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If you’ve ever felt that a name just sounds older, it could be that its use has declined between generations.
But some have been making a comeback, as evident throughout Newfoundland and Labrador in 2025.
Lanie and Oliver were the most popular names for new babies in the province last year, according to the province’s vital statistics division.
Jack and Isla are second on that list, with Owen and Charlotte taking third place.
Henry, George, Theodore, Amelia, Madalyn and Violet also made the top 10 list.
Melissa Rogers is a mom of three, with twin girls named Ivy and Olive.
“We went with Ivy and Olive because Olive is my grandmother’s name,” Rogers told CBC News.
Stephanie Butler also took inspiration from her grandparents when naming her seven-month-old daughter Marilyn.
“We were trying to decide between both of our grandmothers’ names, which were Margaret and Evelyn,” she said. “One day, I just came across Marilyn, and that’s kind of a combination of both of them.”
Looking to the past for baby names is part of a wider trend across Canada.
Rogers and Butler said they grew up with common names and wanted to pick something more unique — and they’re noticing other parents are doing the same.
“I think we’re all trying to be uncommon to the point that maybe … we’re all going to be common. All of a sudden, they’re going to go to kindergarten with like four little Olives,” Rogers said.
“It’s like a little bingo hall instead of kindergarten.”
Names perceived as senior are making a comeback in Newfoundland and Labrador, following a 100-year naming trend that has Lanie and Oliver ranking number one in the province in 2025.
100-year rule
Sophia Kihm is the editor-in-chief of Nameberry, which she calls the world’s largest baby naming website.
With most of her days spent analyzing data and projecting name trends, Kihm said the recirculation of older names follows a cycle.
“There’s something in baby names called the 100-year rule. It’s that names take about 100 years to come back and sound fresh again,” she said.
That’s why names like Violet and Jack are back in heavy rotation in Newfoundland and Labrador.
Kihm said both names were popular during the 1920s and 1930s.
“With new parents today, maybe their grandparents or great-grandparents would be about 100,” Kihm said. “We’re seeing these names come back according to that schedule.”
As baby names change, Kihm said, perception of grandparent names will change, too.
“One of the really fun pieces of these old lady and old man names is that there’s that juxtaposition of the really old, potentially even, you know, stodgy name on this cute little baby,” Kihm said.
“It’s like growing into an oversized sweatshirt. They get to mould that name to fit them.”
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