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Top Ten Retro Baby Names for Boys
Classic or Old-Fashioned?
My parents find it amusing that so many of their grandchildren’s friends have names that were popular in previous generations. “They all sound like old ladies and old men,” my mom has said (ignoring the fact that one of her granddaughters is named Ruby, a classic old-fashioned name).
For some years now, old-fashioned baby names such as Sadie, Hannah, Max, and Nathan have been popular at the playground. Rather than call them “old-fashioned,” I prefer to think of them as “classic” or “timeless.”
Recently Nickelodeon Connect wrote about classic baby boy names saying “giving baby boys names associated with great-grandpas and pop-pops is currently one of the hottest baby-naming trends! From Albert to Zeke, baby boy names from yesteryear are as modern as they come.”
Of course, in many cases, these kids are named in honor of grandparents or great-grandparents. Other times, parents are returning to previous generations’ names as a way of rejecting trendy names from the 80s and 90s.
Here are Nickelodeon Connect’s picks for Top Ten Retro Baby Names for Boys:
1. Hank
2. Louis
3. Harry
4. Eli
5. Charlie
6. Archie
7. Owen
8. Fred
9. Leo
10. Henry
A few of my favorite boys’ names made the list: Leo, Henry, and Eli. But Fred just makes me think of Fred Flintstone. Archie conjures up images of Betty, Veronica, Jughead and the rest of the Archie Comics gang.
Which retro names do you like? Do you think future generations of parents will name their kids “retro” names like Britney, Tiffany, Brandon, Jaden, and Jessica?
Other baby name posts by Paula Bernstein:
Does Your Baby’s Name Predict Her Future?
100 Cool Baby Names You’ve Never Heard Of
Does Your Baby’s Name Predict Their Career Path?
Baby Names: Does Spelling Count?
Best Weirdly Popular Baby Names
Ten Most Popular Baby Names of 2009
photo: flickr/Bittle
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12 Comments
Amy commented on Sep 27 10 at 11:41 amI like Walter (walt) that was our boys name
JesBelle commented on Sep 27 10 at 12:45 pm“Archie” just makes me think of Archie Bunker. That’s too much baggage for a baby. I named my kid “Cary”, a name that peaked in popularity in the ’40′s.
JesBelle commented on Sep 27 10 at 12:51 pmWell, it peaked for boys in the ’40′s. I’m not sure for girls. Cary is a boy, btw.
DeathMetalMommy commented on Sep 27 10 at 1:15 pmI prefer to call them traditional names.
Dave commented on Sep 27 10 at 1:37 pmI agree about Fred and Archie–they just sound funny for little kids. I like the others, particularly Henry/Harry, Charlie and Louis.
goddess commented on Sep 27 10 at 1:44 pmIck to most of them. Then again, I never got on the Madeline, Sadie, Sophia, Abigail, (et al) bandwagon either.
Let me know when Ebeneezer makes the grade!
Emily commented on Sep 27 10 at 2:35 pmHenry is our son’s middle name. i dig it.
I like Cary – and Mr Grant is one of my husband’s favorite actors…
Stephanie commented on Sep 27 10 at 3:53 pmOur daughter is named Lilah Grace. While I thought this was a young(ish) and unique name, I hear over and over how someone has an old aunt in the south named Lilah. Who knew??
bob commented on Sep 28 10 at 9:47 amI think retro names have personality. They’re also easy to spell, easy to read, and pretty gender-specific. Most of them are also somewhat rarely-used today, making them pleasantly unique.
Care commented on Sep 28 10 at 7:37 pmI’m all for Owen, that’s what we named our son. It was the only name we could agree on. Though, it doesn’t strike me as retro.
CW commented on Feb 06 12 at 10:59 amWhile Ebeneezer is not a name I would ever pick, I *LOVE* the name Eben. The only downside I see to it is that the child will get a lot of people mishearing it as “Evan”.
Debbie commented on Mar 05 12 at 8:05 pmSome names have never become outdated (including a few biblical names) such as Jonathan, James, Joshua, Samuel, Aaron, Luke, Hannah, Rebecca and some for example used for Royals such as Harry, William, Henry and George. Of course you have the hand-me-down keep in the family (normally first born of that gender) name like with my gradfather, uncle, first cousin, second cousin, third cousin alll having the same first name. My nephew got my dad’s middle name and my the male version of my dad’s sister’s name as his middle name. One of my middle names is also one of my mum’s middle names. I think my mum’s other middle name was after one of her aunts.
At the moment for a girl I like Evie (Evelyn) was my late grandmother’s middle name and boy I like Aaron Emanuel.
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