 Gungnir  | 08 Sep 2007 2:11 a.m. PST |
Thanks to the Social Security Administration you can now see what names were most popular in the US from 1880 till present. So, next time you write a story, make sure your characters are in fashion – or not. ssa.gov/OACT/babynames |
| Grinning Norm | 08 Sep 2007 2:50 a.m. PST |
I heard some ladies in the bus talk about how nonsensical statistics are. This again proves that the world needs it. |
DemosLaserCutDesigns  | 08 Sep 2007 4:11 a.m. PST |
Hey my name was popular when I was born! At least I was popular once! |
| Rudysnelson | 08 Sep 2007 6:56 a.m. PST |
I picked up a book on ZULU names at a High School book fair recently. Also if you are doing Colonials or AmRev or any area where British and German names are needed then you can also get a Church hymnal. The lists of lyric writiers and music wiriters will provide a wealth of both first and last names. |
| caml1420 | 08 Sep 2007 7:05 a.m. PST |
Oh great. My name fell out of the top 100 the year after I was born, and has steadily declined into the high 700s since then! |
| caml1420 | 08 Sep 2007 7:12 a.m. PST |
Geesh! My middle name had it's best year in 1886 (132nd most popular), fell out of the top 200 three years after I was born, and has gradually dropped into the low 400s. Not exactly slaves to style, were my folks! |
| fred12df | 08 Sep 2007 7:28 a.m. PST |
Neither mine or my wife's names are in the top 1000 in the last 100 years! |
| Jerzei Balowski | 08 Sep 2007 8:45 a.m. PST |
Hmmm, Jerzei's not in the top 1000. Can't imagine why, though.  |
| the Gorb | 08 Sep 2007 9:20 a.m. PST |
Hey! Mine broke into the top 1000 in 1905! Regards, the Gorb |
| Gungnir | 08 Sep 2007 10:36 a.m. PST |
To my big surprise my very Dutch first name scored in the 900's in 1914, '15 and '16. Obviously still a lot of tradition-minded Dutch immigrants around at that time. |
| rmaker | 08 Sep 2007 12:21 p.m. PST |
It should be noted that spelling variations (e.g. Lawrence and Laurence) and shortened versions (e.g., William, Will, and Bill) are considered separate names, effective invalidating the whole ranking. |
| nvdoyle | 08 Sep 2007 12:27 p.m. PST |
Huh – my first name hovered around the 250-500 mark for almost 100 years, then went from 228th in 1990 to 15th in 2006. Man, there's gonna be a lot more Noahs running around soon. |
