Names of the 50s, 60s, and 70s

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have a Heather, named for a dear older friend. Some people seem to love it, some seem surprised we would pick it. She’s a sweetie!

Do you also have a Marian & a Henry? Or an Erica? If so, I remember you from other name threads...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:[quoteAre most of these 60s names? I think I would call most of them 70s/80s.

+2

The names you listed, for the 60's/70's are really 80's names!
popular names from 60's/70's: so, so many: Susan/Sue, Karen, Lisa, Diane, Kathy, and yes, some Cindy, Debbie...

A lot of '80s names started to take off in the mid or late '70s.

I was born in '78 & had a Lindsay , a Courtney, a Tiffany, & 2 Ashleys in my (fairly small) high school class. The class above mine (born mostly in '77) also had a Courtney & a Lindsay & the class below mine (born mostly in '79) had 2 Lindsays, 2 Courtneys, an Ashley, & a Brittany.

Some big '70s names not listed in the OP include Amanda, Sara(h), Katie (usually short for Katherine/Kathryn), & Heather.

Michelle/Michele & Amy were also extremely popular in the '60s & '70s (in both my class & the one above it, the Amys actually outnumbered the Jennifers; there were 3 Amys but -- shockingly enough --only 1 Jennifer in the class above mine while my class had FIVE Amys & "only" 3 Jennifers).

^Oh, & Melissa! It was really popular starting in the '60s & into the '70s &, to a somewhat lesser extent, the '80s.

^Kelly, too. I know sisters in their mid-40s through early 50s named Michelle, Lisa, & Kelly & feel like their parents just needed another DD named Jennifer & they would have had the Peak Gen X Sister Set .

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yea, I just went and looked, Megan didn't even make the top 20 until 1984, Jennifer hit the list in 66 and topped it in 1970 where it stayed through 1984.

Yes, Megan may have gained popularity during thr '70s but it is definitely not a '60s name!

My stepmother was born in the early '60s & is named Megan. People who hear her name before actually meeting her usually assume my dad iss one of those men who robbed the cradle to find his second wife. I have had multiple friends tell me that they always pictured her as being much closer in age to me (27) than to my dad (62)!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:[quoteAre most of these 60s names? I think I would call most of them 70s/80s.

+2

The names you listed, for the 60's/70's are really 80's names!
popular names from 60's/70's: so, so many: Susan/Sue, Karen, Lisa, Diane, Kathy, and yes, some Cindy, Debbie...

A lot of '80s names started to take off in the mid or late '70s.

I was born in '78 & had a Lindsay , a Courtney, a Tiffany, & 2 Ashleys in my (fairly small) high school class. The class above mine (born mostly in '77) also had a Courtney & a Lindsay & the class below mine (born mostly in '79) had 2 Lindsays, 2 Courtneys, an Ashley, & a Brittany.

Some big '70s names not listed in the OP include Amanda, Sara(h), Katie (usually short for Katherine/Kathryn), & Heather.

Michelle/Michele & Amy were also extremely popular in the '60s & '70s (in both my class & the one above it, the Amys actually outnumbered the Jennifers; there were 3 Amys but -- shockingly enough --only 1 Jennifer in the class above mine while my class had FIVE Amys & "only" 3 Jennifers).

^Oh, & Melissa! It was really popular starting in the '60s & into the '70s &, to a somewhat lesser extent, the '80s.

^Kelly, too. I know sisters in their mid-40s through early 50s named Michelle, Lisa, & Kelly & feel like their parents just needed another DD named Jennifer & they would have had the Peak Gen X Sister Set .

^ Heather or Amy would also fit into/could replace any of the names in that set (except for Lisa or, especially, Jennifer -- no set of Peak Gen X female names is complete without a Jennifer!). And the Brother version would be Michael, Jason, & either Christopher or Matthew. Ryan could work, too, but only if he is the youngest brother.

Pretty sure the Peak Millennial Sister Set would be Courtney, Ashley, & Brittany with Jessica (or perhaps Lauren, Lindsay, or Katie) as a feasible alternative to either Courtney or Brittany (but not to Ashley; just like any set of Peak Gen X female names obviously needs a Jennifer, every set of Peak Millennial female names MUST have an Ashley!).

The Peak Baby Boomer Sister Set would definitely be Linda, Karen, Susan, & Debbie...Barbara, Mary, or Cheryl could all be thrown in there, as well, just in case there is a fifth sister in need of a name that someone from the Greatest Generation might have chosen for a daughter. Their brother would probably be Dennis, though Kevin or Bruce (perhaps called "Butch"?) might work, as well.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a Heather, named for a dear older friend. Some people seem to love it, some seem surprised we would pick it. She’s a sweetie!

Do you also have a Marian & a Henry? Or an Erica? If so, I remember you from other name threads...

Just a Marian! I remember the Erica poster, too. Love that name.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They will come back surely but slowly. DH’s hipster cousin and his wife recently named their baby Eileen. I actually kinda like it.

Come on.

[Anonymous]

You people have way too much time on your hands to hyper analyze SS name lists and make projections that are completely arbitrary and capricious

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do you think they will come back into fashion? You never hear these ones anymore. Then again, 30 years ago I can't imagine folks getting excited about Ruby, Pearl, or Isabelle. Any you think could claw their way back to popularity?

50s:

Janice
Barbara
Leslie
Nancy
Sally
Norma
Linda


60s/70s
Donna
Jessica
Jillian
Jennifer
Lisa
Meghan/Megan
Christina/Kirstina/Kristen/Kirsten
Julie
Lindsey/Lindsay/Lyndsey
Tara

I know at least 5 babies and young kids named Sally. All from the South. Guess it's trending there?

Julia's pretty common so it's easy to imagine Julie making a comeback. I can see Linda, Lisa, Christina, Tara, Meghan, Jillian, Jessica all coming back fairly soon as they all seem similar in some way (ending in -a, ending in -n) to names that are popular now. I don't think Janice, Barbara or Norma are as likely to make a comeback as they all seem so middle aged-elderly secretary to me.

Some more 50s names I can see coming back: Karen, Susan, Deborah/Debbie, Diana. And 60s-80s: Kimberly, Krista, Katie/Katherine (k names seem to be in)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I grew up in the 50s and here are some names I'd like to see revisited

Sharon
Helen
Laura
Katherine
Jean
Sally
Deborah
Jacqueline
Bess
Molly
Martha
Virginia
Lee
Mary
Dorothy
Linda

...These are so much better than the trendy names that are so in vogue now, many of which will be an embarrassment to children once they are grown. (Can you imagine putting Isabella on a business card? Yuk)

Jean is a really great, underused name in my opinion. Classic but currently unique.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yea, I just went and looked, Megan didn't even make the top 20 until 1984, Jennifer hit the list in 66 and topped it in 1970 where it stayed through 1984.

Yes, Megan may have gained popularity during thr '70s but it is definitely not a '60s name!

My stepmother was born in the early '60s & is named Megan. People who hear her name before actually meeting her usually assume my dad iss one of those men who robbed the cradle to find his second wife. I have had multiple friends tell me that they always pictured her as being much closer in age to me (27) than to my dad (62)!

Believe it or not there are two Megan’s (with different spellings) in my kid’s preschool class so I think it’s coming back.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a Heather, named for a dear older friend. Some people seem to love it, some seem surprised we would pick it. She’s a sweetie!

Do you also have a Marian & a Henry? Or an Erica? If so, I remember you from other name threads...

Just a Marian! I remember the Erica poster, too. Love that name.

Hi! It’s me - Erica’s mom . Did you know that Heather and Erica are related names? I just found this out. It made me happy since i’d liked Heather but decided against 2 H names for my girls.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes. Our kids will name theirs Nancy, Lois, and Barbara, and their kids will name theirs Jennifer, Allison, and Tiffany.

Allison actually peaked in 2009! I am an Allison born in the late '70s &.was shocked to learn this as I always thought I had a very '70s-'80s name.

Word. I’m a ‘78 Allison and always had 2-4 in my classes growing up. Don’t hear it much these days, but I met another one recently and asked, “child of the 70s?” and she looked at me like I had horns. I think she thought I was calling her Olde.

I do know someone who just named her new baby Allison.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a Heather, named for a dear older friend. Some people seem to love it, some seem surprised we would pick it. She’s a sweetie!

Do you also have a Marian & a Henry? Or an Erica? If so, I remember you from other name threads...

Just a Marian! I remember the Erica poster, too. Love that name.

Hi! It’s me - Erica’s mom . Did you know that Heather and Erica are related names? I just found this out. It made me happy since i’d liked Heather but decided against 2 H names for my girls.

Aww, hi! Good to know!

[Anonymous]

Kimberly definitely belongs on the '60s-70s list!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yea, I just went and looked, Megan didn't even make the top 20 until 1984, Jennifer hit the list in 66 and topped it in 1970 where it stayed through 1984.

Yes, Megan may have gained popularity during thr '70s but it is definitely not a '60s name!

My stepmother was born in the early '60s & is named Megan. People who hear her name before actually meeting her usually assume my dad iss one of those men who robbed the cradle to find his second wife. I have had multiple friends tell me that they always pictured her as being much closer in age to me (27) than to my dad (62)!

Believe it or not there are two Megan’s (with different spellings) in my kid’s preschool class so I think it’s coming back.

Is the other spelling "Meghan"?

I also know two young Megans. One is 12 & one is 6. Both spell it Megan.

In any case, I've always loved the name so I hope it really is coming back! Depending on how things go the next few years, STB Princess Meghan could either really help or really hurt the chances & strength of a Meg(h)an renaissance.