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To be fair, names have not been "what they used to be" since the 16th or 17th century; once the Enlightenment hit, fashions and fads reflecting philosophies started influencing names and they went off the rails. A lot of names that people think of as "vintage classics" are the fad names of their day. If you ever see the phrase "revived in the 19th century" it's from the Victorian obsession with romanticizing the past, so it's a trashy Victorian invention. So it's not like this generation in particular is especially bad, it's just that you're not a fan of the fashion. I often don't understand it myself, it's mysterious to me. Like why would you name your child after a gun, or a gun company? Or stuff like Diesel and Hemi? I mean, I get it, but I also don't. The values don't make sense to me.

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From your list, I'm coming around to Paisley, and I started liking Everleigh, Stevie, and Hadley, and sort of Palmer? I like Oakley and Journee in theory. Kinsley accidentally grew on me when I used it for a story and I wrote it so many times I began to feel affection for it. I humanized Kinsley! The horror!

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I kind of like Ryker, but that's because I'm a fringe Star Trek nerd through my husband. Kaiden's growing on me too because I think that's another character name from a game he plays.

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A lot of these names feel like they're on the way out, though, to me. Grayson, Bryson, Rylee, Mackenzie, Nevaeh, Jayden, Hayden, Jaxson... they all feel like they would have been fresh 15-20 years ago.

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What are some examples of good modern names to you?

This message was edited 5/24/2025, 11:56 AM