Generation differences in baby names (toddler, boy names, girl, parents)
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Back in the 1940s to the 1960s, baby names at the time were traditional. For boys, it was Michael (Mike), John, Thomas (Tom), Mark, Richard (Rick), James (Jim), and Paul; for girls, it was Mary, Linda, Lisa, Patricia (Pat, Patty, or Patti), Susan, Barbara, Christine (Chris), and Donna.
Fast forward to the 1970s to 1990s, baby names have changed dramatically as conformity shifted to uniqueness. For boys, it was Michael (Mike), Christopher/Kristopher (Chris/Kris), Joshua (Josh), Brandon, John, Adam, Jordan, Andrew, Jason, and Patrick (Pat); for girls, it was Jessica, Jennifer, Ashley, Taylor, Kelly, Megan, Amanda, Christina/Kristina (Chrissy/Krissy), Sarah, Kelsey, and Rachel (my name).
Every generation has their popular names. People tend to do things differently than their parents. After the latest round of non-traditional names, we'll have another generation of Johns, Marks, Lindas, and Susans.
It's not just a matter of different names but of name diversity. There is a much greater variety of names today.
You can look up baby names by year of birth through the Social Security website.
Consider 1920:
5.2% of all boys (that's in in every 19 male births) was named John. The 10 most popular boy names accounted for over 30% of all male births.
And for girls? 5.7% were named Mary, with the 10 most popular girl names accounting for over 22% of all female births.
Now, 2014:
Not a single name for boys cracks 1% - the most popular name, Noah, is given to only 1 in every 106 males born. For girls, two names to top 1%, but only barely. Those are Emily and Olivia. And as for the top 10 for each gender, they total only 7.7% of girl births and 8.0% of all male births.
If you're interested, you can find name frequency and rankings (1-1000) for every single year from 180 to the present. Popular Baby Names
Side note:
How boringly common was the name Mary? From 1900 thru 1961, it was #1 every year, except for a six-year stretch from 1947 to 1952 when it was bumped to #2.
Most of the names I see in my kids' elementary-school classmates are mind-blowingly odd -- for me. But my kids bandy about the names as if they are perfectly normal . . . which, to them, they are. And by the time my kids are old enough to be having kids, they'll probably name them things that are even more outlandish. And they'll think that I'm saddled with an "old person name."
Another thing I've noticed is that while some names don't stand the test of time, there are others that come back for a second round. "Emily" could be a toddler, or her grandmother.
Regardless, something that does bug me is the modern trend of not only picking a heretofore unusual name, but giving it a bunch of spelling variations. I'm looking at you, Aidan / Aiden / Ayden / Aidyn / Aydan / etc.
I have an immense dislike for trendeigh, ukneeque baby names. Misspelled, as a poor attempt to be creative, is just sad.
I changed my given name because it's a total trendy early 80's name that does not pass the Supreme Court Justice test. It isn't the type of name that grows with a person. Just not my style once I made it into early adulthood. Family still uses my given nickname, which is fine, but socially and professionally, nope.
I gave my kids awesome, classic names. I adore their names: Grace, Evangeline, Duncan, Henry, and Ruby.
I wish my mom was more up on the trends. I was born in the 70's and she gave me one of those 50's names. No one my age is named Donna and when I meet older women named Donna, they look at me weird like how dare I have that name.
I have an immense dislike for trendeigh, ukneeque baby names. Misspelled, as a poor attempt to be creative, is just sad.
{snip}
I agree completely. In fact, as much as I respect parental sovereignty, I think we should do like one country does (I think it's Sweden) and require names to be submitted for approval. I don't think parents should be allowed to name their children odd names, it creates too many headaches for the other people who have to deal with the odd spelling and pronunciations. I'd even go so far as to say that if you want to name your child "Sherry" that you can only spell it "Sherry" (or whatever) vs "Sherri" or "Sherrie" or "Cherie" etc. I'm huge on standardization and being practical, even to the point of saying that a person shouldn't be allowed to go by their middle name unless they have their name changed thus. All of those variations are annoying to deal with on the clerical and practical level.
Not a great deal of generation differences in the names over here, except more foreign names in the last couples of decades thanks to the naming laws and a smaller variety of (Finnish) names in general.
Back in the 1940s to the 1960s, baby names at the time were traditional. For boys, it was Michael (Mike), John, Thomas (Tom), Mark, Richard (Rick), James (Jim), and Paul; for girls, it was Mary, Linda, Lisa, Patricia (Pat, Patty, or Patti), Susan, Barbara, Christine (Chris), and Donna.
Fast forward to the 1970s to 1990s, baby names have changed dramatically as conformity shifted to uniqueness. For boys, it was Michael (Mike), Christopher/Kristopher (Chris/Kris), Joshua (Josh), Brandon, John, Adam, Jordan, Andrew, Jason, and Patrick (Pat); for girls, it was Jessica, Jennifer, Ashley, Taylor, Kelly, Megan, Amanda, Christina/Kristina (Chrissy/Krissy), Sarah, Kelsey, and Rachel (my name).
Thoughts?
Lots of trendy names in that first paragraph. Linda, Pat, and Donna are not "traditional" names: you would be hard-pressed to find very many little girls with those name now or several generations ago. I work with lots of nurses, and by far the most prevalent names are Barb, Patty, and Deb, and they are all right around the same age. Not a lot of Lisas anymore, either.
Side note:
How boringly common was the name Mary? From 1900 thru 1961, it was #1 every year, except for a six-year stretch from 1947 to 1952 when it was bumped to #2.
Early 2000's my son had class with a girl named Mary whose sisters were also all named Mary, six of them I believe. They all went by their first and middle name to distinguish them. MaryLouise, MaryAnne, MaryElizabeth, etc. I often wondered if all their ears perked up when mom started to call out to one of them, and if that wasn't confusing, lol.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
