DON’T expect to meet many Caroles in years to come.
It’s just one of the once popular baby names given to zero children in England and Wales in the most recent year counted.
Baby name expert and co-creator of Nameberry, Pamela Redmond Satran, says: “There are some real surprises on the list, names quite common among grown-up women that are off the table for this generation for babies.
“Carole, the name of Kate Middleton’s mother, is one example I’m surprised to see as literally extinct.
“Same with Carolyn, Debra, Justine, and Lee.”
Using the latest Office of National Statistics data from 2019, it’s possible to see which monikers have not only fallen in popularity, but actually vanished from usage.
While names like Gary and Gemma are losing steam, Pamela points out that there were still 1,200 boys named Gary and 2,000 girls named Gemma in the latest records, which means they’re decades away from disappearing.
She says: “The names most likely to become extinct are those of the current generation of grandparents, born in the 40s, 50s, and 60s.
“It usually takes at least four generations for a name to come back into style, though some, like Bertha and Herman, Myrtle and Morton never make it.”
We recently revealed that the list of most in-demand baby names of 2021 so far is dominated by retro choices like Ottilie, Maeve, Atticus and Ezra.
So parents on a quest to pick something truly unique for their little one might do better to get inspiration from names that have dropped from records completely.
Pamela says: “The list includes some clunkers for both genders: It’s hard to imagine a modern baby named Hepzibah or Cuthbert, though a few decades ago we might have said the same for Hester or Clyde, names that are now hipster darlings.”
Fancy yourself as a trendsetter? Get inspired below…
Extinct baby names for girls
Bertha
Bette
Bettina
Carey and Cary
Carole
Carolyn
Charla
Christa
Claudette
Colleen
Debra
Dorcas
Drusilla
Gail and Gayle
Georgette
Gertrude
Glenda
Greer
Gretchen
Helene
Hepzibah
Isolde
Jacquelyn
Janine and Jeanine
Janis
Jessamine and Jessamyn
Jill
Jillian
Justine
Karena
Kerensa and Kerenza
Kerry
Laverne
Lee
Lenore
Lesley and Leslie
Lettice
Lindsay
Lucretia
Lyn, Lynne, and Lynette
Marlene
Marsha
Martine
Michele
Muriel
Myrna
Myrtle
Nanette
Patrice
Paulette
Phyllis
Pilar
Prunella
Rhonda
Rosamond
Sela
Sheena
Shelley and Shelly
Sherry
Stacy
Extinct baby names for boys
Anselm
Auberon
Beauregard
Broderick
Burton
Cleon
Clifton
Clinton
Clovis
Cuthbert
Cyril
Dwight
Eldridge
Elmer and Elmo
Festus
Fredric
Garrison
Garth
Godfrey
Herman
Irvin, Irwin, Irvine, and Irving
Jabez
Kelso
Lesley and Leslie
Lester
Maynard
Morton
Norris
Norton
Octavius
Orville
Peregrine
Philbert
Pius
Quintus
Randolph
Regis
Roderick
Sherwin
Sylvan
Urban
Van
Virgil
Willard
Winslow
Zephyrus
Elsewhere in parenthood, I fell pregnant TWICE in one week – now I’m a mum of two, it was the biggest shock of my life.
Plus I got my daughter, 10, £265 Balenciaga flip flops & Prada bag for her 10th birthday – I don’t care what trolls think.
And my ex’s girlfriend pierced my daughter’s ears without my permission – I’m absolutely raging.