Millennial-era names that are now considered ‘old’, according to Generation Alpha

Gen Alphas reveal what names they think make someone “old”, and people are horrified. Photo / 123rf

When it comes to the name game, it seems a new range of monikers is being deemed old school and a new wave is all the rage. But Generation Alpha has some pretty big ideas on what is outdated — and it might add a few years to your life (metaphorically speaking).

If you find yourself contemplating traditional names, your mind naturally might conjure up monikers such as Eleanor, Eileen or Rosemary. However, today’s younger generation seems to have a slightly different perspective on what is old fashioned.

Mum Amber Cimiotti posted a clip on TikTok sharing her horror when her young daughter informed her of the millennial-era names that make someone an “old person” and were deemed out of date, reports News.com.au.

According to her Generation Alpha — those born 2010 onwards — daughter Scarlett, 90s-inspired names such as Ashley, Amber and Amanda are “basically the new Margaret or Barbara”.

Cimiotti revealed her daughter’s teachers are named “Miss Erica” and “Miss Samantha”, which Scarlett thinks are more-mature, old-fashioned names.

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

“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’.“

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

Amber said the names her daughter believed were “old-people names” sounded like people she used to be friends with at 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 joked.

“Ashley, Amanda, Amber, all of these names are like basically the new Margaret or Barbara” according to Gen Alpha kids, she says.

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The TikTok clip, which has been viewed by 3.5 million people, gained hundreds of comments from similarly shocked adults who were surprised to find their name was considered “old”.

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

“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,” another person quipped.

What’s more, a few social media users pointed out that many children of today sport names that were once deemed “old-people names”, and were popular during the 1920s and 30s.

“Who’s going to tell them Charlotte and Penelope are old-people names?” one person joked.

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

A few weeks ago, Te Tari Taiwhenua Department of Internal Affairs revealed New Zealand’s top baby names of 2023.

Topping the charts for children born last year was Noah and Charlotte, and close behind were Oliver, Luca, Amelia and Isla, as well as Jack, Leo, Theodore, Olivia, Harper and Willow.

“When you just go ahead and give your baby a porn name so that they won’t have to think up their own later". Photo / Getty Images

Top baby names of each generation (according to Coast FM)

The greatest generation (born 1901-1924)

Boys:

John

William

James

George

Charles

Girls:

Mary

Helen

Dorothy

Margaret

Ruth

The silent generation (born 1925-1942)

Boys:

James

Robert

Richard

John

William

Girls:

Barbra

Patricia

Judith

Mary

Betty

Baby boomers (born 1943-1964)

Boys:

Michael

David

James

John

Robert

Girls:

Susan

Linda

Karen

Mary

Donna

Generation X (born 1965-1980)

Boys:

David

Jason

Christopher

Michael

James

Girls:

Jennifer

Amy

Melissa

Heather

Angela

Generation Y / Millennials (born 1981-2000)

Boys:

Matthew

Michael

Jacob

Joshua

Christopher

Girls:

Emily

Hannah

Samantha

Ashley

Sarah

Generations Z / Boomlets (born from 2001)

Boys:

Jayden

Jacob

Mason

William

Noah

Girls:

Ava

Isabella

Emma

Olivia

Sophia