It takes at least four generations for names to sound appealing again for babies. The names of today’s moms and dads – names popular from the late sixties through the eighties – are for the most part too familiar to foist upon an innocent newborn.  You’ll find a lot of young parents but not many stylish babies with the following 1970s-style names:

　　girls

　　AMY

　　DANIELLE

　　ERICA

　　ERIN

　　HEATHER

　　JENNIFER

　　JESSICA

　　JULIE

　　KAREN

　　KATIE

　　KELLY

　　KIM

　　KRISTIN

　　LAUREN

　　LINDSAY

　　LORI

　　MEGAN

　　MELISSA

　　MICHELLE

　　STEPHANIE

　　TRACY

　　Boys are a little more complicated, as styles don’t change as fast and more boys are named after their dads.  Still, these are found far less frequently now than in the 1970s.

　　BRADLEY

　　BRIAN

　　CRAIG

　　DARREN

　　DENNIS

　　DEREK

　　DOUGLAS

　　ERIC

　　GLENN

　　JEFFREY

　　KEITH

　　KEN

　　KEVIN

　　SCOTT

　　STEVEN

　　TODD

　　Even less attractive are the Baby Boomer Names, dowdy and old-fashioned.  Out out out are:

　　girls

　　BARBARA

　　BEVERLY

　　BRENDA

　　CAROL

　　CONNIE

　　DEBRA

　　DENISE

　　DIANE

　　DONNA

　　GAIL

　　JOYCE

　　JUDY

　　LYNN

　　MARILYN

　　PATRICIA

　　SANDRA

　　SHARON

　　SHEILA

　　SHERRY

　　boys

　　ALAN

　　BRUCE

　　DONALD

　　GARY

　　GERALD

　　JERRY

　　LAWRENCE or LARRY

　　LEONARD

　　RICHARD

　　ROGER

　　RONALD

　　WAYNE

　　It’s not until you go back four generations, to names popular around the 1920s, that you start to find some appeal.  Names from that decade that are beginning to find a new audience among modern baby namers, for stylish newborns, are:

　　girls

　　ALICE

　　ANNA

　　CLARA

　　EDITH

　　ELEANOR

　　ELLA

　　EVA

　　EVELYN

　　FLORENCE

　　FRANCES

　　GRACE

　　HAZEL

　　IDA

　　JOSEPHINE

　　JUNE

　　LILLIAN

　　LOUISE

　　LUCY

　　MARGARET

　　PEARL

　　ROSE

　　RUBY

　　VERA

　　VIOLET

　　boys

　　EDWARD

　　RAYMOND

　　WALTER

　　JACK

　　HENRY

　　ARTHUR

　　LOUIS

　　FRED

　　JOE

　　SAMUEL

　　LEO

　　RAY

　　THEODORECHESTER