These ‘Normal’ Names Are Going Extinct

As someone with a unique name (Ransom), names have always fascinated me. In my lifetime, I've met 4 other Ransoms.

One was the lead singer of a rock band from Salt Lake City. Another was an elderly gentleman who came out to one of my events to ask me if Ransom was my real name because HE had never met another Ransom. One was a guy who I ran high school track and field with/against.

And the final Ransom I've met was a baby that a listener of mine had. She and her husband liked my name, so they named their kid Ransom. We have since lost touch, but I think about them from time to time. And I hope their little Ransom is doing well.

Names come and they go. Think about it. There was a time where the name Gertrude was a common name. But could you imagine anyone nowadays naming their kid Gertrude? Apologies if you're a baby name Gertrude.

I bring it up because according to an article on a website called BabyCenter, a lot of common names are seemingly going extinct. Names like: John, Brooke, Amanda, Michelle, Diana, Bradley and Angela are all going the way of Gertrude.

On the flip side, BabyCenter also put together another article about the names that are gaining popularity. Names like: Noah and Liam top the lists for boys. And names like Olivia and Emma reign supreme for girls.

Of course, anything could happen and these names could come back in popularity. All you need is one actor, singer, or celebrity to pop up and help make these names trendy again. But here are a few names that are falling in rankings, according to their findings.

Brooke saw the biggest drop in popularity for girls. According to BabyCenter, it was the 471st most popular name for girls last year, down around 200 spots from 2022.

I swear, all the girls I knew who had kids right out of high school named their daughters McKenzie. Apparently, that's no longer the case since I graduate from Durango High School in 2002. The girl name is down 184 spots.

For boys, the name Julius saw the biggest drop. Julius is down 189 spots since the previous year.

John, or Johnny, also saw a significant decline in popularity. It fell 150 spots.

Selecting a baby name can be tough, especially with thousands of options available. Some parents stress over the lasting influence of their child's name, wanting to ensure a prosperous future. Trends in naming kids mirror shifting cultural norms and evolving ambitions for children.

Getting baby names right has taken on a new level of importance for expecting parents. In fact, TikTok has become a platform where creators gather substantial followings by discussing baby name trends and highlighting names to avoid due to their trendiness. They openly share names they considered but didn't use, along with names they'd rather not encounter again. TikTok's baby name inspiration videos now focus on various themes, including "old money" names such as Caroline, Elizabeth, and Charlotte, "main character" names like Blaze, Arrow, and Falcon, and "aesthetic" names like Rowan, Wren, and Atlas.

Celebrities are accustomed to unconventional names. Elon Musk, Tesla's CEO, and musician Grimes named their first child X Æ A-12, often called "X." Their second child is Exa Dark Sideræl. They also affectionately refer to their daughter as Sailor Mars, inspired by the "Sailor Moon" manga series.

Occasionally, parents opt to invent a name, a decision that carries some level of uncertainty. While they might create something distinctive and appealing, there's also a chance of the child being given a name perceived as peculiar by others. This situation arose for a baby, drawing significant attention on Reddit. The name of the child came to light through a thread titled, "The Most Unusual Name I've Encountered in Real Life."

It reads, "So my mother just told me the name of her ex’s child and my GOD is it a doozy. He and his wife named their daughter: Audtom. Because his name is Tom and her name is Audrey. I could not f---ing believe my ears."

Commenters had strong opinions, with many criticizing the name choice. Others suggested more seamless ways to combine the parents' names, including one person who wrote, "Assuming this is pronounced 'Autumn' and not 'Odd-Tom,' would it have killed them to just spell it Autom?"

Another person suggested, "Not me thinking 'Tomrey' would be better," and another joked, "They missed an opportunity: 'Tawdry.'”

Redditors even came up with baby names that they considered to be the worst. Take a look at some of these names below.

"When I was a kid I stayed at a bed & breakfast with family photos on the walls," one user wrote. "There was a sister named Gridget. I actually think about this a lot." It's kind of like a spin on the name Bridget. This Redditor seems really stuck on the name they found.

This unique name caught this person off guard. They even tried to figure it out by mixing it with other names. "I once saw a baby announcement where the mom was named Shannon, the dad was Daniel, and they named the baby Shanniel," they wrote.

Sometimes people just go with the flow when picking a name for their kid. Maybe it felt right at the time, and they didn't even realize it's also the name of a condition. While working at a gas station, this Reddit user observed a mother who let her child run around wild. They wrote "One small girl was pushing on a display stand and the mother screamed: ‘DYSLEXIA GET YO A-- OVER HERE!"

Back in school on the playground, this person probably had a rough time. This is particularly true because their name coincidentally rhymes with a sexually transmitted disease. Nevertheless, a user pointed out that it's a clever fusion of two names. "Donnaria. A combination of her Mom's name (Donna) and Grandma's name (Gloria)," they wrote.

Bacardi, Hennessy, Tanqueray, Alizé – the names keep coming. It turns out a Redditor, who happened to work in children and family services, encountered kids with names inspired by alcoholic beverages almost every day. "You don't know how bad it really gets. Lots of kids named after alcoholic beverages."