Fashionable names of people mostly in the 1970s and 1980s

[George 1978]

Not sure which part of the forum to put this, but I shall try this part...

It's amazing how names go into fashion and go out of fashion just as quickly.

My own name of George was probably one of the least fashionable when I was born back in 1978, and I suppose the only George who was doing the rounds back then were Brian Murphy's character in George and Mildred.

I bet that pirate radio had made the name Caroline popular in the mid 1960s, and Kylie and Jason's names became popular in the late 1980s for all the obvious reasons. Louise Brown's IVF birth in 1978 probably made that name popular as well.

I have noticed that women's names go out of fashion a lot more quickly than men's names do. The number of monarchs and Archbishops of Canterbury with familiar names from centuries ago such as Henry, William and Simon just don't feel alien to a present-day person - and Johns, Davids, and Peters have remained neutral in the same respect, although they have gone down the list of popular names in recent years.

Who would name their baby girl Edna, Gertrude or Doris these days, for example? I doubt that anyone would have since the Second World War.

I was watching on YouTube a children's game show from around 1983 and two of the teenage boy's names were Keith and Alan, which are not surprisingly, names that I would associate with being-middle aged men these days.

And I remember this young boy asking his mother or gran whether he will have the same name when he is elderly, or whether he will be called Percy or some name like that.

I am basically talking about names that were popular and fashionable in the 1970s and 1980s, and are probably not so popular nowadays. Perhaps there was a flurry of them born at the same time, and one shared a school year or even a class with a multiple number of people with the same name. Why indeed do names go out of fashion?

But then, what's in a name as they say?

[victorbrunswick]

Re: Fashionable names of people mostly in the 1970s and 1980s

My Dad's name was George (he was born in 1928 though) and I knew a couple of Georges in school. By far the most popular boys name when I was growing up was probably Jeff. I knew at least half a dozen Jeffs. Other popular boys names were Alan, Brian, David, Greg, Michael, Sean, and Scott. As for the girls the most popular names were Allison, Cheryl, Deborah, Denise, Michelle and Stephanie. With Cheryl and Deborah being the most common.

[Twocky61]

Re: Fashionable names of people mostly in the 1970s and 1980s

My aunt's name is Jocelyn; rarely used today

[George 1978]

Re: Fashionable names of people mostly in the 1970s and 1980s

My Dad's name was George (he was born in 1928 though) and I knew a couple of Georges in school. By far the most popular boys name when I was growing up was probably Jeff. I knew at least half a dozen Jeffs. Other popular boys names were Alan, Brian, David, Greg, Michael, Sean, and Scott. As for the girls the most popular names were Allison, Cheryl, Deborah, Denise, Michelle and Stephanie. With Cheryl and Deborah being the most common.

That's interesting - my father was also called George as I was, and he was born in 1920, and I looked at this graph that showed that boys called George was at such a high point back then. You may be interested at looking at this:



Look at how uncommon my name was when I was born! I am also certain that I got laughs in the playground because of it in the 1980s.

[George 1978]

Re: Fashionable names of people mostly in the 1970s and 1980s

Also, there was one other George in Junior school, but I was the only one at Comprehensive school.

[George 1978]

Re: Fashionable names of people mostly in the 1970s and 1980s

And I remember hearing about burglars targeting elderly people because they had "old-sounding" names.

[marc]

Re: Fashionable names of people mostly in the 1970s and 1980s

Sometimes names become fashionable because of people and events. There were a number of people called Neil in the 1970s, supposedly named because of Neil Armstrong.

[Richard1978]

Re: Fashionable names of people mostly in the 1970s and 1980s

I've noticed most Nadias in the UK were born after 1976.

[Arran]

Re: Fashionable names of people mostly in the 1970s and 1980s

I am basically talking about names that were popular and fashionable in the 1970s and 1980s, and are probably not so popular nowadays. Perhaps there was a flurry of them born at the same time, and one shared a school year or even a class with a multiple number of people with the same name. Why indeed do names go out of fashion?

Are you referring to names that were very popular in the 1980s but have become less popular in more recent years (like Michael, Richard, and Paul) or names that were moderately popular in the 1980s but have almost completely died (like Gary and Nigel)?

It's interesting how some uncommon or localised names become very popular. Callum is a common name for kids of the 1990s and 2000s – even in the south of England - but almost every baby called Callum in the 1970s was born north of the Antonine wall and it wasn't all that common there.

[George 1978]

Re: Fashionable names of people mostly in the 1970s and 1980s

Are you referring to names that were very popular in the 1980s but have become less popular in more recent years (like Michael, Richard, and Paul) or names that were moderately popular in the 1980s but have almost completely died (like Gary and Nigel)?

Yes, in a way - I was referring to names that were popular within the scope of this forum - i.e. 1970s and 1980s. There was a Gary in my class in Junior School.

Funny you should mention that name - I have someone in my family called Callum and he was born in 1992 - for some reason, I think of Callum as a footballer's name these days. When my family chose his name, we thought that it had a Celtic (with K sound), and perhaps Scottish or Irish feel to it, which I believe is the origin of that name.

[Mulletino]

Re: Fashionable names of people mostly in the 1970s and 1980s

It was tradition in my Dad's family that the firstborn be called George, he was a George, his father was, his grandfather was etc. He broke the trend though as he didn't like his name growing up (during the war) as it was also his grandad's name (who was very strict). It was also when the name was the least popular going by that chart!
I gave my firstborn son the middle name George to bring back the tradition, when I told my dad he told me he always regretted not using it even as a middle name (neither me or my siblings have middle names).

When I was at an Engineering Training Centre in the late 80s "Matt" was the most popular name, there were about 5 in a group of about 20 people, John was the next popular.

[zabadak]

Re: Fashionable names of people mostly in the 1970s and 1980s

My name is Mark. As far as I can tell, it wasn't widely used before I was born but came into vogue at that time (no idea why) so I've met several around about my age!

[Richard1978]

Re: Fashionable names of people mostly in the 1970s and 1980s

My Mum reckons the names of saints were popular for boys in the mid-late 1970s, certainly I know a lot of people born around then with Biblical names.

[Arran]

Re: Fashionable names of people mostly in the 1970s and 1980s

My Mum reckons the names of saints were popular for boys in the mid-late 1970s, certainly I know a lot of people born around then with Biblical names.

There are thousands of saints many of which have names I have never even heard of. Andrew and David were popular names in the 1970s. Patrick less so but more popular with parents of Irish origin. George had become a bit unpopular during the 1970s. Biblical names seem more common with boys rather than girls. It's interesting how some Biblical names are very common but others are quite rare.

[victorbrunswick]

Re: Fashionable names of people mostly in the 1970s and 1980s

There are thousands of saints many of which have names I have never even heard of.

I've always liked the name Botolph.
There's a St Botolph's Church, an East London landmark.