Is YOUR name trendy/dated?

winterjunkie

If your own name is one of the "trendy" ones from your birth year, do you hate it?

I really like a name that is fairly popular (trendy not timeless) and while I know what you guys think of trendy names, I really only care about what my kid will think of it. I'm a Sarah and I like my name, but that is more of a timeless name that got popular then a trendy name out of the 80's (at least I think). I am curious what the "trendy" named people think of their name.

(No, the name I like is not Caden, Aiden, Jaden, etc.)

jlsimon56

Is it Harper?  :-)

My name is Jennifer.  From 1979.  Totally trendy.  Not timeless.  In fact, timeFULL I would say!  I do love my name, but I hated its trendiness.  I also hate that people assume I want to be Jen or Jenny.  But all in all, I can't complain.  At least people know how to say it b/c it's also the name of their sister, cousin, neighbor, babysitter, teacher, etc. 

scoutkate

My name is Sarah, too.  There are a ton of Sarahs my age but I still think it qualifies as classic and I love it. My sister's name is Jessica and we've discussed before that she prefers my name to hers and wishes our parents had chosen something more classic for her. 

TKtravels

I'm named after my great-grandpa, but I don't think our name was particularly trendy in either 1907 or 1981.  

My mom told me that she and my dad were undecided for a while between my name and a name (Melissa) that was trendy in the early 1980s, and I am SO, SO, SO glad they opted to go with my name.  

Melissa is fine and all, but I have yet to add my the first letter of my last name in any classes I've taken to differentiate myself from the 2-4 other girls with the same name in my class.   

Also, I like knowing that my given name has significance rather than just something that sounded pretty from a list somewhere.   

plunderb

Yes, my name (Caitlin) was trendy when I was born in the early 1980s. It only got worse as time went on. My sister's name is Brighid and I am totally jealous.

CayleighDawn

I'm a Cayleigh. Not popular at all in '86, but hugely trendy now. I know several Sarah's; growing up there was Sarah F, Sarah B, Sarah O, Sarah L, and the list goes on. While I do think Sarah is a fairly timeless name and doesnt have the time stamp that, say, Jessica does, I still think it was very trendy in the 80's for whatever reason. I do know that the Sarah's I grew up with hated having to be called by First Name Last Initial.

Out of curiousity, what is the name you like?

strawberrytree

plunderb:

Yes, my name (Caitlin) was trendy when I was born in the early 1980s. It only got worse as time went on. My sister's name is Brighid and I am totally jealous.

I find that really interesting, since I am also a Caitlin, but I don't feel my name is as trendy as Katelyn/Kaitlyn/Catelyn/etc. Maybe that's because I'm named for my mother, Catherine, who gave me the Irish version of her name. If I have a daughter, I want to use the middle name Kathleen because it is the Anglicised version of my name in Irish (if that makes sense- Caitlin with a fada on the i is Irish for Catherine, and is pronounced similarly to Kathleen, the way the name Aisling is Anglicised to Ashlyn).  

chibride4

My name definitely screams that I was born in the 1970s. I'm just waiting for its inevitable return to popularity. I've always liked it regardless. I especially like how it flows with my MN, which was hugely trendy at the time. They just sound nice together and fit me.

SummerMama12

No, both DH and I have names from the Bible.  My name was popular the year I was born, but it's not a "trendy" name since it's basically ancient.

brookelynpaisley

Kinda, I guess. It became much more popular after Brooke Shields was in Blue Lagoon, which was right around the time I was born. However, it hasn't shown a lot of consistency since (it's bobbed between 40's to 100-ish), so it's not like someone would know for sure upon hearing the name Brooke exactly how old I am. I may be delusional, though. I've always thought of my name as classic.

elfchique

No. But it got really popular so a lot of small children share my name. It's timeless not trendy. 

gimmietimmies

Mine is completely trendy for the 70's, it's in with all the Jennifers and Michelles - I was one of 3 in my class, 4 Jennifers and 3 Michelles. My dad had Sarah Leigh picked out, my mom picked Nanette Joy. I wished my dad had won. I would have rather had something classic, or something unusual (and not trendy).

g8trkim

My name is Kimberly. It was very popular in the 70s and 80s (I was born in 82). But I don't think it's overly trendy. I wouldn't think anything of someone naming their child Kimberly now.

Laurakat81

My name is Katharine. I don't consider it trendy, just classic and timeless.

BLPL101

I'm Laura. It's classic and I really like my name.

BrittKav

Brittney in 1990...trendy and I hate it.

plunderb

strawberrytree:

plunderb:

Yes, my name (Caitlin) was trendy when I was born in the early 1980s. It only got worse as time went on. My sister's name is Brighid and I am totally jealous.

I find that really interesting, since I am also a Caitlin, but I don't feel my name is as trendy as Katelyn/Kaitlyn/Catelyn/etc. Maybe that's because I'm named for my mother, Catherine, who gave me the Irish version of her name. If I have a daughter, I want to use the middle name Kathleen because it is the Anglicised version of my name in Irish (if that makes sense- Caitlin with a fada on the i is Irish for Catherine, and is pronounced similarly to Kathleen, the way the name Aisling is Anglicised to Ashlyn).  

You're right ? it's definitely the Katelin/Catelynne/Kaitlyn spellings that made me dislike my name. I liked Caitlin just fine when I was a kid, but by the late 90s, the variant spellings were everywhere and it was annoying. I work in a field dominated by older professionals, and I can't count the number of times I have been introduced to a senior colleague only to have him say, "Oh, I have a granddaughter named Katelyn!" They're just trying to be nice, but it's not a great way to start off, especially since I am small and young-looking.

I was named for my Irish great-grandmother (Kate), and my sister was named for her sister. I sort of wish my parents had just gone with Kate or Catherine (or let me be Brighid!) just to avoid all the variant spelling nonsense. 

sowingseasons

My name is Jessica. I was born in 1986 when it was very popular. As a kid I disliked my name because, and this will sound silly so remember I was a child, I hated that I could never find my name in the personalized section ( cups with names, book marks, etc). My name was always sold out!

 Now that I am older I love my name. I meet a few Jessica's now and then but not many. My daughters name is going to be Penelope Aeris, I am pretty sure there are not many Penelope's in the area. 

af1274

I'm an Ashley from the 80's and I hate that I have a trendy name.

Even as a child I decided I would never give my children trendy names. That being said, there's a huge difference between trendy-common and classic-common.  

winterjunkie

Thanks everyone. I guess I shouldn't have said popular, because it's not popular yet. It just fits all the trending styles so I feel like its going to be. The name is Everly. I absolutely love this name with the nn Evie or Ever. I just know it falls in the trendy category and I don't want my daughter to hate me. But Everly and Arden are the only two girls names I love and DH likes Everly better.

(I know someone is going to suggest Evelyn, but that is very NMS)

winterjunkie

I understand that argument and prepared to accept that, but she also will most likely be Evie.

abkrause

I like Arden and Everly personally

 

My name is Andrea and being born in the 1980's it was commonish but I wouldn't say popular in the ways that Jennifer, Jessica, and Sarah were at the time.  

 

I think of it as classic although as a kid I always liked the trendy names...  I always had to specify the pronunciation that I prefer as there are many...  

As an adult I'm totally satisifed with my parents choice and it's a family name and that's always nice.  

LadyXaverian

Nope. It's popular but not trendy. It falls into the category of "classic".

KatieLG04

I think my name is a classic one-Kathryn (go by Katie)  I like that the spelling is less common but still legit.  My DH is Bryan-same feeling about the slightly different but legit spelling.

queenbone

I'm a totally trendy Heather.  The year I was born it reached it's peak at #3.  My mom was inspired by a little 4 yr old she met with the same name.

Advantages: I could always find things with my name on it, as opposed to other non-trendy floral names. Everyone knew how to spell it, there was only one way too.  There were no Is that could be dotted with hearts. I never had another Heather in my class until I went to college and joined a sorority with 7 Heathers, 6 Jennifers, and 5 Jaimes. 

Disadvantages: No nickname. The movie Heathers. Heather doesn't have a very smart reputation which is disappointing.  Also I think some people think it is a bitchy name.

I wonder if there is a correlation between trendy names and children who are spoiled/mean because their parents are more concerned with appearances and what is popular vs. timeless names whose parents more likely value history, hard work, good manners?

kerribear1717

My name is Kerri, spelled very Irish and differently than most.  I don't meet too many carrie/kerri's.  I've only met like maybe 7 people that have had my spelling.  However, I do think the name is associated with the 80's.  I don't mind.  And I could care less how others spell it, I got over the misspellings a long time ago.

swimiz500

I think Shannon is definitely associated with a certain era for sure. It was #17 in 1976 (its peak), and was 38 in 1982 when I was born, and stayed in the top fifty pretty much through the 80s and then dropped significantly ever since. 

It doesn't really bother me that it is associated with the 70's-80's because well, that is when I was born! I don't mind a bit.  

MelissaRae1525

My  name is Melissa and it was most popular in the mid 70s. I was born in the late 80s so most people with my name are older than me. I don't like it, and I did have classes with more than one Melissa but only in elementary and high school. I don't want to give my child a top ten name, but even if I do, the percentage of babies named names in the top ten is a lot lower, so you're less likely to run into a lot of them.

 

FWIW I love Everly and I don't think it's going to extremely popular, but who knows. I also love Evangeline with the nn Evie. 

alli&dan

My name, Allison, is just about as popular now as it was in the 80's. I'm not sure I'd consider it a timeless name, though.

SamanthaG+3

I'm Samantha, born in 86...not sure where my name falls. I know people still name their kids that now, so classic? or maybe it peaked out in the 90's. My parent's came up with a bunch of other awful names, so i'm thankful i ended up a samantha..thanks to Bewitched, lol. 

CutieBean79

I'm Jennifer & I love it.  I go by Jen & it suits me.

TofuMama7

I'm a Kristin from the 80's. I like my name, the only thing that really has bugged me is that there wasn't a uniform spelling (Kristin, Kristen, Christin, Kirsten...) and I hated that people were always spelling it wrong - no joke my dad spelled it wrong on a Christmas present once! (I think he had it wrapped at the store and the clerk spelled it wrong, but still...)

So my advice would be go with the most common spelling.  

TGordon7

I don't know when and if my name was ever trendy, I'm sure it was at some point. The spelling of it is something I've always enjoyed (even though people butcher it all the time). My name is Tahrah (Tah-rah), and I've seen Tara, Tarah and a few other variations. I'm not big on weird spellings but I've always enjoyed the difference in mine

Nayna1mom

I'm Alana. 1984.  I was the only one I knew of till I got to high school, then one of my mamas friends named her daughter after me but spelled it differently.  I loved the fact that no one shared my name but always got annoyed when teachers would pronounce it (Uhh-lah-nuhh) instead of how it really is (Uhh-Lane-nuh).  Oh and, I could never find my name on anything, haha.

 A lot of kids share it now.

mrebecca

Mine is Misty.
I can't say I like it, but I'm used to it.

Not trendy except for in the pet world.
Thanks, Mom.

Eilis123

Nope.  My name is Abigail and I was born in 1980.  I didn't know any other Abigails growing up; it didn't become trendy until my generation started having kids. And my nickname was Abbie...spelled with the "ie"...so it was definitely unusual.

My sister, however, is Caitlin, and she was born in 1987, so her name is totally trendy for the time period. 

CrazyToast

My first name is now in the top 100, and on one site #20 with all the spelling variations.  When I was born, though, no one seemed to know the name.  It used to be rare.  I miss that.

mollybloom

I am a Marissa, born in 1977. It became sort of popular in the early 80s (never super popular), but I was the sole Marissa in my school district growing up and I rarely meet a Marissa that is within a few years of my age. I don't think it was a trendy name, but I don't think it is a timeless name either.

Everly is cute. DD is Evangeline, which is not trendy. It has never been in even the top 200 names. It is pretty timeless and pretty old-fashioned. We call her Evangeline, but we have friends and family that call her Evi.

fancynewbeesly

As a 32 year old, my name wasn't trendy at all when I was born. I think it was in the 1,000 on the list--in 1989, it was number 834 on the SSA list. Now it is 122 I believe.

 

 

briewright

This is kind of the opposite of your question but dh and I have fairly unique names and we both have always loved knowing no one with the same names and get lots of compliments... Brie and Bryant.

PhilsWife07

My name is Lauren. I've only ever known a handful of Laurens and I've never been Lauren, Last name initial anywhere. I think my name is pretty timeless.