Names through the years

Here's a cool site. Let it load, then enter a first name - any first name.
http://babynamewizard.com/namevoyager/lnv0105.html

It will show a graph, charting the changing popularity of that name over the last 100 years.

One can see the slow, steady demise of the names Agnes, Betty, and Harry, or the sudden rise of Emma, or how Tiffany peaked in the 80's.

See when names such as Sven and Otto became nearly extinct, perhaps to be revived soon with the resurgence of tiki (the subculture, not the name).

The names are color coded, so you can see the number of male kids named Jordan versus female kids named Jordan.

Vern

You mean, there hasn't been a baby called Sven born in the US since 1910? Shurely shome mishtake?

Wow, what a fascinating site. One to tell the folks.

Trader Woody

No Hanford's? Look at Otto, interesting.

This thing is mesmerising! Thanks for a cool link!

Many of us are quite uncommon!

Addictive!!

I love putting in popular actors of a while back and seeing the name buzzes they spawned....for a brief time, e.g.:

Chad - Chad Everett (of "Emergency" wasn't it?)

Farrah - you know who and when

Try it - the peak is right when each show was on TV, every time!

(As I suspected, Alice was huge at the turn of the century....the lAST turn of the century. We were creamed by Allison, who never even existed until the '40's. And for some strange reason, Formica doesn't even register. Hmmmm.....)

The US is about 15 or 20 years too late on this one, but Australia's shame of the 80s is coming to control us all: Kylie!!!

On 2005-02-10 14:55, Formikahini wrote:

I love putting in popular actors of a while back and seeing the name buzzes they spawned....for a brief time, e.g.:

Witness also the rise of "Xander". ugh.

Not to be confused with "Vander"- not listed.

Hah. Aweseome!

My name peaked the year I was born (1963). I guess my parents weren't that creative after all. Or they saw me and broke the mold - one or the other. I wonder what "Timothy"s were influencial at that time. Timothy Leary? Tiny Tim?

for some strange reason, "Adolph" dropped way off in the 40's. hmmmm.....

A name has to be in the top 1000 names of the decade in order to appear in the graphs. Sven and Otto - you are joined by good company. Eartha (Kitt) never cracked the top 1000 either.

I found it interesting that the only decade that Elvis was not in the top 1000 names was the 1930's, when Elvis was born.

I went through a list of number 1 songs over the decades, to see which songs inspired people enough to name their kids with the song title. The following names peaked in popularity after the song reached #1.

Tammy
Venus (Frankie Avalon)
Sheila
Sherry
Dawn
Paula
Rhonda
Penny
Windy
Venus (again, by Shocking Blue. Banarama's version of the song must have killed the popularity of the name)
Brandy
Angie
Mandy

#1 song names that did not result in a rise in popularity of that name

Patricia
Dominique
Dolly
Ruby
Lucy
Eileen

and Ringo never cracked the top 1000, even with the help of Lorne Greene's western ballad, and some famous drummer.

Vern

On 2005-02-10 13:14, ikitnrev wrote:
One can see the slow, steady demise of the names Agnes, Betty, and Harry,

Except in the Phillipines. I swear the oldest Christian names possible are still in heavy rotation there.

It's really weird to see some 20-something, beautiful young PI gal and her name is like Rose or Agnes(?)

My name peaked in 1910. And apparently my youngest son's name, Quinn, is more popular as a girls name. Poor kid.

i'm appalled 'shecky' doesn't make a showing.

Frederick peaked at #56 in 1910 & it's been downhill ever since (now #340). Freddie peaked at 151 in the '40s, & is now #977; as a girl's name it peaked in the '40s at 477 & dropped out of the top 1000 by the '60s. Fred peaked at #19(!) in 1900, and is now out of the top 1000. :(

I find it odd that Joyce as a boy's name peaked at 766 in the '30s & quickly disapeared. It's also odd that perfectly good names like "Sabu" & "Humuhumu" don't show up at all.

Hahaha my partner at work, whose name is Rose, is Filipino. And her brother's name is Engelbert. :)

I too was looking for 'flash in the pan' names - check 'Latoya' for one, I love the sharp 80's spike, then it returns to total obscurity...

Jason, my husbands name, does the same thing. If you meet anyone named Jason, you can probably win bar bets by guessing they were born in 1972 - 1975.

I'm amazed by some of today's names and how they came outta nowhere, spiked then fell off of dropped off considerably...check out Dakota and Shaniqua...

On 2005-02-11 07:50, freddiefreelance wrote:
Frederick peaked at #56 in 1910 & it's been downhill ever since (now #340). Freddie peaked at 151 in the '40s, & is now #977; as a girl's name it peaked in the '40s at 477 & dropped out of the top 1000 by the '60s. Fred peaked at #19(!) in 1900, and is now out of the top 1000. :(

That's my name too! Naming your firstborn son Frederick has become a tradition in my family. I'm the fourth in a row that I'm aware of, and my first son is named Frederick. But we call him by his middle name, Brendan (which aparently didn't even appear until a few years ago), because family gatherings get too confusing.

Hey Fred! What?What?What?What? :lol:

My thoughts were so loud I couldn't hear my mouth...

[ Edited by: finkdaddy on 2005-02-11 08:50 ]

On 2005-02-11 08:48, finkdaddy wrote:

On 2005-02-11 07:50, freddiefreelance wrote:
Frederick peaked at #56 in 1910 & it's been downhill ever since (now #340). Freddie peaked at 151 in the '40s, & is now #977; as a girl's name it peaked in the '40s at 477 & dropped out of the top 1000 by the '60s. Fred peaked at #19(!) in 1900, and is now out of the top 1000. :(

That's my name too! Naming your firstborn son Frederick has become a tradition in my family. I'm the fourth in a row that I'm aware of, and my first son is named Frederick. But we call him by his middle name, Brendan (which aparently didn't even appear until a few years ago), because family gatherings get too confusing.

Hey Fred! What?What?What?What? :lol:

---

My thoughts were so loud I couldn't hear my mouth...

[ Edited by: finkdaddy on 2005-02-11 08:50 ]

Cousin! I'm also the 4th Frederick in a row & ended up with the nickname "Ricky," since there was already "Big Fred," "Little Fred," & "Freddie," and we all have the same middle name, everyone decided it'd be easier that way. So of course I then named my son "Troy" (peaked at #57 in the '60s, currently #259).

On 2005-02-10 18:33, ikitnrev wrote:
and Ringo never cracked the top 1000, even with the help of Lorne Greene's western ballad, and some famous drummer.

Judging by the graphs, Paul was the most popular Beatle; his name peaking at the time of the Beatles fame unlike the other members of the band.

Check out "Abraham". After languishing for most of a century, it is now as popular again as it was in the late 1800s.

Sabu

Wow! It's so rare that I meet another Fred, and now I've meet a whole crowd of them!

Check out this web site: http://fredsociety.com/

My wife bought me this cool shirt from there:

It's good to be a Fred. :D

On 2005-02-10 14:55, Formikahini wrote:
Addictive!!

I love putting in popular actors of a while back and seeing the name buzzes they spawned....for a brief time, e.g.:

Chad - Chad Everett (of "Emergency" wasn't it?)

Farrah - you know who and when

Try it - the peak is right when each show was on TV, every time!

(As I suspected, Alice was huge at the turn of the century....the lAST turn of the century. We were creamed by Allison, who never even existed until the '40's. And for some strange reason, Formica doesn't even register. Hmmmm.....)

I tried this with the Brady family & found that most of their names peaked in the '50s & took a dive in the '60s & '70s!

• Mike peaked in the '60s at #49 & dropped to #216 by the '70s;
• Carol peaked in the '40s at #5, dropped to #38 in the '60s & #128 in the '70s;
• Alice's already been mentioned as heading downwards for the entire century (Alice's, we Fred's feel your pain...);
• Greg Peaked in the '60s at only #105 & was #214 by the '70s;
• Marcia peaked in the '40s at #87, had dropped to #191 by the '60s & #287 by the '70s;
• Peter peaked in the '50s at #39, was #42 in the '60s & #55 in the '70s;
• Jan peaked in the '40s at only #237, dipped to #249 by the '60s & dove to #649 by the '70s;
• Bobby Peaked at #26 in the '30s, by the '60s it was #79 & down to #98 by the '70s;
• Cindy peaked in the '60s at #48, but was down to #103 by the '70s. As "Cynthia" (everyone knows that was Cindy's real name, right) she did better at her peak: #11 in the '50s, up to #10 in the '60s, dropping to #31 by the '70s.

On 2005-02-11 09:51, finkdaddy wrote:
Wow! It's so rare that I meet another Fred, and now I've meet a whole crowd of them!

Check out this web site: http://fredsociety.com/

My wife bought me this cool shirt from there:

It's good to be a Fred. :D

At the Rose Bowl Swap Meet there used to be a guy who sold bumperstickers with sayings like "Better Fred Than Dead" & "Have You Hugged Your Freddie Today?"

Of course you now have to get ordained, since both Suicide Sam & myself are "Reverend Fred." :D

What do I have to do? (he says nervously)

Eunice, Beaula, Gladys, Phyllis

On 2005-02-11 10:01, freddiefreelance wrote: "I tried this with the Brady family & found that most of their names peaked in the '50s & took a dive in the '60s & '70s!"

Ah, but you have to try the actors' names (notice I said Farrah and not "Jill").

Of course, Maureen McCormick ("Marcia") didn't exactly spawn a slew of Maureens. But stick with solid, knockout stars whose real names were common household terms then.

I want to try Donny, Shawn, and a few other teen idols next.

I suspect Ozzy won't make a showing, however.

[ Edited by: Formikahini on 2005-02-11 15:21 ]

I read that Florence was not used as a name at all, but the parents of Red Cross founder Florence Nightengale named her Florence because that was the name of the Italian city where they had met.

It was only after Florence Nightingale became famous, that other people started to name their children Florence.

In case any of you are wondering how Tiki Barber got his name, here is the story ....

When his mother saw that he was screaming his head off shortly after being born, she named him Attiim Kiambu, or “Fiery-Tempered King”. Born Atiim Kiambu Barber on April 7, 1975 in Roanoke, Virginia.

so I guess Tiki is a shortened version of his real name.

Vern