A slightly old-fashioned names are making their glorious comeback

No, no, no, there is nothing wrong with Esther (on the contrary: I think it's a beautiful name) or Barbara. But when you receive an email from someone with that name, you immediately know: they are around 45-55 years old. The same goes for Irene, Diana, and Anita. Many names are simply generation-bound. But just as fashion loves to embrace old loves, so do names. My own name, May-Britt, is Swedish and I thought that when I attended a wedding in Malmö twelve years ago, I would make a good impression with my name. But it turned out to be a rather old-fashioned name that suited old aunts.

Vintage baby names are making a revival. For example, Patricia, a name that was very popular in the sixties, is suddenly ‘hot’. It ranks 59th among the most popular names and has been given to babies 5.6 million times. Anita, which means charm, is right behind Patricia with 5.4 name bearers. Barbara, Esther, and Diana are also climbing in popularity and guess what? I no longer have to introduce myself mumbling when I'm in Sweden. My name seems to have undergone a tremendous coolness upgrade there as well. So you see: never throw anything away from your wardrobe and don't complain about your name. If you just wait long enough, it will come back into fashion.