The Baby Names That Have Gone (Or Are Going) Extinct

At one point, it seemed like classic names like Lilith, Vivian, Joan, and Harry (Thanks, royal family!) were coming back in style. Parents were giving their kids throwback names in a cute but sweet nod to their grandparents or great-grandparents. However, there are some classic names from decades ago that are on their way out, like actually extinct.

Laura Wattenberg, creator of Namerology, told Today Parents that a perfect example of this is the name Carole. A name that was once one of the defining names of the 1930s and 40s has completely fallen off the radar in 2022.

According to Wattenberg, a name is considered statistically “gone” when it is given to fewer than five boys or girls in a year.

“One-syllable nicknames like Jim and Dave used to be really popular given names,” Wattenberg said. “But that whole style is falling rapidly out of fashion.”

She did note that while names like Bob and Bill are on their way out, the longer versions of those names — Robert and William — still have legs to stand on. In fact, William is still a top-10 name, and Liam, which is a short form of William, is the No. 1 name of 2021.

Wattenberg noted that politicians used to shorten their names to more “friendly and approachable” nicknames.

“You had an election between Bill Clinton and Bob Dole, not William and Robert,” she said. “Ted Cruz was born Rafael, Michael Dukakis was always Michael until he started running for president and then he became Mike.”

Once classic names of the 1960s, like Jill or Brad, are ready to go extinct as well.

“Names of the 1960s are sort of on this accelerated decline,” Wattenberg said. “So we’re about to see nobody named Shelley or Jill or even Brad.”

“Brad isn’t even in the top 3,000 names for boys,” she added.

So, is your name off the list completely?

Extinct girls’ names:

Carole

Sue

Debby

Vickie

Terry

Staci

Geri/Gerri

Cyndi/Cindi

Nicki

Sandi

Extinct boys’ names:

Bill

Jim

Pat

If you didn’t catch your name on the endangered name list, maybe it’s on it’s way out under the “endangered” names list.

Endangered girls’ names:

Kerri

Sheri/Cheri

Kristi

Wendi

Judi

Loni

Kimberli

Tobi

Tricia

Kris

Rhonda

Shawn

Tonya

Shelley

Endangered boys’ names:

Ed

Stan

Mitch

Bert

Rod

Curt

Lorne

Dirk

Brad

Maybe it’s time to turn it around and give these names to future babies. Trends always come back around, don’t they? Not too long ago, “old lady” names like Ruby, Hazel, and Violet were rare and now they make up entire kindergarten classes.

If you’d rather keep things fresh and trendy, though, here’s the list of top baby names for 2021.