Do we stilll love the classics?

Classic British names are being consigned to history, according to latest findings.

 Percy, Norman, Edna and Gertrude are just a few of the classic British names that have fallen out of favour.

The compelling new study was put together by gurgle.com and it suggests that many popular baby names of years gone by are quite literally dying out with the passing of an older generation.

 The Historical Names Report, conducted by leading statistician Dr Geoff Ellis, looked at the most popular baby names in 1907 that have failed to make the most popular 100 names lists in any of the last five years.

The study discovered that Norman and Gertrude are the top male and female baby names to have fallen victim to the passing of time. Gertrude failed to register at all in recent years (a 100% decline since 1907) while Norman has recorded a decline in popularity of 99.85% over the last century.

However, Richard - once a popular name and the UK’s most chosen 200 years ago, could soon be heading the same way as Norman and Percy.

Richard is 19th on the boys? endangered list, having witnessed a steady decline over the last century (66% fall) and shows no sign of regaining popularity.

The research suggests that parents are increasingly following fashion when it comes to naming their children. Currently, 13% of all children born are given one of the top five boys or girls names, while a hundred years ago this figure was as low as 8%.