Each year at this time, we pause a moment to reflect on the long-familiar names that dropped out of the top 1000 for the first time. Some 2008 notables:
Brad. A top-1000 standby since 1942, Brad was one of the signature names of the 1960's and '70s. Now, you can’t help but notice that it rhymes with Dad. (Celebrity watchers, note that Brad Pitt has had absolutely no discernible impact on this name's popularity arc.)
Karl. Karl was one of the true stalwarts, a name that had made the top 1000 every year on record (since 1880). This year marked the end of that run, as Karl – like Brad – suffered for its 3-to-1 consonant-vowel ratio.
Carrie. Are you surprised to learn that Carrie, too, had been on a 127-year run? In fact, the name's heyday was in the 1800s, with a second wind in the 1970s.
Toni. Toni's been around since the '20s, and held up across cultural moments from Toni Tennille to Toni Braxton. No feminine form of Anthony makes the charts this year.
Annette. The image of Frankie and Annette’s endless '60s beach parties makes this name feel date-stamped, but in fact it had a long, multigenerational run.
Brandy. Yes, the '80s are really over.
Susana. OK, this is a head-scratcher. As of this year, no spelling of this classic name cracks the top 1000. Yet I constantly talk to parents who love the name, especially spelled Susannah. If you're hunting for that elusive Sasquatch of names – a name that everybody knows, everybody likes, and nobody uses – you've just found it.
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Also, I dreamt a name last night: Ana Linden. Not bad for my subsconscious huh?
Hey, I am here! How nice to get a shout-out. She is still "Firefly," but I am hoping she'll go back to Caroline before, say, college.
But all this bears on the earlier discussion of cre8tive spellings. I love the nickname Carrie and think it is quaint and 19th century too -- but the 70s avalanche of Keri, Kari, Kerri, Kelli, and so on, kind of ruined the nickname for me. Callie is super-cute for Caroline, and I like Carly, too. But given that she's named for my mom who hates diminutives, we had to go with the full name. Whereupon, yes, my daughter gave herself a highly creative nickname, so the joke's on us.
I'm voting that Callie be a Caroline or Calla, as I think diminutives are too cutesy as given names. A Caroline can always say "Call me Callie," but a Callie can't exactly say "call me Caroline." I once had a friend named Penny, not Penelope, and she changed it to Pennington. It was kind of charming, kind of pretentious, but I saw her point about Penny.
I knew a Susanna in college, and it was a lovely and exotic name amidst all the Susans and Suzannes. But she was constantly irritated by mispronunciations: Su-ZAH-na vs. the flat A. Still, it's a pretty name. Let me also say: Isadora is popping up, as an alternative to Isabella. I think it's pretty, if you are looking for a flowery name.
Oh so much to comment on, I'll see if I can remember it all:
I was also thinking of the amount of distinct names and of the Sex and the City connections so whomever put that data up-thanks.
I think of Carrie also as "LHOTP" but never quite realized that it would be a nn for Caroline. How weird is that? The mom's name was Caroline and I never put it together.
Susan/Susannah/et al are not my cup of tea. They are nice but something about them sound, knowing my age ppl, not sure but if I were naming would much rather do Sarah.
Re Callie: I like the sound of this but totally agree with the nn vs. formal name thing on this one. Some nn's are good stand-alone but this one to me is not. The first "formal" name that came to mind is Calantha. Best wishes to you!
I thought of a name that I've not seen being used and since we are talking about how people are liking the certain sounds of names, do we think a name like Emerald could become up and coming?
Okay, Carrie to me belongs with Mary, Laura, and Grace, too. However, I think there's a large segment that think pig's blood and crazy mom first.
zoerhenne - Emerald is interesting. It seems like a natural with the Em-s and Diamond both up there. Hmmmm...
I've always loved Mary, Laura, Caroline and Grace, as a sibset.
RobynT- Ana Linden is beautiful! Would you ever consider it IRL?
Patricia- thanks for posting the perennial names from the SSA data. Actually, I'm not the one that asked about them, but it was really interesting all the same! The boys' names seemed more classic over all than the girls to me.
re:Susanna in Luke 8:3. Just checked the original Greek... it does not have an h. So if you want the literal translation it is Susanna, not Susannah. Although I usually prefer traditional spellings, I chose to spell with a "z" so that the nickname Zanna would work. I was concerned if it was S, that her nickname would be Sanna pronounced with an S instead of a Z.
I would expect that if the various spellings were added up that Katherine would be in the top 10 everpresent names.
I have been reading all the threads, but rarely actually get around to posting. So many threads the last few days and it's been hard to keep up!
Firstly the Susannah debate - I have previously mentioned I really like this name. I also noticed it was out of the top 1000. I am a big fan of the nn Zanna (which is one of the reasons I am keen on the name). I have 2 aunts named Sue, a friend named Suzanne and a friend named Susan and I'd still use the name. I know it gets mentioned heaps on several boards, but I think it's a bit of a NE name atm. A bit like Cordelia, Clementine and Astrid that I'm also a huge fan of - everyone is talking about them but not that many people are using them IRL. I suspect even if these names rise they aren't going to skyrocket. Or maybe that's me being hopeful?
I'm not in the US but I actually read through the top 1000 (that made my eyes hurt!!) and I was somewhat surprised at how many variations of spellings there were. Specifically how many kr8tyve spellings. There were quite a few names I'd never heard of, I suspect these were either popular in specific ethnic and/or religious groups or in honour of some reality TV star I haven't heard of. I do now think that if I was picking a name, and I'm into 'low popularity names', I would probably be happy with anything lower than the top 200. I guess a lot of the names lower down the list seemed like they really weren't very overused and it was surprising how far down the list many names actually were (or not on there at all).
I must say I envy those in the US for having such a fabulous resource. I'm in Australia and we don't have anything near as good. Each state and territory compiles it's own stats (if anyone knows of a national list please let me know!) and where I live only publishes the top 10, completely useless for much other than confirming what I already know to be v. popular names. I guess with a smaller population we will never get a top 1,000 but even a top 200 or 300 would make me happy.
Just a random question, is anyone else out there not overly concerned about popularity of names in 'other' countries? For example I would try to avoid a name that was popular in either Aus or New Zealand. I would probably not want it to be *too* popular in either Britain or the US but I'm totally fine with picking something high up in the charts in say a nordic country or maybe Ireland.
RobynT- I had a Linden epiphany a couple nights ago, myself. I constructed it on my own, out of nowhere, realised it was botanical shortly thereafter, and was then surprised to find it was an actual name. As my mother's name is Linda, it's now been put down on the list of possibles for a future daughter. I was using it as a first name: Linden Marie, (Marie being a choice for honouring my grandmother and her 4 sisters, all of whom have names beginning Mar-) or a TBD middle name based on a relative on a husband's side. I love Ava Linden, though. Great minds and all...
I also was independantly thinking of Linden this week, but for a male first name!
Chimu: My husband and I are other low popularity people. I think I'd be ok with something ranked under 500, but would love it if we come up with a name not even in top 1000. But, like you said, I am not at all concerned with names popularity in other countries.
In fact: I was last week just looking for inspiration in the Netherlands' list (I have Dutch heritage)-- where Sanne was ranked number one! (described as Zahn-eh, shortened form of the American Susannah) Quite interesting as the trend there right now is going for shorter and shorter names.
On Grey's Anatomy, Callie's real name is Calliope. I love that! She's currently dating a woman named Arizona. That's nms, but of course it fits the place names.
On Grey's Anatomy, Callie's real name is Calliope. I love that! She's currently dating a woman named Arizona. That's nms, but of course it fits the place names.
The "Linden" comments spark something for me. There is a Brit who had something to do with fashion (was she a designer or a model?) by the name of Lyndall Hobbs I think. Lyndall is an English place name meaning "lime tree valley". I associate it with botanical names like "Bryony".
Also has a surname flavor. Nickname: Lyddie.
Along with Linden, it would make a nice tribute name for a "Linda" in the family, would it not?
zoerhenne, so interesting that you mention "Emerald". I was thinking about jewel names the other day!
There was a famous socialite or decorator or something named Emerald Cunard-- very vibrant. Unfortunately, "Ruby" has become too sort of predictably hipnik for my taste. I do like fairly obscure jewel names, like "Topaz", "Garnet", "Onyx", which seem to have been favored by English eccentrics in the early twentieth century...
Put me down as another Linden fan. I'm also thinking of it to honor my mom Linda. The name showed up on the Freakanomics list a few years ago, but has yet to appear in the top 1000 so maybe it will be safe.
Beth the original, I always thought Susanna (with 2 Ns) was pronounced with the long A as in Anna and Susana was pronounced like Su-Zah-na? Not to say your friend's name was misspelled, but I see them as different pronounciations.
I know a Linden irl. Older sister is Kylee. (Actually I have no idea how either is spelled, as I basically see these kids once a year at my dd's bff's birthday party.)
I've wondered about the sibset names with these two girls. They don't quite "go" in my mind.
Re: Carrie, it's interesting, my aunt who is mid-50s is a K3rry siblings D@vid and Don@ld (since I'm putting the three together thought I'd mask it a bit). I might group the brother names more with Carrie, but looking at the ssa K3rry was in the 100's in the 50's and higher than Carrie in the early 50's so that explains it I guess...
Re: Emerald. It certainly matches up with Emerson, but it does have a lot of consonants at the end of the word that tend not to be as popular. We shall see! Personally I like all the ones Eo is mentioning better. Even Ruby though it is popular:)
Ooh, I loove Sukie/Susannah. You could use Sissy, Hannah, Anna, Annie, Nan, or Sussi.. Although Sukie is my favorite! I call my friend Suzanne "Suza" because everyone said "Suz" and that was too abrupt for me, so it became Suza.
Sanne is neat but I can't stop thinking "sahne" the German word for cream. I do like that style of nicknaming though, taking from the end of the name. My father had wanted to name me Anke (and was vetoed) so I was surprised he didn't just use it anyway as a nn.
Is Callie traditionally liked to any one name, or is it it's own? I would see it as an excuse to choose another one and then nn anyway. I like Calla, or maybe Caledonia, which I secretly like. Orrr.... Pascale, Calogera, Calyvorra (a chance to go Manx!), Calista, or Calixta.
@Chimu:
My hubby and I have been having this debate re: baby-on-the-way. The 2 names we love are uncommon here (Canada) and the States (one is in the 900's and the other is "off the charts" completely). But both are hugely popular in Scotland, NI and RoI.
It does become an issue for us, as there is a strong possibility we'll be moving back to NI before this baby's 1st birthday! So I guess world popularity matters inasmuch as your child will come into contact with those places and namesets.
On the other hand, it does mean our Belfast friends are the only ones to whom we don't constantly have to spell the names!
P.S. Riot Delilah, if you're lurking, any thoughts on "low-popularity" Irish names in NI/RoI right now?
Finder's Fee if we use it for this wee one!
@ knp: the S in Sanne is pronounced "s", not "z". It's my sister's name, and I like it, but I've got a bit bored of it - it was number one for so long here in the Netherlands (it finally dropped to 5 last year).
kimmyj: I agree with your husband that Callie is a bit too cutesy to stand alone. I like Caroline, or Calla, or Calista (which means "most beautiful), with a nickname Callie.
marina- The website I was looking at must have been outdated-- thanks. I like the 's' sound better anyway!
I am shocked that neither Susanna nor any of its variants are in the top 1000. I think it's a great name, but can't quite get behind the nickname Sukie; it sounds like the pig call Sooie to me. I've only known a Zuzanna, who was of Polish ancestry.
I also love the name Linden. It was #2 on my girl list for a time, but my husband thinks it is a better boy name. sigh.
For Callie, I would also go with a full name and use that as a nn. I like Caroline, Calliope, and Calista.
Sibset in Oprah mag article this month:
Quinn, Dixie and Walker. First two are girls, youngest is baby, I presume it's a boy. Dixie (although nms) is a fun name- she's certainly a very spunky kid!
Quinn and Dixie also remind me of the book about the dog Winn-Dixie.
re: Ana Linden: Probably would not use IRL b/c I have negative experiences with an Anna (pron. Ana), but interestingly, I didn't make that connection until a few hours after I woke up. Also, doesn't fit with other criteria my husband and I are working with and he thinks this name is just weird. But I *know* Linden was influenced by discussion on this board!
re: finder's fee: has anyone considered name consulting as a side job? of course it would be more for fun than anything else, but i think i read something once about someone providing a list of ten customized names for a small fee. i think it sounds like great fun!
I was thinking about this - what do you gals (and guys) consider low popularity name?
How low down do you have to go for it to be low?
Dixie is spunky--both old-fashioned and delightfully young (I think it's that 'x'). What might it be a nickname for?
The Winn-Dixie connection might be a bit off-putting, though. The dog in the book is named after the major supermarket chain in the south (just a step-up from the Piggly Wiggly but not quite as nice as Kroger, just to give some context) that might make that sibset a little less appealing in certain parts of the country.
Plus, what do the rest of you think of Dixie's strong Confederate overtones?
girlrandolph, names with low popularity to me are names outside of the top 200. Those tend to be the names I've heard of, but haven't met any small children with those names (although I haven't met one little Emma yet so that doesn't mean much). I personally would not select a name in the top 100 for girls. Boys, it doesn't matter as much to me.
Circe, I've heard of Dixie being used as a stand-alone name. It definitely feels Southern, but I don't have any negative Confederacy images when I think of it as a name.
On a random note, I had cousins in southern Virginia that used to refer to #2 as "Dixie" when we were little. I don't know if that was common for the region or if that was their little term.
I, too, thought of Winn-Dixie (the grocery store) when I heard Quinn and Dixie. Dixie is nms, even though it is suggested as a sib name in the BNW for my DD, Mamie. It also has a Dixie cup association for me.
Re: definition of "low popularity" -- For me, I want a name that is not in the top 200 and not climbing up the charts like crazy. When we had DS Oliver 5 years ago, I was only aware of the top 100, so thought we were safe. Little did I know that Oliver was a steady climber that is now nearing top 100 territory.
The girl's name Dixie sounds very Old South to me. When I hear it, the lyrics of the song start playing in my mind! I looked up the song in Wikipedia to see when it was written and found this:
"I Wish I Was in Dixie" is a popular song about the South. It was written by composer Daniel Emmett, a Northerner, and published in 1859. A blackface minstrel-show troupe debuted the song that same year in New York City. ...The song proved extremely popular and became widely known simply as "Dixie". ...The song became the unofficial anthem of the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War.
Wendy, as far as I know, the Greek "H" is actually more akin to an "E". Its use on the end of a name should signify that "E" sound as in "Πηνελόπη" or "Penelope". I don't think it would have been placed with Susanna/Susannah for that very reason.
girlrandolph, i would probably agree with jessica l regarding low popularity names: probably anything outside of the top 200 for me too. however, those aren't my guidelines for choosing names. as i know i've said before, i am not terribly concerned with popularity. if i like it, i like it.
With popularity I really feel that once a name is below 5k babies getting the name it's not overly common, so I guess my threshold is a little above the 100 mark for girls. As others have said, I also keep an eye at the recent trajectory of the name.
Dixie is a great name! And little historic tidbit - It was played at Lincoln's first inaugaration (that spelling doesn't look right to me).
Re popularity:
While my ds's name has steadily gone down, and my dd's has steadily gone up it doesn't really bother me. I picked them when they were between 30-50 because I just liked them. Plus over the course of their short lives they have acquired a more special meaning due to some special circumstances. They have each met 1 or 2 others with their names in school and playgrounds of MCD's and such and they actually think its kind of cool. I guess in general the top 10 is out but between 50-100 is okay for me.
My favorite name right now is Miranda.
and re Linden: I think its pretty for a girls name for a tribute to a Linda which itself is a bit stale to me. However, aren't ppl going to confuse it for the boys name/surname Lyndon which in this presidential hype-naming trend seems like a more obvious connection than the botanical one. Although the sp makes a difference, in this day of kreativ versions one might assume one or the other was a kre8tiv version.
New news on naming regulations! The motherlode blog at the nytimes has a post about parents in Sweden who want to name their child Q and are being challenged about it.
http://parenting.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/05/12/a-baby-boy-named-q/#more-2345
Can anyone explain the rise of the name August? It has jumped from 607 to 482 in the last year. This is the name of my son (born in 2006). I can't help but to feel a little dissapointed.
re: Dixie and the south: I didn't even think of it being related to the Confederacy. Is Dixie also a nn for something? Dorothy?
Steph P.- August is the name of the character and the title of the movie "August Rush." It came out in 2007 so it wouldn't surprise me if that gave the name a push. The character in the movie is a musical prodigy and a nice, cute kid. I've also just seen the name mentioned alot. Gus is becoming a popular nickname and I think August is more popular than Augustus as a rule. Just my guesses!
Can't think of Dixie without thinking of Gone With The Wind...
Susanna is a name that has it all... traditional but not over-used here in the UK either. Can't use it unfortunately. DD is due in 1 month, and we are struggling to find names that work so would be very grateful for any help.
LN begins with Ha (2 syllables ending in M) we find that most of the names we like end in -a. Were wondering if the sounds just flow into each other too much to use so were looking to find ideally 3 syllable names ending in an -ee or -ine sound. Any thoughts?
Also like
Isla (but can't use)
Emilia (NN Emmie/Milly)
Thea
Constance (NN Connie)
NN Penny but not keen on Penelope
If we can't agree on -ee/-ine names, the current frontrunner is Lydia Faye (nn Lydie) but am wondering if it is a bit girly, especially as Faye is french for fairy? We would ideally like to find a MN beginning with F to honour a relative.
Grateful for any ideas!
I agree with Zoerhenne that a female Linden would most likely be grouped with the presidential girls (Reagan, Kennedy and Taylor) than with the tree girls (Acacia, Rowan and Aspen).
Linden also reminds me of Lindsey, which is sort of like Carrie in my mind. Linden would also be a good middle name in place of Lynn. I know some families were multiple females have the middle name Lynn. Linden would freshen it up some without losing the tradition.
Re: Lyndall - This is the name of the tragic heroine of Olive Schreiner's 1883 novel The Story of an African Farm. It was the author's mother's maiden name. Interestingly there is another character in the novel named Tant (Aunt) Sannie (the story is set in South Africa).
Both Linden and Lyndall are names that would be high on my list if I were looking for surname-style names. Strangely enough, though, I don't like Linda at all. Not sure why that is.
I think the problem with Susanna is that every time the wife says, "How about Susanna?", the husband starts singing, "Oh Susanna, oh don't you cry for me!", and then won't talk about it any further. That's my theory on why the name appears on lists and boards, but never on actual babies.
RobynT-- What fun. I have also fantasized about working with people to help them choose a customized name!
Wouldn't it be great? You could give them a long questionnaire to plumb their likes and dislikes, look into their family tree, isolate favorite letters and sounds, brainstorm names like crazy. It would feed into both my NE tendencies and my overbearing social worker's need to "help" clients reach their potential!
Name consulting=ideal job in my book...
Thanks, EVie, I didn't know about that literary connection with "Lyndall". For me the appeal of the name versus "Linda" is simply that Linda/Lynda were, for lack of a better term, over-used during a period of time in history, thus losing freshness for a while.
I like Lyndall because given the cluster of sounds, I wouldn't imagine it to have mass appeal and therefore become too trendy. I do imagine that Linden could take off though, partly because of the "-en" ending, unfortunately.
Also, I like the vaguely botanical meaning of Lyndall (lime tree valley) versus Linda's perhaps more limited meaning (pretty)...
Linden was/is on my short list for boys' names as a nature name, which I deem to be masculine because of the sound-alike Lyndon.
I also know a 50 something man named Lindell--he goes by Lin for short.
Re: Callie, I'd definitely prefer it be short for something, like Caroline, Calla, Calantha, etc. as suggested. I think all are quite nice, and do give the child a more formal/serious/traditional/complete/versatile name to draw from.
The SSA released the state name statistics today. Here are some really interesting ones from my state (MT):
For boys:
Wyatt at #4 (#62 nationally)
Gabriel at #5 (#24 nationally)
Hunter at #10 (#54 nationally)
The -aiden rhyming names are still in the top 100, but definitely moving down in popularity from last year.
I was surprised to see a marked shake-up in the boy top 10 as compared to the national top 10, while the girl top 10 was fairly similar to the national top 10 (with a few differences).
For girls:
Emily not in the top 10 at all (#13)
Emma (#1 in MT for the past 3 years) is down to #3
Piper at #40 (#172 nationally)
Taylor at #11 (#22 nationally) - this is surprising to me mainly because I haven't heard of any little girls being named Taylor.
Marley, Miley, and Mylee all in the top 100.
What were the surprises in your state?
Elllie-
How about Althea? Of your current list I think I like Thea the best. I dont think I've ever realized, before trying to help you here, that I seem to prefer 'lyn' endings to 'line'- endings (except in the cases of Caroline, and Madeline). Anyway for three syllable names ending in ---ee or ine (technically two of them are eens, but maybe you will like them? ).. in additon to the aforementioned 2 (I'd suggest Harmony but for the H surname) how about..
Briony
Celine (2 syllables but still pretty)
Verity
Clementine
Adeline
Rosemarie
Cassidy
Good luck! Let me know if any of these are nearing the right track
Funny you should mention the top names in other countries, Chimu. My daughter's name is Linne@. It's not really on the radar here in Canada or in the States where I'm from and I've always loved it. It seemed unusual, but not too far out there. I thought I'd really bucked the trend of parents my age by not choosing Emma.
Well. I lived in Norway for a year in high school. I just checked the 2008 stats for Norway (I have a 2007 baby) and Linne@ is the #1 name! I guess I bucked the trend of my American/Canadian friends, but followed exactly along with my Norwegian friends!
I still love the name Linne@, though. We don't plan on moving back to Scandinavia (my husband lived in Sweden for a year) so it will probably just be a funny quirk when we go visit.
DRDS - thank you for sharing. I haven't gotten to look through other states ranks.
I live in Texas, so there is a lot different. We have Jose as number one for boys, and Angel and Juan are both in the top ten. For girls, Emily is still queen, with Isabella giving her a run for her money. Mia, Natalie and Ashley are all in the top ten. Giselle and Serenity made the top 100.
Something I found interesting is the boys list is full of traditional Hispanic names that don't seem to have crossover appeal (yet!) - Santiago, Diego, Eduardo, Jesus, and plenty more.
The girls list, however, does not have a single name I'd be surprised to hear on a child with no Hispanic heritage. Maria at 37, Gabriella and Gabriela 50's range each are as close as it gets. Mia, Isabella, and Sophia seem to come up a lot amongst the Hispanic heritage girls I meet, but then again - they come up a lot amongst all the little girls I meet.
I have noticed this pattern in my personal experience, with the children in our neighborhood, at dd's dance class, etc.
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