Millennial-era names that are now considered ‘old’

Gen Alphas have revealed what names they think make someone “old” and people are horrified by what they had to say.

While we might think of more traditional names like Gertrude, Estelle or Mabel as being for “old people”, the younger generation of today have very different ideas.

Mum Amber Cimiotti took to TikTok to share her shock after her young daughter revealed the millennial-era names that she and her friends believe make someone an “old person”.

Apparently 90s-esque names like Ashley, Amber and Amanda are “basically the new Margaret or Barbara” in the eyes of today’s kids.

Ms Cimiotti said her daughter Scarlett’s teachers are called “Miss Erica,” and “Miss Samantha”, so she associates these names with much more mature women.

Amber Cimiotti shared what her daughter now thinks are ‘old people’ names. Picture: TikTok / @ciaoamberc

“The other day my daughter told me the names Ashley or Amanda, or my name is Amber, are old people names,” she said.

“And I never thought about it this way but she’s like, ‘yeah my teachers are Miss Erica and Miss Samantha, there are Amandas and Ashleys, they are old people names.

“Whereas young people names, like my daughter is Scarlett, there is Charlotte, Olivia, Penelope, Isabella, Bella, Ellas, those are young people names.”

Amber explained that for her, the names cited as “old people names” in the eyes of Gen Alpha kids – those born 2010 onwards – sound like people she knew from school.

“For me, Ashley is always going to be like my friend from elementary, so it seems like a kid name to me, but it’s not,” she laughed.

“Ashley, Amanda, Amber all of these names are like basically the new Margaret or Barbara.”

The clip, which has amassed over 3.5 million views, was flooded with comments from shocked adults, some of which were floored to find out their name was considered “old” nowadays.

“What a way to find out that I’m basically Gertrude to this new generation,” a woman named Amanda wrote.

She said that names like ‘Amber’ and ‘Ashley’ are the new ‘Margaret’ and ‘Barbara’. Picture: TikTok / @ciaoamberc

“To me, Ashley is eternally a 17-year-old girl wearing two tank tops and dreaming of the day she can finally get that belly button piercing,” joked someone else.

Others pointed out that many kids of today’s generation actually have what many adults believe are “old people names” that were popular in the 1920s and 30s.

Who’s going to tell them Charlotte and Penelope are old people names?” one person humorously asked.

“Little do they know that the ‘new names’ are actually grandma names to us,” a second remarked.

Last year’s McCrindle Baby Names Report revealed that Australian parents are “challenging traditional norms”, opting to give their children “unique” names instead of more classic ones.

Despite this, the top 10 lists for both boys and girls have remained largely unchanged, aside from a slight rejig in order.

People in the comments were shocked that their names might now be considered "old". Picture: iStock

Oliver was once again the most popular baby name for boys, marking more than a decade in the top spot.

Charlotte returned number one, being crowned Australia’s most popular girl’s name following a brief stint in second place, as last year’s winner Isla dropped to third place.

“When it comes to naming newborns, classic names have always been popular, such as William and Olivia, as well as names that are influenced by popular culture, like Harry, Audrey and Ariana,” McCrindle social researcher Ashley Fell said.

“But we also see unique trends in how parents are choosing to name their babies in the last year.

“Parents are becoming more creative, using distinct spelling variations to make traditional names stand out.”

These include seeing Sophia as Sofia, Amelia as Emilia and Holly as Hallie, she said.

But as Aussie parents seek out modern versions of classic names, it means the decline in some previously popular monikers.

Some baby names are not as popular as they used to be. Picture: iStock

Several boys names that appeared in last year’s top 100 list have been abandoned altogether, with Ryder, Nicholas and Luka all dropping from the rankings.

Interestingly, Luca, has risen to spot 10, while Lucas came in fourteenth.

The girls have had names disappear from the top 100 too, such as Indiana which placed in position 93 last year, but slipped away completely in 2023.

Zoey, which ranked in last place in 2022, has also gone from the top 100 this year.

These dramatic falls have made way for the “increasingly popular” gender-neutral names that have been “consistently climbing” the rankings, McCrindle said.

“Millennial parents are challenging traditional norms in giving their newborns gender-neutral names,” Ms Fell added.

“In the same light, it is becoming more common to see boy/girl variations of names, like Oliver and Olivia, Harry and Harriet, and Billy and Billie.”