To “Infinity” and Beyond
Once upon a time, there was only Charity. Today, dozens of different -ty words grace America’s baby name stats, and the concepts they express range to, quite literally, Infinity.
Add H: America’s Silent Trend
There’s a new letter in town, and it’s just for show. Allow me to introduce the “ornamental H,” an alphabetic flourish that’s adding a stylistic—not phonetic—note to names like Whyatt, Khadence and Ameliah.
An Alphabet of Brand-New Girls’ Names, from Adalet to Zepplyn
Take an alphabetic tour through 26 noteworthy names that were given to five or more American girls for the first time in the year 2020.
The Brand-New Boys’ Names Alphabet, from Abaddon to Zeref
Over a thousand names made their all-time debuts in the 2020 baby name statistics. Here are 26 of the noteworthy new boys’ names, one for each letter of the alphabet.
How a Viral Name Post Got the Story Backwards
The Reddit post earned thousands of upvotes and comments. Strangers pointed me to it; friends and family pointed me to it. The data was right there in a graph, the trend unmistakable. And yet the name story wasn’t true. The baby name Karen did not just plummet into obscurity, pushed […]
The Top 5 Baby Names of Every US State
Olivia unites us, Theodore divides us, and Oliver is the King in the North. Those are some of the takeaways from a new look at the most popular baby names in every US State in 2020. Olivia, the nation’s top girl’s name, ranks in the top 5 in every single […]
4 Things We Learned From the 2020 Baby Name Data
Some quick notes on themes emerging from the new national baby name statistics. 1. Masculinity Through Word NamesOver one thousand names made their all-time debuts in this year’s name stats, 500+ each for boys and girls. Common English words appeared three times more often among the boys’ names. I suspect […]
The Fastest-Rising Names of the Year, 2020
2020 was a year like no other. In a time of loss, division and moral reckoning, the fastest rising names of the year were not hot new celebrity names, but memorials. Basketball superstar Kobe Bryant and his 13-year-old daughter Gianna died in a helicopter crash in January, 2020. Kobe was […]
America’s New Top Baby Names
Just in: the official ranking of the most popular baby names in the USA for the year 2020. BOYS GIRLS 1 Liam Olivia 2 Noah Emma 3 Oliver Ava 4 Elijah Charlotte 5 William Sophia 6 James Amelia 7 Benjamin Isabella 8 Lucas Mia 9 Henry Evelyn 10 Alexander […]
“Tell Me Your Name Without Telling Me Your Name”
A social media craze is taking on names. And, my fellow name enthusiasts, I think we can do it better. The game is called a #TellMeChallenge, or “tell me without telling me.” The goal is to convey a piece of information in a sideways manner, with a reference that makes […]
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