Meet Barbara the baby: Why old-fashioned baby names are back in style
A visit to a nursery school in 2025 will likely include meeting a toddler named George, or perhaps an Elijah, a Hazel, a Martha or a Winifred (a name that in 2023 cracked the list of top 1,000 most popular baby names for the first time since 1965). Classic names that have not seen popularity in decades are rising in the ranks, while once-trendy choices (including Taylor) are in decline. It's what millennials would call the rise of 'grandparent names.'
'Names that once felt dusty or forgotten are now being lovingly reclaimed,' baby-name consultant Taylor A. Humphrey tells Yahoo Life. 'In a fast-paced, tech-saturated world, parents are reaching back in time for names that feel timeless, classic and meaningful. Names like Mabel, Evelyn, Otis or Theodore evoke a sense of nostalgia and appreciation for yesteryear.'
According to the Social Security Administration's just-released list of the most popular baby names for 2024, the top five girls' names were Olivia, Emma, Amelia, Charlotte, Amelia and Mia. For boys, the names were: Liam, Noah, Oliver, Theodore and James. Look back to the mid- and early-'90s, when many of the people becoming parents today were born, and the list of baby names is entirely different. In 1994, the top five baby names for girls were Jessica, Ashley, Emily, Samantha and Sarah. For boys, the names were Michael, Christopher, Matthew, Joshua and Tyler.
In the world of baby naming, there is a phenomenon called "the hundred-year cycle,' which posits that every hundred years, a name that feels old-fashioned comes back into style. 'It's usually the case that the baby-having generation [does] not want to use names of the immediate past generation (their parents) because those names are uncool or out of style," says Jennifer Moss, founder and CEO of BabyNames.com. "But going back 100-plus years seems acceptable."
With that in mind, people in their 20s and 30s — who grew up in a world filled with Jessicas and Chrises (and parents named Susan and Bill) — are likely to choose names that were popular in the 1910s and 1920s. 'We saw a major revival of turn-of-the-century names in the 1990s and early 2000s when names like Henry, Jack, Emma and Grace began making their return to the top 100 most popular baby names list,' says Humphrey.
True to the trend, in the 1920s, some of the most popular baby names in the United States included George, Barbara and Eleanor. The popularity of each of those names is on the rise now.
'I think vintage names evoke a sense of nostalgia. I get a lot of clients who pull out their family tree, looking to grandparents and great-grandparents for name inspiration,' Colleen Slagen, author of the forthcoming book Naming Bebe, tells Yahoo Life. 'I've recently had a client who used Reggie and another who used Althea, nicknamed Thea. Nursing homes and graveyards would be great sources of name inspiration.'
As for what's trending in 2025, Moss says that 'El-beginning names like Eleanor, Eloise and Elodie are super trendy" for girls. "On the boys' side, we're seeing the 'trad name,' or old-fashioned names, stick — like Theodore, Oliver, Owen, Silas and Jasper.'
'For girls, I'm hearing a lot of Alma, Eloise, Flora, Mara, Margaret, Nora and Bennett,' adds Humphrey. 'For boys, I'm hearing Hayes, Lachlan, Palmer, Soren, Sterling and Theodore. These names feel grounded, elegant and sturdy; they offer just the right mix of vintage soul and modern edge.'
And what's fading away? There's a decrease in the 'aden' names — think Braden, Jayden, Caden or Aidan. 'I do hear less of those names now,' confirms Slagen. 'I think they hit their peak in the early 2000s.'
'A few years ago, the light, lyrical, short-and-sweet Isla was a top contender on many of my clients' 'names we are considering' lists, but it seems to have less of a hold on the parents I've worked with recently," notes Humphrey. "As with fashion, baby names follow emotional and aesthetic cycles — and as collective tastes shift, so do our naming desires."
'I think people see Liam as oversaturated now,' adds Moss. 'Since it was so popular the last five years.'
As for other old-fashioned names currently on the rise. According to theBump, between 2022 and 2023, Barbara rose 87 points on the list of top baby names in the U.S.; Bob rose over 4,000 points, and Agatha went up 90 spots.
'Choosing 'grandparent names' allows parents to honor the past while gently shaping the future,' says Humphrey. 'These names anchor the next generation in something enduring, eternal, soulful and time-tested. In a world that often feels all too fleeting and fast-paced, a name like Arthur, August, Mabel or Florence reminds us to slow down, kick up our feet and sit on the front porch with a cold glass of sweet tea for a little while.'
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