It’s pretty obvious that the first initial letters of names move in and out of fashion.  The last several years have seen a rotation of vowels—A, E, O, I– as favored name-starters.  But there have been instances, too, of  ending sound name trends as well, which aren’t quite so apparent.  Case in point:

　　In the early decades of the twentieth century, in addition to name trends like  the birth of the flower name craze—Rose, Violet, Lily, Daisy, Hazel and Myrtle— as well as gem names like Pearl, Ruby and Opal, and the month names of April, May and June, there was an infatuation with girls’ names ending in ‘s’.  Appellations such as Doris, Phyllis and Lois were seen as ultra-poetic and romantic, having an appealing classical feel—but it was a fad that faded fairly quickly.  Today’s most popular list , for example, shows only two female names ending with the S sound in the Top 100 (Alexis and Genesis), while in the years from 1900 to 1930, there were five times that number.  Some of them still sound terminally dated today:

　　Dolores

　　Doris

　　Gladys

　　Lois (maybe)

　　Phyllis

　　…while the other half are either ripe for revival or already back:

　　Agnes

　　Alice

　　Beatrice (ice-endings produce an S sound too)

　　Florence

　　Frances

　　Other s-ending names somewhat further down on those early twentieth century lists were:

　　Avis

　　Bess

　　Clarice

　　Eunice

　　Iris

　　Janice/Janis

　　Leatrice

　　Mavis

　　Mercedes

　　These days, we’re noticing the emergence of interest in a whole raft of sibilant-ending names. Some are recent imports, some are newly revitalized oldies, others are unusual nature or place or word names.  Taken together, with their fresher feel, they are beginning to start a trend of their own.

　　The up-and-coming s-sound-ending names include:

　　Alannis/Alanis

　　Amaris

　　Amaryllis

　　Anais

　　Annalies(e)

　　Ardis

　　Arliss

　　Artemis

　　Bliss

　　Carys/Karis

　　Charis

　　Chloris

　　Corliss

　　Damaris

　　Dilys

　　Ellis

　　Eos

　　Glenys

　　Glynis

　　Hollis

　　Ines

　　Isis

　　Lettice

　　Lillias

　　Lotus

　　Lourdes

　　Memphis

　　Nerys

　　Neves

　　Norris

　　Pallas

　　Persis

　　Reese

　　Solstice

　　Tallis

　　Tanis

　　Thais

　　Venice

　　Venus

　　Wallis

　　Plus a few boys’ names that have tiptoed into the girls’ section, such as James, Jules

　　Do you see this as a trend?  Particularly like any of the names?