Are you looking for a name for your baby girl or boy that is a little bit unique; a name that few babies of their generation will have? If you like the current trend towards classic names you can still choose one aside from those popular right now.
Births, Deaths and Marriages Victoria has an excellent Popular Names Search facility online where you can look right back to 1929 for the top 100 girl’s and boy’s names for inspiration. Find it here. This data isn’t publicly available for any other state governments.
Here are the top ten girl’s and boy’s names popular from the 30s to the 50s that is not popular right now anywhere in Australia.
Girls:
Margaret is a clear leader. It was number one through the 30s and 40s to drop to fifth in the 50s.
Elizabeth hung towards the bottom of the lists in the 30s through to the 50s.
Patricia and Barbara were big in the 30s and 40s but disappeared from the top ten in the 50s.
Judith, Helen and Lynette were popular from the 40s to the 50s.
The top choices in the 50s clearly changed away from previous trends. Jennifer, Susan and Christine where the top three for the decade, not seen in the decades before.
Ten classic baby girl names from the 30s to the 50s in Victoria that are not popular today:
- Margaret
- Patricia
- Barbara
- Elizabeth
- Judith
- Helen
- Lynette
- Jennifer
- Susan
- Christine
Boys:
Classic names really come in to play with boy’s names. Biblical names like John, Peter, and David were big from the 30s to the 50s and are not seen on top ten lists in Australia today.
Robert was also very popular, steady in third position from the 30s to the 50s.
Ronald and Brian were popular from the 30s to the 40s. Ian appeared in the 40s and continued popularity into the 50s.
Kevin, Kenneth and Donald were towards the lower end of the 30s list and have not been seen since in Australia.
Ten classic baby boy names from the 30s to the 50s in Victoria that are not popular today:
- John
- Robert
- Ronald
- Brian
- Peter
- David
- Ian
- Kevin
- Kenneth
- Donald