Experts at the family history company Findmypast say that popular baby names come and go in 100-year cycles, and names like Albert and Joan are expected to be popular again soon.

After looking at the data from the 1921 Census and observing the current trends, they found that the Royal Family has a massive influence on which baby names will be popular again in 100 years.


According to Mary McKee, who is the Head of Content Publishing Operations at Findmypast, history always has a tendency to repeat itself, and she mentioned that baby names are no exception to this.

"All roads point to Joan, as parents are increasingly looking to name their baby girls after strong female historical figures," she said. "And who better to take inspiration from than Joan of Arc."

"When it comes to boys' names, these have a tendency of coming back into fashion but as their nickname equivalent – Frederick becomes Freddie, Archibald becomes Archie," she added.

"So there is every chance that Ronald could come back into circulation as Ronnie."


It has been observed that the royal family always has some level of influence when it comes to people naming their newborns.

In the same year that Elizabeth became queen, there was a 16% increase in the number of babies being named after her. The name Harry, after falling out of favour in the 1960s and 1970s, also had a resurgence in popularity following the birth of Prince Harry in 1984.


There was a 56% rise in the number of kids named Phillip in the year 1947, which was the year that the Prince married Elizabeth. It’s believed that this is because royal marriages infuse new parents with inspiration.

And Diana experienced a renaissance in 1981, after her wedding to Prince Charles, with a 122% increase in the number of babies being named after her at that time.

It is anticipated that the impacts of the royal family will continue largely due to the birth of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex's children, Lillibet and Archie.


The results of a recent study have been compiled to come up with a list of the top 20 baby names that are likely to come back into vogue over the next few years. The findings are based on trend research, which reaches the conclusion that names go through cycles of popularity every hundred years.

The following are the 10 most popular girl baby names that are recently experiencing a resurgence in popularity:

• Joan
• Mary
• Margaret
• Dorothy
• Gladys
• Irene
• Iris
• Elsie
• Ada
• Mabel

And here are the most popular names for boys:

• Ronald
• Arthur
• Robert
• Albert
• Freddie
• Edward
• Archie
• Ernest
• Isaac
• Harris

What are your thoughts, folks? Did you find any familiar names on the lists?