Niamh Shackleton
There are ten baby names supposedly headed for extinction, and some of these doomed monikers will definitely come as a surprise.
Obviously parents have around nine months to chose what to name their child, but even if they knew years in advance it can still prove to be a difficult task as a lot of people want their child to have a unique moniker.
But people find inspiration from almost anywhere. My parents, for example, chose Niamh despite the fact I have next-to-no direct Irish heritage and they just simply liked it.
My mom actually first heard of the unique name from Niamh Cusack, an Irish actress known for starring in movies like Hereafter, In The Land Of Saints and Sinners, and Testament of Youth.
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Uniqueness wise, I can assure you there were very few Niamhs in northern England in the late 1990s.
Nowadays, people will often turn to the internet for inspiration, and NameKun is one site you might look at.
According to NameKun, some of the most popular boy names in the US at the moment include Michael, John, and David, while some favored girl names are Sarah, Jennifer, and Jessica.
Meanwhile, across the pond in the UK, names like Noah, Oliver, Muhammad, Olivia, Amelia, and Lily are some popular baby name choices, says AOL.
Of course, not all names remain popular though, and these ten specifically have seen a dramatic decline.
Lauren in the UK, for example, was the second most popular name in 1994. However, as of last year it didn't even make the top 100 most popular names.
In fact, Lauren reportedly dropped to 934th place with just 34 Laurens born that year in 2024.
Then there's Karen; one which probably comes as less of a surprise to you in light of the viral 'Karen' term often referring to a middle-aged woman who complains to the manager about things, usually for racially-charged reasons.
Per the Office of National Statistics (ONS), Karen was the third most popular girl name in the UK in 1964, but the same can't be said now. Sorry, Karen Gillan!
There's also Sheila. The name was the peak of popularity for baby girls in the 1930s but by 1996 only ten girls received the name in England and Wales, according to AOL.
Other names to have plummeted in popularity drastically include Roderick, Brenda, Gladys, Galvin, Dale, Gary and Neville — which is particularly bad news for former Manchester United soccer star, Gary Neville...