It's not about being well-read. 1996 was the year I got married, and I'm pretty sure everyone my age knew about the name
Lucille (because of
Lucille Ball, if nothing else). Lack of familiarity was not the reason the name was not being used, it was that it was seriously out of fashion. Add to the image of
Lucille Ball, which was very strong, the fact that most living Lucilles were between 60 and 90, and the vast majority of parents would have found the name totally unappealing at that time.
Lucy was not particularly popular in 1996 either, but it was being much more frequently used than
Lucille and seemed much less dated.
This message was edited 2/7/2015, 4:04 PM