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Chronicle Live

National

David Morton

From Ronald to Joan - the top 20 old-style names that could make a comeback

Findmypast Princess Diana King Charles III Census Newcastle

New research has predicted the top 20 baby names set to make a comeback this decade based on record analysis and in line with the trend that names follow a 100-year cycle of popularity, making a resurgence every century.

The findings from family history brand Findmypast also revealed the impact royal events have on the popularity of baby names. The name Elizabeth surged with a 16% increase in popularity in 1953, the year of the Coronation. Similarly, after a dip across the 1960s and 1970s, Prince Harry’s birth in 1984 sparked a rush in popularity throughout the following decades.

Findmypast expects the royal obsession to continue across the next decade with families looking to the recent births of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex’s babies, Lillibet and Archie, for ideas.

Royal marriages also provided the population with plenty of inspiration when it came to choosing a name for their babies throughout history, with a whopping 56% increase in babies named Phillip in 1947, the year the Prince married Elizabeth. Similarly, the name Diana saw a resurgence in 1981, in celebration of her wedding to Prince Charles with a huge 122% increase in babies named after her.

Digitised exclusively by Findmypast and recently released to the public for the first time a century later, the 1921 Census revealed the most popular names for children under one year old. Historians used this data along with an analysis of current royal trends to predict which baby names are most likely to have a revival.

Princess Diana in Newcastle in May 1983. Following her marriage to Prince Charles two years earlier, there was a 122% increase in babies named Diana (Mirrorpix)

10 baby boy names set to make a comeback:

Ronald
Arthur
Robert
Albert
Freddie
Edward
Archie
Ernest
Isaac
Harris

10 baby girl names set to make a comeback:

Joan
Mary
Margaret
Dorothy
Gladys
Irene
Iris
Elsie
Ada
Mabel

Mary McKee, head of content publishing operations at Findmypast, said of the predictions: “History always has a tendency to repeat itself and baby names are no exception. All roads point to Joan as parents are increasingly looking to name their baby girls after strong female historical figures, and who better to take inspiration from than Joan of Arc.

“When it comes to boys’ names, these have a tendency of coming back into fashion but as their nickname equivalent - Frederick becomes Freddie, Archibald becomes Archie and so there is every chance that Ronald could come back into circulation as Ronnie.”

Joan tops the list as the name most likely to make a return to favour in the coming years. The name was previously in the Top 10 most popular baby names in 1921, as revealed by the 1921 Census, it then plummeted in popularity in the mid-1950s before falling out of the Top 100 entirely.

The resurgence has even already begun for some names, with Arthur, Freddie and Edward re-entering 2021’s Top 100 Baby Names for Boys, and Rose, Iris, Ada all featuring on the list for girls.

The 1921 Census for England and Wales was digitised as a joint project between Findmypast and The National Archives and was released to the public for the first time on January 6, 2022. The 1921 Census is available exclusively online at https://www.findmypast.co.uk/.

Meanwhile, the findings also compared the most popular boys' and girls' names in 1921 with those of today.

10 most popular boys' names in 1921: