New Post
Search
HelpA little rant on old-fashioned names "coming back" (m)
in reply to a message by Billina
I’ve seen people recently talking about how Irma, Edith, and other old-fashioned names are "coming back into style", but are people aware of the current trends?
Emma and Evelyn have come back into vogue, yes, but not because they’re old-fashioned - that might be a secondary reason, but not the main one.
The main reason they became popular is because they had very trendy attributes: Emma was soft, simple, and feminine, while Evelyn had the much-wanted "lyn" ending and "Eva-" was a soft and trendy sound (as A Masked Man has said before).
Because these names are considered old-fashioned, many people here have assumed that other old names will follow suit - but this isn’t quite true. Mabel will come into fashion because it’s soft and feminine and has the popular "bel" ending. Names like Edna, Edith, Ethel, and Irma will not, because they have nothing to them that’s trending right now.
The only dated names that I could see coming back are Ida, because of the sound, and MAYBE Winifred or Dorothy, because of the Winnie/Freddie and Dodie nicknames.
You might say "Well, Edith and Edna have the Edie nickname."
Yes, they do, but they’re too old-fashioned for most parents. There is a limit that most parents will not pass because certain names feel too dated to use. Mabel, Ida, Winifred and Dorothy are old-fashioned, but not TOO old-fashioned for modern parents’s tastes.
Did any of that make sense? I feel like I’m just rambling, but I also felt like I had to say something about the popular assumption that "all old-fashioned names will come back". Yes, some will, but not all of them.
Emma and Evelyn have come back into vogue, yes, but not because they’re old-fashioned - that might be a secondary reason, but not the main one.
The main reason they became popular is because they had very trendy attributes: Emma was soft, simple, and feminine, while Evelyn had the much-wanted "lyn" ending and "Eva-" was a soft and trendy sound (as A Masked Man has said before).
Because these names are considered old-fashioned, many people here have assumed that other old names will follow suit - but this isn’t quite true. Mabel will come into fashion because it’s soft and feminine and has the popular "bel" ending. Names like Edna, Edith, Ethel, and Irma will not, because they have nothing to them that’s trending right now.
The only dated names that I could see coming back are Ida, because of the sound, and MAYBE Winifred or Dorothy, because of the Winnie/Freddie and Dodie nicknames.
You might say "Well, Edith and Edna have the Edie nickname."
Yes, they do, but they’re too old-fashioned for most parents. There is a limit that most parents will not pass because certain names feel too dated to use. Mabel, Ida, Winifred and Dorothy are old-fashioned, but not TOO old-fashioned for modern parents’s tastes.
Did any of that make sense? I feel like I’m just rambling, but I also felt like I had to say something about the popular assumption that "all old-fashioned names will come back". Yes, some will, but not all of them.
Archived Thread - replies disabled
1