Community Chat

[azgal]

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@on the bay wrote:

Didn't it seem like there were a lot of Debbies in the boomers?

Anyone see any Barbaras? 

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Yes! There were 5 Debbies in my kindergarten class!

I'm a boomer.

[Catiele]

I am the Silent Generation. My name is Catherine after my grandmother. My nickname is Cathy. My husband calls me Kate. 

[GrailSeeker]

I think a lot of names became popular in the 1960s onward because of TV and movies.  I remember "Lisa" becoming popular after a character on "As the World Turns" and "Jennifer" becoming popular after the movie "Love Story".

I'm a boomer and our graduating class had 73 students in 1973.  Most popular name by far was "Steve" with 5 Steves in my class. I have a younger brother, Steve, too. Not sure why, maybe "Steve Canyon" or Steve McQueen?  

Going back to Love Story. My first son is Ryan, after Ryan O'Neal. 

Two more brothers, Jamie, after The Travels of Jaime McPheeters, and Joe, after Little Joe Cartwright.

[qvcfreak]

I’m a boomer and I only knew one Susana who went by Susie

[Oznell]

Continuing to enjoy all the fascinating name lore and personal anecdotes people are bringing to the thread-- thank you all for making it so interesting!

Name scholars have a sort of "golden list" of names that are timeless.    They may have had a relatively small following through the centuries, or they may have been more popular.  The key is, that they remain consistent through the centuries, rarely swinging wildly in or out of style.

@Gorgf,  and @Catiele ,   both "Georgia" and "Catherine" fall into this golden, "steady" category.   Beautiful names, that don't necessarily pinpoint their bearers by their age, because they are timeless.  Georgia and Catherine could easily be rampaging toddlers, or middle-aged executives, or elegant dowagers on the far side of 90....

[alliswell]

@Oznell 

   You might enjoy a website called name stories dot com.  Type a name in the search bar and it brings up the meaning of that particular name and the history of the name.  It is an idea for a new baby gift -  of course, they're trying to sell framed copies of names.

[Enufstuff]

@Oznell  Myself being a Boomer named Donna, I remember many girls' names that were popular from my school days.

     Two of my best friends were Donna. I only knew two Susans , growing up. The only Deborah I knew, was my sister in law.

     I was almost named Diane and that was also a popular Boomer name.

     Common girls' names from my school days were:

 Barbara, Donna, Diane, Carol, Christine, Cynthia,Carolyn,

Ellen, Elaine, Jayne, Joanne,Karen, Kathleen, Linda, Margaret,Mary, MaryAnne, Mary Ellen, Mary Beth, Maria, Marie, Maureen,Nancy, Michelle, Paula, Paulette, Pamela, Sharon, Sherry, Theresa, Virginia.

     My first daughter is a Boomer. I wanted to name her Lisa,

but my first husband persuaded me to name her Paula after him. Her middle name is Michelle.

      My second daughter is GenX and her name is Lisa Marie.

We have the same middle name. We had a hard time agreeing on a name for our third daughter and finally chose Colleen, with her middle name Denise after my favorite childhood babysitter.

     Our GenX boys are Christopher and Matthew. I never called them Chris and Matt, but as they grew up, that is what friends called them and now I do too. I never liked nicknames.

     I think that a lot of names may be popular by region of the country. We are in the northeast. Also many names come from TV, music and popular celebrity names. When I named Christopher, I was home with all my babies and watched daytime TV. On As The World Turns, the patriarch was Christopher

and he was just the sweetest man. A lot of Lisa's came from that TV show also. As a teenager, before I ever watched that show, I liked the name Lisa and wanted it for a daughter someday.

       My Gen Z grandson is Joshua a very popular boys name

here. If he had been a girl, they would have named him Hannah.

       Having worked in the public schools for 32 years, I did

observe the popular name trends, over the years. In more recent years, parents have gotten very fancy and creative, naming their children. Take any common girl's name and I have seen at least 4 different spellings of a common name. They

don't care if it is spelled phonetically correct. They even toss in apostrophes that have no sense or meaning, into the middle of a name.

       I have noticed that many names that we considered to be "old lady names" in the 50's and 60's have become popular over the last 20 years. Now, the old ladies are Donna, Linda, Kathy,Patricia etc.

       Oznell, you mentioned Joan being a Greatest Gen. name.

I did have an Aunt Joan, born during those years.

[Enufstuff]

@ GorgF    Georgia is a popular name where I live. There is a large Greek population. Telly Savalas (Kojak) lived here. Just about every Greek family, here, has a Georgia and a George.

[songbird]

Your ethnicity is a factor.  I'm Jewish and would always have a Hebrew name.  No matter how popular or unpopular it is. My sister's name is Shira which means song in Hebrew.  My brother's name is Dov (which means bear in Hebrew)  So everyone in my family has an ancient Hebrew name despite the fact I was born & raised in Italy.  No one had an Italian name. My name is Rachel.  In Italy I was always called Rachele (pronounced Ray kel li) When I was in Mexico I instantly became Raquel. 

[Oznell]

@alliswell,  many thanks for the resource!   That sort of thing is huge fun-- I will enjoy exploring it.

@Enufstuff,  thanks so much for taking the time to put up that comprehensive survey of several generations-worth of names, from your own experience.  Excellent info!

I'm impressed with all the data people have posted that sheds light on the ins and outs of naming.