I dunno, it tends to happen more when people are forced/tricked/want to provide a gift without really knowing what to get.

It's a reliable generic gift because wallets wear out, and there's usually room to switch between several.

It gets less common as you age, but it still happens unless you have the habit of refusing to switch wallets, or have talked about exactly what you want in a wallet and people realize they're better off going a different route.

I'm really particular about my wallets. Right size, right pocket configuration, right materials. I want my wallets the be able to be pulled out and I can find what I need blindfolded because of decades of familiarity. I like a licence window. I want durable materials over pretty materials, when the choice is necessary.

So, I buy my own damn wallets when one is wearing out. Nobody buys me wallets any more because I show the new ones off. Since I'm also known for saying "oh man, that's a nice wallet, that'll be what I use when this one wears out", it kinda makes it a disappointing gift to give, even though I would never say that and it not be true.