Friday, May 25, 2007
Trends in the Baby Names Market
Today’s teachers complain about the headache of keeping track of all the Jessicas, Ashleys, Amandas, and Jennifers in their classes—and the Mikes, Chrises, Matts, and Joshuas. These names in particular enjoyed a remarkable run of popularity between 1982 and 1989, when some 324,000 Jennifers were born in America and over half a million Michaels. I know this because the Social Security Administration publishes a searchable computer database of the names of all the babies born here since 1880.
In fact, today’s teachers have it much easier than teachers in the late 1800s. In 1880 fully 30% of newborn boys were named John, William, James, Charles, or George. In 2006, the top ten names made up only 9.5 percent of newborn boys. So don’t expect to be overrun by Jacobs and Ethans in first year college courses in the year 2024. Luckily, a proliferation of boutique names like Tyler, Logan, Landon, and Carter, and the increase in Hispanic names, has thinned the market. Boys’ names have followed girls’ names in an inventive trend leading away from the controls of our patriarchal past.
At the Social Security Web site, you can trace the rise and fall of names over time. Some names have lived more significant and dramatic lives than others. For most of a century, from 1880 until 1961, Mary was far and away the top name for girls, interrupted only by the exuberant six-year ascendancy of Linda after World War II. But once Lisa seized the top spot in 1962, Mary began an ineluctable decline—and currently languishes at number 84. Probably we owe our sexual liberation as much to Linda and Lisa as we do to Elvis and the Fab Four.
I see meaning in other trends as well. When my grandfather was named Ernest in 1892, his name ranked a respectable 26th; but its popularity has slipped since and this year fell to 723 with no hope of recovery in sight. Is its suggestion of earnestness, like Mary’s promise of chastity, too demanding for us?
Names such as Emily, the most popular girl’s name since 1996, have reversed their fortunes. The delicate name is touched with nostalgia. After tumbling toward oblivion in the late ’Fifties, Emily began slowly to rise again in the mid-’Sixties, and gradually climbed to the top, where it is now threatened only by its cousin Emma and the pretentious upstart, Madison. What is the meaning of Jacob’s success, and how has that name managed to maintain a grip on the top spot since 1999, when it put an end to Michael’s 38-year reign? After a period of relative popularity in the late 19th century, the name went into decline for over sixty years, dropping to 354 in the rankings before rousing itself again in the early 1970s and climbing past hordes of more popular names. Jacob was a name of destiny. But what called it forward out of obscurity? What makes it a continuing favorite? That question is at the heart of the mystery of popular culture.
My wife’s parents allowed her sisters to name her. As if they knew what they were doing, they gave her the very name that would rule the girl’s list for the next fifteen years. By a kind of mental telegraphy or linguistic virus, popular culture writes itself, tells its own story through us. As I sift the data, I fancy myself an archeologist of names, telling myself that in there somewhere, deposited in the layers, is the secret story of American life, the protean name we are trying to call ourselves. But even when I believe I’m acting independently—especially when I do—the culture is choosing for me, writing me, naming me. I bear its name.
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A random selection from more than 300 Michiana Chronicles -- refresh the browser to see another set:
Joe Chaney -- Trends in the Baby Names Market / More essays by Joe
Louise Collins -- More essays by Louise
April Lidinsky -- More essays by April
Jonathan Nashel -- More essays by Jonathan
Jeff Nixa -- More essays by Jeff
Ken Smith -- More essays by Ken
Jeanette Saddler Taylor -- More essays by Jeanette
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About the series
Michiana Chronicles is a series of radio essays by Jonathan Nashel, Louise Collins, Joe Chaney, Jeanette Saddler Taylor, Jeff Nixa, April Lidinsky, and Ken Smith.
Michiana is the region of north-central Indiana and southern Michigan roughly centered on South Bend, Indiana.
Michiana Chronicles airs on Fridays at 7:35 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. on WVPE (88.1 FM), the home of public radio in Elkhart / South Bend, Indiana.
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