The Social Security Administration keeps track of names registered for new babies. If you go to
http://www.ssa.gov/cgi-bin/babyname.cgi, you can put in a name and it will tell you what RANK that baby name was in the years since 1912. It tracks the top 1000 names. I created spreadsheets for all of the names of grandchildren in our family and found out some interesting facts. For example, this year, Mia is the 9th most popular name for girls born in the USA. But it doesn't even show up on the list until 1964. (Does anyone know a famous Mia from 1964?) Fiona doesn't make the top 1000 until two years after OUR Fiona was born... I guess she made a big splash. William has maintained a steady popularity for 100 years. Chantry never makes the list.
I wonder how Caitlin would rank on a chart for the UK. And what makes foreign names like that suddenly so popular? Interesting how many of our names pop out of the bottom of the chart like that so suddenly. Isn't it funny how we sometimes think we're being so original. Then we look at a chart like this and realize, "Oh. EVERYONE named their daughter Caitlin in 1989."
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ReplyDeleteYes, Caitlin, Mia, and Chase win the prizes for meteoric rises.
ReplyDeleteI found this, but it does not facilitate easy spreadsheeting... http://data.gov.uk/dataset/baby_names_england_and_wales
ReplyDeleteIt looks like I was born at the very bottom of the Gwendolyn spike, which makes sense because all the other Gwendolyns/Gwendolens I know are from The Importance of Being Earnest, Sky High, and elderly women.
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