Gemma, Craig, Jodie And Lee Among Names In Threat Of Extinction

We all went to school with a Shaun, Kirsty or Lee, but it's unlikely our own children will, as they join the list of names that may soon be extinct.

Data collected by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) shows how the popularity of certain monikers has dropped between 1996 and 2017, the most recent year from which stats are available.

As for boys' names, Craig is facing a high threat of extinction if the current rate of decline continues - sorry, Craig David! Ross, Kieran and Lee are also on the chopping board, plummeting in popularity by over 90 per cent since the mid-nineties.

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As for girls' names, Lauren, Danielle and Jade have faced the same declines.

It's also not looking good for Jodie and Gemma, with only 20 of each named in 2017 compared to over 1,000 in 1996, while the situation is even worse for Lindsay, Lynsey or Lyndsey and Christie or Kristy, with no record of the names being taken in 2017.

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As for names that are on the rise, similar trends continue of parents naming their children after celebrities or popular TV characters.

Where once, kids were named Britney (after Britney Spears) and Jordan (after glamour model Katie Price's stage name), they are now named after Game of Thrones characters.

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Many are naming their little girls Khaleesi after the Mother of Dragons, with 76 born in 2017, while 11 newborns were named Tyrion.

To add to this, there's a growing popularity for the name Aria, no doubt a more easily-pronounceable take on Maisie Williams' character Arya.

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The name Jaxon is on the rise for boys, as well as Zayn - and we all know where that one comes from.

Oxford University's Dr Stephen Bush said there are many reasons for changing naming trends. "We can speculate that the comparatively greater range of media, freedom of movement, and ability to maintain globally distributed social networks increases the number of possible names, but also ensures they may more quickly be perceived as commonplace," he said.

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So there you have it: if your name is Gemma, Craig, Shaun, Kirsty, Danielle, Ross, Lauren, Lee, Jade, Lindsay or Kristy, you're about to become very unique... which can only be a good thing right?!

Topics: Life News, Baby Names

Ciara Sheppard

Ciara is a freelance journalist working for Tyla. After graduating from the University of Sussex, Ciara worked as a writer at GLAMOUR Magazine and later as the Assistant Editor of Yahoo Style UK.

@ciarasheppard