Extinct Names

Fifi is a perfect name -- for a French poodle. But Fifi may seem more child-friendly as names like Coco and Lulu rise. Fifi in its fluffiness also balances the seriousness of such full names as Josephine or Federica.

A super diminutive nickname name, and sometime Madonna nickname – it was how the British tabloids referred to her when she moved to London in the 1990s, which she found annoying until then husband Guy Ritchie said it stood for 'Your Majesty'. Madge Undersee is Katniss's best friend in The Hunger Games books.

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.

The quintessential midcentury nickname, famously found in Arthur Miller's play "Death of a Salesman."

Old-fangled nickname could make dot.com era short form or middle name.

World War II stamped a permanent verboten on Adolph.

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.

An ancient German saint's name – and most famously the name of Harry Potter's snowy owl – but the combination of "head" plus "wig" feels a little too literal in English.

A sleek, smooth, understated name off the grid in the US but among the Top 100 girl names in Germany. In the US, it is a unisex name, while in Germany and the Netherlands, it is predominantly feminine.

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

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.

Flo is an antiquated nickname not often used these days, possibly because "Aunt Flo" is a euphemism for a period.

When Gail was popular, half a century ago, Gale was a plausible choice. Gale does put a slightly more masculine spin on the name, but it's dated in any version.

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.

Nedra was one of a phalanx of names -- Delma, Verda, Vernice -- popular in the late 19th and early 20th century that dropped out of fashion after World War II and now have disappeared completely. Like the others, Nedra is now extinct.

Nedra was one of a phalanx of names -- Delma, Verda, Vernice -- popular in the late 19th and early 20th century that dropped out of fashion after World War II and now have disappeared completely. Like the others, Nedra is now extinct.

Gilda, although related to the words gold and gilded, has definitely tarnished. It once shimmered with the seductive image of Rita Hayworth in the film Gilda, then was associated with the beloved early Saturday Night Live star Gilda Radner. In opera, Gilda lives on as the name of the daughter of Rigoletto.

We can't get past the odd part of this name.

This short form has been pretty much replaced by Frankie, however, it could fit in with other clunky but charming names, like Peggy, Bess, and Enid.

A name that shows up on the Social Security roles of a hundred years ago. Let's hope it was a never-to-be-repeated mistake.