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It ends in -a, it’s “old-fashioned”, has a vaguely international vibe. In my country it’s the version given to Olive Oyl’s character so it never got very popular and I personally can’t get past that, otherwise I would like it, if anything for the Shakespeare association.

My family (Midwest, USA) has a bunch of people named Olivia through time, born 1994, 1909, 1890, 1831, and 1804. While it's super popular right now, it seems to be a name that's always been usable and never really went out of style.

I think because we are on a frilly and cutesy kick these last few decades.. and Olivia fits the bill while also being familiar and ordinary. It's surpassed Isabella as the penultimate Frilly, cutesy and familiar. Not confusing, but still "pedestrian fancy". Yeah... I think that sums it up pretty well actually! Pedestrian fancy.

My guesses:

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- it's soft and pretty and kind of fun to say
- it's feminine and classic
- it comes with good nicknames such as Liv and Livvy

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I'm bored too, though. I used to like it but now I can't really see why anymore and it was hard to make the list above. Still very usable, of course, and I don't think it's a bad name but I'm surprised people aren't sick of it as it was popular for so long and I know Olivias ranging from 0 to 80-something. I mean I see how timelessness can be part of the appeal but it feels extremely common among 10-30 year olds and therefore not completely timeless.

1. It has a pretty sound that can age well. I can easily picture a toddler Olivia or an octogenarian.

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2. Nickname potential (Livvie/Livvy, Liv, Ollie, Olive, Livia)

A distant member of my family tree, born in the early 20th century before 1914, was named Olivia by her working-class parents; she always went by Olive instead, which I thought was a mistake. Olivia is I think more of a classic than Olive: haven't checked the stats, but I did know a South African Olivia born in about 1980. It's a good name; Oliver is also popular so people clearly like the sound and the look of it. And name popularity often goes in cycles. Its turn has probably just come round again.

I love it, it's a great classic, pretty, feminine, easy to spell and prounouce