Scroll through a century of fashion eras to find the moment that feels like home.
Let’s take a trip through time with baby names.
Name trends can be cultural time capsules, as evocative as vintage fashion or music. I’ve mapped out the defining names of 18 distinct style eras of the past American century in an interactive timeline.
You can scroll through the timeline below to watch American culture evolve before your eyes, or head straight for your own birth era. If a list of names suddenly clicks as “normal,” you’ve found your spot in our shared history.
2 Comments
This is nifty!
A few of the names I’d have expected in an adjacent micro-generation (e.g., as an early millennial, I had a lot of classmates named Jessica and Jason), but others were spot on with my experience – I knew so many Chris’s and Matts in middle and high school that for a while I made a list just to see how many there were (at least 10 Matts, fewer Chris’s).
On the other hand, I don’t remember *any* Ryans growing up, and only one Adam. I’m guessing they were more popular either in a different part of the country or a different segment of society.
I like this tool, though the only thing I’d change is adding some “micro-eras” that represent the mix of the Early and Late eras respectively that mirror micro-generations, like Xennials, Zillennials and Zalphas. I am surprised to see my name belonging to the early Gen Z cohort despite the fact that I feel “too old” to be considered Gen Z entirely. Nevertheless, there are so many names closer to my birth year that it’s difficult to pinpoint my “normal” as I grew up in Latin America, so not everyone had the names listed to the one my name belongs in.
Also, I thought Brittany was the queen of Millennials as a previous post said? Ashley might’ve taken that title there.