Deirdre, Sheila, Nigel and Harold are among the baby names at risk of dying out, suggests a parenting website, after no family is understood to have chosen the monikers in 2022.

After the most popular baby names were unveiled in October, BabyCentre has now crafted a list of those which were not registered by any new parents last year - an early sign that they could be facing extinction.

While Olivia, Lily, Noah and Oliver are among those most frequently chosen by families welcoming a new baby - the likes of Stacey, Shirley, Cliff and Giles hit zero registrations according to birth records for the last 12 months.

Girls names with a 70s and 80s 'American vibe' appear to dominate the list, says BabyCentre, with no baby girls named Farrah, Stacey, Kelly, Barbie or Britney. When it comes to the boys Rhett, Brent, Bill, Maximillian and Quinton also failed to attract any takers.

Sarah Redshaw, managing editor for BabyCentre UK, said: "These names might have fallen out of fashion, but they could make a great choice for your newborn. They’re familiar but it’s unlikely there will be another boy or girl with the same name in your child’s class.

"Parents looking for cool and unique choices might want to put Farrah or Rhett on their shortlists."

And while there were a number of names that failed to be chosen at all - there are also some hanging by a thread with just one registration.

Among them for the girls is Karen - a once popular name in the 1960s - which has more recently become a meme byword for an entitled, privileged middle-aged white woman who is prone to complaining. While for boys - Donald is seeing a similar fate with just one registration this year compared to six in 2021.

Sarah Redshaw added: "After becoming the name of a million memes it looks like Karen is only just hanging on. We could very well see it drop off completely next year. And it’s no surprise that Donald is meeting the same kind of fate after the last US president’s controversial time in office."

But there is no doubt as fashions and trends change names do come in and out of favour.

Dwayne was one name that enjoyed an upsurge in 2022 with four registrations despite a count of zero in 2021.

And one parent registered Maude - an alternative spelling of Maud - possibly indicating a small revival of the vintage name after zero registrations the previous year.