I know 4 Avas but only 1 Emily!
I also wanted to touch on the name Ellen vs Ella. I really like Ellen, I think it's a nicer version than Helen, and correct me if I'm wrong don't they have the same origin? But I prefer Ellen over Elaine hands down. Elaine is the character from Seinfeld for me.
Also to respond to Maya - for a girl's name to go with Violet I really like Esme or Zoe. Zoe feels more modern, Esme feels more unusual, but I love them both!
Props to Karen K. for linking older names to their similar current names!
What if we look at Laura's message from a different angle. Below are the "true" antiques from the late 1800's. Why haven't some of these come back?
1880-1900 Top Tens:
Mary
Anna
Emma
Elizabeth
Minnie
Margaret
Ida
Alice
Bertha
Sarah
Florence
Ethel
Clara
Helen
Ruth
Ethel
Marie
Lillian
In England and Wales the top 10 in 1904 was:
Mary
Florence
Doris
Edith
Dorothy
and for boys:
William
John
George
Thomas
Arthur
And in Scotland (1900)
Mary
Margaret
Elizabeth
Annie
Jane
Agnes
Isabella
Catherine
Janet
Helen
John
James
William
Robert
Alexander
George
Thomas
David
Andrew
Charles
I like all those classic names for boys, and don't think they have ever fallen out of popularity (not in the UK anyway). Why is it that people are happier to use classics for boys than they are for girls? Most of the girls' names that Rachel lists do sound good to me. The ones that sound too old to my ear are: Margaret, Agnes and Janet. I was surprised not to see Victoria in the England and Wales list, considering good old Queen Vic died in 1901. Rachel, do you have the stats for Ireland as well?
More "new" names that are tweaks on old fashioned names:
Carolina, Mariela, Annabella, Annalise, Anneliese
These names are twists on old names, sound fresh without sounding too old. And right now the "a" ending on a super long frilly name is so popular.
This isn't a new trend, parents have been tweaking old standards for a very long time. Another example:
1880's Carrie, Caroline / 30's Carlene/40's Carol, Carolyn /50's Carleen / 70's Carla / 90's Carly / 2000's Carlee, Caroline, Carolina
- ie ending at the turn of the century.
- lene, leen ending in the 30's - 50's
- Carol (plain & simple), - lyn in 40's
- Carla 70's (add an a, not super frilly)
- y ending 70's
- 2000 ee, & Carolina (super, frilly, long, with an a ending or elle)
Another pattern:
1910's Marie /20's Mariette /30's Marilyn /40's Marilee / 50's Mari / 60's Maria / 90's Mariah , Maris(s)a / 2000 Mariela
Ann-, Ros- follow similar trends.
Carolina- trend may be due to hispanic population increase
Eleni, your mention of Jane Austen reminded me of her wonderful use of naming "fashion" in *Persuasion* to comment on her own rapidly-changing times.
The younger generation of Musgroves consider themselves much more elegant and refined than their elders, who represent a timeless Old England that is passing from the scene: simple, hearty, hospitable people, but much too coarse for modern sensibilities.
The daughters' names are Henrietta and Louisa - frilly, new-fangled import names ending in "a". They'd be right at home on the babies I meet at the park every day!
A very likeable older character complains that he can never remember these fancy new names, and wishes all young ladies were "Sophy" (definitely NOT "Sophia") like his own wife.
The more things change, the more they stay the same!
Regarding Lillie as a "white" name. Interesting, that you feel that way because up until recently, the only Lillies, Lillians I know were Asian! I know one Lillian in her 60's, two in their 40's, and two Lillies in their 20's -- all Asian.
I also know 4 Lillies/Lillians under the age of 5 -- all white.
So maybe the white parents of these tots want to be Asian. ;)
Robyn T:
I don't think my name, Lillie, is white at all.
I encounter it rarely -- I've only met one other Lillie face to face in my 24 years -- and when I come across it in print or on the Web, it is often the name of a black woman from the South and Texas who was born at the turn of the century. (I sometimes see it in this category in combination with single-syllable middle names: Lillie Mae, Lillie Belle.)
The most famous Lillie was indeed white: Lillie Langtry. But I suspect your association of whiteness with Lillie is because of the expression "lily-white."
Laura, do you have any ethnic data to correspond with your name records?
Have just found this very interesting link for popular Elizabethan names.
http://www.st-mike.org/names.html
Just look at those kre8tive spellings - Mychaell anyone? Geoffraie? Wynnefreede?
I agree with Dee that "Olivia" feels old in part because of the Waltons. The moms on TV historical shows in the 1970s became our proxy great-grandmothers. Think Little House on the Prairie's Caroline, for the same generation of parents; oh, and the schoolteacher on Little House was named Eva, and another continuing adult character was Grace. There aren't too many historical dramas on now, that kids would be watching anyway...hm!
Kathie - Like I said, I associate the name Samantha with that time because of the books. From the data on the Name Voyager it looks like Samantha was falling out of style in the 1890's (when Samantha's parents would have been teens, I assume) and disappeared from the charts for another 50 years or so. Of course, just because the name was off the charts doesn't mean no one used it. :-)
I always think of Little House on the Prairie when I hear Caroline - that was actually my inspiration for wanting to use it (DH hasn't been convinced) as I have many fond memories of childhood watching Little House with my mother. Two of my first "nice" dolls were Laura and Mary. If you look at the Voyagerfor Caroline/Carolina is follows the same curve (even though the numbers change by the 1000s). I think that's interesting.
Keren - That is so interesting about the kre8tive spellings in Elizabethen times - guess it's all one big cycle!
Keren, thanks for the link to Elizabethan names- very interesting (although the guy was obviously an amateur as he conflates Margaret and Margerie)!! I followed this other link on the site http://www.s-gabriel.org/names/christian/fairnames/givennames.html#men
and found that some of the commonest men's names back then we would consider odd now; eg Fulke, Reynold and Oswyn... Cuthbert, anyone? The women's names are interesting too. I find these lists very appealing because I love the idea of using names that have been around a long time, but may not have been rediscovered by many.
P.S. Just so you know, I personally won't be using Fulke, Reynold, Oswyn or Cuthbert...
P.P.S. Wow, imagine a Name Voyager that went back to medieval times....!
Actually I do know a Reynold..
I went to the site that Valerie mentioned above and found that in ENgland in the late 1500's there were a couple of names that I would have considered rather modern: Gillian (in top 50) and Denise ("slightly less common"). The strangest names they mentioned to be are Frideswide (a forunner of Frieda perhaps?) and Wilmot (Wilma maybe?)
Gillian is extremely traditional in England, and is always pronounced with a J sound. I'm only mentioning this because occasionally in the US I've heard it with a hard G.
Also Geoffrey in England is the trad spelling of Jeffrey and is pronounced the same. However I recently went to a restaurant in Malibu called Geoffrey's pronounced Joffrey's. I'm intrigued by these differences.
Valerie - I've heard the hard G in Gillian, but prefer to hear it Jillian (I've also seen several who spell it with a J). I think that Geoffrey probably should be pronounced just like Jeffreyb ,ut people think it may sound more "high-class" or "snooty" to pronounce it Joffrey. Maybe they wanted to sound more upscale?
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