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Help[Opinions] Re: Names That Are in Danger Of Extinction
in reply to a message by EsmeLily
A very eclectic list. It's hard to see any name which has had a great deal of use in the past going permanently extinct, except perhaps for Dick and Gaylord if the present new meanings of dick and gay remain current. Hortense and Philander have special problems that way, too, though I do think at some point Philander will be able to overcome them. A century ago most people would never have believed that Cressida and Scarlett could become regularly used as girls' first names because of their previous negative connotations.
Some of the names on this list like Arthurine and Nimrod have always been so rare that who would notice if they went "extinct"?
Most of the rest will surely be back at some point in the future. Since Florence is definitely on the upswing, I expect in another 15 years or so people will be hearing Flo a lot again. It's one of those short forms that I suspect a lot of the parents who are naming daughters Florence won't use themselves, but that their daughters' contemporaries will rediscover when they are teenagers and think is "cool."
As I understand it Dimple is an English word that was primarily turned into a name in South Asia and has hardly ever been used outside the East Indian community.
Some of the names on this list like Arthurine and Nimrod have always been so rare that who would notice if they went "extinct"?
Most of the rest will surely be back at some point in the future. Since Florence is definitely on the upswing, I expect in another 15 years or so people will be hearing Flo a lot again. It's one of those short forms that I suspect a lot of the parents who are naming daughters Florence won't use themselves, but that their daughters' contemporaries will rediscover when they are teenagers and think is "cool."
As I understand it Dimple is an English word that was primarily turned into a name in South Asia and has hardly ever been used outside the East Indian community.
