Names That Skipped a Generation: Hazel, Eleanor, Theodore, and the Great-Grandparent Revival

There's a pattern in the SSA data that naming researchers call the "skip-generation" effect: names that were popular for great-grandparents fall out of fashion for grandparents and parents, and then return for babies. The gap is roughly 80–100 years.

Here's what the data looks like for the most dramatic examples.

How to read the skip

The classic skip-generation name has three phases:

1. Peak — inside the top 100, often top 25 (1890s–1920s)
2. Fall — out of the top 500, sometimes out of the top 1,000 (1960s–1990s)
3. Return — now back in the top 50 or top 100 (2010s–2020s)

The names that bottomed out furthest tend to be the ones that seem freshest now — because the people alive who remember them as "real" names have become great-grandparents. The middle cohort — parents born in the 1980s–1990s — have no living memory of these names being used by people their own age.

Girls: the skip-generation cases

Hazel — #34 → #1,070 → #19

Hazel is the paradigm case.

The fall was near-total: Hazel went from a top-35 name to essentially unused. Now it's back at #19 — higher than it was at its 1920s peak.

What happened? The parents choosing Hazel in 2024 are in their late 20s or early 30s. Hazel was the name of their great-grandmothers, not their mothers. Their mothers were Linda, Donna, and Karen. The great-grandmother generation's names feel fresh; the grandmother generation's names (the Lindas and Donnas) feel dated.

Eleanor — #25 → #677 → #14

Eleanor:

Eleanor of Aquitaine, Eleanor Roosevelt, Eleanor Vance (The Haunting of Hill House). The name has too much cultural weight to disappear permanently. But it did disappear from mainstream use: #677 in 1980 means it was genuinely rare. Now at #14, it's almost exactly back to its 1920s position.

Violet — #77 → #1,025 → #15

Violet:

Violet went further down than Eleanor — below the top 1,000 in 1980 — and has returned higher (to #15 vs. Eleanor's #14). The Incredibles family includes a character named Violet (2004); Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck named their daughter Violet in 2005. Both events happened when Violet was still near-invisible, which may have helped signal to parents that the name was available and fresh.

Evelyn — #12 → #288 → #8

Evelyn:

Evelyn never fell as far as Hazel or Violet — its low of #288 is not as dramatic. But the arc is the same: high in 1920, declining through mid-century, now returning above its original peak. At #8, Evelyn is one of the great skip-generation successes.

Stella — #82 → #732 → #49

Stella:

Stella is the name most associated with a single pop-culture moment: Marlon Brando screaming "Stella!" in A Streetcar Named Desire (1951/1947 play). Ironically this association didn't help the name — it peaked before the play and fell despite it. Now at #49, Stella has moved past that association into simply being a beautiful Latin name (stella = star).

Nora — #157 → #400 → #22

Nora:

Nora's revival has been driven by being exactly the right kind of name for the current moment: short, Irish, vintage, warm. From its 1980 low of #400 to its 2024 high of #22. Nora Roberts (romance novelist) kept the name in public consciousness through the mid-century fall; Nora Jones (jazz singer) provided another reference point.

Mabel — #83 → #1,549 → #222

Mabel:

Mabel has one of the steepest falls of any name on this list — from #83 to below the top 1,500. It still hasn't fully returned (#222 vs. the original #83), but it's climbing fast. Mabel Pines from Gravity Falls (2012–2016) introduced the name to a new generation; now those children's generation is approaching parenthood.

Other skip-generation girls names

Boys: the skip-generation cases

Theodore — #63 → #206 → #4

Theodore:

Theodore's fall wasn't as dramatic as the girls (it never left the top 250), but its return is the most spectacular: from #206 to #4. The name is now more popular than at any point in its history. Theodore has been carried by Theo as a short form, which itself is now top 80 as a standalone name.

Oliver — #135 → #414 → #3

Oliver:

Oliver's return tracks the British influence on American naming — it was #1 in England and Australia for years before catching fire in the US. Now #3 with 15,343 babies.

Arthur — #18 → #147 → #105

Arthur:

Arthur has more work to do — it hasn't returned to its 1920s high yet. But the trajectory is clear. Arthur was so popular in 1920 (#18) that it represents a bigger challenge to revive; too many living people have the name for it to feel "fresh."

Leo — #48 → #367 → #24

Leo:

Leo's fall was steeper than Theodore's, and its return is nearly complete. At #24, Leo is almost back to its 1920 position of #48. The climb from #367 to #24 in under 30 years is striking.

Other skip-generation boys names

Why does skipping a generation work?

The 80-year rule. It takes roughly three generations — about 80–100 years — for a name to go from "grandparent's name" to "vintage and fresh." In 2024, parents are in their late 20s–early 30s. Their great-grandparents were born in the 1920s–1930s. The names popular in 1920–1930 are exactly on schedule for revival.

The middle generation is the problem. Names associated with the middle generation — the grandparents (born 1940–1960) and parents (born 1960–1980) of today's new parents — are the names that feel most dated: Betty, Linda, Donna, Karen, Gary, Larry, Terry, Barry. These names are only 40–60 years old — not old enough to seem vintage, too old to seem current.

The gap makes the name available. If your mother is named Hazel, you probably won't name your daughter Hazel — it's your mother's name, not a fresh choice. But if your great-grandmother was named Hazel, and no one in your immediate family circle uses the name, it feels like a discovery.

Literary and celebrity touchstones help. Many skip-generation names have been sustained by a single celebrity or literary figure who kept them visible during the long fall: Eleanor Roosevelt, Iris Murdoch, Ruby Dee, Stella Adler. This "single bearer" effect keeps a name from disappearing entirely during its out-of-fashion period.

What's next

The skip-generation logic predicts that names popular in the 1940s–1950s should be "next" for revival — but they need another 20–30 years before the timing is right. The names to watch:

Girls: Shirley (#1 in 1935), Betty (#2 in 1934), Joan (#3 in 1936), Beverly (#26 in 1940), Barbara (#1 in 1943–1953) — these are the great-grandmother names of children who will be parents in the 2040s–2050s.

Boys: Donald (#4 in 1950), Gary (#5 in 1952), Ronald (#7 in 1950), Larry (#16 in 1952) — not yet.

The names currently at the bottom of their cycle — Pearl (#802 in 2024, down from #62 in 1920), Florence (#435, down from #16), Edith (#528) — are candidates for the next revival wave. Their return may begin in the 2030s.

See also: Vintage girl names comeback · Vintage boy names comeback · Timeless names

Data: SSA US release, 1880–2024. All ranks are within-sex.