Life
The 24 Least Popular Baby Names Of 2017 Are Actually Precious AF
Once upon a time, people named their children John and Mary. Then, celebrities came around and started naming their kids after fruit and directions. This officially raised the bar, and it's why we have youngsters running around with names like South West, or whatever Kimye named their ridiculously adorable offspring. If you want something truly unique, try a slightly different approach: go with one of the least popular baby names of 2017, and your kid might be the only one on their class with that moniker.
These names don't deserve the flak they're getting, because some of them are rather adorable. Regardless, Baby Centre released their list of "endangered" baby names for the year, and the people have spoken: these are the names we've apparently stopped caring about.
Girls
- Cilla
- Bertha
- Cynthia
- Janice
- Anita
- Marcia
- Mildred
- Dorothy
- Edna
- Bonnie
- Cindy (or Sindy)
- Donna
- Gail
- Karen
Boys
- Ian (or Iain)
- Frank
- Clarence
- Ricky
- Edmund
- Gus
- Roger
- Bertram
- Clive
- Roald
You've been warned. Steer clear!
JK. Name your kid whatever you want; because if Jason Lee can name his son Pilot Inspektor (note: with a k), then you can name your son Roger... or anything else, for that matter.
While some of these names are older, there's nothing like a classic. And all you have to do is look up the meaning of these names, and a whole new beauty will be brought to them. Take Anita, for instance, which means grace; or Bonnie, which means charming or beautiful. Each moniker has an interesting story; and if they catch your eye, that's all that matters.
To be fair, less popular baby names don't stand much of a chance against to the most popular ones, which have remained largely unchanged for years. The top five baby names for the year, according to Baby Center, are Emma, Olivia, Ava, Sophia, and Isabella for girls, and Liam, Noah, Lucas, Mason, and Oliver for boys. Such beautiful names, they are — and we've apparently favored them for quite a while, as these names don't look entirely different from 2016's.
Olivia, Emma, Ava, and Sophia were already in the top five, with Isabella not far behind in sixth place. For the boys, Liam, Noah, and Lucas were already mega popular, with Mason in seventh. Oliver still made the top 10, coming in as the ninth most popular.
While there was more variety for the boys in 2015, the most popular girls names looked just about the same. In fact, these have been some of the most popular baby names for girls for well over a decade — and in the case of certain names, far, far longer than that. Poor Mildred and Bertha didn't stand a chance.
And nothing, absolutely nothing, can compare to Emma. Our obsession with the name Emma has long fascinated me, so I decided to look into it a little more.
From the very beginning of the Social Security Administration (which started in 1880) to around the turn of the century, Emma stayed in the top 10 list of baby names. It fluctuated from there, but snuck back into the top 100 in 1992. Then, Ross and Rachel named their baby Emma on Friends in 2002, and all hell broke loose.
It's also deeply rooted in history, both real and fiction: for example, in 1002, Emma of Normandy was a Viking queen of England. Then there was Jane Austen, whose 1815 novel Emma was about a matchmaker of the same name.
The endangered names have some serious competition; and while some may seem outdated, they'd still be excellent names for your wee one. Whatever name you decide to go with for your baby, remember that trends and celebrities aren't what should choose it. Pick something you love that's special to you, and you can't go wrong — no matter what list it appears on.
