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Help[Opinions] Mary
When do you think Mary is going to come back in naming trends? It has completely fallen out of the charts in Canada, and in the US it has been passed by Maria (Mary is still ranking, but all of the young Marys I know in the US go by their middle names).
How long do you think it will take Mary to be cute vintage instead of old lady?
How long do you think it will take Mary to be cute vintage instead of old lady?
Replies
I think, if my hunches are correct, names will become more "conservative" in the next couple of decades, especially for girls. More serious names will grow in popularity - we're already seeing this in the creeping up of names that people used to find fuddy-duddy, like Eleanor, Clara, Millie, Josephine, etc. At the very least Mary will have a humble resurgence. I don't know if it will be a top 10 name again or anything, but something. I mean if Gen Z and Alpha sees a name like Jennifer as an "old lady" name and Brenda as vintage cool then maybe Gen Beta will think Mary is wonderful again. So maybe like....2045, 2050? Wild to think that's only twenty years away.
I remember about a decade ago my coworker had a daughter that he named Mary Isabel, and I thought it was surprisingly beautiful. It felt very refreshing and genuinely unique. So even ten years ago it was becoming "cute vintage" to me.
I remember about a decade ago my coworker had a daughter that he named Mary Isabel, and I thought it was surprisingly beautiful. It felt very refreshing and genuinely unique. So even ten years ago it was becoming "cute vintage" to me.
This message was edited today, 1:43 PM
Yes- conservative names are definitely coming back. As a gen-z girl with an unfortunately "kreatyv " name, myself and many many others are very tired of names trying to be so special. I think this is going to be magnified for Gen Alpha. The Emmas and Samanthas are more likely be naming their children Mountain or Eleven or Arizona or Emerald etc. while the people who had a different name growing up are more likely to name our children Elizabeth, Amelia, etc- the beautifully normal names we wanted. But I just don't see Mary coming back quite yet- it's the name of a lot of our grandmothers. Similarly, every other mom of a GenZ that I know is named either Jennifer, so I don't see that (or Brenda) coming back quite yet. But it's very strange, because looking at the top 1910-29s names it is very easy to see all of those returning (Dorothy, Margaret, Helen, Ruth)- except for #1, Mary. I think she has just been used so much that it is going to take her a bit longer to recover. But don't worry, we will have plenty of Mariella, Mariam, Mariannes to help us wait for her :) .
I am a Gen Z, and I have a deep appreciation for classic names. (Classic names like Eleanor, Emma, Olivia, Scarlett, and Elizabeth are huge in popularity right now.) But I also love certain modern names like Everest, December, Hadley, Avalene, and Raine. Emery and Emryn are fun modern names too.
This message was edited today, 1:34 PM
I think Mary can be a cute vintage name! I think it will always be used because of Christianity, but maybe not as popular right now.
I think Mary is still used pretty well by religious people. It has strong religious connotations. I'm not sure, but I don't expect to surge high in popularity for at least another 20 to 30 years.
Probably not very long. It’s a charming name.
I like…
Mary Elizabeth
Mary Sophia
Mary Katherine
Mary Eleanor
Mary Anna
Mary Louisa
I like…
Mary Elizabeth
Mary Sophia
Mary Katherine
Mary Eleanor
Mary Anna
Mary Louisa
I suspect there's a language issue in the US: people with Spanish ancestry would of course prefer and use Maria. Here in South Africa, Maria is the formal name of choice for Afrikaans-speakers; its nn form is Marie, pronounced MAHri. English speakers have always used Mary and more recently also compounds like Mary-Ann, Marianne, even Mary-Lou, but not frequently, though we don't keep the right kind of statistics so it's hard to tell. We wanted to give our daughter mns to honour her grandmothers: my mother had just one given name, so that was easy; DH's Afrikaans mother was Bertha Maria. We couldn't face Bertha, and chose Mary over Maria because it fitted better with the other names.
I have never heard Mary called "old fashioned"
I have never met a Mary, old or young. This is probably because I don't live in a place where we name people Mary. We do however have people called Maria here (Mariya is our variant, in the east also sometimes Marya). I prefer Maria to Mary, but I don't think it would be bad for Mary to come back. It is a nice name.
I have never met a Mary, old or young. This is probably because I don't live in a place where we name people Mary. We do however have people called Maria here (Mariya is our variant, in the east also sometimes Marya). I prefer Maria to Mary, but I don't think it would be bad for Mary to come back. It is a nice name.
It's been falling and also out of the top 10 in the US for 50+ years and is still in the top 150. I would guess it will stay thereabouts rather than being the top 10 popularity level for a long time. Maybe it will never get back to top ten but just top 100 (30 years from now? 50?) like Maria currently, without ever leaving the top 500. Or maybe it'll turn out vaguely like Marie in the US which fell out of the top ten 100+ years ago, out of the top one hundred 60+ years ago, out of the top five hundred 20 years ago, and hasn't made a real comeback, though it coasts along still.
I don't think it's dated in the way that Brittany or Opal is/was dated. As a classic, it's boring/plain in a way, and I do know more older ones, but that's part of what'd make it cute for a baby (already imo - it seems sweet when I encounter it for younger people sort of like Jane) even if not unexpected or quirkily vintage the way Brittany or Opal seem to me.
Idk about Canada, but I think BtN's data for there stops at 100, which would make it comparable to the US even if it doesn't show as charting.
I don't think it's dated in the way that Brittany or Opal is/was dated. As a classic, it's boring/plain in a way, and I do know more older ones, but that's part of what'd make it cute for a baby (already imo - it seems sweet when I encounter it for younger people sort of like Jane) even if not unexpected or quirkily vintage the way Brittany or Opal seem to me.
Idk about Canada, but I think BtN's data for there stops at 100, which would make it comparable to the US even if it doesn't show as charting.
This message was edited yesterday, 6:35 PM