Baby Names Mania

More on Baby Names: After looking at BabyNameWizard.com, readers wrote:

Odd to note that names beginning with a vowel—A, E, I, O, U—all show a very similar “U” shaped pattern over time in the graph, with much higher percentages in the early part of the century, much lower by mid-century, much higher again today. The reverse is not as clear, though it does seems the case that names beginning with sharper stop consonants have an edge in mid-century.

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It's also interesting to chart the rise and fall of first letters. For example, A, K and N have been rising steadily while F, H, P and W have been declining; E, G, I and O are reviving from a mid-century trough while D, P and R are declining from a mid-century peak. It's not just one name in any of these cases; though sometimes there's an 800-pound gorilla (like "William") the trend appears to cross many names with the same initial letter. I know that Ashkenazi Jews tend to name kids after departed parents, and if the name in question isn't appealing they typically compromise by using the same initial letter. I wonder whether there's any similar pattern in gentile naming?

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You didn't mention one of the most dramatic pop-culture-driven name events of the last few decades: the Jennifer explosion of the 1970s, propelled entirely by the hit movie, Love Story. Jennifer vaulted from #19 to #1 among girls' names from the 1960s to the 1970s. I must have had 3 or 4 Jennifers in every class when I was in school - they were everywhere.

I wonder how often the process works somewhat in reverse. Do novelists and screenwriters look around for (or just absorb through osmosis) names that fashionable young parents are giving their daughters and then apply them to romantic heroines? For example, Jennifer was starting to take off before the 1970s, so perhaps writer Erich Segal gave a shove to a trend that was already in motion.

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Another observation is that parents seem to be less concerned about honoring their older relatives by naming their children after them. It's my perception that parents nowadays are more likely than in the past to name their kids something because they simply like the sound of the name or because a cerelebrity has it and therefore they associate good things when they hear it. I don't know why this is. Maybe people don't revere their parents are much anymore? I dunno. It seems the upper classes are more concerned about honoring their ancestors as we see George Herbert Walker Bush, named to honor several different ancestors. Names like Jr, III, IV, more common among upper classes to honor that one ancestor everyone's proud to have on the family tree.

True, although Juniors are also common in the ghetto among the sons of young men who didn't expect to live terribly long and want their names not to be forgotten.

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This reminds me of something I meant to write about Julia Roberts' unfortunately named progeny.... her daughter is named Hazel, as you know. Hazel Moder. Which sounds an awful lot like the hillbilly psycho protagonist of Flannery O'Connor's famous novel Wise Blood: Hazel Motes. This rang a bell and I checked: Julia Roberts' stepfather IS surnamed 'Motes.' Her mother is now Betty Motes. so her daughter is named Hazel Moder, whose stepgrandfather is named Motes...I hope little Ms. Moder never goes postal.

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One oddity is that perhaps the hippiest of all the 60s names, Donovan (the singer of "Sunshine Superman" and "Mellow Yellow" didn't actually became popular until the 1990s, and is now booming. The best known Donovan today is quarterback Donovan McNabb, who is probably not a hippie..

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What Were The Parents Thinking Dept.? One of the top 1000 boys' names during the 40s, 50s, and 60s was Linda. That makes Sue sound like Rod.

Steve Sailer's homepage and blog is iSteve.com