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.
Comments
With all the Susanna/h talk I just had to add that in Spanish "Azucena" (ah-su-say-nah)is also used instead of Susana (same meaning, different pron.)
kimmy J – I vote for Caroline nn Callie. When I was maybe nine (yes, a name nerd even then), I made a list of names I thought should belong to modern “popular girls” – I included “Hailey/Hallie” and “Kayleigh/Callie” on the list. Even though the second name in each set is technically old-fashioned, to me it is very much associated with its modern counterpart. I do think Callie is cute, but I would use it as a nickname. As your husband says, it could be very girlish-sounding for a woman: Supreme Court Justice Callie Lastname just doesn’t sound as strong as Supreme Court Justice Caroline Lastname.
Other Everpresents:
Alice
Anna*
Ann
Anne
Caroline
Catherine
Charlotte
Claire
Ellen
Emily
Emma
Grace
Isabel
Joanna
Johanna
Julia
Katherine
Kathryn
Laura
Lillian
Lucy
Lydia
Maria
Marie
Rachel
Rebecca
Rose
Ruth
*Anna has never been out of the top 100. Is Mary the only other girl name that can claim this? (And who thinks Mary'll be out of the top 100 within 5 years?)
Just read the other comments about Linden -- Linne@ is actually remotely related to the Linden tree. Carl Linnaeus, the Swedish botanist who created the classification system with the animal kingdom, plant kingdom, etc. got his last name from the word linden after a linden tree on the family's property. He named a flower "Linne@ borealis" after himself and it caught on in Sweden and Scandinavia as a girls' name.
Pippi-
Funny you mention that, Linne@ is another name that I have on the list for a potential daughter...I think it's really lovely. What did you use as a mn?
I've really enjoyed reading everyone's comments about popularity. With the popularity in other countries thing, I think I would be most interested in countries that are likely to influence where I live. There seems to be more cross-over between the UK and Aus than the US and Aus but if something is on an upward trajectory in the US then it's likely to catch on here eventually. A lot of the European countries don't seem to have such an impact, although the odd name catches on from time to time. In Aus we have quite a thing for Irish names (and have for some time), I think Scottish and Welsh seems to be the next big trend - although people are wary of difficult pronunciations.
Aside from looking at ranking I'm most interested in names that aren't rising rapidly and likely to hit the big time. Something that is fairly stable, going down, or only rising a little over several years would be ok with me. Of course you can't always predict the next bit thing!
I do frequent some other forums (not name sites) so see quite a range of names which gives me a feel for names in use more generally. Rather than just by NEs.
Re Linden - I know of mostly male Lyndons (a couple of spellings) so see this as a male name. I can see how it would work for females but am not a huge fan. I know both male and female Lyndsay's. Although the males are in the 40-60 year age range. I actually have a 30 year old friend, Lynda. I always thought it was out of place for 'our' generation. Her sister is a Sara, that always struck me as odd.
Not a fan of Callie, but mainly because my aunt had a dog by this name for a long time. So it is 'dog name' to me. I suspect not many others would have the problem. I prefer Callie as nn for a longer name, but that is usually my preference. It might get caught up with all the Kayleighs/Caylees etc though.
sorry for the double post - forgot to say I am a fan of Linnea. I know a Norwegian Linnea (now lives in Sweden). She tends to pronounce her name more like 'linear' like linear equation. Every other time I've heard of Linnea it's been more of a LIN-ay-uh pronunciation.
In terms of low popularity I think I'd be inclined to avoid many of the names that are above 200 (at least for girls), although I'd be even happier starting my search at 300 and working backward. For boys it wouldn't matter nearly as much.
I agree that Callie, which is quite nice, ought to be a nn for something else. Caroline seems a likely choice, but there have been other good suggestions. I particularly like Calliope.
@Harriet, I love your ongoing compilation of ever-present names. It will be sad when Mary finally drops off the top 1000.
harriet-- i'll add nora and eleanor to the list of everpresents.
It's funny to see the list of everpresents, because a lot of them are names that were surprising to see on people at certain moments. My mom was the only Caroline amidst a sea of 1940s- and 50s-born Carolyns. My friend Nora was the only one among us late 60s-born college kids in the 80s. I knew a Mary then and thought it very quaint, and an Isabel whose name seemed quite exotic. Same with Eleanor, Lydia, Grace. People just didn't *have* those names in the 1970s, so I can't see how they could be ever-present.
Or did I just spend my life around too many people named Stephanie (hundreds, it seemed), Michelle, Nicole, Tracy, Stacy, Kelly, Dana, Gina, Jennifer, Heather, and Kristin? I can name 3-5 friends with each of those names in my vintage, but one or fewer of any of the names on the ever-present list except for Katherine and Rachel.
Linnea is a lovely name that causes lots of pronunciation and mishearing issues: LINnea, Lin-NAY-a, Leanna, Lydia. The other day I saw a child nearly reduced to tears by a slightly deaf teacher who just couldn't get it right.
Beth - My guess is that it's a combination of things. Isabel may have been on the list in 1965, but it was only #528, so there weren't many of them. I'm guessing also that the Isabels/Marys/Alices/etc. of whatever decade you think they sound out of place in were concentrated among specific demographic groups. Does anyone have any other ideas? Because I was sort of surprised by the list too.
More everpresents:
Audrey
Cecilia
Celia
Christina
Clara
Daisy
Deborah
Eva
Georgia
Hannah
Jane
Jennie
Jenny
Josephine
Katie
Madeline
Martha
Molly
Natalie
Nina
Sara
Sonia
Sophia
Teresa
Veronica
Victoria
Vivian
I can get behind Linden for a girl. The linden tree is the national tree of Slovenia, home of my maternal ancestors. My grandma makes tea from its flowers.
how about Lawrence for a name everyone knows but doesn't use?
Chelle --
Her middle name is Kristin after my sister.
I never read this site any more because it's too buggy and doesn't scroll properly whatever browser I use. However, I happened to pop in today and...
MY name is Susannah! I was born 1980 and I guess I just got in to the end of the 1970s mini up-swing of the name. Though, saying that, I also know another Susannah and a Suzannah (who go by Susie and Suzie respectively) born 1981/1982, so I guess it tailed off slowly.
I've always gone by Susannah in "public" but family and close friends called me San/Sanna (pronounced "Zanna").
I also know a woman the same age as me whose full given name is Xanna, also pronounced Zanna, and I suspect that that was influenced by the name Susannah although her parents preferred a trendier version.
I didn't like my name when I was a little girl because I thought it was too long and fussy. All my friends were called things like Emma, Anna, Katie and Lisa. But nowadays I feel I've grown into it and I'm glad I'm known by the full version because I think it's dignified but also quite sultry-sexy!
I am amused by the idea that it will be the next big thing. Perhaps when I'm 80 I'll be able to get away with claiming I'm 50...
Hey Bill, I like Lawrence (and don't know any). Although, I don't like the nickname Lawrie (or similar versions). I'm afraid it's a name that would eventually need a nn. I haven't seen anyone using Lawrence, but have seen a lot of baby Lewis/Louis' around, which I also quite like.
i like Louis (spelled this way)
Bernard?
The usual nickname for Lawrence or Laurence is Larry. The 19th century Laurence in "Little Women" went by Laurie. (Probably few women named Laura used that nn at that time.) Laurence Olivier was called "Larry" by his friends.
I like the name Lawrence/Laurence but my father's name is Larry and in a strange twist of events the bank decided to change all of his documents to Lawrence. The end of this story is that he spent 6 months getting it all sorted out and now is a little annoyed by the name. I'm probably going to use Laurent in a middle name spot though.
Ellie-
You asked for a F- middle name. Mine is Fara. I was born in the 70s, but it is not named for Farrah Fawcett. My mom needed an F name and did not like Faith or Francine. My cousin was born 6 months before and she was Rebecca Lara (pronounced with a short a). My mom popped the f in front of it and loved how Kimberly Fara sounded. I have always loved it because it was so unique.
Moonie, that's really strange that a bank would take it upon themselves to change a person's name in their records. My husband has two cousins called Larry. For one, that's his given name. The other was named Laurence, but changed the legal spelling of his name to Lawrence.
This discussion of Lawrence got me wondering about the name, so I looked it up in "Oxford". The traditional form is Laurence, "French form of Latin Laurentius 'man from Laurentum'. Laurentum was a town in Latium, which may have got its name from Latin laurus 'laurel', although it is more probably of pre-Roman origin. The given name was moderately popular in the Middle Ages (when it was used for girls as well as boys), under the influence of a 3rd-century saint...[who] was martyred in 258. ...In England the name is also associated with St Laurence of Canterbury (d.619)"
Lawrence is the Anglicized spelling of Laurence. Larry is a pet form of Laurence/Lawrence and became an independent name as well. Other pet forms are Laurie and Lawrie, depending on the spelling of the given name.
Both Lawrence and Larry are everpresent names in the SSA lists; Laurence was "everpresent" through 1992. Lawrence was the most popular form during the decades 1880-1920 (in the top 50 from the 1890s-1950s); Larry surged ahead in the 1930s and kept going, peaking at #10 in 1947. Lawrence left the top 100 in the 1970s and Larry, in 1986. In 2008, Lawrence ranked 427; Larry, 375.
Re: Linnea--I know a Linnea who is about 12. She says it with no emphasis on any syllable "Linn-ee-a", whereas I always want to say either "LINN-ee-a" or "Linn-EE-a". Her family often calls her Linn though, which somehow has an entirely different connotation to me as a first name, than, for example, the ubiquitous Jennifer Lynns of my generation. (I personally am friends with 3 Jennifer Lynns. Ridiculous!)
Also re: baby names per state, my results (Arizona) are remarkably similar to what CB said about Texas's results. The AZ top 10 for boys includes Angel, Jose, and Jesus, whereas the first traditionally Hispanic girls name are Sofia and Maria at numbers 36 and 37 respectively. Although Camila is at 16, and I've only ever known one non-Hispanic Camila.
Isabella is #1 for girls in AZ, Anthony is #1 on the boys side. And if you combine Sofia and Sophia (#2) it surpasses Isabella plus Isabel (#96) by 12 babies. :)
Emma + Emily (#3 and 4) beat Isabel + Isabella and Sophia + Sofia by almost 200 though. I wish I knew where Sophie ranked.
And last trend I noticed, faith-related names seem high on the girl's side:
Nevaeh #27, Grace #28, Genesis #33, Destiny #35, Serenity #76, Trinity #81, and Faith itself #84.
Gilead Again...
Just popping in to see what you all think. NO time for reading when one has the urge to "nest". Yeehaw. So Dh really wanted Michael as the first mn. Fine. At least I have something solid to go on. He really likes the name Edison and thought it went well as the second mn. I was not sold. Then I struck upon... Hans.
Gilead Michael Hans.
It does not have the exact alliterative quality I was looking for but seems to me that the flow and antiquity factors are a little more consistent. Am I missing anything that roars in the head of all you NE's??
re: Dixie Im pretty sure i've read somewhere it was a nicname for Benedicta originally.
Jessica- I like Gilead Michael Hans, I think that's a winner!
I'm from MA so here are som interesting Mass naming tidbits:)
Top 10 are:
Ryan
Michael
Jacob
Matthew
William
John
Jack
Nicholas
Joseph
Alexander
Ava
Isabella
Olivia
Emma
Sophia
Abigail
Emily
Madison
Grace
Ella
Other names of interest
Ayden #92, hadn't really registered this spelling yet...
Jacoby #99, no surprise at all- Red Sox country.
Julia #11 is up 2 spots. Nationally it is down 6 spots to #40. This is my sister's name (late '80s) and it's nice, I'm just not sure what is making it so popular around here?
Hannah is #19, it dropped 9 spots.
Maeve is #75 up from #92 in '07. Nationally it is #638 down from #619 in '07.
Miley makes no appearance.
Linnea is actually a pretty popular name in Mennonite communities. I'm not sure why that is--possibly because of the Lin opening sound, which is also popular for men. (There's a run on Linwoods, Linfords, and just plain Lynns among the Mennonite men that I know). But it could also be because of the double vowel at the end: Janae also crops up with surprising regularity.
Oh and why on earth is Ryan the number 1 name? Nothing against it, I just didn't see it coming! In 2007 the MA top 10 for boys were:
Matthew
Michael
Ryan
William
Jacob
Nicholas
Anthony
Daniel
Andrew
Alexander
(notice both John and Jack moved into top 10 territory in a year!)
@Jenny L3igh--I have friends in CA who had a baby last month and named him Ryan Mark. I was also surprised by Ryan. I feel like most Ryans I know are age 18-30ish, and it surprises me that it's resurging already!
Chimu -
" I haven't seen anyone using Lawrence, but have seen a lot of baby Lewis/Louis' around, which I also quite like."
That is so funny, I have a (30ish) relative named L@wrence. He was named after a Louis, but his mother couldn't bring herself to name her son Louis.
I like Louis. Lou and Louie too. My sister was horrified when I suggested it for her firstborn.
Anne with an E- Exactly! I had a lot of Ryans with me in school which would be that age-group. Maybe it's considered a good name-sake after younger dad's, uncles, etc.
@Jessica, I like Gilead Michael Hans. The flow is nice.
Re: Ryan, my daughter just told me about her friend's new Yorkshire terrier named Ryan. That seems like such a funny name for a Yorkie. But I suppose it's no funnier than two dogs in our building--a French bulldog named Nathan and a corgi named Zachary.
I would never have pegged Ryan, Nathan, and Zachary as "dog names."
Thanks Aybee and Kim in Philly for your suggestions!
Fara is lovely without being too kreative, just not sure it will work if we do go with a fn ending in -a. Lydia is still up there at the moment, so for F middle names, we are still struggling to get past Faye or Frances.
Aybee - thanks again for the FN suggestions. Verity was my pick from your list but DH says he just hears "ferret-y". I'll concentrate on looking for alternatives that end in an -ee/een/in sound. Does anyone remember a character from the series Invasion called Larkin? I can't see me using it but I do really like it....
ps Definitely less keen on Emilia now: the pronunciation is the same as Amelia which is a) very popular here e.g. top 10/15 in UK and b) also means "without limbs". Think that rules it definitely out!
ellie,
how about felicity or felice? they definitely have good meanings...
Or what about Fern? It's lovely and unusual but not so bizarre and there's the great Charlotte's Web connection.
@Jessica: Gilead Michael Hans is just okay for me. My mind wnats it to be Hanson or something. I think you need an extra syllable.
Gilead Michael David; Gilead Michael Phillip; Gilaed Micheal Chase; Gilead Michel Seth. Just some other ideas-I know the last 2 have just one syllable but they seem to flow better for me. Maybe its the "s" ending on Hans.
Re Ryan: In dd's preschool class there are 2. Also 2 Connor's. We know a few that are around 9-10 also. In general its a pretty popular name in PA.
My list of top 15 is only moderately different than the national list:
#1 Michael/Ava
#2 Ryan/Olivia
#3 Jacob/Emma
#4 Matthew/Madison
#5 Joseph/Isabella
#6 Logan/Abigail
#7 Anthony/Emily
#8 Ethan/Sophia
#9 Alexander/Chloe
#10 Nicholas/Elizabeth
#11 Grace/Aiden
#12 Andrew/Addison
#13 Joshua/Ella
#14 Jayden/Sarah
#15 Daniel/Samantha
John=16; Hannah=17; Jack=35; Nevaeh=43; Mary=65; Rebecca=100 No Miley, Marley, or Caylee
Poster looking for EE/INE/EEN (FN) and F (MN)
Caroline; Eileen; Laurina; Dineen; Maureen/Kathleen/lots of Irish names to chose from.
Faith; Flora; Frances; Fran; Freya; Fiona
I'm in CA. Top 20 names are:
1.Daniel / Isabella
2.Anthony / Emily
3.Angel / Sophia
4.Jacob / Samantha
5.David / Ashley
6.Alexander / Natalie
7.Andrew / Mia
8.Joshua / Emma
9.Christopher/Abigail
10.Jose /Ava
11.Matthew /Olivia
12.Ethan / Madison
13.Nathan /Elizabeth
14.Michael /Valeria
15.Jonathan / Alyssa
16.Joseph / Chloe
17.Diego / Sofia
18.Adrian / Kimberly
19.Jayden / Brianna
20.Brandon / Victoria
The big surprise for me in the top 20 names - #14 for Girls, Valeria - I checked and it was #26 last year and seems to be much more popular here than the national numbers would suggest. It's a name that wasn't even on my radar. Also interesting to note that if you look at numbers of births, there are almost twice as many Isabellas as Avas.
Ellie- how about Francine or Frederique? I also second Fern.
I third Fern. I am a big fan of Fern.
I've also noticed the Ryan phenomenon (in Australia). I thought it was a bit odd as most of the Ryans I knew were all in mid 20's to mid 30's, and I also grew up with many. It's a nice enough name but I was surprised at how many there are now. I was wondering if it was a nice 'ending in N' name that wasn't ever overused, which has made it quite popular now?
The latest thing I've noticed is quite a few young and baby Nathans. Another name that was mildly common 20-30 years ago but has made a bit of a comeback.
Re the Laurence/Lawrence/Larry thing - I didn't realise Larry was the nn but now it makes sense. Unfortunately Larry strikes me as a 'dad' name.
I would agree with Felicity, Im a fan of that name. Also of Francesca, but maybe not as a middle name. There is the Welsh Ffion, but it probably looks a bit cre8tive if you don't know anything about the language, I suppose you could go with Fion/Feon maybe? Or there is Florence or Flora, or even Fleur, though maybe thats a little Harry Potter.
Anyone notice the Doodle for Google contest? The kids names:
Grades K-3:
Johnny
Sinceraty (please tell me Google got the spelling wrong)
Grace
Anagha
Alaina
Jackie
Miriam Elizabeth
Iysis
Sameek
Michael
Grades 4-6:
Georgianna
Courtney
Austin
Hayden
Ben
Maddi
Bobbi
Christin
Lauren
Zoe
Grades 7-9:
Deldar
Abigail
Elizabeth
Brice
Blakely
Bridget
Britney
Jadon
Alex
Lina
Grades 10-12:
Meaghan
Jeff
Emily
Elizabeth
Hayden
Emerald
Demitri
Antony
Geordey
I also saw a Dayla in another list.
I like Felicity, Francesca and Fern, and will also add Fawn.
Laurence/Lawrence seems very fuddy-duddy to me, but I absolutely love Lorenzo. Is Laszlo a form of that same name, or does it have different origins?
Gilead Michael Hans is nice. I think Hans keeps it interesting yet classic for sure. For two syllables I think Leland fits well in the alliterative and antiquity sense. Or Hans can be taken to Hannes or Johannes, which is bringing back John too:)
F names - I like Francesca, Fern, and Freya. Also.. Fiera, Frida/Frieda (I can't decide which version I like), Fiora, Filippa, Finna..
For "ine" how about Justine or Corin (it's not "een" per se, but I heard it recently and thought it hit the spot for being distinctive and familiar).
Lawrence is fuddy duddy for me too. But Lorenzo is a fuddy duddy Italian. Well, maybe not fuddy duddy but still too much unless you're a proper Italian.
looks like Laszlo is the hungarian form of slavic Ladislas (multiple spellings).
Conrad anyone?
Harriet-Great list of names! What struck me is that the names from Grade 7-9 are back in style again and could very easily be a list of current baby names.
bill-Conrad makes me think of 2 things. One a bad personal association and 2 the guy from Grease (movie + musical). It does have the Con-sound like Conner but the Rad- sound turns me off.
Name I saw in news today for real child:
Ayvi0nse-(pron Ah-vee-ons) sort of pretty but sp throws me off.
zoerhenne - I noticed Emerald on Harriet's list. Good call.
Yes CB, I did notice that one too but it was on a 10-12th grader. NameVoyager shows me that it was 853 in the 1990's so its not a name that ever exploded. However, I think it fits right in with today's sounds.
Eo: The questionnaire and family tree are great ideas for consulting!
re: Laurence: I love this name (and spelling) for the nickname Laurie, which I learned from Little Women. Probably wouldn't use it though since Laurie would be a hard nn for many boys to carry.
re: Ryan: I was born 1979 and grew up with a lot of Ryans. I still love the name though. I had two childhood crushes on boys named Ryan but I think they were so long ago that it wouldn't be weird to use the name on a child. Also, there are a lot of Ryans so the name wouldn't be strongly associated with any one that I've known. I've also played with the idea of using it for a girl--maybe with variant spelling. Ultimately, I don't think I'd use this name for a boy or girl but I still like it.
re: Linnea: I knew a woman with this name (b. ~1980). I think she was from Minnesota. Blond.
Ooh, I like Conrad too. Can think of a couple cool guys with this name in my generation (b. 1970s/80s). Definitely one of those names everyone knows but that isn't used too much.
re: INE: Janine?
re: F middle name: Flora?
About the popularity of Ryan... it was #5 for boys here in Ontario last year. I'm not surprised, I see it very regularly in birth announcements etc. here, I don't think it became really popular here until the 1990's, unlike in the US. I certainly don't meet many adults with the name here. Though official Canadian baby name stats are hard to come by, there often seems to be a 10 year gap one way or the other between popularity here and popularity in the States, it seems to me...
Joshua is another example. A friend of my mother's called her baby Joshua in the early 80's, and I can remember everyone's surprised reaction to the choice - like they'd named him Zebediah or Methuselah or something. I was 12 or 13 or so, and I thought it sounded like a girl's name... I'd never come across a Joshua before. And yet, it was already very fashionable south of the border. (#3 in Ontario in 2008)
A co-worker of mine was referred to a medical specialist called Dr. Joshua something recently, and I remember her complaining, "they're sending me to a 9-year-old!" LOL.
About Susannah: I have to agree, it's a lovely name but the likely nicknames Sue and Susie turn me off enough that I'd hesitate to use it. Consider that Susan was at its peak of popularity 50 years ago now... to a girl born today, Susan/Sue will probably have the same appeal that the likes of Dorothy, Thelma and Gladys have to my generation. Yikes!
I'm surprized not to see Katherine or some variant on this list.
Joanna,
Have you tried Reed, Wade, or Warren. Those are 3 names on my list, two of which got rejected (wade and warren). I am not pregnant, but both my husband and I are very particular about the sounds of names because we are both musical. We decided we needed to start the name list EARLY!
Erin
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