Apparently, we have *a lot* of Isabellas on the way. Quite a few Sophias, Avas, and Olivias.
What’s really interesting about this list is how much naming is apparently a national phenomenon. I would not at all have been surprised to see different names in different regions. One name popping up over here and expanding. Another popping up over there. Instead, Isabella is #1 in California to New York, Oklahoma to Rhode Island. I actually know one baby named Isabella and another named Sophia. Truth be told, I consider both of these names (almost all of the ones listed, actually) to be vast improvements over the names I am seeing in classrooms. My concern is that there is less here than meets the eye and the main reason that Isabella shows up and Brianne doesn’t is because the latter is broken down into fifteen spellings. Here is hoping not!
I actually know a little Isabella and a little Sophia. I didn’t realize that they were on the cusp of a tidal wive (if it’s that). Interestingly enough, in an alternate version of my life, my old flame and I (who got married in this timeline) named our daughter Sophia. I actually chose the name solely due to its gnostic significance and not because I’d heard anybody else that had it.
I am curious where the names came from, if anywhere. I mean, other than the fact that they have been around a while. Why the resurgence now? That’s one of the great mysteries of names, though.
The boys names are almost all straight from the Bible. And William. Clancy actually wanted to name our son (if we have one) William/Will (and I actually have a fondness for Truman and it was my brother’s pick!) (I mean William as in William and Truman as in Truman, not William and Truman as in my actual first and last name – both William and Truman are family names). We’d actually sort of had a girl’s name picked out, but recently Clancy discovered there is a family name very similar to what we chose (in the same way that Caroline is similar to Carolyn) and so we might be changing course.
And for your enjoyment, music!
In about 1995, a friend confided to me that he and his wife were expecting a little girl, and they had long ago picked out a name for her that would be unique: Madison.
When we named each of our boys, there was a slight hesitation since the names were so unusual – would they be teased for having freak names? Turns out, they are really, really common now. My oldest had three other people with his first name in one of his High School classes. Once years ago when my wife had taken our boys to the park she heard another mother yelling out both their names, and thought “Oh God, what have they done now?” But it turned out that the other woman had two sons that were identically named.
I have no idea how these trends happen.
Jack and Hannah were chosen for different reasons; both names took a jump in popularity right when we used them.
Part of this is generational, I think… especially for boys.
But only part — “Michael” was 1, 2, or 3 in popularity from 1953-2010, dropping to #6 in 2011. I’m surprised there aren’t more of us making comments here.
Mike Doughty is one of my upcoming Wednesdays.
Thank goodness it’s not that particular song.
Isabella appears to be a result of the Twilight phenomenon. Other than that, I can’t say how these trends take shape. We’ve already had to retract a name in secret because a friend stole it for a recent birth.
Twilight! Of course! I didn’t put it together. I read elsewhere that Mason’s ascendance is a courtesy of the Kardashians. I’d love to think Olivia is related to Fringe, somehow.
AH! Someone already made this point.
Freakonomics studied baby name trends, particularly with regard to social class.
They found that upper-class folks tended to start trends, largely to differentiate themselves and demonstrate their exclusivity. So, Madison was a popular name among wealthy folk, though not necessarily a popular name universally. Middle-class and then lower-class people saw wealthy and important people using the name and adopted it, sometimes making slight modifications. In turn, wealthy people chose new names, not wanting to associate themselves with THOSE people and the bastardized versions of the names. It is how a classy name becomes a stripper name over a few generations (if you want to describe it in the most shitty way possible).
It is an interesting theory and seems to be borne out by the numbers, though I generally find the rigor of the Freakonomics guys to be seriously lacking.
I actually wonder if this is still true. It sort of seems like the odd names are as likely to go straight from the Kardashians to the bottom of the SES ladder as they are to take any time working through a cycle.
Also, it’s a good thing for these girls named Emma that the craze of naming every dog Emma was about 5 years ago. That way they won’t have to compete with the family dog for attention when they’re teenagers.
“I am curious where the names came from, if anywhere.”
Sonora.
Isabella is as likely to be Italian as Spanish, isn’t it? And Sophia is Greek. (I’ll grant you Texas’s #2 male name, Jose, comes from South of the Border).
My wife is convinced the “Isabella” trend is related to “Twilight”. I have no idea why as I know nothing about that universe.
Has anyone read the Freakonomics study on baby name trends?
Yeah, that was an interesting chapter in Freakonomics.
Sophia comes from the Greek, but it’s a common name throughout Europe, in various forms (Sonia, e.g.).
Also, old names come back when the people who had them, and were considered old (and therefore there names unattractive), start to die.
Jose is a Biblical name.
Remember when San Jose was taking Santa Maria to God-Knows-Where, and she squirted out this little tyke in the barnyard?
That’s the guy.
If I ever get home
I’m gonna have me three children—
Apple, Zippo, and Metronome—
That’s what I’m going to name them
—The Tragically Hip
from “The Dark Canuck”
Ashley was a popular name when I was going through school. The animated tv series Recess (1997-2001) captured it well, from my experience.