Baby experts reveal most unpopular names

From Kimberley to Gary – here are the most unpopular baby names for 2022 so far.

Researchers have revealed the least popular baby names for the year so far – and some of the names on the list may surprise you.

Focused on names from the UK, the study by Bella Baby, looked at statistics from Baby Name UK as well as Google Trends to compile the results, The Sun reports.

Baby experts reveal unpopular names. Picture: Getty Images

Among the top most unpopular girl names was Angela. It has been in steep decline since the ’90s and is ranked way down in the 600s in terms of popularity.

The name comes from the English and Italian form of the Greek word Angelos, meaning ‘messenger’ or ‘angel’.

Other girls’ names that parents are avoiding include Kimberley – which means ‘the wood from the royal forest’ – along with the name Alexa – a form of Alexandra, meaning ‘helper and defender of people’.

Others in the most unpopular names included Nicole, Ashley, Lorraine, Kristen and Suzanne.

Meanwhile for the boys, one of the least popular was Kobe, which has several meanings, including ‘turtle’ in Swahili, ‘supplanter’ or ‘cunning’ in Hebrew, or ‘god’s door’ in Japan where it is also a place name.

Also proving unpopular for boys was Jeffrey which is from German origin and means ‘god’s peace’.

Nigel – meaning ‘champion’ – was also uncommon, along with the names Ashton and Graham.

Also on the list was Stuart, Chad, Gary and Bill.

“It’s to be expected that some names begin to get out of fashion or popularity over time, whether that be an association with the name or just that it has been so overly used that it is no longer desired by new parents,” said one of the compilers of the list.

“While some names will always be firm favourites and are everlasting, there are certain names you wouldn’t expect people to fall out of love with, but that is the nature of choosing baby names.”

This article originally appeared in The Sun and has been reproduced with permission