Extinct Names

William was such a popular name, thanks to the Conquerer, in early England that it gave rise to a range of nicknames, including the distinctly Scottish Wilkie. Heard mostly as a surname these days, it's the middle name of Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick's son James and the first name of writer Collins. While Wilkie could make an adorable short form for a little boy, we'd recommend a more substantial full name such as, well, William.

Brisk but rather brittle. Britt Eklund was a Bond Girl in the 1974 The Man with the Golden Gun. Britt is a contracted form of Birgit, but be aware that it does come with the strong possibility of being confused with Bret/Brett—or as a shortening of Brittany.

If Gus and Max have made it, why not Moe? Can it be the lingering Three Stooges effect? We think that Moe, like Joe, is one of the friendliest and most open of regular guy nickname names and should get a little more attention.

Kids love Bob the Builder, but do they want to be Bob the Builder? Bob and Bobby have been out of style since the 1960s, but as vintage nickname-names -- Fred, Archie -- come back into vogue, Bob may tag along. Charlie Sheen used it for one of his twin sons.

Although she declared her independence as far back as the reign of Elizabeth I--Good Queen Bess, Bess now sounds less passé than Beth or Betsy.

Because it's a generic (and often derogatory) term for an Irishman, Paddy fell out of use as a diminutive or given name, though actress Mare Winningham used it not long ago.

Terry hit the Top 30 in the fifties when it was seeen as a cool, sleek gender neutral name, but it's long since lost that edge. Today's Terry would probably be Tess or Tessa.

Our kids laughed when they saw this name. Enough said.

Sixties-style nickname which is also the name of a small biting insect, particularly prevalent in Scotland.

Lemon is one of the more unique names related to fruit, compared with sisters Clementine and Apple. That may be because lemon is also a word that's slang for a clunker, something that doesn't work very well. No baby wants to feel like a Lemon, so this is one of those unusual names that is best avoided.

Leigh as a masculine name has Anglo-Saxon origins, derived from the Old English 'leah' meaning 'clearing' or 'meadow.' While Leigh has become increasingly popular as a feminine name in recent decades, it has a long history of masculine usage, particularly in England and English-speaking countries.

Buford has lost any charm it once had. Try Beauford instead.

Ghislaine still sounds unusual to us, even though in France this name is dated. It can also be spelled Ghislain.

Permanent property of that devilish little Simpson kid.

Once the teenaged babysitter, now more likely to be the mom who hires her. The names many variations include Nickee, Nickie, Nickey, Nicky, Niki, Nikkee, Nikkey, Nikki, Nikkie, Nikky, and Niky.

An English surname name which was originally used as a masculine first name in the 19th century, before becoming more popular for girls from the early 20th century onwards.

Although now usually considered a female name in the US, Carol actually had a good run of popularity for boys too, peaking at #325 in 1937 and remaining in the US Top 1000 until the mid 1960s, when its popularity for both sexes began to decline. It derives from Carolus, the Latin form of Charles.

This mild-mannered short form was Queen of the Prom in the fifties and sixties, but today is mostly heard on TV's The Office (and of course as one of the founders of Nameberry).

Though rarely heard now, Coy has been around for a century and was not an uncommon name a hundred years ago. There have been a couple of NFL players named Coy, Coy Bowles is in the Zac Brown band, and of course there was Coy Duke in The Dukes of Hazzard. Due to the flirty connotations of the word "coy", McCoy is a more popular and recommended choice today.

In an earlier time Shirley was used primarily for boys, but the tide turned with the publication of Charlotte Bronte's novel Shirley in 1849, the story of a character whose parents had selected the name for a boy child, then decided to use it anyway when he turned out to be a she.