Millennial Mom Shares What Her Tween Thinks Are "Old Names"

Perhaps we don’t always think about names we might consider for “old” people, but it seems that narrative is in us somewhere. Names we associate with teachers or aunts or moms or just basically the people who came before us. You probably have a few names that just popped into your mind right there. I can promise you that your version of an “old name” is definitely not the same as a tween’s, as one millenial mom uncovered in a viral TikTok. Her daughter, for example, is out here thinking Ashley is the new Barbara. Listen, she’s not wrong, but we’re going to need a moment.

In her viral video, Amber Cimiotti (@ciaoamberc on TikTok) recently shared insight into what her tween daughter views as “old people names,” and you really might need to prepare yourself. “The other day my daughter told me the name Ashley or Amanda or even my name is Amber are like old people names, and I never thought about it this way.” Trust us, neither did we.

“She’s like, ‘Yeah my teacher's names are like Miss Erica, Miss Samantha, there’s Amandas and Ashleys, and she’s like, ‘Those are just old people names.’ Whereas like young people names like my daughter is Scarlett, there’s Charlotte, there’s Olivia, there’s Penelopes, there’s Isabellas, there’s Bellas, there’s Ellas, those are young people names.”

To further drive the point home, Amber went on to summarize that “Ashley, Amanda, Amber — all of these names are like basically the new Margaret or Barbara,” to tweens, even though to her ‘Ashley’ will always be “my friend from elementary.” Take a minute to let that sink in. Ashley and Amanda are the new Margaret and Barbara to our tweens.

While the thought that these names sounded old to tweens came as a shock to folks on TikTok, several pointed out that the “young” names were actually giving grandma vibes. “Little do they know that the ‘new names’ are actually grandma names to us lol,” wrote one person. Another commented, “And little do they know we just repurposed old people names lol.” One more shared, “My daughter told me a kid in her class has a dad name. Kids name is Josh.”

Yet another shared a useful tool to figure out if you have an “old” name: “If you got a shout out in Mambo Number 5, congrats you now have a granny name lol.”

It is true that more traditional names like Charlotte have become popular again in recent years, with Amelia, Olivia, and Isabella topping the charts in 2023. So where does that leave all the Ashleys and Amandas and Ambers of the world? Aging gracefully like the former Margarets and Barbaras.