Baby Girl Names Losing Popularity In 2022 Have One Thing In Common
The U.S. Social Security Administration keeps track of baby names, and the girl names dropping hard in popularity all have one thing in common.
Not all baby names are built to last through generations, or even from year-to-year. Parents-to-be take inspiration for their baby’s name from a wide swath of sources: celebrity baby names, TV shows, books, family history, and pure vibes. Sometimes that means a name will be dated and uber-trendy, and sometimes that means the name will last for years. Looking at the baby girl names that have dropped in popularity the hardest, for a lot of the names, there seems to be one thing — or letter — in common.
But how can you predict what’s in, what’s out, and what has staying power? Luckily, the U.S Social Security Administration keeps tabs on all the babies in the United States and their names, ranking the most popular baby names across the U.S. and even by each state for decades (which is how we know that Alaska’s most popular baby girl name is incredibly unique and badass.)
In that vein, the SSA also maintains a list of the names that decrease in popularity year over year. And from 2021 to 2022, the most recent year for which the SSA has data, a large portion of the baby girl names dropping fastest in popularity largely seem to have one letter — “Y” — in common.
A few years ago, a baby name trend that favored the letter “y” swept across the country. Parents were opting to use unique spelling for their baby’s name to help them stand out, swapping a typical “a” or “I” sound for the letter “y.” We saw names like Jayden and Addyson instead of the more usual spelling Jaiden or Addison, and now it seems the reign of that trend is over.
Looking at the U.S. Social Security Administration list, a lot of girl names that use the letter “y” have fallen in popularity, with 12 of the top 20 being names that feature “Y.”
Baby girl names that are falling fast in popularity in the U.S:
- Tatiana dropped 287
- Alaiya dropped 243
- Jaylene dropped 239
- Aarna dropped 229
- Zoie dropped 227
- Paityn dropped 222
- Ellison dropped 222
- Aviana dropped 222
- Addyson dropped 217
- Kyleigh dropped 209
- Ryder dropped 188
- Addisyn dropped 183
- Clare dropped 179
- Micah dropped 174
- Braylee dropped 159
- Jayda dropped 159
- Addilyn dropped 154
- Paisleigh dropped 149
- Jada dropped 149
- Jaylah dropped 148
To check out the complete list of baby names dropping in popularity, check out the U.S. Social Security Administration’s list.
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