It's hard out there for the Deans, Elaines and Sharons of the world - their names just aren't getting the love they used to. In fact new research by BabyCentre highlights that there's 36 monikers that look to be at risk of going extinct as of this year. 

Tracking name data from their community of 3 million UK mums this year, BabyCentre was able to decipher which names previously popular in former decades are yet to be used by any parents on their database this year.

The names falling out of favour include 50s and 60s favourites for females like Sharon, Tracey, Angela and Carol. 

The picture for boys’ names is similar, with mid-Century favourites Dean and Dennis yet to be registered as well noughties fad name, Duncan.

Amelia and Oliver remain the most popular baby names in the UK for the second year running, according to the Office of National Statistics. Meanwhile, retro vowel names like Evie, Isla and Ava rank in the top 20 for girls and equally traditional monikers like Harry, George and Charlie rank in top 10 for boys.

This corroborates the trend for baby names in the celebrity world, with British actresses Carey Mulligan and Keira Knightley choosing Evie and Evelyn for their daughters in the second half of last year.

But if parents want a more unusual name, Sarah Redshaw, Managing Editor of BabyCentre, advises:

“It may not seem the obvious option, but if new parents want to make sure their baby has a name that stands out from the crowd this year, they should look to names like Paula, Debra and Elaine that were popular in the 60s, 70s and 80s for girls. For boys, names that peaked in popular as early as the turn of the last century – like Cyril, Horace and Bertram could be unique choices.”

Here are the names yet to be registered this year:

(There's nine months left of the year, so there's still time to save them!)

Angela
Bertram
Beverley
Cecil
Carol
Clarence
Debra
Clive
Diane
Cyril
Donna
Dean
Doris
Dennis
Elaine
Derek
Joanne
Duncan
Maureen
Ernest
Paula
Geoffrey
Sally
Horace
Sandra
Leonard
Sharon
Malcolm
Sheila
Neville
Tracey
Nigel
Wendy
Roy
Yvonne
Wayne