BabyCentre has revealed the UK's most unpopular names of 2017, hinting that names including Bertha, Roger and Ricky might become extinct! According to their research, new parents are shying away from baby names which were popular in the 1980s, and once-popular names including Karen, Cilla and Clive haven't had a single registration between them all year.
STORY: How celebrities are influencing the rise of gender-neutral baby names
The parenting site put together a list of 24 names that have gone without a single registration in 2017. Girls names include Bertha, Cynthia, Janice, Anita, Marcia, Mildred, Dorothy, Edna, Bonnie, Cindy, Donna, while boys names include Ian, Frank, Clarence, Ricky, Edmund, Gus, Roger, Bertram and Roald.
© Photo: iStockNames including Edna, Ian and Frank are no longer popular
Instead, Baby Centre has reported that new parents are opting to give classic names, with Emma, Olivia, Ava, Isabella and Sophia being the top five most popular for baby girls, and Liam, Noah, Lucas, Mason and Logan the most popular for boys. Meanwhile, the top 100 baby names of 2016 was recently revealed, and showed the rise in gender-neutral names, which could be linked to the celebrity world, as stars including Blake Lively, Kristen Bell and Leighton Meester and given their children unisex names, naming their daughters James, Lincoln and Arlo respectively.
READ: What does it take to name a royal baby?
Christian Turner, global naming director at Siegel+Gale, said: "One point that has always been true of names is that exposure and association is linked to popularity. A well-liked celebrity giving their child a particular name often leads to a spike in that name's popularity, as we see with Harper (David and Victoria Beckham) and, of course, both Princess Charlotte and Prince George."
She added: "Another area that might see some growth led by celebrity is the use of gender fluid surnames as first names, such as Lincoln (Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard's daughter) and Parker (Frankie Sandford and Wayne Bridge's son). In any case we can imagine that gender neutral names will gain a new relevance in the future as we approach true gender equality. Gender neutral names may feel progressive, inclusive and confident in the workplace."
