How many Mildreds did you go to school with?
What about Norman?
How many Normans or Ednas or Elmers?
If you're under 60 years old, the answer is probably none.
Although these were all very popular baby names in the early 20th century, they've steadily fallen out of fashion and are now almost extinct.
When you hear names like Gladys or Herbert or Doris, you probably automatically think of old people, but why is that?
Is there something about the phonetics of the words themselves that create that association?
Probably not since at one point, a lot of people thought they sounded like great baby names.
In fact, Mildred was in the top 10 baby names for over 20 years, but hasn't cracked the top 1,000 since 1984.
Linguists have been studying the science of first names for a long time, and though what's behind the particular parents' choice is deeply personal and often opaque, there are certain trends in baby naming that can reveal a lot about the values and direction of a society.
