It's been 30 years since Florence fell out of the SSA Top 1,000. A top-10 name around the turn of the century, Florence stayed in the top 100 until WWII and sank like a stone over the next four decades.
Is the US ready for a Florence comeback? I say yes! Reasons:
- Hot in the UK: Appellation Mountain covered Florence back in 2009. Since then, Florence has been tearing up the charts in the UK. It popped into the top 100 in 2008, and in 2010 it was up to #54, right between spunky Matilda and stylish Amelie.
- Old Lady Chic: With Old Lady names like Stella, Lillian, and Evelyn trending up at the moment, there is great potential for other pre-WWII names to jump on the style train. Is Florence more of a Mildred than a Hazel?
- Botanical/Geographic Double-Whammy: Botanical names like Lily and Jasmine are very popular right now. So are city names like Brooklyn and London. So why not a name like Florence, that's both botanical and geographical? In 2010, there were only 75 little girls named Florence; at the same time, there were 74 named Lundyn. My point is this: if you are looking for a fresh-sounding city name, go with Florence over coming up with an alternative spelling for London.
For pet-names there are also Florrie/Flory and Floy, not to mention just plain Floss instead of Flossie.
ReplyDeleteI'd be enormously surprised if the name doesn't become a top ten in the UK in the next ten years. But is America ready for Florence back yet or not? I shall observe with interest!
Well, I just adore the name Florence and feel it's ready for a come-back for all the reasons you state, but I see no signs of it so far. I comb birth announcements etc all the time, and so far, no Florence, not even as a middle name.
ReplyDeleteI think if America jumps on board with it then we may very well follow, but we have our own history with the name which may have queered its chances for a little while(for more info, see my entry on Florence on my blog).