Many classic and once-popular baby names have fallen out of favor with new parents, and experts warn they could soon go extinct.
A new report from NameKun, a company that analyzes names worldwide, has revealed the 10 names that have seen a significant decrease in use over the years.
The list included Lauren, Karen, Sheila, Brenda, Gladys, Galvin, Roderick, Gary, Neville and Dale.
Many of these names reached their peak popularity during the mid-20th century, between the 1950s and 1970s, and have since declined sharply, either falling out of the Top 1,000 or becoming extremely rare among newborns.
Cultural shifts and evolving naming trends have also contributed to the decline, as names once viewed as common are now regarded as ‘old-fashioned.’
For example, the name Karen has had an additional social stigma in recent years, becoming a slang term typically used to refer to a middle-class woman who is perceived as entitled or excessively demanding.
Some names, like Neville and Galvin, are so rarely used nowadays that they might be considered nearly extinct in terms of new births.
Overall, these once-beloved names have seen their usage plummet, with some dropping by more than 90 percent from their mid-20th-century peaks.
It appears a number of classic and once-popular names will not make the cut for most parents-to-be this year, according to the latest data by NameKun (stock)
According to the report, Karen was among the most popular names for girls in the US from the 1950s through the late 1960s, but its usage has dropped sharply in recent decades, falling to #831 by 2020.
Experts said part of the decline is due to cultural associations that have made the name less appealing to new parents.
Brenda reached its peak in the early 1960s, ranking among the Top 20, but by 2017, only a few hundred newborn girls were given the name, and it had largely fallen out of frequent use.
Similarly, Lauren rose to prominence in the 1980s and 1990s, yet by 2018, it had slipped to #170 for girls, reflecting changing naming trends.
For boys, names like Gary and Dale, once popular in the mid-20th century, are now rarely chosen, with only a handful of newborns receiving the names each year.
Neville, Roderick, and Galvin are even more uncommon, with very few babies being given these names in recent years.
On the baby‑name front, The Bump reported ‘Neville’ ranked #21,752 overall and #10,563 for boys in 2024.
The Bump, a commentary site, noted that Neville was mostly given in the 1980s and has seen a significant decrease in usage since then.
A new report from NameKun, a company that analyzes names worldwide, has revealed the 10 names that have seen a significant decrease in use over the years. The list included Lauren, Karen, Sheila, Brenda, Gladys, Galvin, Roderick, Gary, Neville and Dale
MyNameStats gave ‘Roderick’ a U.S. rank of #1,034 overall, with an estimated 33,028 people having the name.
That translates to about 10.36 people per 100,000 Americans.
On the baby‑name rankings, The Bump listed Roderick in 2024 as #3,650 overall and #1,909 among boys.
Gary reached its peak in 1954, ranking #9 nationwide, according to the Social Security Administration.
More than 38,000 boys were given the name that year, but by 2021, only about 150 newborns were named Gary, marking a drop of over 99 percent from its peak.
As for Galvin, data shows that its 2024 rank dropped to #5,764, four years after its peak at #888.
Some older-generation names, such as Sheila and Gladys, have all but vanished from the charts.
Sheila now accounts for less than 0.1 percent of newborn girls, and Gladys has not appeared in the Top 300 names since 1958.
Once a common choice in the mid‑20th century, Dale has fallen sharply from the baby‑name charts.
It ranked as high as #93 nationally in the US in 1958, but in recent years, it no longer appears in the Top 1,000 for boys and is rarely used for girls, underscoring its near‑extinction among new births.
