Your name lasts a lifetime, but naming trends can live and die practically overnight. It’s why your colleague’s book group has five Brendas, while you’re kid’s elementary school has none.
Given the fickle nature of naming fads, genealogy site MooseRoots set out to answer a question: which baby names have fallen the fastest since the turn of the millennium?
Specifically, they looked at the top 200 names from the year 2000 (100 each for boys and girls), then determined which of these names had fallen off the fastest, based on the steepness of their descent.
The popularity rankings and number of births are based on data from the Social Security Administration. Let’s start with the 25th biggest dropper, than count down to the fastest faller of all.
Trevor
Rank in 2000: 75
Rank in 2014: 276
The only male name to make our list, Trevor’s popularity peaked in the late ‘90s before falling rapidly. The data suggests that girls’ names are more likely to rise and fall in popularity than boys’ names.
Jenna
Rank in 2000: 63
Rank in 2014: 266
Jenna evolved from Jenny, showing slow growth in the ‘60s before a massive uptick in 1984. From there, the name held its popularity for two decades before gradually falling out of favor.
Kathryn
Rank in 2000: 89
Rank in 2014: 293
One of the nation’s most stable names, Kathryn hovered just within America’s top 100 girls’ names for over a century, stretching from 1880 to 2000. Since then, however, the name has dropped off, partly due to popular alternative spellings.
Jada
Rank in 2000: 84
Rank in 2014: 292
Likely derived from Jade, Jada came on strong in the mid ‘90s and held its popularity nearly a decade into the new millennium. The last five years have been less kind to the name, which has fallen in popularity quickly since then.
Danielle
Rank in 2000: 48
Rank in 2014: 264
Danielle began as a feminine alternative to Daniel, and has been popular ever since the ‘70s. That said, the name has fallen over the last decade to become just the 264th most popular name in the U.S.—its lowest point since 1964.
Shelby
Rank in 2000: 70
Rank in 2014: 294
Originally a surname, Shelby became a popular girl’s name following Isaac Shelby’s service as a commander in the Revolutionary War. In modern times, the name has enjoyed two spikes of popularity: once in 1937 and a second time in the ‘90s. Since then, however, Shelby’s popularity has fallen quickly.
Laura
Rank in 2000: 85
Rank in 2014: 318
Laura is popular around the world, ranking among the 200 most popular girl’s names in Sweden, Norway, England and Scotland, among others. In America, however, the name’s popularity has fallen precipitously since the turn of the millennium, currently sitting at 318th.
Kelsey
Rank in 2000: 88
Rank in 2014: 324
Kelsey is of Old English origin, and may have been a natural evolution from the earlier name, Elsie. Kelsey saw its greatest popularity come in 1992, but the name has since fallen out of America’s top 300 girl’s names.
Haley
Rank in 2000: 28
Rank in 2014: 265
Likely originating from an English village—Hailey, Oxfordshire—Haley is now the most popular spelling of the name in America. Still, the name has fallen steadily since the late ‘90s, where it enjoyed a brief stint among the country’s top 50 girls’ names.
Sabrina
Rank in 2000: 92
Rank in 2014: 332
Sabrina’s popularity peaked just before the turn of the millennium, potentially influenced by the popular comedy, “Sabrina, the Teenage Witch.” Today, the name has fallen out of the top 300 girls’ names in America.
Leslie
Rank in 2000: 90
Rank in 2014: 337
Leslie enjoyed incredible staying power starting in 1940—the name consistently ranked within America’s top 100 girls’ names until shortly after 2000. The name has fallen rapidly since then, falling out of the top 300 names in 2014.
Christina
Rank in 2000: 73
Rank in 2014: 326
Christina was among the top 30 American girls’ names for nearly 20 years, stretching from 1970 to 1990. The name has since been on a slow decline.
Cheyenne
Rank in 2000: 99
Rank in 2014: 362
The name Cheyenne originates from American Indians, and saw its biggest spike of popularity in the late ‘90s. Though it had a brief resurgence in 2007, the name continues to trend way down today.
Amber
Rank in 2000: 46
Rank in 2014: 309
Amber was almost entirely off the radar until 1944, when Kathleen Windsor’s novel, Forever Amber, gave the name a small bump. The name’s popularity grew steadily until the late ‘80s, before gradually falling back outside the nation’s top 300 names. Still, it remains considerably more popular today than it was in the early 1900s.
Erin
Rank in 2000: 60
Rank in 2014: 325
Erin hits its highest point in 1983, when nearly 15,000 baby girls received the name in one year. The decline since then has been steady, with the name’s popularity falling in every year besides 1994.
Amanda
Rank in 2000: 32
Rank in 2014: 314
Amanda was a force in the ‘80s and ‘90s, consistently ranking among the top five girls’ names in America. Today, it doesn’t even crack the the top 300.
Megan
Rank in 2000: 18
Rank in 2014: 308
Megan’s most popular year was 1985, when it cracked America’s top 10 for the first (and only) time. The name’s popularity held somewhat steady through the ’90s, then fell off a cliff from 1997 on.
Sierra
Rank in 2000: 53
Rank in 2014: 352
Likely of Spanish origin and related to the mountain range of the same name, Sierra enjoyed peak popularity in 1998, then quickly faded.
Briana
Rank in 2000: 83
Rank in 2014: 419
Given the name’s various spellings, the Briana variant never become more popular than the 68th most common girl’s name, a feat it accomplished in 1994. It has since dropped significantly.
Marissa
Rank in 2000: 78
Rank in 2014: 473
Originally a variant of Marisa, Marissa went on to become the most popular variant of the name, peaking in 1994. The name enjoyed a brief resurgence in 2003 and 2004, but has otherwise only gotten less popular since.
Brittany
Rank in 2000: 61
Rank in 2014: 456
Brittany skyrocketed to the third most popular girl’s name in the United States in 1989, up from 303rd just a decade earlier. Today, however, the name is even less popular than it was in the ‘70s, ranking 456th.
Cassandra
Rank in 2000: 100
Rank in 2014: 516
Originally a princess from Greek legend, Cassandra became a popular name for American girls throughout the ‘80s and ‘90s, peaking in 1990. Since then, its descent has been steep: the name has now fallen out of the top 500.
Caitlin
Rank in 2000: 76
Rank in 2014: 496
Even though Caitlin peaked back in 1988 (at 44th in the nation), the name held fairly steady for another decade, disguising what would become a rapid decline post-2000. It is has since nearly fallen out of the nation’s top 500 names—down from 76th in 2000.
Breanna
Rank in 2000: 79
Rank in 2014: 624
At its peak, Breanna reached a popularity nearly equal to that of its sister spelling, Briana, but both have fallen off quickly. In fact, Breanna’s descent has been even steeper.
Courtney
Rank in 2000: 59
Rank in 2014: 681
Another surname that eventually became a first name for girls, Courtney is the millennium’s fastest dropping baby name. Courtney cracked the top 20 in 1990, and remained in the top 50 through 1999, only to take a giant plunge the following year. The name has now nearly fallen out of America’s top 700 girls’ names, and the momentum shows no signs of slowing.