woofgang - // its sad but I agree Jno...even today people think Juliet is asking where Romeo is and not why he is called Romeo. //
That is an example of misinterpretation quoted so often it is a cliche, and it reflects not at all on the popularity of the work.
You might as well point out that millions of people think that Eric Burden sings - in House Of The Rising Sun - "My mother was a tailor, sold my new blue jeans ... " when the line is " ... sewed my new blue jeans ... " and you can spend an entire amusing evening pointing out misheard lyrics.
"Alas poor Yorrick, I knew him well ... "
No, it's "Alas poor Yorick, I knew him Horatio ... " but again, this is not by any means an example to illustrate that Shakespeare, or indeed The Animals, are fading from popularity simply because time is passing.
// The stories may last (Sharks are cool and the Jets are hot) but the language will vanish. //
If it was going to 'vanish', I think it would have happened during the passage of getting on for four-hundred-and-fifty years!