Expert roasts these once-popular baby names and yours might be …
A handful of baby names are on their way out, according to experts – and might not make a comeback for 100 years. Girls names are apparently the most susceptible to falling out of favour as they tend to be more ‘ornamental’ and therefore follow changing trends more.
So says Sophie Kihm at Nameberry, anyway, who also has little good to say for two staple baby names of many generations past – namely Gary and Brenda. If you’re reading this and are named so, or have a friend of relative bearing that moniker, there is some bad news. According to Ms Kihm, these are “the least fashionable choices for a baby”.
She goes on to explain that once a name starts to wane it follows a ‘100-year-rule’ – taking a century to come back into fashion. She adds: ‘That means names of the great-grandparent generation are starting to sound fresh again. Sorry to be morbid, but a big influence is that there just aren’t that many people with these names around anymore.
READ: Family devastated as popular Crewe dad-of-two with ‘heart of gold’ dies aged just 35[1] | A number of fund-raisers have been launched to support Matty Irlam’s two young children
READ: Driver airlifted to hospital with ‘life-threatening injuries’ after Northwich crash[2] Two roads were closed off following crash between a car and flat-bed truck
“Names that were common for babies in the 1920s – think Olive, Felix, and Otis – feel youthful once again.” However some names, especially male ones, do hang around, she told the Metro[3] : “Particularly for boys, who were historically passed down family names, the classics have remained relatively stable.
“Names like James, Thomas, Henry, George, William, and Alexander have never left the top 30 in England and Wales. They still cycle up and down in usage, but these traditional (often royal) names feel evergreen because of tradition. Girl names were historically more ornamental, and thus more susceptible to trends.”
Names on the way out in the UK – and why, according to Nameberry:
Stephanie A popular choice among Millennials and Gen X, Stephanie is firmly in ‘mum name’ territory, making it a dated choice for babies today. Interestingly, it’s the female form of Stephen (see below).
Ellen Like Stephanie, Ellen was commonly used for older generations, but is starting to feel more like a grandma name.
Ashley A common name among mums and dads today. These parents want fresher, more modern names for their children.
Kieran Kieran is a Millennial classic and sounds tired on babies born today.
Steven Steven and Stephen (the more traditional form of the name) have both lost ground over the past two generations, but Steven is falling faster. They both feel like grandpa names today, especially with the outré nickname Steve.
Tony An out-of-fashion nickname name associated with the current generations of grandfathers.
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References
- ^ Family devastated as popular Crewe dad-of-two with ‘heart of gold’ dies aged just 35 (www.cheshire-live.co.uk)
- ^ Driver airlifted to hospital with ‘life-threatening injuries’ after Northwich crash (www.cheshire-live.co.uk)
- ^ told the Metro (metro.co.uk)
- ^ Sign up for CheshireLive email direct to your inbox here (www.cheshire-live.co.uk)