Millennial parents have been rocked by the list of 'old people names' a tween gave her millennial mum - but is yours on the list?
Names are important. They tell us and the world who we are. They feel like the right fit and they should after all the tireless work parents put into choosing the perfect unique baby name for their kids.
But whereas once millennial parents were the top trendsetters for baby names, they may have just been, rather viciously, dethroned - and it's kind of their own fault. That's because, after all the success of Taylor Swift-inspired baby name ideas and space-inspired baby names, which millennials have loved to use, tweens now think that the traditional, 'normal,' names millennials themselves have are 'old people names.' Eek!
The news was shared by Amber C, a TikToker who shares her parenting life on the app, after her tween daughter broke the news to her that her own name was now considered 'old.'
“My daughter told me the name Ashley or Amanda — or my name is Amber — are like old people names and I never thought about it this way,” she said.
But there is sort of an explanation, Amber thinks. It appears there is a strong link between the names her daughter sees as 'old' and the names of her school teachers. "She's like, ‘Yeah my teacher's names are like Miss Erica, Miss Samantha, there's Amanda's and Ashley's, and she's like, ‘Those are just old people names,’" she shared.
So what are young people names? According to Amber's daughter, the names of her friends. "My daughter is Scarlett, there's Charlotte, there's Olivia, there's Penelopes, there's Isabellas, there's Bellas, there's Ellas, those are young people names."
Amber added, "So basically, ‘Ashley’ is always going to be my friend from elementary, so it just seems like a kid name to me but it's not. Ashley, Amanda, Amber — all of these names are like basically the new Margaret or Barbara.”
@ciaoamberc ♬ original sound - Ciao AmberC
Unfortunately for some, Amber's daughter isn't necessarily wrong. According to baby name experts Nameberry, "Ashley was a sensation in the 1980s and 1990s, but more and more parents are turning to newer names. If you hear the name Ashley in a playground today, it's more likely to be the mum than the little girl."
Similarly, in 2022 they found that only 648 babies in the entire world were named Amanda. That’s 648 babies out of 3.6 million! As for Amber, the name ranks as the 291st most popular name in 2024 so far, not bad but also not great.
On the flip side, the so-called 'young people names' like Charlotte, Olivia, and Penelope, which one TikTok commenter pointed out were once what millennials considered to be old sounding, are massively gaining popularity. Olivia is the number one name for baby girls in the US and one of the top girls' names around the world, while Charlotte and Penelope rank at number three and number 23 on Nameberry's list of most popular baby names for girls.
Keep up to date with more family news like millennials share their top parenting rules for 2024 and it proves they’re determined not to make the same mistakes their own parents did and the meanings you never knew behind 25 very common baby names revealed as well as these 40 baby names have fallen ‘out of favour’ with millennial parents but ‘could be a perfect choice’ for those wanting a unique baby name.
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