Gen-Z naming trends

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just remember that online content is written to get you to click. I'll bet there's a kernel of truth, but in practice, most people will name their kids Henry or Eleanor.

Not Henry or Eleanor. You have to think the next generation of grandma names. We'll be seeing baby Susan, Lisa, Amy, Jennifer, Jessica, Heather, Angela, Christine, Scott, Kevin, Brad. . .

It's like the Boomer generation names got skipped. Where are all the little Barbara, Carol, Linda, Donna, Karen, Lois, Deborah and Cheryls? Will the next generation go straight to Gen X names?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just remember that online content is written to get you to click. I'll bet there's a kernel of truth, but in practice, most people will name their kids Henry or Eleanor.

Not Henry or Eleanor. You have to think the next generation of grandma names. We'll be seeing baby Susan, Lisa, Amy, Jennifer, Jessica, Heather, Angela, Christine, Scott, Kevin, Brad. . .

Well my Gen-Z doesn't like those names so at least one person disagrees. I think their kids will name them Susan etc.

PP you're responding to. I don't like those names either, so I hope you're right. (FTR, I am one of those names!)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just remember that online content is written to get you to click. I'll bet there's a kernel of truth, but in practice, most people will name their kids Henry or Eleanor.

Not Henry or Eleanor. You have to think the next generation of grandma names. We'll be seeing baby Susan, Lisa, Amy, Jennifer, Jessica, Heather, Angela, Christine, Scott, Kevin, Brad. . .

It's like the Boomer generation names got skipped. Where are all the little Barbara, Carol, Linda, Donna, Karen, Lois, Deborah and Cheryls? Will the next generation go straight to Gen X names?

I have often wondered the same. I keep looking for Lindas.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kemp and Sloan are some names younger friends have chosen.
I find the name Kemp extremely weird
I always associate it with kelp. And then hemp.
The Kemp parents then had twins, a boy and a girl. I know which is which but everyone else gets confused.
Brit is the boy. Dell is the girl.
My mom argued with me that Brit is the girl. It HAS to be. Because Brit sounds like it's short with Britney.
Nope Boomer, you're missing the point.

\

No need to be rude to your mom. Those are stupid names. Not Boomer.

I'm not saying it's Boomerish to think those are dumb names. What I am saying is she is missing the whole point of how they chose to name their male twin Brit. Even knowing that Brit is more associated with a female name, Britney. The point that many Boomers like my mom miss is that names are interchanged among genders, they don't feel any stigma attached to a boy having a name that they (my parents) associate with a girl.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just remember that online content is written to get you to click. I'll bet there's a kernel of truth, but in practice, most people will name their kids Henry or Eleanor.

Not Henry or Eleanor. You have to think the next generation of grandma names. We'll be seeing baby Susan, Lisa, Amy, Jennifer, Jessica, Heather, Angela, Christine, Scott, Kevin, Brad. . .

It's like the Boomer generation names got skipped. Where are all the little Barbara, Carol, Linda, Donna, Karen, Lois, Deborah and Cheryls? Will the next generation go straight to Gen X names?

I have often wondered the same. I keep looking for Lindas.

I think the grandchildren of the Lindas are mostly still too young to be having kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just remember that online content is written to get you to click. I'll bet there's a kernel of truth, but in practice, most people will name their kids Henry or Eleanor.

Not Henry or Eleanor. You have to think the next generation of grandma names. We'll be seeing baby Susan, Lisa, Amy, Jennifer, Jessica, Heather, Angela, Christine, Scott, Kevin, Brad. . .

It's like the Boomer generation names got skipped. Where are all the little Barbara, Carol, Linda, Donna, Karen, Lois, Deborah and Cheryls? Will the next generation go straight to Gen X names?

I have often wondered the same. I keep looking for Lindas.

Karen is done for generations.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just remember that online content is written to get you to click. I'll bet there's a kernel of truth, but in practice, most people will name their kids Henry or Eleanor.

Not Henry or Eleanor. You have to think the next generation of grandma names. We'll be seeing baby Susan, Lisa, Amy, Jennifer, Jessica, Heather, Angela, Christine, Scott, Kevin, Brad. . .

It's like the Boomer generation names got skipped. Where are all the little Barbara, Carol, Linda, Donna, Karen, Lois, Deborah and Cheryls? Will the next generation go straight to Gen X names?

I think it's usually great-grandparent names, actually. For example, our great-grandparents' names were: Clara, Helena, Helen, Anna, Adelina, Sarah, Mary, and Catherine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Being a girl, I’d be mad if I had a gender neutral or a boys name.

The trend I see is a female name with a gender neutral nickname.
Chris, Pat, Sam, Max, Bobby, Jamie, Alex, Shaun, Casey, Charlie, Billy, Quinn, Andy, Frankie, Kelly, Tracy, Randy, Elliot, Rudy, and so on.

Majority of these names read masculine to me, not gender neutral

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Kemp and Sloan are some names younger friends have chosen.
I find the name Kemp extremely weird
I always associate it with kelp. And then hemp.
The Kemp parents then had twins, a boy and a girl. I know which is which but everyone else gets confused.
Brit is the boy. Dell is the girl.
My mom argued with me that Brit is the girl. It HAS to be. Because Brit sounds like it's short with Britney.
Nope Boomer, you're missing the point.

Your mom is absolutely correct in these names sound exactly the opposite of what they should. Maybe that’s the point but for now the majority of society will judge them as weird names.

[Anonymous]

I think what the current generation thinks is great will probably be hated by their children. Imagine having to live your life always spelling your name or specifying your gender because the person can’t figure it out on their own. Oh the world is going gender neutral so it doesn’t matter. Yes, it does, it always will regardless of what you think now. I think it’s going to backfire and the next generation will have very gender obvious names.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Being a girl, I’d be mad if I had a gender neutral or a boys name.

The trend I see is a female name with a gender neutral nickname.
Chris, Pat, Sam, Max, Bobby, Jamie, Alex, Shaun, Casey, Charlie, Billy, Quinn, Andy, Frankie, Kelly, Tracy, Randy, Elliot, Rudy, and so on.

Majority of these names read masculine to me, not gender neutral

+1 and often the desire for a “gender neutral” name just means wanting to avoid femininity. People want to secure an advantage for their daughters by making sure they don’t have a [unserious, silly, weak] feminine name. It’s subconscious misogyny masked as being progressive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just remember that online content is written to get you to click. I'll bet there's a kernel of truth, but in practice, most people will name their kids Henry or Eleanor.

Not Henry or Eleanor. You have to think the next generation of grandma names. We'll be seeing baby Susan, Lisa, Amy, Jennifer, Jessica, Heather, Angela, Christine, Scott, Kevin, Brad. . .

It's like the Boomer generation names got skipped. Where are all the little Barbara, Carol, Linda, Donna, Karen, Lois, Deborah and Cheryls? Will the next generation go straight to Gen X names?

I have often wondered the same. I keep looking for Lindas.

Yep. Our daughters and sons will love those names. It’s part of the popularity circle. It hasn’t been skipped - it’s just not due yet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Being a girl, I’d be mad if I had a gender neutral or a boys name.

The trend I see is a female name with a gender neutral nickname.
Chris, Pat, Sam, Max, Bobby, Jamie, Alex, Shaun, Casey, Charlie, Billy, Quinn, Andy, Frankie, Kelly, Tracy, Randy, Elliot, Rudy, and so on.

Majority of these names read masculine to me, not gender neutral

+1 and often the desire for a “gender neutral” name just means wanting to avoid femininity. People want to secure an advantage for their daughters by making sure they don’t have a [unserious, silly, weak] feminine name. It’s subconscious misogyny masked as being progressive.

I don’t agree. Kyle, for example, has always been used by both sexes. Same with Dana, Grayson (and surname-first-name), Avery. It’s not like they’re naming their kids Harold or John.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just remember that online content is written to get you to click. I'll bet there's a kernel of truth, but in practice, most people will name their kids Henry or Eleanor.

Not Henry or Eleanor. You have to think the next generation of grandma names. We'll be seeing baby Susan, Lisa, Amy, Jennifer, Jessica, Heather, Angela, Christine, Scott, Kevin, Brad. . .

It's like the Boomer generation names got skipped. Where are all the little Barbara, Carol, Linda, Donna, Karen, Lois, Deborah and Cheryls? Will the next generation go straight to Gen X names?

I have often wondered the same. I keep looking for Lindas.

Yep. Our daughters and sons will love those names. It’s part of the popularity circle. It hasn’t been skipped - it’s just not due yet.

It's hard to see some of those names pre-Boomer making a come back like Dorothy, Phyllis, Bernice, Norma, Shirley, Nancy, etc. They don't sound good to my ear at all. Some names just never come back in style.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Being a girl, I’d be mad if I had a gender neutral or a boys name.

The trend I see is a female name with a gender neutral nickname.
Chris, Pat, Sam, Max, Bobby, Jamie, Alex, Shaun, Casey, Charlie, Billy, Quinn, Andy, Frankie, Kelly, Tracy, Randy, Elliot, Rudy, and so on.

Majority of these names read masculine to me, not gender neutral

+1 and often the desire for a “gender neutral” name just means wanting to avoid femininity. People want to secure an advantage for their daughters by making sure they don’t have a [unserious, silly, weak] feminine name. It’s subconscious misogyny masked as being progressive.

I don’t agree. Kyle, for example, has always been used by both sexes. Same with Dana, Grayson (and surname-first-name), Avery. It’s not like they’re naming their kids Harold or John.

I have heard many people IRL and on boards like this talk about choosing a unisex, or less feminine, name for their daughter specifically because it sounds more "professional" or "successful." People don't realize it, but the reason they instinctively fine less feminine/more masculine names to be "stronger" or more professional is misogyny. It's a learned association of masculine names with certain expectations (work, money, seriousness) and feminine names with certain expectations (beauty, care work, frivolity).

It applies to multiple categories of name. The last-name-as-first trend (Kennedy, Madison, Grayson, etc.). The unisex names (Sloane, Greer, Dana, Kyle, etc.). The unisex-nickname-on-feminine-full-name (Max/Maine, Sam/Samantha, Frankie/Francesca, etc).

You can also see it in the way people respond to a name that become unisex. Dana was a masculine name that became unisex when people started using it for their daughters. And now people are reluctant to use it for sons because it is "too feminine". Same with Ashley. People instinctively gravitate towards masculine names and reject feminine ones. Because we value men over women. It's okay for girls to be more masculine, but we are uncomfortable with boys being more feminine.

Gen Z and Millenials think they are being progressive and transgressive with unisex names. But in the end, it's part of a long trend of rejecting femininity as weak and unappealing. It's been around a long time.