What goes up, eventually goes down. Find out which baby names lost favor in 2015.
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The Social Security Administration recently released its list of the most popular baby names of 2015—and Noah and Emma still reign at the top of the charts. But other baby names didn’t fare quite so well, with some falling hundreds of places in popularity. Here’s a look at what names are on the decline in the U.S.—and some ideas of why they’re losing favor so fast.
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Infamous Names
It’s sad that the baby name Isis has become so intertwined with the terrorist group ISIS (AKA Da’esh)—a problem that’s upset some parents so much that they’ve considered changing the names of older girls named Isis to something else. Isis was a powerful goddess in Egyptian culture, associated with the sky and with fertility—but now, her name has dropped more than 1000 places and out of the top 1000 altogether.
Though slightly less infamous, the antics of Miley Cyrus seem to have impacted the popularity of her name, which dropped more than 200 places and also out of the top 100.
Maybe the bad 2014 horror movie set off a real hate wave against the name Annabelle. The name, and its various spellings, all fell several hundred places on the popularity chart.
On the guys’ side of things, there’s the mystery drop of Arnav, which fell more than 600 spots, and both Donald and Clinton are off their marks in the leadup to the 2016 election.
The End of Creative Baby Name Spellings
Perhaps people are finally tired of having their kids whine when they can’t find their name printed on a pencil or a key ring—because dozens of odd spellings of common names were on the decline this year. Rylee, Brenden, Gavyn, Giovanny, Konner, and Aidyn were among the biggest droppers for guys, falling more than 150 places each, while on the girls’ side, Danika, Mollie, Elin, and Abbigail all dropped more than 175 spots.
Trendy Names Heading South
It didn’t take long for the bloom to be off several recent trendy names. Montserrat and Monserrat were among the top climber baby names last year, but this year, they’ve both fallen significantly. The same goes for the much-talked-about Game of Thrones royal title name Khaleesi, which dropped 60 spots this year. And it seems like we were definitely ready to “Let it Go:” Frozen favorite Elsa dropped 200 spots in popularity. For boys, celebrity darling Bode was down 62 places.
Sayonara, Status Symbols
Parents are shying away from paying homage to their favorite brands with their baby name picks, as names like Chevy, Chanel, Tiffany, and Mercedes are all on the decline. And glittery names like Crystal, Diamond, and Jewel also found themselves on the outs.
Word Names on Their Way Out
We’re not saying the trend is over (and there are definitely word names among the buzziest baby name picks), but some word names aren’t taking off as well as others. Names like Temperance, Patience, Azalea, Ace, Case, and Talon lost popularity this year.
Stodgy Names
Some names simply fall out of fashion for a while. And names like Cindy, Denise, Wendy, Alfred, Gilbert, and Mitchell may need to wait a few decades for another day in the sun—they all dropped a significant number of places.