I'm dying out it seems...

News from the BBC that the noble name Richard is becoming scarce.

Richard, which was the most popular name 200 years ago, has also declined.
A total of 4,671 babies were named Richard in 1807, but the number fell to 2,289 in 1907 and 538 in 2005.

No doubt replaced by Baskingstoke, Adidas or something equally crass at one end of the spectrum and something ridiculously pretentious at the other, depending on whether you eat McDonalds or organic Vegan Yoghurt.

(It's a crude stereotype perhaps, but you've all now got a picture of two families: the beshellsuited chav family and the back to nature, eco-weeeny yet needing that big 4x4 to make Tarquin's French-aerobic-violin-origami class Earth Mother led modern middle class family. Which is why stereotypes are so bloody useful.)

So it appears I'm part of a dying breed. I quite like that in a way.

(via Joe)