Names That Have Gone Out of Style
Last updated: Saturday July 13th, 2019
What do the names Shirley, Mildred, Judy, and Shannon have in common? At one time, they were among the 20 most popular names for girls in the United States. However, by the year 2015, they had fallen out of the top 1,000.
Scroll down to see a table of all the names that were once in the top 20 for their gender, but now don't even crack the top 1,000.
A few interesting notes:
There are 33 female names on the list, but only 2 male names (Fred and Clarence). In general there is much greater year-to-year variance in women's names.
Shirley and Betty were popular names before Shirley Temple and Betty Boop became well-known.
Ron Swanson seems like he'd be just the right age to have 3 wives named Tammy.
It makes me happy that stereotypical grandma names like Gladys and Ethel appear on the list. Gertrude is a near miss, having peaked at #23 in the year 1900.
| Peak | Year of Peak | Name |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1928 | Betty |
| 1 | 1935 | Shirley |
| 1 | 1956 | Debra |
| 3 | 1941 | Carol |
| 4 | 1931 | Joan |
| 4 | 1959 | Donna |
| 5 | 1912 | Mildred |
| 5 | 1929 | Doris |
| 6 | 1900 | Florence |
| 7 | 1900 | Ethel |
| 7 | 1963 | Lori |
| 7 | 1966 | Tammy |
| 9 | 1953 | Pamela |
| 9 | 1970 | Tracy |
| 10 | 1901 | Gladys |
| 10 | 1946 | Judy |
| 11 | 1900 | Edna |
| 11 | 1926 | Jean |
| 12 | 1930 | Dolores |
| 12 | 1958 | Cheryl |
| 13 | 1937 | Beverly |
| 13 | 1955 | Diane |
| 13 | 1958 | Kathy |
| 13 | 1971 | Dawn |
| 14 | 1900 | Bessie |
| 15 | 1900 | Bertha |
| 15 | 1938 | Janet |
| 16 | 1900 | Fred |
| 16 | 1901 | Clarence |
| 16 | 1912 | Louise |
| 16 | 1929 | Lois |
| 16 | 1976 | Shannon |
| 17 | 1968 | Tina |
| 18 | 1957 | Cindy |
| 19 | 1959 | Debbie |