Extinct Boys' Names in the USA

 Not every name has staying power. You probably know very few toddlers named Eustace or Irwin today, but there are still a few getting named those names every year. However, some names have gotten so unfashionable they have gone extinct. Whether it was a weird spelling that never caught on (e.g., Bengiman & Domineck), the commemoration of an event or person that was in the zeitgeist for a small time (Argonne, Armistice), or a name that just fell out of fashion (Euliss, Hargus, Odbert), this is a list of names that have not appeared in the SSA database for at least a century. There tend to be fewer boys' names that girls names that have gone extinct because there are fewer boys' names in general. Boys' names go in and out of fashion at a much slower rate than girls' names. Also, girls get more creative names as well as creative spellings. For example, in 2024, there were 14,243 distinct boys' names in the database and 17,661 for girls. In 1924, there were 5901 girls' names and 4971 boys' names. In every year, there are more girls' names than boys' names, and more boys are named the top names. In 2024, 139,139 girls got a name in the top 10, but 146,454 boys got names in the top 10. This is largely because boys often get named after their fathers or grandfathers, whereas girls don't get named after their mothers and grandmothers as often. This preserves the boys' name pool more than that girls' pool. Anyway, if you are looking for a rare name, this list provides a bunch!

Like the Extinct Girls' Names in a previous post, there are a bunch of Japanese names on here, though not as many. 

Nicknamey-Sounding Names For Boys 1880-1926

 In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, it was much more common to give children names that sound more like nicknames to us today. Many of these names sound downright odd by today's standards! Names like Clellie and Azzie are not sounds that are common in today's names, rendering them a little quaint or old-fashioned sounding. I also have a post for girls' names in a similar vein: Nicknamey Names for Girls

Here are all the names ending in the long E sound for boys, found in the Social Security Database from 1880-1926, when this practice was the most common. Many of these are surnames, like Hedley, Moultrie, and Holsey, but a lot of them are both. 

We still use a lot of names ending in long E. Here are the ones that were found in 1880-1926 that were still being used in 2024:

Nicknamey Names

In previous eras, girls' names ending in -ie were not unusual. Currently, and throughout the second half of the 20th century, it was more common to give a long form of a name, and then call a child by a pet form (i.e., Katherine -> Katie, Elizabeth -> Lizzie etc.). In fact, this was such a norm that people invented or coined long forms of names to use for nicknamey names, like Brandisha, Brandalina, Brandalyn -> Brandy; Lexington, Lexianna -> Lexi. In the 1880s-1920s, however, there were a lot of names in use that sounded like they should be short for something, but that was the whole name! A lot of these sound strange by today's standards (Leafie? Brownie?... Assie?!?). I also included some -lee names. We think of adding -lee or -leigh to a name today as being fashionable (i.e., Riverlee, Wrenlee, Jayleigh, Zaeleigh etc.) This was also a thing back in the early 20th century! (note Paralee, Opalee, Rubylee etc.)

 Here is a list of all the -ie (and sometimes -ee or -ey) names I found from 1880-1926 that were not also found in 2024.

Nicknamey names are still found today, though! Here is a list of -ie names from 1880-1930 that were also on the 2024 list: 

Extinct Girls' Names

 Are you looking for a name that is rare, but not unheard of? These are names that have gone extinct. That is, these names haven't appeared in the SSA database since 1926-- I figure since they haven't shown up in 100 years, they're fairly extinct! 

A lot of them are typos or alternate spellings for names that are still around: 

Many of them are Japanese. After a large influx of Japanese immigrants in the early 1900s, the Immigration Act of 1924 banned Japanese immigration until 1952. It is probable that children of Japanese parents were not widely given Japanese names as first names during this time:

The rest of the extinct names are a combination of names commemorating events (i.e. Jeannedarc-- St. Jeanne d'Arc was canonized in 1920), names that just fell out of style (i.e., Dormalee, Euphrasia, Myrlie, Ozeller), or names that weren't very popular to begin with and never really caught on!

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!

2024 Boys' Names, USA: Highlights

 Here are the changes in name popularity from 2023 to 2024. The first sheet has the changes from names in 2023 to 2024. These are grouped by spelling, so only the most popular spelling is listed to save space. The second sheet lists all the names that debued this year, as well as all the names that dropped out of the Top 8000. 

 The full list is here: 2024 Top Boys' Names in the USA

2024 Boys Names in the USA, grouped by spelling

 The 2024 Boys' Names grouped by spelling is up! Here's the link.

Names ending in -ir and -aire are popular these days, but it's difficult to figure out which ones are pronounced like "eer" and which ones are "air." For example, the name that started it all: Zaire, is sometimes pronounced /zy AIR/ and sometimes /zy EER/. Some are obvious, like Jayeer, but others are a little more obscure, like Jair as in Brazil's former president Bolsonaro. We find that spelled Jaire, Jyaire, Jiayir etc. Every year a new name provides some complications!

Here's the top 150:

2024 Top Girls' Names in the USA

 The 2024 SSA List of top names is up!

I have grouped them by spelling. The quick results of the top 100 is thus:

The full list is here: Top 8000 Names in the USA Grouped by Spelling: Girls

Just for reference, here is the top 50 grouped by spelling vs. not grouped by spelling. You can see that the names that have a lot of different spellings are affected the most. For example, there aren't that many ways to spell Ava or Emma, so they are less popular when compared with names like Aaliyah and Adeline, which have lots of spellings. 

This year's notable trend was for names that rhyme with Naomi. This year we have:

Ayomi (27)
Jaomi (5)
Kyomi (703)
Layomie (6)

Meiomi/Myomi (16)
Saiomi (7)
Tyomi (6)

Xiomi (7)
Ziomi (7)

We also added Knyomi, which I'm assuming is Naomi with a silent K. 

For a complete list of changes from 2023, here's the list: 2024 vs 2023 Girls' Name Changes

Also, if you click on the tab at the bottom of the spreadsheet, there's another sheet that lists all the names dropping out of the top 7000 from 2023, as well as all the names that were added in 2024.