COMPILED FROM THE FEDERAL REGISTERS, 1880 TO THE PRESENT
THE ENDANGERED NAMES LIST
American first names, tracked to the federal reporting line.

FROM THE REGISTER — THE VANISHED

Hortense
A female given name · United States

BELOW THE FEDERAL REPORTING LINE SINCE 1977 — 49 YEARS

Hortense (F): reported births per year050100150200250188019001920194019601980200020202025FEDERAL REPORTING LINE (5)PEAK 229 — 1919
Reported births per year, 1880–2025. The y-axis starts at zero. Years below the reporting line appear as gaps, not zeros.

Napoleon's stepdaughter's name. Hortense was reported above the federal line from 1880 to 1976, peaking at 229 births in 1919 — 6,313 recorded in all. It has not appeared in the register since: 49 years below the line, and counting.

REGISTER EXTRACT
First reported1880
Last reported1976
Peak1919 — 229 births
Total recorded, 1880–20256,313
Years above the line95 of a possible 146
Longest absence49 years (1977–2025, ongoing)

Nearby in the register

Bulah

The Vanished · 1880–1963 · peak 1919

Lue

The Vanished · 1880–1985 · peak 1919

Zilpha

The Vanished · 1880–1943 · peak 1918

Floy

The Vanished · 1880–1971 · peak 1918

Source: U.S. Social Security Administration national names file (1880–2025). Names below 5 occurrences in a year are not reported.

Somewhere, a grandmother is unsurprised.

A collection of THE MUSEUM OF HOPEFUL MACHINES