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Endangered Baby Names

Pamela Redmond
By Pamela Redmond
Updated Mon Dec 16 2024
Endangered Baby Names

Endangered baby names are names that are on the edge of extinction, but that haven't totally fallen off the cliff.

Statistically, the endangered names on the list were given to 50 or fewer baby boys and baby girls in 2023. None have fallen below the Social Security Administration's five baby cutoff for recording a name, but they're headed in that direction.

Our criteria for names we consider endangered are names that have decreased radically in popularity over the years. NOT on this list are names that have always been rare or unique names we see heading for greater popularity.

Many of these endangered baby names are short forms that were put directly on the birth certificate during the heyday of their more popular formal counterparts. Nickname names such as Brad, Matt, Meg, and Laurie, once the height of coolness, have slipped onto the endangered list.

Most of the names on the endangered list have fallen so far out of fashion that they're unlikely to return for several generations. But there are some attractive names here that don't deserve to be so unpopular, in our opinion: Kerry, Leigh, Geoffrey, and even Wilbur may be gems deserving of a little polish.

Names currently on the endangered list are ordered by this month's popularity on Nameberry.

RELATED:

The Names Really in Danger of Extinction

  1. Wilbur

    • Origin:

      English, German

    • Meaning:

      "wild boar"

    • Description:

      Clunky yet cuddly, Wilbur is a stylish name in the UK where it currently sits in the Top 600, as cool as Rupert or Wilfred. Its merits are starting to be rediscovered in the US, where it was last truly popular more than a century ago. A recent year saw it given to 42 boys.
  2. Rowena

    • Origin:

      Welsh

    • Meaning:

      "white spear; famous friend; fame and joy"

    • Description:

      A fabled storybook name via the heroine of Sir Walter Scott's novel Ivanhoe (1819), which featured a heroine called Rowena of Hargottstanstede, and also a Harry Potter name, as Rowena Ravenclaw, founder of one of the Hogwarts houses, Rowena is a retro feeling choice with literary charm.
  3. Hal

    • Origin:

      Diminutive of Harold or Henry, English, Scandinavian, German

    • Meaning:

      "army ruler or estate ruler"

    • Description:

      Could Hal be the Jack, Max, or Gus of the future? It just might happen in the new nickname environment, especially with Cal and Cy feeling cool, and with the interest in vintage, cowboy-esque choices, considering Hal ranked in the US Top 1000 in the first half of the 20th century.
  4. Fergus

    • Origin:

      Scottish and Irish

    • Meaning:

      "man of force"

    • Description:

      In Celtic lore, Fergus was the ideal of manly courage, making it a charming, slightly quirky Scottish and Irish favorite.
  5. Suzette

    • Origin:

      French diminutive of Susannah, Hebrew

    • Meaning:

      "lily"

    • Description:

      Suzette has a kind of clunky retro charm – so kitsch it's almost cool again.
  6. Ethel

    • Origin:

      English

    • Meaning:

      "noble maiden"

    • Description:

      Ethel is a name we once declared as 'So Far Out They'll Probably Always Be Out,' but with the return of other names on that list and with its new starbaby cred via Lily Allen, its soft sound and admirable meaning, we're not so sure.
  7. Lorna

    • Origin:

      English literary name

    • Description:

      One of those names like Pamela, Vanessa and Wendy, Lorna was invented for a particular literary character--the protagonist of the 1869 novel Lorna Doone by R. D. Blackmore--and then perpetuated as the name of a shortbread cookie. The author claimed to have based it on the Scottish place-name, Lorn. In baby name limbo for quite some time, it was chosen by Judy Garland for her younger daughter, Lorna Luft. Lorna Simpson is an important contemporary American artist.
  8. Cyril

    • Origin:

      Greek

    • Meaning:

      "lordly"

    • Description:

      A British-accented Greek name with an intellectual image that has been off the U.S. charts since 1966, but was a Top 300 name at the turn of the last century. We have the feeling Cyril's ready for a comeback.
  9. Matt

    • Origin:

      Short form of Matthew

    • Meaning:

      "gift of God"

    • Description:

      Still one of the most appealing short forms, which goes a long way toward explaining the sustained popularity of Matthew. Matt is perennially the popular guy in high school, friendly, attractive, and comfortable with a baseball. Matty or Mattie are cute for a younger boy.
  10. Marcia

    • Origin:

      Latin, feminine version of Marcius

    • Meaning:

      "warlike"

    • Description:

      Marcia is an ancient Roman name which derives from Mars, the god of war. It was used by Dante in the Inferno and later by Thomas Hardy and others.
  11. Elva

    • Origin:

      Icelandic and Danish form of Alf, anglicized form of Ailbhe, Irish

    • Meaning:

      "bright, light, white; elf"

    • Description:

      Elva is a multicultural choice, being both an anglicization of the Irish Ailbhe and an feminine form of the name Alf, meaning "elf". Popular in the US at the beginning of the 20th century, it remaining in the charts until the '70s, but it has not been given since. The alternative form Alva has faired slightly better, while in Ireland, Ailbhe remains the preferred spelling. Nevertheless, Elva combines the sounds of Elsa, Ella, Eva, and Ever and may also appeal to those expecting a baby at Christmas.
  12. Rusty

    • Origin:

      Short form of Russell

    • Description:

      Though as a formal name Rusty is a little, well, rusty, it spent half a century among the Top 1000, departing only in 1995. Only 45 baby boys received the name in the US in one recent year and it's difficult to imagine it as the winning choice of many modern parents. Whether you want an informal name or a spin on a traditional name or even a word name or a name that means red, there are simply too many better options.
  13. Helene

    • Origin:

      French variation of Helen

    • Meaning:

      "bright, shining one"

    • Description:

      Whether it's pronounced with an "een" or an "aine" or an "enn" sound at the end, Helene doesn't feel as current the more forthright Helen or the airier Helena. Helene reached a high of Number 228 in the US in 1916, when ene, ine and een names were all the fashion, and stayed in the Top 500 until 1962, making a final exit in 1970. It still ranks well in its native France, and even more in Norway (#70). Model Heidi Klum's daughter 'Leni' has Helene on her birth certificate.
  14. Cherry

    • Origin:

      English word name

    • Meaning:

      "cherry"

    • Description:

      With other fruity names like Clementine, Olive and Plum ripe for the picking, sweet Cherry remains remarkably underused: just 27 baby girls received the name in 2017, down from 343 at its peak in 1948. The unsavory slang meaning no doubt goes a long way towards explaining its fall from grace.
  15. Phyllis

    • Origin:

      Greek

    • Meaning:

      "green bough"

    • Description:

      Phyllis has been used by classical poets for the idealized pastoral maiden. A Greek mythological name of a woman who was turned into an almond tree, Phyllis was in the Top 100 from 1916 to 1958, reaching #24 in 1929, and has the (remote) possibility of joining other revived s-ending names like Iris. In the 'St Clare' book series by Enid Blyton Phyllis is nicknamed Fizz. Just a thought. Phyllida is a variation that sounds at once more old-fashioned and more stylish.
  16. Jill

    • Origin:

      Diminutive of Gillian or Juliana

    • Meaning:

      "youthful"

    • Description:

      Probably due to its nursery rhyme association, Jill has the perpetual air of a rosy-cheeked tot -- even though it is one of the oldest names on the roster, a medieval variation on the Roman Julia. The pairing of Jack and Jill to connote a generic boy and girl goes back at least to the fifteenth century. But can knowing Jill's history keep it from sounding like a cute mid-twentieth century invention? There may be some possibility of Jill making it back up the hill.
  17. Gertrude

    • Origin:

      German

    • Meaning:

      "strength of a spear"

    • Description:

      Could cute nickname Gertie, remembered as cute five-year-old Drew Barrymore in E.T., revive the long shunned Gertrude?
  18. Justine

    • Origin:

      French feminine variation of Justin

    • Meaning:

      "fair, righteous"

    • Description:

      Justine is a French name that's never reached the popularity we think it deserves. Like its far-more-common brother Justin, Justine is sleek, and sophisticated, but still user-friendly.
  19. Fawn

    • Origin:

      Nature name

    • Meaning:

      "a young deer"

    • Description:

      The doe-eyed Fawn is as gentle and soft as the baby deer it represents. And much like that baby deer, it carries with it the potential of new life. Fawn was featured at the bottom of the Top 1000 throughout the '60s and '70s — around the same time that Bambi came into play. But unlike Bambi, Fawn maintains relevance in the 21st century, thanks to its warmth and ties to the natural world. We would love to meet more baby girls named Fawn.
  20. Tom

    • Origin:

      Diminutive of Thomas

    • Meaning:

      "twin"

    • Description:

      Just like Sam and Ben, Tom could be revived as a simple, well liked name on its own. Tom, just Tom, is one of the Top 100 Boy Names in France