Full Circle

It has been said that names cycle in and out of fashion every 100 years. To see if this was true, I checked out the Social Security Administration’s website and looked at their listings for the top 1000 names of the 1900’s (1900-1910). There’s definitely some truth to the story, but there are also a good many names that haven't yet cycled back into style. Maybe they are ready to. And maybe their time is up. Judge for yourself. I’ve divided the 1900’s names into which category I think they belong in. Male names are less likely to fall entirely out of fashion than female names, as many continue to get passed on as namesakes.

Just Plain Gone!

Agnes In many surveys about stereotypes, Agnes was cast as “unattractive”. The stereotype surveys were made much of in many baby name books, prompting parents to drop the unpopular names.
Bertha In the same stereotype survey that found Agnes unattractive, Bertha was found to be “fat”. That probably had something to do with its decrease in popularity.
Bessie As the name bestowed to many milk cows, Bessie has lost favor as a human name.
Beulah Although I’ve met an adorable little Beulah, I think her parents’ choice is the exception rather than the rule. I don’t think we’ll be seeing a lot of little Beulahs anytime soon.
Blanche Tends to make people think “Du Bois”. Not the image most people have for their little girls.
Edna I was unable to find a specific reason for this name’s fall from grace, but message boards revealed that many people consider it to sound old or plain.
Ethel Wow…trying to find reasons for this name’s drop, I tapped into a deep pool of hatred. While people occasionally defended the name, some went so far as to insist it should be stricken from baby name books, or even the language. Ethel Mertz of I Love Lucy was one reason listed for the name’s unpopularity.
Fannie Both the British and American slang have ruled out this name.
Gladys The name Gladys has dropped rapidly throughout the 90’s. On message boards, a number of people liked the name, but said it sounded ‘old’. This may signal a return in a decade or two, or it may signal a fade out.
Mildred The similarity to the word “mildew” is off-putting to some parents.
Adolph For obvious reasons, the name Adolph took a massive downturn after World War Two.

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