Popular culture is causing mass-extinction of certain names...
From the editors of Marie Claire UK
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.
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.
‘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.
The post Certain Baby Names Are No Longer Popular For This Surprising Reason appeared first on Look Magazine.