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Everything in this world is transient, and fashion especially. Moreover, the fashion for names. What was incredibly popular with our grandparents looks really vintage and dust-covered today. Where did the wonderful Ebenezers and Jebedais, Wilhelminas and Lucilles go? Unfortunately, their number is decreasing every year.

On the other hand, there is also a reverse process. For example, back in the nineties, only the most stubborn fans of ancient mythology knew the name "Hermione", and in the 21st century the number of girls with this name in the USA and the UK is approaching several thousand. What is there to say? Just look at the NFL rosters in, say, 1992 and 2022 - and compare how much the naming trends have changed.

There is a popular thread in the AskReddit community whose topic starter once asked the question: "What first name is not used anymore?" To date, the thread boasts over 30.7K upvotes and roughly 31.3K comments with several thousand incredibly diverse first names.

Bored Panda has compiled for you a list of the most popular comments of this thread: from the ancient and even fictional Gilgamesh and Nyarlathotep to Kermit and Dorcas, undeservedly forgotten in recent years. In general, feel free to scroll to the very end (there are real gems at the end, just trust us!), like your favorite ones and if we missed something, be sure to write these names in the comments!

More info: Reddit

#1

30 Names That Have Completely Lost Their Attractiveness, According To Folks In This Online Group My grandfather's name was Kermit. He went by KW. His best friends growing up were Ernie and Elmo (Elmo went by Bogue).

jemmaline , Purple Slog Report

#2

30 Names That Have Completely Lost Their Attractiveness, According To Folks In This Online Group Adolf

dwc1970 , Brazucany.TV Report

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Nathaniel
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I wonder why the name went out of fashion? Did someone with that name ruin it for everyone else?

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#3

30 Names That Have Completely Lost Their Attractiveness, According To Folks In This Online Group Gay.

Have 2 great aunts named Gay.

wowcoolbeans , Les Chatfield Report

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Squirrelly Panda
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The old definition of gay is happy. So Gay, the name, used to be akin to naming a child Joy.

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#5

30 Names That Have Completely Lost Their Attractiveness, According To Folks In This Online Group I was at a rural graveyard recently and a woman's name was Experience, she was buried next to her sister Patience.

roadtrip-ne , Tim Green Report

#6

30 Names That Have Completely Lost Their Attractiveness, According To Folks In This Online Group Nobody has the name Agamemnon anymore.

I plan to fix that some day.

driku12 , Xuan Che Report

#7

30 Names That Have Completely Lost Their Attractiveness, According To Folks In This Online Group Gaylord

Dontneedanything , Cristian Ungureanu Report

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Jo Andrews
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I read a headline the other day where a teenager was suing his parents for naming him Gaylord

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#9

30 Names That Have Completely Lost Their Attractiveness, According To Folks In This Online Group Ursula, sea-witch straight up ruined that name

The_Ethernopian , Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures Report

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glowworm2
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Ursula was fabulous though. I see nothing wrong with having that name simply because of her.

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#10

30 Names That Have Completely Lost Their Attractiveness, According To Folks In This Online Group Had a Great Grandfather named Granite Commodore. I look forward to my son assuming this bad a*s name.

Edit: His name was Garnet Commodore. I typed this comment via mobile, didn't proofread. I come back 6 days later and this f****r blew up. My highest rated comment ever was a complete mistake. s**t.

anon , Hedning Report

#11

30 Names That Have Completely Lost Their Attractiveness, According To Folks In This Online Group Flavius. Though my sister insists she's going to name one of her children that when she has them. My mother says there's no way she's allowing that

Edit: firstly, holy s**t I did not expect this many upvotes

Secondly, my comment about my sister naming one of her children Flavius isn't serious, she says it to get a rise from my mother. It's just a family inside joke.

Lastly, yeah I get that it's still a popular name in Romania, 100 people have already told me that.

saareadaar , Biblioteca comunale di Trento Report

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kim morris
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I very much wanted to name my first born son "Robin", was told no in very stern terms by my ex. So he was named Something Benjamin. Then my FIL told me to change his middle name, because it sounded "too Jewish". I am not making this up. Second son. My inlaws came to the hospital, and again told me to change HIS name, because it would be confused with his great-uncle, who was 80something at the time. Nevermind that her children were named after her brother, her other brother, her husband, and her cousin. SO glad they're both dead now.

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#12

30 Names That Have Completely Lost Their Attractiveness, According To Folks In This Online Group Never met a Heathcliff

anon , American Broadcasting Company (ABC) Report

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Nathaniel
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

"Heathcliff, it's me, I'm Cathy, I've come home, I'm so cold, Let me in your window, Heathcliff, it's me, I'm Cathy, I've come home, I'm so cold, Let me in your window."

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#13

30 Names That Have Completely Lost Their Attractiveness, According To Folks In This Online Group Hortense

anon , Atelier Nadar Report

#15

30 Names That Have Completely Lost Their Attractiveness, According To Folks In This Online Group I went to school with 2 different boys named Storm while I was growing up. Different schools, but they both had mullets and wore NASCAR shirts. Never again will we live in such a magical time.

CheddarChe , Benjamen Benson Report

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Bill Tinsley
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I used to know a girl named stormi. I currently work with two different girls named autumn and winter. Winters best friend from childhood is named spring.

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#16

30 Names That Have Completely Lost Their Attractiveness, According To Folks In This Online Group Grover, unfortunately.

Mutt1223 , vonguard Report

#17

30 Names That Have Completely Lost Their Attractiveness, According To Folks In This Online Group I dunno about you, but I haven't seen many people named Gilgamesh lately.

Mixtape_ , Gwil5083 Report

#18

30 Names That Have Completely Lost Their Attractiveness, According To Folks In This Online Group Llewellyn. I believe there was no registry of this name being used for newborns last year.

Llewellyns11 , lmcreglow Report

#19

30 Names That Have Completely Lost Their Attractiveness, According To Folks In This Online Group Jeeves. But I think it has a strong correlation to butlers and no parent wants to condemn their child to a life of butler-hood. Hell, even Jerry Seinfeld had a bit on that name.

Edit: TIL there was a series of short stories about a man named Reginald Jeeves. I always thought Jeeves was a first name. In fact, I've only ever heard of it used as the main identifier and never as a surname. The more you know. I still stand by my answer though.

PixelatedGamer , BBC Television Report

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#20

30 Names That Have Completely Lost Their Attractiveness, According To Folks In This Online Group I can tell you that there certainly are children in the UK school system right now with the following names, which were suggested in posts here:

Amadeus, Ethel, Reginald, Roger, Maurice, Mercedes, Wilhelmina, Julius, Mildred, Myra, Myrtle, Beulah, Cora, Isis and Osama.

No Adolf, Rutherford, Orenthal or Judas though.

moon_monkey , misskprimary Report

#21

30 Names That Have Completely Lost Their Attractiveness, According To Folks In This Online Group Eustace.

InVultusSolis , Cartoon Network Report

#23

30 Names That Have Completely Lost Their Attractiveness, According To Folks In This Online Group I see a lot of people suggesting "old lady names" but they are the super popular ones. My daughter's preschool classmates and my high school friends children have names like Cora, Louisa, Mabel, Millie, Maeve, Evelyn, Dorothy/Dottie, Matilda, Gertrude, Pearl.
Not a single Jessica, Ashley, Heather, Jennifer, or any of those over-saturated 80s baby names.

imtellingyoustories , Allison Meier Report

#24

30 Names That Have Completely Lost Their Attractiveness, According To Folks In This Online Group Gary. Once a very common name, only four babies were called Gary last year in the UK.

Just doesn't have a ring to it, little baby Gary.

kitjen , Paramount Global Report

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Sami B
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

My dad and brother are both named Gary, but it's more common in the US. Of course, my brother is in his 40s, so I'm not sure how popular it is with newer generations.

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#25

30 Names That Have Completely Lost Their Attractiveness, According To Folks In This Online Group Ebenezer

TipsAtWork , Elliott Brown Report

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Nathaniel
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

"'Eezer Goode 'Eezer Goode He's Ebeneezer Goode!" Who remembers that song? Apparently it contains references to drugs, who knew?

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#26

30 Names That Have Completely Lost Their Attractiveness, According To Folks In This Online Group Was at a church and saw a grave to "Manly Powers." I've never met a "Manly" before. All of us guys decided to have our picture taken with the grave while we flexed our muscles.

historymajor44 , Pantelis pan Report

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Ian Webling
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

We had a chap called Simon Manley in school. He was very short. One day in geography class, the teacher was out and he was jumping from desk to desk. My neighbour looks at me and says, "One small step for man, one giant leap for Manley."

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#27

30 Names That Have Completely Lost Their Attractiveness, According To Folks In This Online Group Dorcus, it was my great-grandmother's name.

pope0476 , takato marui Report

#28

30 Names That Have Completely Lost Their Attractiveness, According To Folks In This Online Group Mildred and Edith

anon , Bliss Papers Report

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glowworm2
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

My late grandmother was Mildred and my late aunt was Edith. Both were awesome.

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#29

30 Names That Have Completely Lost Their Attractiveness, According To Folks In This Online Group Orenthal

doctor-rumack , Charles LeBlanc Report

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Sami B
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I worked with an Orenthal in the late '00s. He was probably in his late 30s or early 40s. I'm pretty sure he went by his initials, though I can't recall now for sure.

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#30

30 Names That Have Completely Lost Their Attractiveness, According To Folks In This Online Group Caillou

runic_blades , Cookie Jar Entertainment Report

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