Extinct Names

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.

World War II stamped a permanent verboten on Adolph.

Nature surname with an aristocratic edge. Spelling it DeForest distances it from deforestation.

William was such a popular name, thanks to the Conquerer, in early England that it gave rise to a range of nicknames, including the distinctly Scottish Wilkie. Heard mostly as a surname these days, it's the middle name of Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick's son James and the first name of writer Collins. While Wilkie could make an adorable short form for a little boy, we'd recommend a more substantial full name such as, well, William.

Almond may seem like a hippy modern name, but its use for American boys goes right back to the mid-nineteenth century. In these cases, it was either a variation of Almund, meaning "noble strength," or the surname Aleman, meaning "German."

Our kids laughed when they saw this name. Enough said.

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

Pansy is an early floral name that lost credibility when it became a derogatory slang term for gay people. Better these days: Posy or Poppy.

A Dorothy nickname name with a measure of nostalgic charm. Kids will associate it with the funny fish character voiced by Ellen DeGeneres in the Pixar animated instant classic Finding Nemo.

Cornelius is one of the Ancient Roman names that is not quite making a comeback, despite having been a Top 200 name in the US in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Blame Corny, a nickname that is just too joke-worthy.

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.

Australian opera singer Nellie Melba—self-named for her hometown of Melbourne—inspired this now-dated name more associated today with a peach dessert and dietetic toast.

Old southern name too close to "philanderer".

Lemon is one of the more unique names related to fruit, compared with sisters Clementine and Apple. That may be because lemon is also a word that's slang for a clunker, something that doesn't work very well. No baby wants to feel like a Lemon, so this is one of those unusual names that is best avoided.

Delmer is kind of a smoosh of two dated names, Delmar and Elmer, that does not improve on either. While Elmer is making a return as a Geek Chic name, Delmar was given to only 14 baby boys last year while Delmer is extinct.

You can call your baby "babe," but don't name her that.