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HelpRe: Ethel
in reply to a message by Manipura
No, not foreseeably anyway.
I think it'd only come back strongly now (a la Lillian and Evelyn and Hazel) if there were a new well-known celebrity or public figure or character Ethel, who was admirable in some way. It could happen - the name's not dead and it still gets quietly used, I guess by people who consider themselves iconoclastic.
It's conceivable that it'll see a *little* more use, in 15-20 years or so - if names like Dorothy and Helen become very fashionable sounds again (I think they may). But I think Ethel would not be used nearly as much use as those, and without some popular-culture boost I think it seems unlikely to break top 1k. It needs enough chic to overcome the association with the chemical prefix ethyl, and it has nothing at the moment.
I guess also, "coming back into fashion" just doesn't mean that much to me anymore. The only significant "comebacks" these days, imo, are comebacks to the top ~200, that last more than a couple years. And the diversification of usages means there are fewer slots there for names to come back in.
- mirfak
I think it'd only come back strongly now (a la Lillian and Evelyn and Hazel) if there were a new well-known celebrity or public figure or character Ethel, who was admirable in some way. It could happen - the name's not dead and it still gets quietly used, I guess by people who consider themselves iconoclastic.
It's conceivable that it'll see a *little* more use, in 15-20 years or so - if names like Dorothy and Helen become very fashionable sounds again (I think they may). But I think Ethel would not be used nearly as much use as those, and without some popular-culture boost I think it seems unlikely to break top 1k. It needs enough chic to overcome the association with the chemical prefix ethyl, and it has nothing at the moment.
I guess also, "coming back into fashion" just doesn't mean that much to me anymore. The only significant "comebacks" these days, imo, are comebacks to the top ~200, that last more than a couple years. And the diversification of usages means there are fewer slots there for names to come back in.
- mirfak
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