11 baby boys' names about to go extinct

Only 33 newborn boys were named Gary in 2014 

Mollie Goodfellow
Wednesday 21 October 2015 10:31 BST
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Names like Gary are becoming rarer
Names like Gary are becoming rarer (WestEnd61/REX Shutterstock)

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A couple have named their baby Gary in a bid to stop the name from going extinct.

Steve Bachelor, 23 and Katie Hilton, 18 decided to give their newborn son the traditional moniker in a bid to stop the “old-fashioned” name from going into decline.

In 2014, there were only 33 baby boys named Gary, making the name the 889th most popular according to the Office of National Statistics rankings. This is in stark contrast to 1964, when the name was the 16th favourite name for baby boys in England and Wales.

Oliver, Jack and Harry top the current list of most popular names for boys in England and Wales. Popular culture also has a look in, with Hollywood actors such as Benedict Cumberbatch and Jonah Hill’s first names creeping up the list. X-Men character Wolverine – whose real name in the films is Logan – has been the namesake of 2,813 babies in 2014.

But what other monikers are rapidly out of fashion? Here are some of the names from the 1996 top 100 list that have fallen out of favour in 2014.

Gary – fell from 147th most popular name to 889th in 2014.

Neil – fell from 232rd most popular name to 754th

Graham – fell from 341st most popular name to 1819th

Barry – fell from 441st most popular name to 2079th

Ronald – fell from 427th most popular name to 1935th

Nigel - fell from 552nd most popular name to 2079th

Gerald – fell from 680th most popular name to 2248th

Bernard – fell from 680th most popular name to 1012th

Maurice – fell from 818th most popular name to 1327th

Clive - fell from 898th most popular name to 2964th

Norman – fell from 1337th most popular name to 2964th

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