Why nobody is giving their babies traditional Aussie names
IF YOUR parents called you Barry or Donna or Tracey we have some bad news for you — your names are on the fritz, and there’s a pretty hilarious reason why.
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STUMBLED across a five-year-old Darryl recently? What about a newborn called Sharon?
If you’re racking your brain to think of one right now, you’re not alone — our classic Aussie names are in trouble and they’ve been in trouble for years.
Thirty, forty, even fifty years ago, traditional Aussie names were all the rage.
Everyone wanted to call their kids Wayne or Kerry or Sal but there’s a reason why we don’t call our kids those names anymore — and all it takes is a walk down memory lane.
If you’re in your forties or fifties think back to your school years, maybe to the time a girl named Tracey humiliated you in front of your entire class or to the time a boy called Darren broke your heart.
Would you name your kid after someone who did that?
If the answer is definitely not, you’re part of what social research company McCrindle call the “30 year decline”.
Mark McCrindle, who is head of the data company, said the reason for a decline in iconic Aussie names is pretty simple.
“New parents are picking names in their 30s and we need to remember they went to class with people called those names. Hearing them drags them back to awkward times in high school and the people they grew up with. Parents don’t want to be reminded of that,” he said.
SHAZZA AND BAZZA ARE ON THE OUTS
Every year, McCrindle compile all of the data from Australia’s birth registries to study baby name trends.
Completed in July, its report found the most popular baby names of the past year were Oliver, for a boy, and Charlotte, for a girl. Both of those names have been in the top spot for the past three years.
McCrindle also had a look at naming trends from the 60s and 70s and what it found was “quite fascinating”.
The company found a number of the most popular names in those decades saw a sharp decline in the 80s — most completely dropping out of the top 100 by 1983.
Sharon, Kylie, Donna and Tracey were all a hit among parents in the 60s and 70s along with the boys names Wayne, Darren, Brett and Craig.
But, by the 80s, all of the kids with those classic Aussie names had grown up and were refusing to name their kids anything similar.
Or, as Mr McCrindle put it, all the Darrens and Donnas of the world had put their own names “in the freezer”.
BOGAN REPUTATIONS
Just as the Darrens and Donnas refused to name their kids anything similar, they also became the victims of having a “bogan name”.
“That bogan reputation we give names, I think it’s all done in warmth,” Mr Mcrindle said.
“It’s so Australian to take names and make them our own, we shorten everything and create nicknames and generally, a lot of Aussie nicknames sound a little bogan. Sharon changes to Shazza, Darryl goes to Daz.
“This creates a sort of ‘cultural cringe’ which also effects name trends,” he added.
THE 100 YEAR RETURN
After names have been “put in the freezer”, it generally takes about 100 years for them to come back into fashion.
“Some of the names you never thought would come back, like names your great grandparents had, are making a strong return,” Mr McCrindle said.
“When people have had enough time to not be bombarded with popular names and they’ve had time to become unique again, the names will make a resurgence,” he added.
A few years ago, it felt impossible to imagine a baby girl being named Doris or Evelyn or a cheeky toddler with a name like George or Archer but, as the royals have proved — they can be loved by the public again.
“When you hear the name Beryl or even Evelyn, you immediately think of a 60 or 70-year-old but those names are back,” he said.
And clearly the company is onto something.
Evelyn made the top 20 girls names this year and names like Bonnie, Thea and Florence all made the top 100.
Originally published as Why nobody is giving their babies traditional Aussie names