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Re: Agreeing on "Classics"
in reply to a message by Puck
I think of "classic" as meaning, basically, names with roots in ancient languages, that may have changed over centuries but have had a standard form in English (Alice, Robert) for at least, say, 200 years.It is very easy for me to misconstrue names as classic, that have been frequent enough in living memory that I recognize them, and which have old roots, but might have only been used regularly in English for a relatively short time, or maybe were only revived recently. And names that are likely classics in other countries but haven't been used in English until recent times. Examples: Erik, Rose, Emily, Eugenia, Bruce, Neil, Cyril, Doris, Barbara, Brian, Audrey, Camilla, Conrad, Melanie, Tiffany, Victor, Stephanie, Mildred, Edna, Eudora, Jasmine ...I tend to cut slack and count them as classic if they've been in use for all of living memory.Adding some more candidates to your list (many arguable I guess):Virginia
Edith
Theresa
Laura
Diana
Ruth
Leah
Abigail
Clara / Clare
Claudia
Beatrix
Esther
Harriet
Millicent / Melisent
Gertrude
Dorothy
Agatha
Ursula
Agnes
Anastasia
Cecily (Cecilia)
Ellen / Helen
Joan
Victoria
Gillian
Marcia
Serena
Priscilla
Silvia
Tabitha
Winifred
Julian
Alexander
Richard
Albert
Mark
Edmund
Philip
Stephen / Steven
Adrian
Anthony
Patrick
Roger
Simon
Felix
Silvester
Vivian
Walter
Gilbert
Laurence
Leo
Wilbur
Gregory
Cyrus
Hilary
Silas
Gabriel
Benedict
Valentine
Amos
Dominic
Jude
Timothy
Luke
Lucian
Raymond
Bernard
Ralph
Harry
Alfred
Aaron
Abraham
Martin
Damian
Isaac
Rufus
Vincent
Eugene- mirfak
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