Popularity of Baby Names - Does This Make Sense to You?

[grumpy]

I came across an article that said that "Jacob" was the most popular name for a baby boy in 2005 (based on a SSA database). I don't know a whole lot of people who have a son named Jacob so I went to the SSA site:

http://www.ssa.gov/OACT/babynames/

When I used the "popularity of names" feature and looked for the rank of Jacob for the last 15 years it shows that Jacob was #1 every year back to 1999. Somehow this just seems impossible to me. Wouldn't that mean there should be a whole $hitload of toddlers named Jacob running around? What do you think?

Grumpy

 

[kaudrey]

I have a friend with a 2 year old named Jacob. They just had another son, named him Colin.

Karen

 

[FinanceDude]

I have a son named Jacob..............

Other one is Nathan..........wonder how popular that is.............

 

[WanderALot]

We have friends with a 3 year old named Jacob and two friends with girls named Emma (2nd on the girl's list).

We don't have kids yet, but if we have a girl, DW would have liked to name her Emma because that's her grandmother's name. She's since scratched that idea due to the popularity of the name.

 

[Outtahere]

I have two friends at different ends of the country that have toddlers named Jacob.

 

[2B]

Names go through cycles. When I was in school, there were alway 3 or 4 named Steve.

 

[Khan]

1964, Upstate NY, 9 out of 40 girls in junior high named some variant of 'Debbie'.

2004, SW Ohio, 5 'Debbie variants' out of 30 woman in a small office.

 

[JohnP]

Best site I've seen is http://babynamewizard.com/namevoyager/lnv0105.html

Just type in the name and see popularity over the past 125 years

JohnP

 

[Martha]

Best site I've seen is http://babynamewizard.com/namevoyager/lnv0105.html

Just type in the name and see popularity over the past 125 years

JohnP

Fun link. Martha continues its decline in popularity that began in the late 1800s.

 

[shiny]

My name is just a flash-in-the-pan 70s name, so is my sister's!!!

 

[Nords]

Wouldn't that mean there should be a whole $hitload of toddlers named Jacob running around? What do you think?

Not in your adults-only neighborhood!

 

[grumpy]

Nords,

You are probably right about that. However, in this adults only neighborhood grandchildren are one of the most popular topics of conversation. I don't hear a lot of folks talking about their grandson, Jacob.

Grumpy

 

[dumpster56]

How about these..

Fuquan
Shaneefah
Shaquana
Haneefah
Dujuan
Dufuquwan
Precious
Abdurraheem
Sadiq
Latoya
Octavia
Shadee

The list goes on and on Inner city Newark, NJ

 

[MikeD]

How about these..

Fuquan
Shaneefah
Shaquana
Haneefah
Dujuan
Dufuquwan
Precious
Abdurraheem
Sadiq
Latoya
Octavia
Shadee

The list goes on and on Inner city Newark, NJ

Don't forget Neveah, which is heaven spelled backwards. And anything starting with "la."

Mike D.

 

[Nords]

You are probably right about that. However, in this adults only neighborhood grandchildren are one of the most popular topics of conversation. I don't hear a lot of folks talking about their grandson, Jacob.

No problem, we don't either.

Leilani, Kehau, Iwalani, Kahoku, Noelani, Ikaika, Kaipo, Keanu, Makani,... you get the idea.

 

[HFWR]

The Heathers...

 

[brewer12345]

We intentionally picked names we liked that were also not in the top 50 or so.

The one I could never figure out was the popularity of several spellings of Brooklyn (for girls).

 

[Nords]

The one I could never figure out was the popularity of several spellings of Brooklyn (for girls).

I guess it's better than "Queens" or "Bronx"... or for the boys, "Trenton"...

 

[ladelfina]

Was reading a George Carlin book ("Brain Droppings") that I got in a cast-off paperbacks CARE package from friends in the US..

There was a whole riff on nursing homes in the future.. instead of being filled with ladies named Ethel, Agnes, and Opal.. they'll be filled with Tiffanys, Heathers and Jennifers.

Octavia is an ancient Roman name.. the wife of Claudius, I think, was Octavia.

 

[brewer12345]

I guess it's better than "Queens" or "Bronx"... or for the boys, "Trenton"...

"Camden", until recently the most dangerous city in 'Merica, stiill in the top 5.

 

[HFWR]

Back some years ago, the dental director at my local discount dental office was named "Pollard". Saw a tv spot for same, with aforementioned "Pollard", only now he was "Buddy"...

Only on Texas...

 

[Meadbh]

There's a whole chapter on the rise and fall of baby names in Freakonomics: a Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything, by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J Dubner. More info at www.freakonomics.com/ch6.php