We were enjoying lunch in a favourite café this weekend, and at the next table was a family with a young toddler. The child's name we quickly learned, was Margo(t). We didn't discover whether there was or wasn't a T at the end of the name, but we suspected she was named after Margot Robbie, and not Margot Fonteyn or Margo Leadbetter (The Good Life)!
This chance overhearing got us talking about first names and fashion. How many generations before an old fashioned name becomes acceptable or even poular? Why are some christian names unacceptable or unfashionable? Why do some names have huge popularity and then almost fade from favour as quickly?
Having been christened Lindsey at a time when the name was almost unheard of, I have always been fascinated. During the 1980s and 1990s Lindsey (with all its spelling variations: Lindsay, Linzi, Lyndsey, Lynsey and on and on) rose into the top 100 most popular names. And yet, at school I was always called Lesley, a name that is now almost unheard. I didn't meet another Lindsey until my first year at university, when bizarrely two Lindseys became best friends. Possibly drawn together by the rarity of our shared name.
And so it goes on. My Mum was christened Violet in the 1930s, at a time when this Victorian name was unpopular. She loathed her name, and was always called Vie. And yet, in the early years of the 21st century, Violet and all the associated flower names became massively popular, and still are. Why?
I have never understood why Princess Diana didn't create a huge spike in the popularity of Diana and Diane. Was the name too recent in popular consciousness, as a 1950s name? Were the likes of Diana Dors and Diana Rigg still too fresh in younger people's minds? I think I have only ever known one Diane.
As always my thoughts turned to books, and I started thinking of girls' names used by the Big Four: Angela Brazil, E M Brent Dyer, Elsie J Oxenham and Dorita Fairlie Bruce, as well as Enid Blyton's choice of girls names, of course.
Angela Brazil has a wonderful selection of names: Ernestine, Blanche, Ulyth, Merle, Morvyth, Fauvette spring immediately to mind. She favours Anglo-Saxon names in A Popular Schoolgirl: Ingred and Queenrede. One of the novels was entitled Nesta's New School, but this was changed to Amanda's New School in the 1970s to appeal to the modern miss!
Maribel, Cecily, Rosamund, Jansy, Rhoda and Tansy all feature in Oxenham's Abbey Girls books. Generally, she is slightly more restrained with names, there are plenty of Joans, Janes and Jennifers, too. However, E J Oxenham does let herself go with clothes instead, especailly the costumes for all the Queens which feature in the books. Her descriptions of colour and fabric always make my mouth water!
Dorita Fairlie Bruce introduces us to Dimsie (created from her initials Daphne Isabel Maitland), another Rosamund, Hilary, Nita, Pamela and many more. None of her names have the imaginative flair of Angela Brazil or even Brent Dyer. But there are still lots of names which we don't hear today.
Finally, Enid Blyton. She was more restrained in her use of names: lots of Annes, Sallys, Lucys, Patricias and Isobels. But there are also characters called Zerelda, Wilhemenia, Darrell, Alicia, Carlotta and Georgina.
So many gorgeous names which have faded from common usage. And we're left with Margot. I'm not sure that things are improving!