These are tough times for classic names. Even names that have stood as gold standards for timelessness are falling out of fashion: William, Katherine and Elizabeth have hit all-time popularity lows. Yet even in this naming climate, some traditional choices are thriving. Names like Amelia, Sebastian and Naomi have reached […]
Name trends can sneak up on you. They move bit by bit, shifting your expectations along the way. As time goes by, you might even forget that Penelope used to sound old-fashioned instead of trendy, or that you marveled at your first sighting of Jaxon-with-an-X. Here’s your reminder of how […]
It’s not just Carter and Cooper anymore. Check out some of the types of “doer” names that have appeared in the US baby name statistics in recent years: Fishing, hunting, camping: Angler, Camper, Caster, Tracker, Trapper Speed and sport: Catcher, Driver, Fielder, Racer, Sailor, Striker, Wheeler Rodeo and horses: Breaker, […]
Not long ago, Nigel Smith discovered he was an endangered species. Smith had always known that his first name wasn’t the height of fashion. Still, it came as a blow to learn that in a recent year the UK’s Office for National Statistics hadn’t recorded a single newborn Nigel. Zip, […]
In the world of names, style starts at the finish. Trendy name endings made Arlene, Irene and Pauline the shape of the 1920s, Sheri, Kari and Lori the shape of the 1960s, and Tiffany, Stephanie and Bethany the shape of the 1980s. And the name endings setting the standard today? […]
It’s no secret that Jill is no longer the height of baby-name fashion. The name’s all-time peak was back in 1966. But would you have guessed Jill was more old-fashioned than Dorcas? More unusual than Zerenity? Baby name statistics tell us that’s reality. Jill may still sound comfortably familiar, but […]
50 years later, they’re just where they started out. The names Althea, Elvis and Trevor are exactly as popular today as they were in 1969. That makes them, by one measure, the most stable possible names over the past half century. But the two-point snapshot of stability doesn’t tell the […]
The mighty have fallen. The names that ruled over the English-speaking world for centuries have been deposed, and I can prove it with a single chart. Take a look at this past vs. present view of some classic names, 1900 vs. 2018: The 2018 column shows the number of American […]
How do you name an archetype? An idealized concept should feel realer than reality, summing up your whole image of a slice of the world. Whatever name you choose, it will reveal a lot about your worldview. That’s certainly the case with the online subculture of “incels” and the two […]
Aa is for Aaron, oo is for Cooper, ee is for Lee. Traditionally, that’s as far as doubled vowels go. The letters u and i just don’t double up in American English, in words or in names. At least, they didn’t. In this, generation, ii names have taken hold. The […]
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