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 — CRITICALLY LOW

Myrtle
A female given name · United States

REPORTED IN 2025: 8 BIRTHS — THE LINE IS 5

Myrtle (F): reported births per year01,0002,0003,0004,0005,000188019001920194019601980200020202025FEDERAL REPORTING LINE (5)PEAK 4,076 — 1918
Reported births per year, 1880–2025. The y-axis starts at zero. Years below the reporting line appear as gaps, not zeros.

She slipped under the line at the turn of the millennium, climbed back, and now holds just above it. The record holds 136,486 of them, 4,076 in 1918 alone. In 2025 there were 8. The reporting line is five; below it, the record prints nothing at all. It has been under before — 1998 through 2004 — and climbed out.

REGISTER EXTRACT
First reported1880
Last reported2025 — 8 births
Peak1918 — 4,076 births
Total recorded, 1880–2025136,486
Years above the line126 of a possible 146
Longest absence7 years (1998–2004)

Nearby in the register

Queenie

Critically Low · 1880–2025 · peak 1917

Almira

Critically Low · 1880–2025 · peak 1917

Alva

Critically Low · 1880–2025 · peak 1917

Willie

Critically Low · 1880–2025 · peak 1919

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