07. 12. 2006
What's in a name
Naming your child is always tricky. iVillage hosts a great site called Baby Naming Wizard: Name Voyager to help parents select names. Using data from the Social Security Administration, this java weblet graphs the top 1,000 names that were registered with Social Security in the US from the 1880s up to today. Using an elegant interface, you can enter any name and see how its popularity changed over time, which makes it an interesting sociological tool as well. For instance, Elvira has seen a major drop off after the 1910s and dropped off the charts by the 1980s, as Ashton had a hugh spike from 2000 - 2003. These phenomenon might correlate with the tabloids' coverage of one Mr. Kutcher along with the rise of a first name only B-list celebrity in Gothic clothing. Check out chapter 6 of Freakonomics to read about a theory on how names disseminate across our culture over time.
Thanks Burns (whose name does not appear in any decade).
Posted by Ray
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current affairs
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| Comments (2)
Comments (2)
Parents: Be careful what you name your child. I hated my name as a kid because I could never find preprinted T-shirts, mugs, pencils, etc. with my name on them. My brother and sisters had 'normal' names. Of course, I grew into liking my name. But it took time!
Rhea | July 12, 2006 11:49 AM
July 12, 2006 11:49
Me too! But I do love it now. Just make sure they know how special they are to have that name (if its rare).
I actually have become very possessive of my name now because I realize it is special. When I found out that woman who stole the information from Coke to sell it to Pepsi had the same name I was VERY angry with her for disgracing it. LOL!!!
...I suggest when naming your child consider whether you'd hire a person with that same name if their resume crossed your path. ;o)
Joya | July 12, 2006 7:47 PM
July 12, 2006 19:47