Names of the '80s and '90s, currently resting

Before the names

That's exactly what makes this list interesting: by the hundred-year rule these names are the bargain bin from which the 2080s will shop. A fascinating read, and a bold early pick for the contrarian.

The hundred-year rule is an observation, not a law, but the records support it well. Names that peaked in the 1880s and 1890s — Hazel, Ivy, Ezra, Silas — bottomed out around the 1970s and are now back in or near the top 100. The gap between peak and return runs roughly three to four generations, long enough that nobody living remembers the name as ordinary.

Apply that clock to this list and the arithmetic is uncomfortable: an '80s and '90s peak points at the 2080s, not at now. These names are not early. They are at the bottom of the curve, which is a different and much less comfortable place to buy.

That said, the bottom of the curve is exactly where a fading classic lives, and some of these have already begun to turn. Read the peak year beside each name and compare it to today's rank. A name that peaked in 1985 and has stopped falling is telling you something the ones still sliding are not.