Emma is now a top name choice for baby girls. I blame "Friends."

I don't blame Friends, even though it's one of my favorite shows. I've always loved names like Emma, Ella, Isabella... way before current shows and movies made them popular again.

Old lady names are back. I know a Vivian, Maude, Mabel, Josephine, Eva, and four zillion Emmas and Carolines.

My daughters have old lady names: Naomi and Charlotte. I always get "Oh, my great aunt's name was Naomi!"

ETA: My name totally shows my age, I think. Helllo, child of the 70s.

Friends? Blame Ms. Watson!

WendyNYC, is right though--names cycle, especially woman's names. Most people won't name a baby girl the same name as a grown woman that they know. On the other hand, the name of the great grandmother that they barely remember seems romantic and charming.

underthecity said:

(No offense to any Emmas who might be on AW)

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I'm sure Emma, my seven year old daughter, won't take offence.

underthecity said:

See this article.

I say it's Rachel's fault. When she had her baby on "Friends" a few years back, she decided on Emma for the name.

I yelled back at the TV, "No! That's an old lady's name!"

Because it was. My grandma's name was Emma Singer. My entire life, "Emma" has been synonymous with "old lady."

And now because of Rachel, more mothers are naming their baby girls Emma.

(No offense to any Emmas who might be on AW)

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If it bugs you so much, just tell yourself they're named after Diana Rigg's character on The Avengers. Suddenly, it's teh sexay.

There are some names that are classics--Mary, Elizabeth, Sarah, Anne--and I think I'd put Emma in with them. To me it doesn't pinge old or any particular generation, which is why it's a good name.

Wendy, I know what you mean. I went to school with boatloads of Jills, Kristins, Lisas, Amys and Heathers, and you don't see little kids with those names.

I love old names. I'm a big silent movie dork, so I've told myself that if I have a girl at some point in the future, I'm naming her Clara.

Poor unborn daughter.

I tell myself all of the new little Emmas running around are products of Jane Austen fans.

I only know one Emma, and she's in her mid-twenties. Doesn't strike me as an 'old' name at all.

When I was at primary school in Birmingham there were four in my class. I still remember three of their surnames.

WendyNYC - I named one of my characters from an earlier novel Naomi. She was a right bitch. That was the novel of which an agent requested a partial so clearly the name doesn't do anyone any harm. Hope your Naomi is nicer than mine, though!

scarletpeaches said:

WendyNYC - I named one of my characters from an earlier novel Naomi. She was a right bitch. That was the novel of which an agent requested a partial so clearly the name doesn't do anyone any harm. Hope your Naomi is nicer than mine, though!

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A bigger bitch than Naomi Campbell?

Naw, my Naomi's a sweetheart.

I agree with names being cyclical. When it was time to name our kids, I noticed there was a HUGE trend of names that were unisex(i.e. Bailey, Sean, Kindle, etc.), were really different(i.e. Uniqua, T'Shaun, etc.), or just out there(i.e. Apple, Kal-El, Pilot, Audio Science- freakin' celebs!).

We decided on biblical names that had meanings that were important to us. And, they happen to be more old-fashioned: Noah, Elizabeth,Lydia and Joshua. (Noah happened to be really popular that year, by coincidence.) I like the fact that there aren't a hundred kids with similar names to theirs and try to show them that, too.

I like unusual names, as long as they're not chavvy.

The amount of kids round here called Demi, Britney or Destiny is unbelievable. Some people shouldn't be allowed ovaries.

I name my characters and I'm happy with that. You can close a book but you can't ignore a kid if they want attention, so...

I knew a girl called Emma. She'll be about 22 now.

She was lovely. She had long auburn hair and pale skin. I made her a character in one of my early works.

It would never have worked, but she remains one of those fond memories.

My kids have boring ol' traditional names - Samantha and Jason.

I was one of about ten Kimberlys in my high school class. I think my name was second only to Jennifer for most popular girls' names in the early 70s.

Thanks for being so original, Mom.

As a sidenote; check your emails in around 60 seconds, J-Chick.

Oh... talk about yummy email!

I don't know an Emma, and I'm old, so do the math.

Blanche and Mable are old, Emma Thompson isn't old is she?

If she is I'm sure she's a MILF.

Jersey Chick said:

My kids have boring ol' traditional names - Samantha and Jason.

I was one of about ten Kimberlys in my high school class. I think my name was second only to Jennifer for most popular girls' names in the early 70s.

Thanks for being so original, Mom.

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I think every girl I went to school with was named Kim, Jenny, Lisa, Lori, Cindy, Debbie or Michelle.

To make things even more predictable, Lisa and Lori were invariably sisters. Ah, the '70s.

I'm a LORIE!
Not A Lori
or Laurie
or Laury

Is the Kyra phase over yet? I know a lot of girls named Kyra

Devil Ledbetter said:

I think every girl I went to school with was named Kim, Jenny, Lisa, Lori, Cindy, Debbie or Michelle.

To make things even more predictable, Lisa and Lori were invariably sisters. Ah, the '70s.

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One of my best friends was also a Kim. We were Kim[SUP]2[/SUP]

I knew a LOT of Michelles as well. **sigh**

Emma's not really an old lady name. I'm in my mid-twenties and have had two Emma friends my age. I think it's a really awesome name. Anybody else notice that the top little girl names are very old-fashionedy grandma names, and the top little boy names are very traditional biblical/family sort of names? Weird. I'm glad to see the decline of Hayden/Jaden/Caden/Braden/Aiden, though. Not that there's anything wrong those names... The Top Tensies this year:

1. Jacob

2. Michael

3. Ethan

4. Joshua

5. Daniel

6. Alexander

7. Anthony

8. William

9. Christopher

10. Matthew



GIRLS

1. Emma

2. Isabella

3. Emily

4. Madison

5. Ava

6. Olivia

7. Sophia

8. Abigail

9. Elizabeth

10. Chloe

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Thankfully, giving girls the "junior" suffix doesn't seem to be catching on...

Caroline's a popular name right now? Wow. It's always been a classic but fringe sort of name, and often mispronounced as Carolyn.

I named my kids with names I figured wouldn't be too popular but not too let's-invite-teasing "out there" either. The year after I named my son, his name became a trendy GIRL's name! What's up with that shite, eh?

I thought it had to do with the movie "Emma" based on Jane Austen's book. The name has been popular for quite a while.