Feeling old yet, Gen Z?
Gen Z may have brutishly booted millennials off of the top of the social food chain — a peak from which the domineering generation dictates everything from acceptable workplace emoji use to how wannabe fashionistas should wear their socks.
But the tyrannical trendsetters now join their icreasingly irrelevant elders as baby names from both generations are vanishing.
Formerly hot handles such as Blake, McKenna and Charli are going the way of the dinosaur, alongside a slew of names ending with “-lyn”: Brooklynn, Gracelyn and Adelyn.
And rock-a-bye-bye, baby Brooke.
“Girls’ names that were popular when Millennials were being born have fallen from grace in the past decade – especially Amanda, Angela, Brooke, Diana, and Michelle,” said researchers of a January 2024 report from virtual expecting parents hub BabyCenter. “These were all in the top 100 in the 1980s and ’90s,” continued the experts, “but declined in popularity in 2023.”
But the list of soon-to-be-dead newborn names isn’t limited to just little girls.
“Names ending with ‘-aden’ were popular for boys throughout the 2000s, though many aren’t as highly favored anymore,” revealed research authors.
In the ranks of BabyCenter’s top 500 names, “Aidan fell from No. 253 in 2022 to No. 346 in 2023; Raiden fell from No. 286 to No. 433; and Jaiden fell from No. 325 to No. 426,” the recent report noted.
The decreasing “-aden” population will predictably be joined by dying names such as Julius, Johnny, Reid and Bradley, which have all plummeted in popularity over the past year.
The last of the least desirable baby names in 2024 are topsy-turvy titles that feature last names as first names.
“Last names-turned-first names are on the outs among both boys and girls,” said the specialists.
“Baylor, Bradley, Brady, Clayton, Hendrix, Preston, and Reid are down for boys,” they noted. “Oaklee, Mckenzie, Raegan and Sawyer are down for girls.”
In an unsurprising twist, gender-neutral names are poised to rule the delivery room throughout the new year. In fact, October 2023 findings from Namesberry determined that once-girly monikers such as “Rose” and “Florence” will increasingly be granted to baby boys.
However, in NYC, it seems the expecting mommies and daddies of Gotham aren’t planning to deviate too far away from tradition. A December 2023 report from the New York City Health Department found that names like “Emma” for infant girls and “Liam” for infant boys will likely continue their reigns as baby name royalty.
Here’s a list of doomed girl names:
- Brooke
- Blake
- McKenzie
- Brooklynn
- Charli
- Raegan
- McKenna
- Finley
- Amanda
- Michele
- Adelynn
- Ariah
- Gracelyn
- Cali
- Diana
- Sawyer
- Alaya
- Angela
- Oaklee
- Norah
Here’s a list of doomed boy names:
- Julius
- Jaiden
- Johnny
- Raiden
- Reid
- Brady
- Nasir
- Ronan
- Bradley
- Clayton
- Hendrix
- Princeton
- Bo
- Eden
- Aidan
- Orion
- Preston
- Maximus
- Baylor
- Raphael
