There are some names that are definitely popular. You hear these names at a school, playground, rec centre, court or field — or when your kid is telling you stories about their classmates. It can feel like you’re hearing the same names all over again. Either that or you hear names that are completely unique. What you won’t often hear, however, are names from when you were a child. Perhaps it’s the name of your childhood bestie — or it might even be your own. Whatever the case, those names that were once trendy or favoured are no more.
According to the BBC, after analyzing 170 of U.K. names between 1996 and 2017, researchers at Oxford University found that parents in the U.K. are opting for uncommon names.
“We can speculate that the comparatively greater range of media, freedom of movement, and ability to maintain globally distributed social networks increases the number of possible names,” said Dr. Stephen Bush, “but also ensures they may more quickly be perceived as commonplace.”
Parents are finding inspiration from pop culture or trying to make some different by altering the spelling when they could make things so much easier by choosing a moniker that is becoming or has become obsolete. Like these baby names on the verge of becoming extinct.
