REVEALED: The baby names on the brink of extinction in the US (2024)

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The baby names that are on the brink of extinction in the US have been released - with their simplicity and practicality dropping them to the bottom of the list.

Al and Bess, once popular namesamong the Baby Boomer generation, are the top boy's and girl's names on the verge of disappearing.

Fewer than 20 babies each year are being given those names. At its peak, almost 70,000 babies a year were being named Al.

Cathy and Christi were also dropped to the list of endangered girl's names while Bernie and Bert could be going extinct in the male line.

Scroll down for the full list of endangered names

These names were once considered popular, ranging in the top 150 names in the late 1800s and early 1900s, but their substantial drop as a top choice for new parents has pushed it toward extinction.

The top endangered names were compiled using annual data from babies registered with the Social Security Administration.

If only 20 to 50 babies are given a name each year, it's considered to be going extinct.

When Al was popular, it was common for people to have longer, more formal names like Albert or Alfred that were shortened to a name like Al for convenience and as a straightforward alternative.

Meanwhile,Bess initially became popular after the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, who was called 'Good Queen Bess,' in the 1600s and was reintroduced as a baby's name in the late 19th Century.

Popular baby names go in and out of style like anything else, but it tends to follow the '100-year rule,' taking a century before parents regain interest.

Although some names have withstood the test of time, like Anne and Laura, new parents aren't inclined to name their children after their parent's or grandparent's generation.

But names from their great-grandparents have been out of fashion long enough that they reemerge in popularity, according to Nameberry, a site devoted to baby names.

'One thing that makes a name go out of fashion is that it's been in fashion for too long,' Pamela Redmond, whose books on baby names led to the creation of her site Nameberry, told The Guardian.

Aside from the 100-year rule, parents are also shifting the names they choose because they are 'much more aware than previous generations of the branding power of a name, and the power of a name as a marker of identity,' Redmond said.

Parents are also being drawn to more 'powerful names,' the SSA reported, saying that Emryn - meaning 'immortal' and 'ruler' - shot up 1,287 spots last year, bringing it to the top 1,000 baby names for 2023.

A previous study revealed there has been a decrease in common names chosen in the US since the 1980s when parents wanted to select novel names that would make their children stand out.

'The Baby Boomers were the first parents who wanted to be cool, and who wanted their children to be cool as well,' Redmond told the BBC.

The way parents used to name their children was more about fitting in and choosing a simple and practical name, baby name expertLaura Wattenberg told NPR.

'That was what was realistic. That was what was expected,' she said, adding:'Today, the culture is more about standing out instead of fitting in, and the options are limitless. Everyone is pushing to be unique, to be creative.'