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You probably won’t meet anyone named Normal or Dimple today.

Extinct Baby Names That Sound Hilarious Today

Extinct Baby Names That Sound Hilarious Today

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 deserves 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 are not used at all today.


surprised baby

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 obscure ethnic names, like Tsuyako and Mieczyslaw, that have faded from view as immigration patterns have shifted. Others are 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 hilarious of these extinct names from 1918 — and couldn’t whittle it down to fewer than 200. Here are the highlights, in all their LOL-worthy glory, along with the number of sad children given each name in 1918. See the full 200 names on Nameberry.

Damned by Faint Praise

Apparently, a lot of parents in 1918 wanted to set achievable expectations for their kids.

1. Constant: 20 boys

2. Bland: 14 boys

3. Pleasant: 12 boys

4. Normal: 10 boys

5. Carless: 7 boys

6. Square: 6 boys

7. 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.

1. Buddie: 33 boys

2. Budd: 23 boys

3. Girlie: 14 girls

4. Sweetie: 9 girls

5. Milady 8 girls

6. Doll: 6 girls

7. Bunny: 6 girls

8. Chick: 6 boys

9. 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.

1. Hedwig: 159 girls

2. Garfield: 119 boys

3. Alf: 32 boys

4. Lassie: 29 girls

5. Gilmore: 25 boys

6. Rosebud: 22 girls

7. Simpson: 22 boys

8. Holmes: 20 boys

9. Bilbo: 11 boys

10. Cinderella: 7 girls

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.

1. Manley: 61 boys

2. Classie: 29 girls

3. Icie: 29 girls

4. Oralee: 26 girls

5. Woody: 26 boys

6. Icy: 24 girls

7. Moody: 23 boys

8. Manly: 15 boys

9. Worthy: 12 boys

10. Dicy: 11 girls

11. Nicie: 11 girls

12. Wealthy: 10 girls

13. Jolly: 9 boys

14. Piney: 8 girls

15. Chattie: 7 girls

16. Curly: 7 boys

17. Viney: 5 girls

A For Effort

Note to 1918: Adding an “A” to the end of a word does not automatically make it a girls’ name.

1. Yetta: 182 girls

2. Creola: 44 girls

3. Mozella: 41 girls

4. Jesusa: 31 girls

5. Pasqualina: 31 girls

6. Refugia: 28 girls

7. Leonarda: 26 girls

8. Fortunata: 25 girls

9. Congetta: 24 girls

10. Jesusita: 21 girls

11. Capitola: 20 girls

12. Candida: 18 girls

13. Walburga: 9 girls

14. Missouria: 5 girls

15. Wilburta: 5 girls

16. Nestora: 5 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.

1. Arch: 55 boys

2. Metro: 35 boys

3. Colon: 27 boys

4. Carry: 23 girls

5. Olden: 22 boys

6. Wash: 20 boys

7. Veto: 16 boys

8. Orange: 15 boys

9. Canary: 14 girls

10. Leather: 10 girls

11. Media: 10 girls

12. Hobby: 9 boys

13. Dude: 8 boys

14. Clearance: 7 boys

15. Chess: 6 boys

16. Famous: 5 boys

17. Fountain: 5 boys

18. Jock: 5 boys

19. Method: 5 boys

20. Speed: 5 boys

Straight-Up Insults

Assumedly these were not yet insults in 1918 — and the last one is still only an insult if you’re speaking with a lisp.

1. Pansy: 229 girls

2. Guido: 104 boys

3. Rube: 15 boys

4. Nimrod: 13 boys

5. Flake: 8 boys

6. Coker: 7 boys

7. Athol: 6 boys

Body Con

Parents in 1918 were so blasé about body shaming that they started doing it at birth.

1. Pinkie: 79 girls

2. Dimple: 58 girls

3. Everlean: 17 girls

4. Pinkey: 11 girls

5. Dimples: 8 girls

6. Brunette: 7 girls

7. Pinky: 7 girls

8. Slim: 7 boys

This post was previously published on Nameberry.

(Photo via Getty)