IT may not appear it given some of the exotic names you hear on the streets these days, but Oxfordshire parents seem to be sticking to the old classics.

Many are eschewing their parents’ names in favour of those from the time of their grandsparents.

The thought of naming your new addition Linda, Roger or Shirley is seemingly leaving most new parents cold.

There is a 100-year rule which sees parents of today turning their noses up at their own parents’ names, while the names of our grandparents are enjoying a revival, according to the website babycentre.co.uk Names like Ava, Blanche, Elsie, Nell, and Olive are back in vogue with parents, while boys called Alfie, Bertie, Stanley and even Reggie are increasingly popular.

Jacquie Bugeja, the chief superintendent registrar for Oxfordshire, revealed: “Baby name trends are fascinating and here in Oxfordshire we very much follow the national trends, whether they be for unusual names inspired by popular culture, or the return to traditional names from our grandparents’ era.

“Those names may have once seemed extremely old-fashioned, but are now seeing a resurgence.

“Television programmes and music always have a big impact on the fashion in names.

“Just take Alfie Moon (Shane Richie’s character in TV soap opera EastEnders).

“He has helped turn Alfie into a very fashionable name for baby boys in the last few years.”

Mrs Bugeja added: “In terms of the resurgence in old names, Archie, for example, would have been seen as very old-fashioned not so long ago, but it’s now considered cute for a baby boy.

“And of course there are a lot of people, myself included, who like to give their sons and daughters family names from grandparents and generations gone by, to remember them by.”

The top three names for boys registered in Oxfordshire last month were Thomas, George and joint third, Benjamin, Oliver and Samuel.

The favourite choice for newborn girls last month was Lily, followed by Maisy and Jessica.

Mrs Bugeja said: “Twenty years ago the Australian soap operas like Neighbours brought us a wave of Kylies and Finlays, while the recent Royal Wedding could result in a reappearance of Catherine or Kate in the rankings next year.

“She could join William there. His name has remained in the top 20 for the past 100 years, as have Jack and James “Another trend is for girls named after flowers, with Lily, Iris, Poppy and Rose all very popular here in Oxfordshire and across the country.

“And we also now have Mohammed in our national rankings, which shows the growing diversity of our country.”