What goes around comes around

It seems like every young mother I run into these days is toting along a new baby girl with an old name. I can't believe how many Graces, Charlottes, Victorias, Ellas, and Sophias I've been meeting.

The top 5 female baby names of last year:

Isabella
Emma
Olivia
Sophia
Ava

Is this odd to anyone else? Where do all these antique names come from? Are they family names? Are we aiming for some sort of connection to the past, to times we consider (however naively) to be simpler?

Also, if what's old is new again, what about naming your daughter some of the forgotten names of yore:

Bessie, Hattie, Pearl, Cora, Blanche, and perhaps my favorite unfortunate old-time name, Dorcas.

What names do you predict will rule the 2010s?

2 comments:

Jean de Buren | July 12, 2010 at 6:15 PM

I'm going all Middle-Ages for my prediction. Pretty soon every preschool will be packed with children bearing names such as Ailwin, Eustace, Godwin, Jordan, and Osbert.

riomuse | July 15, 2010 at 11:45 AM

i've noticed that names tend to follow fashion trends, and since vintage, delicate ruffles, and silk flowers are in (for girls) you can bet we'll be seeing a lot of violets, graces, emmas, and addies - delicate vintage names. as for boy names, they'll continue to get more grungy and masculine. maybe gun names will reign for boys - cooper, barrett, colt, remignton...

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