Baby names like Steve and Ellen are going extinct

Virgin Radio

22 Sep 2023, 16:29

Is your name one of the endangered monikers?

Popular names come and go with the fashion, influenced by celebrity, food, seasons and more.

Some names which had once fallen out of fashion, like Olive, have had a renaissance.

Sophie Kihm is a name expert at Nameberry, and she says trends tend to follow a ‘100-year rule’.

It means it may be quite some time before these names come back round, and prpbably not in our lifetime.

Sophie says the rise and fall is common.

Sophie says: ‘Names tend to go out of fashion after they’ve been stylish for a while. Often, it can be measured in generations.

‘Names tied to parents’ parents’ generation (the grandparents of the baby) are usually considered to be among the least fashionable choices one could use for a baby, like Brenda and Gary today.’

‘Once a name is on the decline, we expect it to follow the 100-year rule – names take about 100 years to come back into fashion,’ she continues.

‘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.

‘Names that were common for babies in the 1920s – think Olive, Felix, and Otis – feel youthful once again.’

She says: ‘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 the 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.’

Three of the girl names that have fallen out of popularity are Stephanie, Ellen, and Ashley.

For boys, it is Kieran, Steven and Stephen, and Tony.

Is your name on the list?