A well-known rule of baby naming says that it takes about 100 years for a name to come back into fashion. That’s why we recently wrote a list of century-old names that are ready for a revival.
But not every vintage name is destined to be revived. We don’t predict the return of Hyman, for instance. Or Normal. Or Butler. Or Rube. Or Walburga. All these names were in use in 1918, given to at least five babies born that year, but that’s not the case today.
They’re not alone. Nameberry analyzed Social Security data to discover over 5,000 names that were given to babies a century ago but have now gone extinct.
Some of these names were relatively obscure names, like Tsuyako and Mieczyslaw. Others were unusual variant spellings of names that have declined in popularity, like Ulysees and Lauraine. A few are usable, or even elegant.
But a lot of them are just plain funny to us now. We combed through the list to find the most interesting and hilarious of these extinct names from 1918 — and couldn’t whittle it down to fewer than 200. Here they are, in all their glory, along with the number of children given each name in 1918:
Damned by Faint Praise
Apparently a lot of parents in 1918 wanted to set achievable expectations for their kids.
Constant: 20 boys
Bland: 14 boys
Pleasant: 12 boys
Normal: 10 boys
Carless: 7 boys
Square: 6 boys
Vanilla: 6 girls
Terms of Endearment
Some of these are now so outmoded, you wouldn’t even use them in conversation, much less as a legal first name.
Buddie: 33 boys
Budd: 23 boys
Girlie: 14 girls
Sweetie: 9 girls
Milady: 8 girls
Doll: 6 girls
Bunny: 6 girls
Chick: 6 boys
Miladie: 5 girls
Ruined By Pop Culture
For every Atticus and Khaleesi that make it big after being featured in fiction, there are five Boos and Tyrions that are sullied by the spotlight.
Hedwig: 159 girls
Garfield: 119 boys
Alf: 32 boys
Lassie: 29 girls
Gilmore: 25 boys
Rosebud: 22 girls
Simpson: 22 boys
Holmes: 20 boys
Bilbo: 11 boys
Cinderella: 7 girls
Hey, Man!
This is just a small sampling of the many, many -man names in common use a century ago.
Furman: 73 boys
Newman: 58 boys
Dorman: 44 boys
Ferman: 25 boys
Lehman: 17 boys
Rodman: 16 boys
Quitman: 12 boys
Hickman: 10 boys
Goldman: 7 boys
Layman: 7 boys
Wellman: 7 boys
Willman: 6 boys
Stillman: 6 boys
Redman: 5 boys
Beyond Bertha
Ironically, the phrase Big Bertha, which was instrumental in depopularizing the name Bertha, derives from a kind of artillery used in World War I, which would obviously be fresh in the minds of parents in 1918.
Albertha: 129 girls
Hertha: 51 girls
Gertha: 49 girls
Birtha: 48 girls
Lubertha: 13 girls
Berthe: 12 girls
Robertha: 9 girls
Albirtha: 7 girls
Berthina: 6 girls
Berthenia: 5 girls
Gay Pride
“Gay” was a relatively popular component of 1918 baby names.
Gaylord: 139 boys
Gaynell: 61 girls
Gaynelle: 34 girls
Gaylon: 14 boys
Gaylen: 11 boys
Gayland: 7 boys
Gaye: 7 girls
Gaynel: 5 girls
Trumped
As you may have heard, the name Donald took a big hit around the 2016 election ― but it’s still in use, unlike these variants for boys and girls.
McDonald: 19 boys
Donalda: 14 girls
Donelda: 10 girls
MacDonald: 5 boys
Close Calls
You change a few letters, you get to a word you don’t necessarily want associated with your child.
Dillard: 79 boys
Foch: 58 boys
Aliene: 31 girls
Okey: 23 boys
Hassell: 16 boys
Hassel: 11 boys
Clorine: 11 girls
Clorene: 10 girls
Voyd: 7 boys
Rejected From The Seven Dwarves
Not every word ending in the -y sound needs to be a baby name ― especially not in the post-Snow White era.
Manley: 61 boys
Classie: 29 girls
Icie: 29 girls
Oralee: 26 girls
Woody: 26 boys
Icy: 24 girls
Moody: 23 boys
Manly: 15 boys
Worthy: 12 boys
Dicy: 11 girls
Nicie: 11 girls
Wealthy: 10 girls
Jolly: 9 boys
Piney: 8 girls
Chattie: 7 girls
Curly: 7 boys
Viney: 5 girls
Sin In The Heart
These two have lost their luster.
Luster: 25 boys
Letcher: 9 boys
A For Effort
It seems many parents in 1918 thought that adding an “a” to the end of a word automatically made it a girls’ name.
Yetta: 182 girls
Creola: 44 girls
Mozella: 41 girls
Jesusa: 31 girls
Pasqualina: 31 girls
Refugia: 28 girls
Leonarda: 26 girls
Fortunata: 25 girls
Congetta: 24 girls
Jesusita: 21 girls
Capitola: 20 girls
Candida: 18 girls
Walburga: 9 girls
Missouria: 5 girls
Wilburta: 5 girls
Nestora: 5 girls
Misplaced
We have trouble seeing any of these as the next Brooklyn or Madison.
Norwood: 67 boys
Roswell: 45 boys
Melbourne: 33 boys
Irvine: 24 boys
Modena: 29 girls
Burma: 14 girls
Armenia: 13 girls
Iowa: 8 girls
Watts: 5 boys
Abstinence Only
This type of virtue name may never come back into style.
Hyman: 333 boys
Modesta: 34 girls
Hymen: 31 boys
Virgina: 24 girls
Sister: 12 girls
Inocencia: 9 girls
Immaculate: 8 girls
Virgin: 8 girls
Modest: 6 girls
Modestine: 6 girls
Words, Words, Words
Though we tend to think of weird word names as a recent invention, these names prove they’ve been around for ages.
Arch: 55 boys
Metro: 35 boys
Colon: 27 boys
Carry: 23 girls
Olden: 22 boys
Wash: 20 boys
Veto: 16 boys
Orange: 15 boys
Canary: 14 girls
Leather: 10 girls
Media: 10 girls
Hobby: 9 boys
Dude: 8 boys
Clearance: 7 boys
Chess: 6 boys
Famous: 5 boys
Fountain: 5 boys
Jock: 5 boys
Method: 5 boys
Speed: 5 boys
Ride Of The Valkyrie
While these names may have felt just right in a Minnesota town populated exclusively by farmers from Bavaria and Norway, they’re slightly tougher sells today.
Hortense: 218 girls
Hildegarde: 77 girls
Elfrieda: 57 girls
Hildreth: 40 girls
Dagmar: 28 girls
Borghild: 27 girls
Hildur: 27 girls
Ingeborg: 15 girls
Gunhild: 11 girls
Hildagarde: 11 girls
Valborg: 11 girls
Ragnhild: 7 girls
Irmgard: 6 girls
Gerturde: 5 girls
Straight-Up Insults
Presumably these had different connotations in 1918. (Also, the last one is still only an insult if you’re speaking with a lisp.)
Pansy: 229 girls
Guido: 104 boys
Rube: 15 boys
Nimrod: 13 boys
Flake: 8 boys
Coker: 7 boys
Athol: 6 boys
Eeny, Meeny, Miny, No
Parents a century ago leaned a little too heavily on the suffix -ene.
Earnestine: 133 girls
Lurline: 58 girls
Ethelene: 36 girls
Eulene: 16 girls
Wilhelmine: 15 girls
Rogene: 12 girls
Edwardine: 7 girls
Fayrene: 7 girls
Howardine: 7 girls
Murlene: 7 girls
Forestine: 6 girls
Mauline: 6 girls
Adolphine: 5 girls
Chesterine: 5 girls
Isolene: 5 girls
It’s A Job
Nothing wrong with an occupational name ― Mason is one of the most popular boys’ names in the country ― but something about these particular professions as names just feels off.
Author: 30 boys
Colonel: 28 boys
Lawyer: 23 boys
Butler: 21 boys
Commodore: 17 boys
Doctor: 15 boys
Admiral: 13 boys
Pope: 12 boys
Proctor: 12 boys
Miner: 10 boys
Governor: 9 boys
Rector: 9 boys
Farmer: 6 boys
Lieutenant: 6 boys
Body Con
Parents in 1918 seemed rather fond of physical attribute names.
Pinkie: 79 girls
Dimple: 58 girls
Everlean: 17 girls
Pinkey: 11 girls
Dimples: 8 girls
Brunette: 7 girls
Pinky: 7 girls
Slim: 7 boys
