I really like Holly. Knew the sweetest Holly in my elementary school

I knew several Amy/Amandas (class of 94), so it may have been late GenX, but definitely GenX

I actually know a woman who used Amy for her now 5 year old. So cute.

My daughter had a friend in her middle school named Shannon. Liked that someone used it in this generation - there were a lot of us on the east coast at least in the late 70s

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think Dawn is pretty. Actually considered it for my daughter who is turning 15 soon. It is her middle name.

Considered Heather for daughter 2, but first daughter has an H name.

Dana was our backup for a good part of my pregnancy with daughter 2, but we went with Erica last minute.

I was pregnant with a tax day baby at one point, and April was a top choice. I also knew a Spring in high school-thought that was pretty.
I like the name Melody. And Crystal. And Felicia.

Isn't crystal the name dcum says is a stripper name???

That is what everyone says. I wouldn’t use it for a child now, but I like it.

I also like Amber.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lisa.

I was always jealous of girls that got to be named Lisa.

From a Lisa, big hugs to you.

The Simpsons made us cool.

-- (another) Lisa

Friends made you cool!

Gen Xer here. Love everything about our generation except for the names.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Lisa.

I was always jealous of girls that got to be named Lisa.

From a Lisa, big hugs to you.

The Simpsons made us cool.

-- (another) Lisa

Rebecca
Lindsay
Laurie
Lynn
Katie
Tara
Hilary
Leigh

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Rachel
Jill
Kerri (prefer it to Carey)
Amy
Danielle
Katie

I don't like:

Stephanie
Jennifer
Courtney

Those are both weird spellings. The traditional way is Carrie.

Two different names- or is that a regional pronunciation thing? Kerri and Carrie, to me, are pronounced completely differently

That must be regional. I grew up in the PNW and we pronounced those two names the same way.

Completely different names. Pronounced different. Carrie is usually short for Carlott, Caroline, etc. Kerri (Kerry) is an Irish name.

How do you say it? I have always said Carrie same as Kerri/Keri. I have heard Cari pronounced like Car-ee. But that's it. Every Carrie I've known has also said their name like Kerry/Kerri.

NP it is that you pronounce Ker and Car the same and they both probably sound like Cair/Care with an open A sound. The way I and the other PPs are describing has Kerry with a short E and hard R sound and Carrie with an open A but that lacks the slightly more nasal sound for the A where it would sound more like Air. Google "Merry, Marry, Mary" pronunciations. You should be able to listen to how people who pronounce these differently say them. Erin and Aaron as well.

Don't even start. Mary/Marry/Merry all the same. Same for Erin/Aaron. Where do people live that these are totally different? I've lived in the South/Midwest/West so I presume this is a regional North/North East thing?

+1
This is just bizarre. There is no alternate pronunciation for these names, even when spelled differently. The PP sounds a tad odd.

It's actually correct, there has just been widespread vowel merging, (aka "we got sloppy!) that makes them the same to some people and this is really only found in North America outside of the Northeast. Other English speakers (not in the NE) around the world absolutely distinguish between the three or, at minimum, two of them. You sound ignorant, Marry Christmas!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English-language_vowel_changes_before_historic_/r/#Mary%E2%80%93marry%E2%80%93merry_merger

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Rachel
Jill
Kerri (prefer it to Carey)
Amy
Danielle
Katie

I don't like:

Stephanie
Jennifer
Courtney

Those are both weird spellings. The traditional way is Carrie.

Two different names- or is that a regional pronunciation thing? Kerri and Carrie, to me, are pronounced completely differently

That must be regional. I grew up in the PNW and we pronounced those two names the same way.

Completely different names. Pronounced different. Carrie is usually short for Carlott, Caroline, etc. Kerri (Kerry) is an Irish name.

How do you say it? I have always said Carrie same as Kerri/Keri. I have heard Cari pronounced like Car-ee. But that's it. Every Carrie I've known has also said their name like Kerry/Kerri.

NP it is that you pronounce Ker and Car the same and they both probably sound like Cair/Care with an open A sound. The way I and the other PPs are describing has Kerry with a short E and hard R sound and Carrie with an open A but that lacks the slightly more nasal sound for the A where it would sound more like Air. Google "Merry, Marry, Mary" pronunciations. You should be able to listen to how people who pronounce these differently say them. Erin and Aaron as well.

Don't even start. Mary/Marry/Merry all the same. Same for Erin/Aaron. Where do people live that these are totally different? I've lived in the South/Midwest/West so I presume this is a regional North/North East thing?

+1
This is just bizarre. There is no alternate pronunciation for these names, even when spelled differently. The PP sounds a tad odd.

It's actually correct, there has just been widespread vowel merging, (aka "we got sloppy!) that makes them the same to some people and this is really only found in North America outside of the Northeast. Other English speakers (not in the NE) around the world absolutely distinguish between the three or, at minimum, two of them. You sound ignorant, Marry Christmas!

Anonymous wrote:I am loving this thread so I looked up the top 100 names from 1970 to see what we're missing. A few:

Shannon
Lori
Tammy
Julie
Kelly
Tina
Cynthia (Cindy!)
Donna
Deborah/Debra/Debbie (of course -- Beck!)
Rhonda
Kathleen/Kathy

And these gems:

Nancy
Tonya

I’m a 1974 Tanya. I hate my name even as a 46 year old!

I love Christina and Christine! So pretty. Christina was on my short list for girls’ names (in 2015). DH nixed it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Melissa, Samantha, Jessica (or is that more early millennial?)

I think Samantha, Jessica, and Amanda which has been mentioned a lot are more early millennial names.

Just because a name peaked when millennials were born doesn’t mean it wasn’t fairly common among GenX. We had our share of Amandas.

DP. I’m a GenX Amanda. As a child, I *hated* my name because none of the other kids had ever heard of it and thought it was weird. It wasn’t until I was in high school that another Amanda showed up. I think my parents were ahead of their time, even though the name is quite old.

Did people call you Mandy? Did you have this doll:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Melissa, Samantha, Jessica (or is that more early millennial?)

I think Samantha, Jessica, and Amanda which has been mentioned a lot are more early millennial names.

Just because a name peaked when millennials were born doesn’t mean it wasn’t fairly common among GenX. We had our share of Amandas.

DP. I’m a GenX Amanda. As a child, I *hated* my name because none of the other kids had ever heard of it and thought it was weird. It wasn’t until I was in high school that another Amanda showed up. I think my parents were ahead of their time, even though the name is quite old.

I am also a GenX Amanda and I loved my name! It was somewhat rare in school (I think there was one other Amanda in my high school and she was a freshman when I was a senior). I could always find things (pencils, bike license plates) with my name on it and there are a ton of great nicknames (In fact I went by Mandy until I went to college). I hated coming to the realization in the early 2000s that the name had become so popular with a ton of younger girls running around with the name. It made me feel very old!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Rachel
Jill
Kerri (prefer it to Carey)
Amy
Danielle
Katie

I don't like:

Stephanie
Jennifer
Courtney

Those are both weird spellings. The traditional way is Carrie.

Two different names- or is that a regional pronunciation thing? Kerri and Carrie, to me, are pronounced completely differently

That must be regional. I grew up in the PNW and we pronounced those two names the same way.

Completely different names. Pronounced different. Carrie is usually short for Carlott, Caroline, etc. Kerri (Kerry) is an Irish name.

How do you say it? I have always said Carrie same as Kerri/Keri. I have heard Cari pronounced like Car-ee. But that's it. Every Carrie I've known has also said their name like Kerry/Kerri.

NP it is that you pronounce Ker and Car the same and they both probably sound like Cair/Care with an open A sound. The way I and the other PPs are describing has Kerry with a short E and hard R sound and Carrie with an open A but that lacks the slightly more nasal sound for the A where it would sound more like Air. Google "Merry, Marry, Mary" pronunciations. You should be able to listen to how people who pronounce these differently say them. Erin and Aaron as well.

Don't even start. Mary/Marry/Merry all the same. Same for Erin/Aaron. Where do people live that these are totally different? I've lived in the South/Midwest/West so I presume this is a regional North/North East thing?

+1
This is just bizarre. There is no alternate pronunciation for these names, even when spelled differently. The PP sounds a tad odd.

Jill
Holly
Missy

Anonymous wrote:Oh yes, Dana and Alyssa and Allison.

Interesting. I have a Gen X/millenial cusper (born in 1997) and there were always soooo many Alyssa and Allisons in her classes, on teams, etc. when she was growing up. I know one person named Allison who is around my age (firmly Gen x - 1968) but definitely no Alyssas. A few Danas both my age and my daughter’s.