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Basic Trope: A name that was commonplace when a work premieres becomes less popular over time to the point where it seems anachronistic on the character.

  • Straight: The Letitia Thomas Mysteries is a series of novels written in The Gay '90s about a twenty-something-year-old detective. The girl's name "Letitia" was reasonably commonplace back then. When the series is given a Setting Update to The New '10s, the protagonist's name is still Letitia Thomas even though the character would have been born in The '90s, long after the name "Letitia" had fallen from popularity.
  • Exaggerated: Dick Gaylord has kept his name for 120 years straight through dozens of adaptations.
  • Downplayed: Little Jennifer was first published in The '70s and the name was chosen to be commonplace and relatable, as it was written in the time where it was the most popular name in the States. Forty years later, her books are still published even though Jennifer isn't nearly as common now, albeit still heard.
    • Her parents, originally born in The '40s and named Janet and Randy, are renamed Kelly and Christopher to account for the rolling Setting Update.
  • Justified:
    • Letitia Thomas is so well known and beloved it would seem strange to change her name, even though it's outdated.
    • New Ten's Little Jennifer has the backstory of her name changed: Instead of just being named a trendy name, she was now named after a friend of her parents' (who were in the Jennifer generation) who passed away shortly before Little Jennifer was born.
  • Subverted: "Letitia Thomas" is now a Legacy Character and "Letitia Thomas's" name is actually the more period-accurate Ashley.
  • Double Subverted: Ashley changes her name to Letitia Thomas to honor her predecessor.
  • Parodied: A classic series from Victorian England is given a remake set in the modern day. The now-trendy teenage protagonist keeps his original name of Bartholomew Higgins, and no one whatsoever questions it.
  • Inverted: Letitia's sisters were originally named Emily and Hannah, both common names in Victorian times as well, but are given the more distinctly Victorian names Emmeline and Harriet in the setting update.
  • Zigzagged: Letitia, as the title character, keeps her name, but her love interest Algernon becomes Andrew and her best friend Sybil becomes Sophie. Her boss, originally a man named Noel, becomes a woman named Noelle.
  • Averted: Letitia Thomas becomes Ashley Thomas in the setting update.
  • Enforced: Letitia Thomas is a very well recognized name.
  • Lampshaded: "Who names their kid Letitia?"
  • Invoked: ???
  • Defied: ???
  • Exploited: ???
  • Conversed: "Letitia Thomas is too much of a recognizable brand name for them to change it now!"
  • Discussed: "Hm. Letitia. That's a name you don't hear often- at least, not in this century. I think it suits you, though."
  • Deconstructed: Sales of the new Letitia Thomas books are low, and many blame the lead's obscure name for it.

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