Hellobee Boards

@Applesandbananas: I know a 5 year old named Zachary

If a name screams a different decade to me (like Jennifer) it turns me off.

This is the one thing- I hope my children's names don't indicate their age.

80s to me is Sara, Jessica, Megan, 90s is Kaitlin/Kaitlyn/Kailin/Kailyn/Catelyn/etc., 80s is Jason, Jeremy, I could go on and on.

I also tie certain names to certain places, like Kaitlyn to the midwest, and Charity to the west...

I prefer old fashioned names and I thought Zachary was an old fashioned name? It's not one I would directly link to a decade like all the Aidens, Bradens, Cadens, etc.

@Greentea: why is Kaitlyn a Midwest name? (In my case it's totally an 80s Midwest name...)

I vetoed Caitlin and Briana for this reason. Caitlin felt to 90s and Briana felt too early 2000s. I actually like both names

I don't think of Zachary as a 90s name. DH nixed it because it reminds him of Saved By the Bell though.
The names I liked in 90s (Madison) and 2000s (Tyler, Kayla) I wouldn't pick today but I don't think we are ruling out names that were popular in certain decades if that makes sense.

@Greentea: haha well I guess I prove your theory correct!

If I like a name, I'd use it regardless of whether or not it is closely linked with a specific decade. As it turns out, in general I don't tend to like names like that (never got on board with the Madison, Brooklyn etc trend of the 2000s, or the Aiden, Caden, Braden etc trend of the same time, and so on). But our DD1 is named Emily, which to me is a bit timeless, but could I suppose eventually be seen as a 2000/2010s name. Doesn't bother me, I still love the name

@Applesandbananas: My name is Lisa which was hugely popular in the 60s and 70s. So in that sense it's a very dated name. But I think the association wears off because I don't think of my name as dated (because I wasn't alive in the 60s and 70s to carry that association). I think for me, I would use a name if I really loved it, regardless of its decade.

It's tough, though, because I grew up in the 80s & 90s, so there are number of those decade's names that I just don't love (Tiffany for example). Maybe the reason I don't love them is the association.

@LCTBQE: I'm a self proclaimed name nerd and the theory on naming websites is that every 100 years name trends come back. Hence the granny chic! Names that sounded old suddenly sound fresh to people of same generation. Using this theory our kids could be naming our grandkids Linda, Debra, Bob.

I don't think it's terrible to be identified with a generation. Names are so less popular as a whole- more names are accepted so it would be very unlikely to have a "jessica" name again! The only way to get around being tied to a decade is to use a name that you know/can see on a 50yr old, 30yr old, and baby. William is one of those names for me. Elizabeth, Thomas, John, etc. The nicknames could make it seem more now! Eliza instead of Beth or Liz for example.