Extinct Names

Short form of Alfred that had fallen out of favor, but could come back alongside Alfie and other clunky old-style nicknames like Gus and Ike.

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.

Hyman was commonly used by first-generation Jewish immigrants to Anglicize Chaim, but similarities to terms like heinie and hymen have taken it out of the realm of modern possibility. The original Chaim would be preferable to Hyman.

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

Cinderella stepsister type Victorian-valentine name.

No babies of any gender were named Orange in the US in the most recent year counted. But that doesn't mean, in this era of anything-goes baby names, that it couldn't happen.

As seen on SNL, Pat is the ultimate androgynous name. Stick with long form Patrick, and make sure everyone calls him Patrick.

Melvina ranked in the Top 1000 for over 65 years in the US, coinciding to a large extent with the years its much more popular masculine counterpart Melvin ranked in the Top 100. Today, Melvin is still hanging on in the Top 1000 for boys, but Melvina hasn't been given to more than 20 babies in a year since 1991.

Trish was a cool -- in every sense of the word -- nickname back when Patricia was one of the most popular names in the US, primarily in the 1960s and 1970s. Trish is actually kind of a nickname of a nickname, Tricia, best known as Tricia Nixon, the daughter of President Richard who named after her mother, who was called Pat. Trish, along with almost every other name related to Patricia including Pat, Patti, Patsy, and Tricia, is seriously out of fashion today.

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.

Nedra was one of a phalanx of names -- Delma, Verda, Vernice -- popular in the late 19th and early 20th century that dropped out of fashion after World War II and now have disappeared completely. Like the others, Nedra is now extinct.

Nedra was one of a phalanx of names -- Delma, Verda, Vernice -- popular in the late 19th and early 20th century that dropped out of fashion after World War II and now have disappeared completely. Like the others, Nedra is now extinct.

Old southern name too close to "philanderer".

An early and still quintessentially androgynous name, now supplanted by thousands of fresher options.

Verde is an uncommon color name with a Latinate accent, perfect for a spring baby.

Occasionally used as an independent name, but why.