Top Name? Don't Despair!

The 2013 SSA baby name data has been released! This is very exciting news in the naming community. I of course ran to share the news on Facebook and other places. A few of my friends responded with either a sad tone of "oh, the name I like is more popular than I thought" or "is it really bad to choose a popular name?"

The point of this blog post is to say - don't despair if you love a popular name. For starters, popularity is only one fact about a name, a fact people should be aware of but doesn't necessarily dictate name choice, it is entirely up to the parents. But more significantly, baby names are much more diverse than they used to be. A name being ranked #1 doesn't have the same punch it used to have, because even though its the MOST popular, its less popular than #1 from decades past - significantly so.

I know other bloggers have looked at this, but it can be said again and again, and demonstrated in many ways, so here are some numbers.

In 2013, the number one girls name is Sophia. There were 21,075 babies born named Sophia in 2013, or 1.1% of all girls.

Lets compare that to the year 1980. In 1980, Jennifer was the #1 name, representing 58,385 births (3.2%). So, despite both being #1 names, Jennifer was effectively 3x more common than Sophia is.

If there were 21,075 Sophia's born in 1980, the name would have been ranked 6th overall. By percentage, it would have been ranked 8th. It would be about as popular as Amy. Yes,  a common 1980 name, but not an issue where you have a bunch in the same classroom usually.

The #20 name in 2013 was Evelyn, with 7616 births and .39%. That percentage in 1980 would make it be ranked 42nd (it would be about as popular as the name Brandy or Christine. Do you know a 34 yr old Christine or Brandy? Maybe, but I doubt you think of either name being overly popular.

This new distribution, with people choosing a wider variety of names, means it is also harder to have a truly "rare' name. The 500th name in 2013 is Emersyn, with .0312%. The 500th name in 1980 was Alaina and represented .0229% of the girls born. Alaina at 500 was less common than Emersyn at 500. If Emersyn had this frequency in 1980, it would have been ranked 402, about as popular as Penny.

The take away from all these numbers?
- Unless you rank popularity as very important in your personal naming criteria, don't worry too much if a name you love is popular. It doesn't mean your kid will be "Evelyn K." or "Evelyn J." in her classroom. Names are less common.
- Don't try too hard to be unique, its nearly impossible in the current naming atmosphere, and growing more difficulty every year as more parents try. The more parents want to be unique, the less unique options there are.

The Disclaimers
- All the above calculations? Doesn't account for name spellings and variations! If you are particularly concerned with how popular a name you use, you can't just count Sophia. You probably want to count Sofia, Sofie, and Sophie as well.
- And, as usual, don't forget shared nicknames. Evelyn might not be all that common (even at #20), but you might run into a lot of girls named "Evie" as this nickname can be derived from many other names as well.
- There is extreme local variance in name popularity. You might choose the #20 name only to find out its #1 in your state or community. State level data is available for download from the SSA baby name site (link on the right). 

What Makes a Name Trendy?

I have been frequenting a baby name message board recently, and people frequently are surprised when a name they like is called "trendy" by other users. When I have time, I like to bother answering them. Today I had a lot of time, and thought, hey I did so much research on this, surely it is worthy of a blog post.
Question: I don't understand what makes a name trendy? I have not heard the name Kenzie anywhere around me and I've lived in 3 states and worked in a pre-k class for 2 years before my daughter was born. Is it super common now or something or is it just common around where you all live?

Answer:  Many factors go into determining if a name is "trendy", and in this case, the label is very apt. 

(Rapidly) Increasing Popularity: If a name was not popular, and then rises very quickly, that is a sign that its trending. Kenzie has risen from 871 to 270 in the last 20 years. That isn't insanely quick, but its a good pace. 

General Style: Even if a specific name isn't popular, it may have the feel of many popular names. Kenzie is not top 100, but it has the same feel to it (cute, "ee" sound ending, casual sound) as the top 100 names Hailey, Kaylee, Riley, Kylie, Bailey, as well as other "trending" names like Paisley (104), Rylee (109), Sadie (120).. .etc. The list could go on. On top of this stylistic match, there is the fact Kenzie has both a "z" and "k", both "sought after" letters that are drawing parents in.

Name Family: A single name that rises quickly but stays out of the top 100 isn't really trending... but if it is part of a name family, all of which are gaining in popularity, it is definitely trendy. This is the strongest argument for Kenzie's trendiness. It is actually a nickname for the longer name Mackenzie, so we have to consider the popularity of this name as well. Mackenzie is ranked 71st, then add in Makenzie (150), and McKenzie (152). These four names combined make up .4756% of all girls born in 2012, that is as popular as Ella, the #12 name for the year. Also, all of these names are on the rise, along with the very similar McKenna (226), Makenna (229), Kendall (116), Kendra (387) and Kenley (449). 

All in all, yes, Kenzie is definitely trendy. That is a piece of information expectant parents should have, but its not necessarily a bad thing. There are all sorts of reasons for why trendy names are good, but that would require its own post.

The Nickname Myth

I have blogged before about using nicknames as given names. Its an ongoing controvery in the naming world. Many people would say its a current trend. Often, when it is discussed, it is treated as a new phenomenon - something to be compared to the classic tradition of giving full names on the birth certificate. This characterization, however, doesn't hold up to some basic research. Even if using nicknames as given names IS a trend, which I also question, it is certainly a recurring trend, not a brand new dilemma.

I discovered this rarely-known piece of information when I was looking for new baby name inspiration (Yes, despite my blog-silence, my name obsession has continued). Tired of looking at the 2012 SSA records and thinking "none of these names are CLASSIC enough for me", I pulled up the oldest records the SSA has available for babynames - 1880. What I found surprised me.

The following names were all in the top 100 in 1880: Minnie, Annie, Nellie, Carrie, Jennie, Hattie, Mattie, Lula, Fannie, Mamie, Effie, Sallie, Nettie, Lizzie, Susie, Etta, Kate, Addie, Lulu, Lottie, Nannie, Lottie, Katie, Leo, Dan, Ray, Alex, Charlie, Jack, Ben, Ed, Jim, Tom, Sam, Will, Joe, Fred, and Frank. And those are just the OBVIOUS nicknames I didn't include things like Harry, Mollie, Elsie, or Lillie, which could be viewed as stand alone names depending on the definition. Thats 38 names out of 200 that were very common given names, but would be considered nicknames today. (On an entirely seperate note, holy -ie endings batman!!! Seriously, I am not sure they believed in the letter "y" at all!!)

So, in 1880, 14% of top 100 given names were obvious nicknames. Let's compare that to today. The following names are currently in the top 100 (as of 2012... I can't wait for the 2013 data!!) - Kayla, Ellie, Alex, Eli, and Liam. A measly 5 name, or 2.5% are nicknames, and thats counting Liam as a nickname, which at this point could be considered a stand alone name as much as Mollie and Harry are.

Is 2% really a trend? I don't think so. I can't go through every year to gather statistics on that, I don't have time. But, it wouldn't suprise me to find out that having ONLY 5 of the Top 100 names be nicknames is actually quite low.

Conclusion?? There is not a "epidemic" of using nicknames as given names, and even if this was a current popular trend, it wouldn't be a new trend, but rather just cycling back to the past as we always do.

Full Disclosure

When my husband and I started discussing baby names (I believe at that time were were only dating), I was clear from the get go - the names were going to be secret. Any name that he seriously wanted to consider for a future child had to be kept secret, from everyone.

I am not entirely sure why. I mean, there are lots of people that will not discuss baby names, but I was particularly militant. It just seemed... right. I wanted it to be a surprise. I did not want our names stolen. I did not want anyone they would honor to know in advance. I did not want anyone elses opinions on whether they were good or bad names. I think I felt that by sharing a name I was somehow spoiling it.

Now my position has changed a little bit. I just love discussing names so much, not mentioning my favorites has become impractical. Plus, after deciding to do everything with my first pregnancy a certain way, all of which are decisions I liked (keeping the name secret, not finding out the sex, etc), I realized that there was no reason to do it the same way the next time. If I get pregnant again, I can have an entirely different experience. So, I lifted the ban on discussing names. 

And now, for the full disclosure name. What exactly names got discussed when we were naming our first child?

Well, his name (Benjamin Robert) was picked out for years before he was born. It was picked out while we were still just dating, in that very first conversation about baby names mentioned above. Therefore, we did not need to discuss boy's names that much when I got pregnant. We still did a little bit, in case one of our cousin's who was due shortly before us used it (we had two). Other boys names that were discussed are Barrett, Bode/Bodhi, and Nolan. Possible alternative middle name of Nathan or Nathanial. Actually their are lots of boys names we both like, its just a matter of finding one we both love and are OK with the popularity and honor value of!

Girls names are what really got the heavy discussion. We do not agree on many. In fact, as far as I can tell, DH just flat out does not like many! We discussed it ad nauseum. Natalie was strongly in the running for awhile, but ultimately felt too popular. For awhile early on it seemed like it would be Keira/Kiera but ultimately we could neither agree on the spelling or pronunciation (I liked Key-air-a, and he liked Kir - a). He vetoed some of my favorites- Virginia (Ginny for short) and Verity. It kept coming back to the same thing. My favorite name was Felicity. He was OK with it, but did not love it. His favorite name was Cosette. I was OK with it, but did not love it. We tried to throw those two out and just start going through the baby name book. Aurelia. Ariella... we had a growing list of names we liked but did not jump out as the one.

In the end, we struck a bargain. We agreed that if the baby was a girl, we would use one of our favorites (Felicity or Cosette), and then if there was ever a second girl, it would be the other. Of course the only question was which name to use first? (After all, the bargain was as much a gamble as anything). Finally, I decided to "give in". Thinking about the two names, I thought in the event that she ended up being an only child, Cosette was somehow fitting. Cosette is from the novel Les Miserables by Victor Hugo. He pretty much invented it for the novel as a pet/nick name for his main female character. Some people think its a spin off of Nicole, or a different take on Colette, but really no one is sure. The character Cosette is an orphan, single child, who ends up with a life full of love and happiness after a rocky start. So, I agreed that it would be Cosette, but that the middle name needed to reference a strong female role model. We debated it for weeks and eventually landed on Jane for Jane Austen. Jane also happens to be the anagram of a family name, which we liked. So, had he been a she, she would have been Cosette Jane.

But he was a he! And now the bargain is called off. We are back to square one with girls names, and I have no idea what will happen if we ever have a daughter!

I may in the future write a more general entry on the decision of whether to keep names secret or disclose them, but don't you think I will be better able to do that once I have experienced both worlds?

The Thing about Common Names I Never Knew I Loved

My son has a pretty common name. Benjamin. It was 19th overall in 2011, and 5th in the state we are living in. If you asked my family, they never would have guessed I would use such a common name. They know I love baby names, and have always had some unique ideas for them. But Benjamin was the perfect storm of circumstances. I started liking the name when I was in third or fourth grade when I read it in The Boxcar Children. My husband had also always liked the name. Then, our two best friends in college, who we lived with, ate with, studied with, and played with for four years, ended up both being named Benjamin. It was a no-brainer when we were trying to find a boys name that it should be Benjamin.

Even knowing it was the perfect name for us, I still had my reservations about the source, meaning, and popularity of the name (It is not just from the Bible, but unlike most "biblical" names, did not exist until it appeared in the bible, it means "son of my right hand" or "son of the south"). But little did I know, the name had  a surprise for me. It started shortly after my son was born. I had a lot of downtime, mostly while breastfeeding, and I started re-watching old M*A*S*H Episodes, and got a little thrill when I remembered/realized that one of the main characters was Benjamin Franklin Pierce. I know its nerdy, but I just really liked that one of my favorite fictional characters shares my sons name. The little bits of excitement kept coming as I realized that my son shares his name with all sorts of cool and interesting people, and it ties him to all sorts of interesting books and historical tidbits. I never imagined I would get joy out of who my son shares a name with, I expected almost the opposite!

I intend to post more broad posts about the good and the bad of unique and common names, but I just wanted to throw this out there first. Here are some of the great Benjamin references that have made me smile over the last year:

Benjamin Franklin Pierce- AKA Hawkeye

Benjamin Franklin

Much to my Husband's Chagrin, there IS a Benjamin in the Twilight Series, though a very minor character!

Benjamin Martin - Main Character in The Patriot

Benjamin Harrison - 23rd President

Benjamin Disraeli - an old British Prime Minister, Google him, he has some cool quotes!