In Australian English, Nigel is a colloquial term for a male social misfit - "Nigel no mates". Now it looks like the name Nigel is going the same way as the name Karen. Nigel was a common name for boys born inEngland and Wales from the 1950s to the 1970s – 5529 in 1963. But now the Nigels have left us. The United Kingdom's Office of National Statistics reports that not a single baby born last year was named Nigel. Although once a very common British baby name, it is now extinct. Other boys' names on the way out: Trevor – just eight boys, Stuart - also eight boys, and Gordon - seven boys. On the upside, journalist Harry Wallop reports that there were 189 boys called Kylo, 142 called Kacper, 86 called Aadam, 64 called Cai and 9 called Orfeas.
A reader writes: "I recall at Island Bay School in the 1950s the Headmaster would issue the cane to the boys in this novel way. Seated in our classroom, we could hear the headmaster in the corridor say, 'These are the rules. You run as fast as you can and get out of the door at the far end of the corridor. I will follow you and if I catch up to you I will whack you on the backside as you run. Ready set go'. In class we would be silent and holding our breathes as the two sets of shoes ran past, then, 'Ouch' (or words with more flavour) and out the door the boy would fly! And of course, there were days when a lucky fast runner was just too quick and we would clap our hands with joy. Fortunately for us girls, it was only issued to the boys."
