Data has revealed the baby names that have plummeted in popularity since 2011. Can you guess which royal moniker is on the list?
Royal baby names often make for popular choice among new parents thanks to their regal connotations, with some royal names expected to surge in popularity as new family members are welcomed to the world, while other royal names make a comeback as fashions change. But not every regal name remains popular
Compare the Market used data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) to find out which baby names have seen the biggest increase and decrease in popularity since 2011. Incidentally, 2011 is the same year the Prince and Princess of Wales married – but the happy occasion doesn’t seem to have helped boost the popularity of a once-fashionable royal baby name. According to the data, the name ‘Kate’ has seen a staggering decrease of 72 per cent in the 10 years after the royal wedding.
The name Kate – which is short for Catherine in the Princess of Wales’ case – has both Greek and English origins, and means ‘pure’. It has been a named used by and given to princesses and noblewomen for centuries.
Statistics from BabyCenter show Kate’s decrease in popularity over time, with the name being used for a huge 6,944 babies per million in 1996, down to just 327 babies per million in 2023. The parenting website puts the name Kate at number 459 in the list of girls names for 2023 – down 112 places from 2022.
However, Kate isn’t the only once-popular baby name going out of fashion. Other classics include Amy, Lucy and Holly for girls and Connor, Matthew and Luke for boys – all of which have seen a dramatic decrease in their usage since 2011.
For girls, Amy has seen the biggest decline, plummeting 86 per cent in popularity, while for boys, the name Brandon has seen a huge 87 per cent decrease. Instead, Compare the Market found that names influenced by celebrity babies have been on the up. Saint, the name of one of Kim Kardashian’s children, has increased in popularity by 1867 per cent and Harper, the name of David and Victoria Beckham’s daughter, is up 3424 per cent. Meanwhile, unisex baby names – such as Ezra, Wren and Aubrey – are also on the up.
Girls’ names going out of fashion
- Amy
- Brooke
- Fiona
- Kimberley
- Samantha
- Lucy
- Honour
- Kate
- Holly
- Rebecca
Boy names going out of fashion
- Brandon
- Ashton
- Mackenzie
- Connor
- Juston
- Matthew
- Luke
- Ashley
- Bradley
- Bailey
Looking for more baby name inspiration? Check out these unique baby names, our list of 64 millionaire baby names and this huge list of 150 middle names too.
