History Main / OutdatedName

* In the ''Series/{{Friends}}'' episode "The One Where Chandler Takes a Bath", when Rachel and Ross are unable to decide on a name for their unborn baby, Rachel vetoes "Ruth", asking if Ross thinks she's giving birth to an old lady.

* In Creator/MadeleineLEngle's ''Literature/AWrinkleInTime,'' written in the 1950's, we're introduced to ChildProdigy Charles Wallace Murry. He is always referred to by both first names (Charles Wallace), a practice that was more common in the mid-century when the book was written than it is today. He often gets his name erroneously shortened to just "Charles" by contemporary readers and sometimes newer film adaptations. In addition, he has older brothers Sandy and Dennys. Sandy is short for Alexander, which is presumably done so he isn't mixed up with his father, [[AncestralName also named Alexander.]]

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Rugrats 2021}}'', the series has a SettingUpdate to be set in the 2020's, yet the parents' names remain the same; Didi and Betty stick out as especially old-fashioned sounding. This is especially so since Betty is shown to be short for the evergreen "Elizabeth," yet she continues to go by Betty instead of a more modern nickname for Elizabeth, such as Eliza, Liz, or Beth. However, the SettingUpdate does provide a potential [[JustifiedTrope justification]] for Didi's nickname in this continuity: Her given name is Diana, this version of the character canonically grew up in the 90's. Her nickname may have been influenced in part by UsefulNotes/DianaPrincessOfWales.

* {{Lampshaded}} in ''Literature/TheTwilightSaga,'' where Bella notes that the Cullens' old-fashioned names are unusual (and, eventually, learns that it's because they're ReallySevenHundredYearsOld). That said, some of them, like "Edward" and "Alice," really aren't out of place in modern times.

* In Creator/MadeleineLEngle's ''Literature/AWrinkleInTime," written in the 1950's, we're introduced to ChildProdigy Charles Wallace Murry. He is always referred to by both first names (Charles Wallace), a practice that was more common in the mid-century when the book was written than it is today. He often gets his name erroneously shortened to just "Charles" by contemporary readers and sometimes newer film adaptations. In addition, he has older brothers Sandy and Dennys. Sandy is short for Alexander, which is presumably done so he isn't mixed up with his father, [[AncestralName also named Alexander.]]

* In Creator/MadelineLEngle's ''Literature/AWrinkleInTime," written in the 1950's, we're introduced to ChildProdigy Charles Wallace Murry. He is always referred to by both first names (Charles Wallace), a practice that was more common in the mid-century when the book was written than it is today. He often gets his name erroneously shortened to just "Charles" by contemporary readers and sometimes newer film adaptations. In addition, he has older brothers Sandy and Dennys. Sandy is short for Alexander, which is presumably done so he isn't mixed up with his father, [[AnecestralName also named Alexander.]]

* In Creator/MadelineLEngle's ''Literature/AWrinkleInTime," written in the 1950's, we're introduced to ChildProdigy Charles Wallace Murry. He is always referred to by both first names (Charles Wallace), a practice that was more common in the mid-century when the book was written than it is today. He often gets his name erroneously shortened to just "Charles" by contemporary readers and sometimes newer film adaptations. In addition, he has older brothers Sandy and Dennys. Sandy is short for Alexander, which is presumably done so he isn't mixed up with his father, [[AnecestralName also named Alexander.]]

** The other fictional Zelda that precedes the games is Comicbook/SabrinaTheTeenageWitch's aunt (created in 1968).

* ''Series/OnlyMurdersInTheBuilding: Mabel Mora is a young woman in her late 20s, but you wouldn't know that from her first name. When Charles calls all the hospitals to look for Mabel after her stabbing attack on the subway, he notes that the only Mabel he found was 99 and just died. When Mabel introduces herself to Charles and Oliver in the first episode, they both laugh at first, thinking she's joking.

* In ''WesternAnimation/{{Rugrats 2021}}, the series has a SettingUpdate to be set in the 2020's, yet the parents' names remain the same; Didi and Betty stick out as especially old-fashioned sounding. This is especially so since Betty is shown to be short for the evergreen "Elizabeth," yet she continues to go by Betty instead of a more modern nickname for Elizabeth, such as Eliza, Liz, or Beth. However, the SettingUpdate does provide a potential [[JustifiedTrope justification]] for Didi's nickname in this continuity: Her given name is Diana, this version of the character canonically grew up in the 90's. Her nickname may have been influenced in part by UsefulNotes/DianaPrincessOfWales.

* In the ''Franchise/DespicableMe'' series, originating in the 2010's, Gru's daughters have the three very old-fashioned names of Margo, Edith, and Agnes, which sound more like they came from the 1930s.

* OutdatedName: Mabel Mora is a young woman in her late 20s, but you wouldn't know that from her first name. When Charles calls all the hospitals to look for Mabel after her stabbing attack on the subway, he notes that the only Mabel he found was 99 and just died. When Mabel introduces herself to Charles and Oliver in the first episode after they're all at the same restaurant after having to stay out of their apartments for the time being due to a pulled fire alarm, they both laugh at first, thinking she's joking.

* ''Series/UnbreakableKimmySchmidt'' had Titus really bothered that his date had a baby named Linda, which he automatically ties to a middle-aged woman working in Human Relations - to the point he goes to a company, asks for "Linda in HR" and turns out there are four of them.

* "Tiffany" is something of a subversion. It derives from the [[OlderThanFeudalism Ancient Greek]] name "Theophania" (literally "manifestation of God" or "apparition of God"; it’s the feminine form of "Theophanes", the name of two early medieval Greek saints), was quite common in medieval times, but it fell out of use in the West in the Early Modern period (the Greeks and Eastern Europeans kept on using the original form "Theophania"). It didn’t really revive in the English-speaking world until the 20th century (probably by its has association with the luxury crafts of Tiffany & Co.), and thus got a reputation as being much more modern than it actually is. This makes it impossible for writers to use it in fantasy and medieval stories without breaking WillingSuspensionOfDisbelief, [[RealityIsUnrealistic even though it's accurate]]. This is referred to as "the Tiffany Problem."

* Beast Boy from ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'' finds his given name, "Garfield", to be an EmbarrassingFirstName. This is most likely due to its association with ''ComicStrip/{{Garfield}}''. Beast Boy, however, predates the cat by several years.

** The girls live in a RetroUniverse patterned after the mid-20th century despite taking place in the late 90s and early-to-mid 2000s. When the Professor imagines that his girls are normal kids instead of superpowered ones, it's shown that he gave them old-fashioned names to fit with the aesthetic of the show: Bertha, Beatrice, and Betty.
** Professor Utonium's JerkAss college roommate is called "[[ADickInName Dick]]".

* ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'' features a variety of both outdated and modern [[UnitedEurope European]] names for both its Eldian and Marleyan characters. [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] considering Eldia is stuck in an early 1800s [[MedievalStasis stasis]] and Marley is at most in the early [[GenteelInterbellumSetting Inter-war period]].

* The titular protagonist of ''ComicBook/BlackCanary'' dates back to 1947. Her name, "Dinah", wasn't as rare in TheForties as it's since become. It's probably why when she appears in ''Series/{{Arrow}}'', she goes by MiddleNameBasis; "Laurel" is not terribly common, but it's not as unknown as "Dinah" today.

* Basil Karlo, better known as Clayface, debuted in the 1940s. The name was already pretty dated back then, and likely intentionally, given that he was middle-aged--nowadays, it's almost unheard of.

* ComicBook/PatsyWalker still has the nickname even if it fell out of vogue as a reductive for Patricia. The Netflix show ''Series/JessicaJones2015'' has her preferring to be called by the more contemporary "Trish", while "Patsy" was [[TheDanza the name of her character in a show]].

* ''WesternAnimation/TheLEGOBatmanMovie'' pokes fun at Robin's outdated name. When he introduces himself to Batman, he says that his name is Richard but everyone at the orphanage calls him "Dick". This causes Batman to note how KidsAreCruel, misunderstanding that it's just a nickname for "Richard".

* In the ''Franchise/DespicableMe'' series, originating in the 2010's, Gru's daughters have the three very old-fashioned names of Margo, Edith, and Agnes, which sound more like they came from the 1930s.

* In ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'' the fact that one of the Freys is named Rhaegar (after the crown prince of the fallen Targaryen dynasty, who's been dead for around 20 years by the time of the story) is met with some derision from other characters. The Targaryens were still around when Rhaegar Frey would have been named, but by the time of the story it's become this, including Wyman Manderly calling him "That smirking worm who wears a dragon's name" as he is about as far from the charismatic, attractive Targaryen prince as possible. His father and brother respectively are named after other members of the dynasty, Aenys and Aegon, and this hints at the Freys' [[AmbitionIsEvil wider ambitions]].

* There's an in-universe example in ''Literature/MidnightTides'', book five of the ''Literature/MalazanBookOfTheFallen'': the slave Feather Witch, named thus due to her talent in casting the tiles. Seren Pedac wonders who named her such because the name is so old, she hasn't heard it in a long time, and even then only in connection to histories. It's no longer in use among the Letherii but seems to have been kept somewhat alive among the Letherii slaves living outside the kingdom's borders.

* Leslie's name in ''Literature/BridgeToTerabithia'' was a TomboyishName in the 1970s because it was [[GenderBlenderName mostly used for boys]]. This, combined with her androgynous looks, was why Jess couldn't tell her gender at first. By the 2000s, however, it became rare for boys to be named "Leslie". The 2007 film ended up giving Leslie a GirlinessUpgrade instead.
* {{Lampshaded}} in ''Literature/TheTwilightSaga,'' where Bella notes that the Cullens' old-fashioned names are unusual (and, eventually, learns that it's because they're ReallySevenHundredYearsOld). That said, some of them, like "Edward" and "Alice," really aren't out of place in modern times.

* ''Literature/HarryPotter'':
** J.K. Rowling did this intentionally, with "Ron," "Hermione," "Ginny," "Neville," "Dudley," and other names that few real '90s kids would have, because she didn't want her young readers to be teased at school for having the same names as the characters. Of course, the opposite happened, as her books caused [[BabyNameTrendStarter renewed popularity for all those names]] (except for "Dudley").
** Minor characters in the series often have even more outdated names: Bartemius, Cornelius, Dedalus... This has ''not'' led to a revival of any of these names.
* As a result of running on ComicBookTime for fifty years, some of the child characters' names in Creator/BeverlyCleary's ''Literature/HenryHuggins'' and ''Literature/RamonaQuimby'' books now sound old for their ages, such as "Beatrice", "Henry" (though recently this name has regained popularity), "Howie", "Willa Jean" and "Mary Jane". In the early book ''Beezus and Ramona'', Beezus wishes she had a normal nickname like "Betty" or "Patsy": nowadays "Betty" and "Patsy" are almost as rare for 9-year-old girls as "Beezus".
* Claire Stanfield of ''Literature/{{Baccano}}'' is a man and named after his grandfather, since Clair was a somewhat common masculine name prior to the 1900s. After faking his death he starts going by the comparatively-modern-sounding "Felix", with only his wife Chane (who [[CuteMute doesn't talk anyway]]) having permission to call him Claire.

* Vyvyan from ''Series/TheYoungOnes'' has this in every way. Vyvyan is very much an upper-class name and ''very'' old-fashioned. Put simply, it's the kind of name you'd expect a retired colonel in a GenteelInterbellumSetting to have, not a psychotic [[TheQuincyPunk Quincy Punk]] in the late '80s. Moreover, Vyvyan is an exclusively male name, but commonly confused with homophones Vivian and Vivien, which are unisex only in the most technical sense (though Vivien is masculine in French), and Vivienne, which is exclusively female.
* Both ''Series/{{Sherlock}}'' and ''Series/{{Elementary}}'', since they don't change the name of Literature/SherlockHolmes. Then again, it was an uncommon name even when the stories were written, but by now has acquired even more of a "Wacky Victorian Name" feel, probably ''because'' of Holmes.

* Twink is renamed in most updates of ''WesternAnimation/RainbowBrite'' likely due to his name bringing to mind different things than it did in the early 1980s. It's slang for a [[TheTwink young, androgynous gay man]], but this wasn't mainstream knowledge at the time of release.
* ''Franchise/LooneyTunes'':
** WesternAnimation/BugsBunny. "Bugs" or "Bugsy" was a reasonably common nickname in the '30s for someone known to be a little crazy, especially if their given name started with B. The slang and nickname (not the literal word usage referring to insects [[note]]Technically referring to insects in the order Hemiptera[[/note]]), however, fell out of usage and now the cartoon rabbit is just about the only well-known Bugs in popular culture.
** ''WesternAnimation/WabbitALooneyTunesProduction'', now known as ''New Looney Tunes'' has Leslie P. Lilylegs, who is a male (not female) antagonist of Bugs Bunny. Leslie was originally a male name, but its modern usage is a female name.

* Beast Boy from ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans'' finds his given name, "Garfield", to be an EmbarrassingFirstName. This is most likely due to its association with ''ComicStrip/{{Garfield}}''. Beast Boy, however, predates the cat by several years.

* Claire Stanfield of ''Literature/{{Baccano}}'' is a man and named after his grandfather, since Clair was a somewhat common masculine name prior to the 1900s. After faking his death he starts going by the comparatively-modern-sounding "Felix", with only his wife Chane (who [[CuteMute doesn't talk anyway]]) having permission to call him Claire.
* ''Manga/AttackOnTitan'' features a variety of both outdated and modern [[UnitedEurope European]] names for both its Eldian and Marleyan characters. Somewhat [[JustifiedTrope Justified]] considering Eldia is stuck in an early 1800s [[MedievalStasis stasis]] and Marley is at most in the early [[GenteelInterbellumSetting Inter-war period]].

Names are one of those things that change often. Popular names, unpopular names, spellings, and the like are constantly changing. What was popular one hundred years ago in an area will likely differ dramatically from what is popular current time.

Some {{Gender Blender Name}}s are this. For example, traditionally "Ashley", "Leslie", and "Whitney" were male names; however, in the past several decades they have become more common as feminine names. This can also be something of a CyclicalTrope--[[DeadGuyJunior parents tend to name their kids after older or deceased relatives]], which can lead to names abruptly coming back into vogue, and famous fictional characters with old-fashioned names can bring those names back into prominence in real life as well.

Compare to OutdatedOutfit, GrandfatherClause, TheArtifact, ArtifactName, PleaseSelectNewCityName and UsefulNotes/WhyMaoChangedHisName.

** Sabrina has seen brief spikes in popularity, peaking at number 53 in 1997 thanks to [[Series/SabrinaTheTeenageWitch1996 the previous year's TV series]], but many of the others haven't been as lucky.