Myrtis and friends

 Do you want a name for your baby that has gone completely extinct? How about Myrtis? The youngest Myrtises are going to be 39 this year, and there are only 5 of them! The name peaked in popularity the 1920s. I first became aware of this name when I was volunteering at a retirement home in the 1990s and met a lady who lived there named Myrtice. I thought it was the weirdest, ugliest name I had ever heard (although the lady was super nice!)

In the Social Security Database it has 12 different spellings.-

The most common is Myrtis, which was used from 1882-1987 and given to 6117 girls. The peak year for that name was 1921 with 216 babies named Myrtis.

Myrtice was the first spelling recorded, first showing up in 1881, but dying after 1981, with only 4342 namesakes. Its peak year was 1921 with 144 babies named Myrtice.

The other common spellings are:

Mertis 466 total, used 1908-1961 (peak year 1923 with 23 namesakes)

Mertice 414 total, used 1897-1954 (peak year 1922 with 20 namesakes)

Merdis, 220 total, used 1913-1956 (peak year 1924 with 16 namesakes)

Murtis 55 total, used 1920-1950 (peak year 1925 with 8 namesakes)

There were 2 spellings that were used twice each:

Myrdis (1919, 1921 5 babies each year)

Myrtise (1920, 1926, 5 babies each year)

A few spellings showed up in one year only with 5 namesakes each:

Myrtus (1925), Mirtis (1927), Merdice (1933) Myrtes (1920)

And two spellings showed up in one year with 6 spellings each:

Myrtus (1915) & Mirtis (1927)

 Where does this name come from? It was probably derived from Myrtle, a name that was popular at that time. Names ending in -s were also trendy then, like Frances, Doris, Florence, Gladys, Lois, Beatrice, Agnes and Phyllis were all in the top 100. 

Myrtis seems to be a southern phenomenon. I looked through the state data for 1919-1921, the peak years for the name, and it only shows up in Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas. It was most popular in Georgia. 

So, if you need a name for a kid that is guaranteed to not be shared with any classmates, Myrtis is it!