I've been searching my brain for a reason why it has fallen so far, so quickly, and even asking those older than me, who were around when the name was popular. No-one can think of a reason, there's no person with the name who could have tainted it, or anything like that.
I've been looking up a few other names that were 'up there' at the top, close to the 'big three' at the time, and one of them has fallen even further out of favour than
Claire. Interesting it's only one letter different to
Emma, and that name is
Gemma. It was #50 in 1996, and in 2017 was #1568. I just wonder why
Emma has remained steadfast, and
Gemma has just gone out of fashion.
Yet I think I'm right in saying,
Gemma has only recently started to find favour in the U.S?
~Charley~
https://www.behindthename.com/pnl/184785
It is a Yorkshire habit to say what you think with blunt frankness~
Frances Hodgson Burnett, The Secret Garden~