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These baby names are going extinct because no one likes them any more

Sorry, Nigel, your time is up

Ella Doyle
Written by
Ella Doyle
Guides Editor
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Photograph: Shutterstock
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Ever heard a name and thought, ‘Who would name their child that?’ Us too. And now it seems so few people are using certain names that they are now considered ‘critically endangered’.

A new list from parenting website BabyCentre has revealed all the names that have gone out of fashion in the UK this year. The first may not come as a surprise. After over a year of using ‘Karen’ as an insult, parents have apparently been put off from using it for their babies, with only four registered under that name in 2022.

RECOMMENDED: These are the most popular baby names of 2022

Another trend is names with ‘American vibes’, which have been steadily dropping in popularity since the 1970s and 1980s – meaning Farrahs, Staceys, Kellys, Barbies and Britneys have all had zero registrations this year. For boys, old-fashioned names like Brent, Quinton and Giles are also on the way out. A total of zero babies were called Cliff, Nigel and Harold. 

But for those wanting to save Nigel’s legacy, all hope is not lost. Dwayne is an example of a name which saw a nil count in 2021, but got four new registrations this year. Same goes for Maude, which was given to a singular baby in 2022, having not been used once the year before. In need of the full list? Read on. 

Endangered girls’ names

  1. Barbie
  2. Britney
  3. Carrie
  4. Deirdre
  5. Farrah
  6. Gail
  7. Gayatri
  8. Katrina
  9. Kelly
  10. Lindsey
  11. Shania
  12. Sheila
  13. Shirley
  14. Stacey
  15. Tegan

Endangered boys’ names

  1. Baxter
  2. Bill
  3. Brent
  4. Clement
  5. Cliff
  6. Giles
  7. Harold
  8. Kamran
  9. Maximillian
  10. Nigel
  11. Quinton
  12. Rashid
  13. Rhett
  14. Saul
  15. Wallace
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