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Man, I wrote a whole essay here and lost it. Oh well, it was too long anyway.

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My theory says that classic names are considered classic because they reflect more stable aspects of a culture, such as who is worshipped and who is in charge. Names from holy books are always going to be important as long as the religion matters to people. With rulers it's similar, as long as they are in power people want to emulate them, and ruling dynasties want to inspire feelings of strength and stability, so they often share names and give those names the aura of authority .

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Dated names, on the other hand, reflect changes in philosophy, lifestyle, and fashion. Whatever is cool at the moment. And in many cases, the generations do not understand each other. The aesthetics aren't shared. We don't see what's so great about the stuff our forebears thought was cool. Those names get left behind.

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So basically if a name really captures the spirit of a generation in some way, it's going to become dated. Most likely. Especially if it's been crafted specifically for that generation.