It's Name Week, 2012!
Later this week, the Social Security Administration will release the official figures on America's baby name choices for last year. No matter how closely we watch name trends all year long, there are always amazing surprises and insights that come out of the actual data. (Did you guess that a pregnant teenager would be the country's stylemaker for 2010?)
I'll have the data here the minute it's available, and will crunch numbers all day to find the real stories within. I hope you'll join me!
And while we wait, I'd like to take a moment to focus on a very different baby issue. BabyNameWizard.com and NameCandy.com are joining with RBaby to raise awareness about pediatric care in hospital emergency rooms. Infants require specialized medical care, which too many emergency rooms today are not equipped to provide. Please visit RBaby to learn more about this issue, and sign the petition to create standards for pediatric emergency care.
Comments
What happened to the name contest?
Can't wait to see where my boys' names fall on the list this year (and the names I'm holding on to for #3). I'm pretty sure the older one's name is still moving up the ranks while the other is falling down.
@AngelaAiea - We had until April 15 or 17th to enter the contest. The results/winners will be released after the SSA puts out the 2011 list and Laura has a chance to crunch the numbers.
Oh, and I signed the petition. My family is really lucky with our insurance provider, and while our hospital always has at least one pediatrician on staff in the emergency room, we've never had to use the ER when our boys were infants, though I've had to go in a few times when they were under 2.
yay! can't wait! love this time of year. I'm terrible at the guessing game so I leave that to the pros but it's exciting seeing where all the names I love are ranking.
Looking forward to the upcoming posts!
Ditto, Essy01! I have such a tenuous grasp on popular culture these days, I feel like it's not even worth taking the time to guess. But I'm definitely looking forward to the stats and analysis!!
Suspense at Social Security to Continue
Today Show Release of Most Popular Baby Names Postponed Until Monday
http://www.ssa.gov/pressoffice/pr/babynames-postponed-pr.html
Ugh!!!
Estella, thank you for posting that! Kept refreshing the site. How disappointing :(
Are you kidding! What a bummer. Some years they release early too so I've been checking all week.
I'm curious about what changed.
BTW, the Carolyn Hax advice column is tangently about baby names today. It's really about family dynamics and boundary setting but the name is the vehicle.
Bummer! I hope they gave the data to Laura early so she can secretly crunch numbers all weekend.
Seriously?! I'm due on Sunday, still don't have a name picked out, and I really want to know whether Liam has become even more popular before I make a final decision one way or another. This is torture.
Not until Monday? But Mother's Day is Sunday and isn't the SSA baby name release their annual present to us moms and nanas?!!! I've been checking their website all day, refreshing again and again, expecting to see the 2011 stats pop up each time. Bum-mer! It finally occurred to me to see if anyone had posted an explanation on Laura's blog. Thanks, estella.
Can't wait till they come out!! :)
This delay is torture! All I want is for Laura to steadfastly crunch the numbers to reveal the cultural zeitgeist! The Today Show won't even begin to dig as deeply into the meaning as we can.
Data is wasted on the shallow :(
Okay, I'm done being melodramatic, but come on. Honestly.