These popular Gen X names have gone extinct: ‘realizing we’re middle-aged’

I’m a Gen X (1976!) so if you are too, this writer is empathetic to the shock of realizing we’re middle-aged.

I’ll admit, though, that having an ethnic name always excludes it from appearing in lists like these, and that is some (cold) comfort at this stage of the game.

Read on to see if your parents gave you a name that barely anyone is using for their babies these days.

Many more than just ‘Karen’

TikTok account Nostalgia Nut has taken it upon themselves to (somewhat unnecessarily) list Gen X names that they’ve deemed “obsolete” in 2024. Karen of course is on the list. Here’s the rest:

Donna

Kerry

Nigel

Tracey

Lindsey

Gary

Cheryl 

Clare 

Tanya

Lorraine

Wayne

Beverly

Dawn

Stuart

Denise

Keith

Barry

“I want to speak to the manager”

The TikTok has 2500 comments, so the middle-aged viewers had quite a bit of feedback.

Of course, Karen had something (hilarious) to say about her name: “Karen here! I am saddened by what has happened to my name. Is there a Manager I can speak to? Pronto😂.”

Another viewer shared, “Mark, Mike, Christine, Lisa, Scott and Todd. Every grade in school had at least four Mikes in my class.”

This woman was slightly triggered: “Every Donna I’ve ever known has been horrible to me my entire life and that’s actually too bad as I really like the name.”

Many added their own “obsolete” names to the list: Melissa, Jason, Barbara, Brett, Debbie, Amanda, Cheryl, and Heather – just to name a few!

Of course, there was much debate about the age of Gen Xers – which is meant to be 1965 – 1980. But some totally embraced their status, such as this Tracey, who wrote: “I’m ok with my name being on this list.”

We’re with you, Tracey – really, ageing is a privilege.