Marie Claire UK Marie Claire UK
  • Fashion Fashion
      • Fashion
        • View all Fashion
        • Fashion Trends
        • Shopping
        • Watches and Jewellery
        • Fashion News
  • Beauty Beauty
      • Beauty
        • View all Beauty
        • Fragrance
        • Hair
        • Make Up
        • Skincare
        • Nails
        • Marie Claire Beauty Awards
  • Health Health
      • Health
        • View all Health
        • Fitness
        • Nutrition
        • Female Health
        • Wellbeing
  • Life Life
      • Life
        • View all Life
        • Opinions
        • Travel
        • Sustainability
        • Weddings
        • Money & Work
        • Competitions
  • Culture Culture
      • Culture
        • View all Culture
        • TV and Film
        • Celebrity News
        • Books
        • Royal News
  • Vouchers Vouchers
      • Clothing
        • View all Vouchers
        • Mint Velvet
        • Karen Millen
        • H&M
        • nobody's child
        • ASOS
        • ARKET
        • MANGO
      • Designer Clothing
        • View all Vouchers
        • Reiss
        • THE OUTNET
        • SSENSE
        • Mytheresa
        • Liberty London
        • Selfridges
        • Farfetch
      • Accessories
        • View all Vouchers
        • AllSaints
        • Aspinal of London
        • Charles & Keith
        • River Island
        • FitFlop
        • Kate Spade
        • Vagabond
      • Jewellery
        • View all Vouchers
        • Pandora
        • Abbott Lyon
        • Goldsmiths
        • Beaverbrooks
        • Astrid & Miyu
        • Swarovski
        • Angara Jewellery
      • Beauty
        • View all Vouchers
        • Sephora
        • Cult Beauty
        • Space NK
        • Dyson
        • Clarins
        • Look Fantastic
        • Clinique
      • Activewear
        • View all Vouchers
        • Lululemon
        • Gymshark
        • Sweaty Betty
        • Nike
        • adidas
        • New Balance
        • Helly Hansen
  • NEWSLETTER Signup to our newsletter
  • logoCreated with Sketch.
    Marie Claire Newsletter

    Celebrity news, beauty, fashion advice, and fascinating features, delivered straight to your inbox!


    By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.

    You are now subscribed

    Your newsletter sign-up was successful


    An account already exists for this email address, please log in.
    Trending
    • Women in Sport 2026
    • Marie Claire Masters
    • Autumn Winter 2026
    • Nail Trends 2026
    • Best Investment Bags
    • Best Perfumes
    1. Life
    2. Relationships

    Certain baby names are no longer popular for this surprising reason

    Popular culture is causing mass-extinction of certain names...

    Lucy Abbersteen's avatar
    By Lucy Abbersteen
    Published 3 April 2018 In Features

    When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works.

    unpopular baby names
    (Image credit: Monkey Business Images/REX/Shutterstock)
    • Facebook
    • X
    • Pinterest
    Share this article
    Join the conversation
    Follow us
    Add us as a preferred source on Google
    Subscribe to our newsletter

    Popular culture is causing mass-extinction of certain names...

    You know how there was that one person at school you hated, and because of it you'd never, EVER name your child the same name?

    Turns out pop culture now has a similar effect on unpopular baby names, according to research from parenting site ChannelMum.com.

    Case in point: thanks to Amazon's chirpy virtual assistant, next to nobody is calling their bouncing bundles of joy 'Alexa' – nor are they naming them 'Stan' as it's millennial slang for a 'stalker fan'.

    In light of the Weinstein allegations and #MeToo movement, the name Harvey is unsurprisingly no longer a popular choice of moniker for a newborn.

    You may like
    • Kinda Chic Trend Is "Kinda Chic" Kinda Cringe? Everyone's Favourite Fashion Word Just Went Completely Out of Fashion
    • No mascara trend, bare lashes I've Been a Mascara Addict for Two Decades—Apparently That's No Longer "Cool"
    • Lexi Minetree in Elle, the Legally Blonde prequel Legally Blonde's Prequel Elle Captures the Lost Joy of Analogue Adolescence

    And we're sure we don't need to explain why they're saying 'bye' to the name Felicia, either...

    According to the findings, 55% of parents wouldn't want their child's name to be linked to a viral internet trend or hashtag, and one in 25 parents would encourage children to go by another name if that became the case. It could explain why vintage baby names will be making a comeback this year.

    Marie Claire Newsletter

    Celebrity news, beauty, fashion advice, and fascinating features, delivered straight to your inbox!

    By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over.

    'Although Alexa was a popular choice a few years ago, the rapid proliferation of Amazon Alexas is killing it off. No one wants a daughter and a device with the same name,' says SJ Strum, ChannelMum.com's baby name expert said.

    'And this problem will only grow. If Facebook ever launches its rumoured AI personal assistant M, it will end the popularity of Emma, which is shortened to Em.

    'And Samantha, Harmony and Solana are all definite no-nos as they're all brands of sex robot. These are problems no parent faced a few years ago.'

    Yikes. Never did so much thought have to go into choosing a newborn's name.

    Lucy Abbersteen
    Lucy Abbersteen
    Social Links Navigation
    Beauty Contributor

    Lucy is a freelance beauty editor and contributor at Marie Claire, and has also written for titles including Cosmopolitan, Refinery29, Glamour and woman&home. She was previously Marie Claire’s junior beauty editor. During her career, she’s covered everything from backstage beauty at fashion week to interviews with famous faces like Drag Race royalty and Little Mix. As for her beauty ethos, she’s a big advocate for not having to spend a fortune on beauty products to get good results. When she’s not got beauty on the brain you’ll probably find her reading or Netflix-ing.

    Read more
    Kinda Chic Trend
    Shopping Is "Kinda Chic" Kinda Cringe? Everyone's Favourite Fashion Word Just Went Completely Out of Fashion
    No mascara trend, bare lashes
    Make Up I've Been a Mascara Addict for Two Decades—Apparently That's No Longer "Cool"
     
     
    Lexi Minetree in Elle, the Legally Blonde prequel
    Culture Legally Blonde's Prequel Elle Captures the Lost Joy of Analogue Adolescence
    Dangers of sharing photos of children online
    Life I Used to Share Photos of My Daughter Online. Horrifying New AI Data Has Made Me Stop
     
     
    Latest in Relationships
    Wedding planning
    Relationships I Love My Fiancé, but I Resent the Emotional Labour of Planning Our Wedding
    Wicker husband: Alexander Skarsgård and Olivia Coleman in the new film Wicker
    Relationships Move Over Regular Men and AI Boyfriends, The “Wicker Husband” Has Arrived
     
     
    Emotionally Unavailable Men: Jacob Elordi and Margot Robbie in Wuthering Heights
    Relationships Why Are We Still Glamourising Emotionally Unavailable Men?
    Broken disco ball smashed to pieces on the floor. Black and white for a dramatic touch. Shiny backdrop is defocused.
    Relationships Why Do Men Ruin Your Birthday?
     
     
    Latest in Features
    A woman jumping on the bed; fluffy pillows and a gua sha.
    Wellbeing I Struggled With My Sleep for Months—Until I Tried This 10-Minute Daily Micro Habit
    Woman organizing documents in cluttered office workspace
    Money and Work Why Are Successful Women Staying in Jobs That Make Us Miserable?
     
     
    Celebrity twin makeup
    Beauty I Discovered the Perfect, Expert-Devised Makeup Routine–Thanks to My Celebrity Lookalike
    Autumn/Winter 2026/27 Trends
    Fashion Want to Know What to Wear Tomorrow? These are 7 Key Autumn/Winter 2026 Looks Setting the Tone for the Season Ahead
     
     
    logoCreated with Sketch.
    • Site Archive
    • Contact Future's experts
    • Contact us
    • Terms and conditions
    • Advertise with us
    • Privacy policy
    • Cookies policy
    • About us
    Add as a preferred source on Google Add as a preferred source on Google

    Marie Claire UK is part of Future plc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. Visit our corporate site.

    © Future Publishing Limited Quay House, The Ambury, Bath BA1 1UA. All rights reserved. England and Wales company registration number 2008885.