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When Elmo Met Zelma: Rare & Extinct Baby Names

DENVER (CBS4) - So you're having a baby girl and you want to name her Zelma. No? Okay, a baby boy and he will be named Elmo. I admit Sesame Street's furry red character ruined that one. But it doesn't take a puppet to kill off these other names.

Nameberry.com, a database for all things baby names, released a list of names on the verge of extinction.

Have you ever met a girl named Alpha? You likely won't encounter an Alpha in the future considering the name dropped off the Top 1000 list back in 1944. It was name #301 in 1880, but is now about to disappear for good.

Sheba is the short version of Bathsheba, a biblical character whose name is no longer recorded at all. Only five baby girls were named Sheba in 2013 in the U.S. Unfortunately, it's more apropos of a dog than a child.

Thisbe is another ancient name that is about to meet its end. It never ranked in the Top 1000, but the mythological name is about to vanish from modern lexicon entirely.

Other female names that are at the end of their life include Barbra (note the unusual spelling like Barbra Streisand), Zelma, Nanette, Sondra, and Claudine.

As for males, Elmo disappeared from view in the 1950s. It is the short name for Guglielmo, the Italian form of William.

Llewellyn was a common name in Wales and appeared on the U.S. top list for six decades, ending in the 1940s. Despite its rich history, Llewellyn is headed for extinction.

The name Remus comes from a legendary founder of Rome. The authors at Nameberry suggest the unpleasant first syllable has kept him permanently off the Top 1000 list and headed directly toward extinction.

Waldo is another name ruined by a character: Where's Waldo jokes would pervade this child's life. It reached #347 on the top names list in 1881, but only five boys were named Waldo in 2014.

Other names of boys you'll likely never meet include Icarius, Inigo (the Spanish version of Ignatius), and Sherwood.

CBS4 social media and website producer Heather Sadusky writes about trending topics on social media and across the Internet on her What's Trending Blog. Share a story idea with Heather by clicking here.

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