What’s in a name?

Well, back in the 16th and early 17th century, not all that much: as William Shakespeare famously put it, “a rose by any other name would still smell every bit as sweet”, and so on.

However, by the beginning of the 20th century, this philosophy had already begun to change. As the titular character of Anne of Green Gables put it: “I read in a book once that a rose by any other name would smell as sweet, but I’ve never been able to believe it. I don’t believe a rose WOULD be as nice if it was called a thistle or a skunk cabbage.”

Now, in 2018, it seems names hold more power than ever – so much so that parents are shunning specific monikers due to their connection with world news, internet memes and modern technology.

A study of 1,434 parents by parenting website ChannelMum.com has found that Harvey, Caitlyn and Katie are dropping in popularity partly because of their association with disgraced film producer Harvey Weinstein, I Am Cait’s Caitlyn Jenner and right-wing columnist Katie Hopkins.

Meanwhile, some 55% of parents said they wouldn’t consider the name Felicia because they now connect it to the Bye, Felicia meme. And two-thirds of parents are rejecting Alexa (ranked as the UK’s 21st most popular girl’s name in 2016) because it’s the same name as Amazon’s digital assistant.

Why these once-popular baby names are dying out in 2018