10 Retro Baby Girl Names Making a Comeback

While naming a baby represents the culmination of an intensely personal decision-making process, a newborn’s name also forms one tiny part of a larger pattern.

The selected name might reflect widespread cultural forces — like the lasting popularity of Mary or John — or reflect more narrow subcultural or ethnic influences. It might honor someone in the baby’s family tree. Or the name might reflect larger trends in popularity (held any babies named Jackson or Sophia lately?).

While some names have always been popular in Western societies, a few once burned brightly, faded from view, and have since rekindled again. Here are 10 girl names that enjoyed widespread favor decades ago, fell from popularity, and then regained their appeal for today’s generation of parents.

Evangeline — While this name, Greek for “bearer of good news,” was never a hugely popular name, it clearly experienced a drop in popularity followed by recent revival. In the 20th century, Evangeline peaked at number 398 in popularity in 1901 in the U.S., but the name lost fans and fell out of the top 1,000 after 1966. In 2006, however — two years after the premiere of the hugely popular television show Lost, starring Evangeline Lilly — the name suddenly burst back as the 599th-most-popular name. In 2009, the year Disney’s “Princess and the Frog” came out with a character named Evangeline, the name stood at 429. It eventually peaked at number 285 in 2011, one year after Lost ended.

Adelaide — A variation on Adele, German for “noble” or “nobility,” Adelaide peaked at 179 in popularity way back in 1883. In 2005, the name cracked the to 1,000 for the first time in decades, and it’s been a dizzying ascent since. In 2011, the year that singer Adele released her Grammy-winning album 21, Adelaide made it to 407, and it’s still climbing.

Elsa — Elsa was originally a German nickname for Elisabeth, the Northern European form of the biblical name meaning “dedicated to God.” The name peaked in popularity in 1895 at number 215, but recently, it’s experienced a rapid renaissance. The name has risen in popularity every year since 2006. The 2013 hit film Frozen practically guarantees the name’s continued rise up the charts.

Evelyn — This name has always been more popular than many of the other names on this list, but it, too, has experienced rises and falls in favor. Peaking as the 10th-most-popular girl’s name in 1910, it remained in the top 20 names through 1930. In 2009 Evelyn broke back into the top 40 for the first time since 1939, leapt up to number 20 in 2013, and last year, actor Bruce Willis named his fifth daughter Evelyn. Though more typically a girl’s given name, especially in the U.S., one of the most famous Evelyns was male novelist Evelyn Waugh, who was married to a woman named Evelyn. It is an English variant of the surname Aveline, a French diminutive form of the Germanic Avila, which, finally, has an unknown meaning.

Eleanor — Eleanor definitely demonstrates the cyclical nature of name popularity. In 1884, the birth year of Eleanor Roosevelt, the name was the 124th-most-popular name in the United States. The name reached an all-time high in 1920 at 25 and didn’t fall out of the top 50 until after 1936. But not even the First Lady’s popularity during World War II could reverse a long slide in popularity. But it’s hard to keep this good name down. In 2013, Eleanor was knocking on the door of the top 100 at 106. Eleanor is an English version of the Provençal name Alienor, meaning “Other Aenor,” the name given to 12th-century Eleanor of Aquitaine to distinguish her from her mother, who was also named Aenor.

Eva — The 1852 publication of Uncle Tom’s Cabin, the best-selling novel of the 19th century, propelled this name to popularity with its tragic figure Little Eva. Eva reached its greatest popularity in 1900, at 33. Eva stayed in the top 100 through 1934, then went on a slow decline. The name reentered the Top 100 in 2009 at number 99, perhaps inspired by actress Eva Longoria, who co-starred in Desperate Housewives from 2004 to 2012. By 2013, it reached number 88. An impressive feat, but modest compared to its variation Ava, which has ranked 4 or 5 since 2006. Eva is a Latin form of the biblical Hebrew name Chava, meaning “life.”

Hazel — Hazel is one of several names derived in the 19th century from plants — in this case, the hazelnut tree. It peaked in popularity in 1897 at number 18, and remained in the top 100 through 1936. After a long fall out of the top 1,000, the name has enjoyed a resurgence in recent decades. Julia Roberts gave the name a boost when she named one of her twins Hazel in 2004, and in 2012 author John Green name the protagonist of his bestselling novel The Fault in Our Stars Hazel Grace.

Violet — The current popularity of Violet, which was number 69 in 2013, exceeds the name’s last golden era, during the 1910s. It bottomed out in the 1980s, when it disappeared from the top 1,000. In 1998, however, parents started picking the name again and it climbed even more sharply after celebrity couple Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck named their daughter Violet in 2005. This is another name derived from plants and trees that became popular in the 19th century.

Josephine — Josephine is slowly regaining popularity. The name has been on a nearly uninterrupted rise in popularity since 1987, when it hit an all-time low. The name’s heyday was in the 1910s, when it peaked at number 21 in 1917. The name is a feminine, English form of the Hebrew name Josef, meaning “he will add,” and the U.S. added plenty of Josephines in 2013, when the name clocked in at number 160.

Ruby — Ruby’s greatest popularity came between 1900 and 1936, when the name enjoyed time in the top 50, peaking at number 22 in 1911. In 2013, Ruby vaulted back into the top 100, at number 93. Ruby is taken from the name of the deep red gem, which is derived from the Latin rubeus, meaning “reddish” via the Old French rubi.

And if you’re looking for retro names to bring back, there’s no better place to find them than in your own family tree on Ancestry. Start a free trial today.

— Sandie Angulo Chen