No Babies Named Nigel In England And Wales Last Year

Forget about petrol shortages - where the hell have all the Nigels gone?

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has revealed that no baby boys in England and Wales were named Nigel last year.

It's possible there were two new Nigels brought into this world - as the ONS doesn't list names used fewer than three times for data protection purposes - but still, the name appears to be dying out.

Unless Justin Bieber names a future son Nigel, and that son goes on to also be a mega pop star, then there is a very really possibility we'll be living in a Nigel-free world by 2050.

Doesn't bear thinking about really.

Alamy

The last remaining Nigels have been banding together to raise Nigel decline awareness and generally have a daft laugh.

Nigel Smith became aware of the decline back in 2016 - another year when no babies were given the name in England and Wales - and he resolved to organise the largest ever gathering of Nigels to celebrate all things Nigel.

In total, 432 Nigels congregated at the Fleece Inn, Bretforton, Worcestershire, UK, in September 2019, bringing along with them photo ID and signing the 'the book of Nigel' to make a list for Guinness to verify their new record.

Reflecting on the inspiration for the event, Nigel (Smith, that is) said: "It started as a laugh to get Nigels together. We are going extinct in 2019. There were no Nigels registered in 2016 so I thought it would be a good idea to get us all together.

"But as a child of the sixties it takes me a while to get around to things. As the idea grew I decided to host this event and go for the record.

"In the year I was born, 1963, there were over 5,000 Nigels born. It was peak Nigel. It was so ubiquitous and it became much-maligned. At school I used to have the mickey taken out of me. I've got two children and none are called Nigel."

SWNS

But while Nigels may be dying out, Olivers and Olivias are booming.

Siân Bradford, of the vital statistics outputs branch of the ONS, said: "Oliver and Olivia held onto the top spots as the most popular boys' and girls' names in 2020 but some interesting changes took place beneath them.

"We continue to see the age of mothers having an impact on the choice of baby name. Archie jumped into the top 10 boys' names for the first time, driven by younger mothers as well as the obvious royal link. While on the girls' side Ivy rose to sixth place.

"Popular culture continues to provide inspiration for baby names, whether it's characters in our favourite show or trending celebrities.

"Maeve and Otis, characters from the popular programme Sex Education, have seen a surge in popularity in 2020. While the name Margot has been rapidly climbing since actress Margot Robbie appeared in the popular film The Wolf of Wall Street."

Topics: UK News, Interesting, Weird

Jake Massey

Jake Massey is a journalist at LADbible. He graduated from Newcastle University, where he learnt a bit about media and a lot about living without heating. After spending a few years in Australia and New Zealand, Jake secured a role at an obscure radio station in Norwich, inadvertently becoming a real-life Alan Partridge in the process. From there, Jake became a reporter at the Eastern Daily Press. Jake enjoys playing football, listening to music and writing about himself in the third person.

@jakesmassey