Henry is already retro-chic in the US. It entered the top hundred in 2006. As for
Lionel, hard to say. Maybe, maybe not. It entered the top thousand in 2010, after a an eight year absence, and has risen steadily since. On the other hand, for the vast majority of the years from 1880 through 1996, it was in the top thousand but mostly hovering in the three, four, and five hundreds and never was really popular.
I don't like either name. I had a cat named
Henry, and I loved that cat. He was named
Henry because I like to give animals people names that I dislike for people. I think
Henry just makes me think of a grossly overweight cruel tyrant because of
Henry VIII. And
Lionel I just can't take seriously. It's one of the three most foppish names there are, the other two being
Nigel and
Reginald.
Except on a black guy. Black guys can pull off some names that white guys can't. That's why
Lionel worked as the name for the character on "The Jeffersons" and it works for
Lionel Ritchie. I work with a black guy named
Dwight.
Dwight is dorky on a white guy, but it's not dorky on the
Dwight with whom I work.
This message was edited 10/9/2014, 5:45 AM