Holy MacQuoid! Animals aren't the only ones endangered, rare and uncommon names are rapidly disappearing - and many of them for good reason!
How does a name become extinct? Names that are linked to uncommon professions or geographical locations are dying out while names linked to common professions like Smith or Baker are still going strong. Also, a lot of names are wiped out during war when young men die along with the chance to carry on their distinctive last names. And some names became anglicized and popular in Britain edging out many of the traditional British last names like Dankworth. Or names just become lost due to immigration.
Names are considered endangered if they have less than 200 bearers.
Endangered last names with under 200 bearers:
- Ajax
- Edevane (Oddly enough this name means prosperity)
- Gastrell
- Slora
Last names with less than 20 bearers:
- Sallow
- Fernsby
- Villin & Villan
- Miracle
- Dankworth
- Relish
- MacQuoid
- Loughty
- Birdwhistle
- Berrycloth
- Tumbler (Not to be confused with Tumblr - which has had a surge in popularity as a first name)
Last names presumed extinct since 2011:
- Bread (Even weirder, a common first name in this family was Sliced)
- MacCaa
- Spinster (There may be no one with the last name Spinster anymore, but we know there are a heck of a lot spinsters left)
- Pussett, Puscat and Pussmaid (Imagine trying to get through high school with the name Puscat)
- Bythesea and Bytheseashore (I guess Sally went out of business)
Story originally published by My Heritage
