Here's the thing about the SSA list...

EastCoastBride · May 2010

and why I never worried all that much about a names popularity.

The #1 names still only account for 20,000 - 30,000 babies out of 4 million born annually. That's about .005 %. Tiny!

I grew up w/ a name that was, until this year, in the top 20 if not top 10, for over 30 years. Yes, I've known a few Sarah's in my life - but I dont' feel they are "everywhere"!

PunkyBooster · May 2010

Your son's name is on my list and see that it jumped a little on the list! It's still way down in the 300s but it did come up!

plunderb · May 2010

EastCoastBride:
The #1 names still only account for 20,000 - 30,000 babies out of 4 million born annually. That's about .005 %. Tiny!

I think your math is off. There were 22,067 Isabellas born in 2009. If you assume that half of the babies born were girls (2 million), 1.1% of all girls born in 2009 were named Isabella (about 1 in 100).

(22,000/2,000,000)x100=1.1

Of the approximately 2,000,000 boys born in 2009, more than 31,000 were named Aidan (if you add all the spellings). That's more than 1.5% (3 in 200).

These are still small numbers, but not tiny.

misskaydee · May 2010

EastCoastBride:
and why I never worried all that much about a names popularity.

The #1 names still only account for 20,000 - 30,000 babies out of 4 million born annually. That's about .005 %. Tiny!

I grew up w/ a name that was, until this year, in the top 20 if not top 10, for over 30 years. Yes, I've known a few Sarah's in my life - but I dont' feel they are "everywhere"!

I think you mean 0.5%. But I completely agree with you, considering the spread of names today compared to when we were young, I dont think it is a big deal, I may stay away from the top 3-5 names but after that it doesnt really matter. I'm just going to go with something that I like.

EastCoastBride · May 2010

plunderb:

EastCoastBride:
The #1 names still only account for 20,000 - 30,000 babies out of 4 million born annually. That's about .005 %. Tiny!

I think your math is off. There were 22,067 Isabellas born in 2009. If you assume that half of the babies born were girls (2 million), 1.1% of all girls born in 2009 were named Isabella (about 1 in 100).

(22,000/2,000,000)x100=1.1

Of the approximately 2,000,000 boys born in 2009, more than 31,000 were named Aidan (if you add all the spellings). That's more than 1.5% (3 in 200).

These are still small numbers, but not tiny.

Ah, yes, good point! Do have to 1/2 the total births.

But I actually think 1.5% is still tiny.

newlywed26 · May 2010

I agree. I'm Jessica, and I don't know that many now, but while growing up there were a few Jessica's in each class. I didn't care. I seriously don't get why it's important that babies don't have a trendy name.

LittleDucky · May 2010

I agree to an extent, but in real life the numbers will often feel much higher than the 1% or 1.5%. First, certain names are more popular or less popular among certain socioeconomic groups or racial/ethnic groups. One of the reasons some names are so high on the SSA list is if they are names that are popular among white, African American, and Hispanic people. Also, you have to look even more specifically at your smaller area. Some names will be really popular in certain cities but not others.

For example, I used to teach and a couple years ago I had 3 Alyssa's and 3 Hannah's in the fifth grade. There were only 48 kids in the fifth grade (it was a small private school), so there were approximately 24 girls (I don't remember exactly how many girls). That means that 12.5% of the girls in this grade at this school had the name Alyssa and 12.5% of the girls had the name Hannah. Now these kids were in fifth grade in the 2007-08 school year, so they were born in 1997. In 1997, Alyssa was the 15th most popular girl's name and Hannah was the 5th most popular.

I know this isn't a statistical analysis or anything, but I just wanted to point out that even if the name is only used by 1% of the population, it might feel like a lot more in real life. Now, could there have been a random coincidence where 3 girls in this grade were named Dorothy or Karen or some other name that was not popular in 1997? Yes, but it's super unlikely.

okay.... done rambling now!

jallascalla · May 2010

The SSA also doesn't take into account the multiple spellings, the percentages become higher when you take this into account. As a teacher I see the trends, recently I had three Caitlins (all spelled differently) and three Dylans in one class of 22 students. And there are almost always a few Sara/Sarahs, I can just image the Aidan/Aiden/Adens in the next few years. These are all nice names, but even the 1.5 percentage seems low to me. That being said, I'm in the "give the name you love" camp regardless of trends and/or comments.

tct1219 · May 2010

i think it's funny because my name -Taylor- was in the 400s the year i was born and i feel like it was everywhere [even before its boom in the early 90s].

i think i'm unlike most people in that i would love to be the only person i know with a certain name. i have probably met 10 other taylors my age and to me, that is way too many. i think most people are fine with common names so maybe that's why it's not a concern for everyone.

that said, if i give my children uncommon first names, they will have common middle names because i can't predict which they will prefer.

juniper19 · May 2010

*justducky*:
I agree to an extent, but in real life the numbers will often feel much higher than the 1% or 1.5%. First, certain names are more popular or less popular among certain socioeconomic groups or racial/ethnic groups. One of the reasons some names are so high on the SSA list is if they are names that are popular among white, African American, and Hispanic people. Also, you have to look even more specifically at your smaller area. Some names will be really popular in certain cities but not others.
For example, I used to teach and a couple years ago I had 3 Alyssa's and 3 Hannah's in the fifth grade. There were only 48 kids in the fifth grade (it was a small private school), so there were approximately 24 girls (I don't remember exactly how many girls). That means that 12.5% of the girls in this grade at this school had the name Alyssa and 12.5% of the girls had the name Hannah. Now these kids were in fifth grade in the 2007-08 school year, so they were born in 1997. In 1997, Alyssa was the 15th most popular girl's name and Hannah was the 5th most popular.
I know this isn't a statistical analysis or anything, but I just wanted to point out that even if the name is only used by 1% of the population, it might feel like a lot more in real life. Now, could there have been a random coincidence where 3 girls in this grade were named Dorothy or Karen or some other name that was not popular in 1997? Yes, but it's super unlikely.
okay.... done rambling now!

NYC releases its own list and breaks it down according to race. It is stunning to see how different the lists are between different races and it reinforces notion that looking at the percentage of the total that a certain name is isn't as informative as looking at the percentage of the social circles you run in.

HappyMrsK · May 2010

That's a very good point EastCoastBride

RosyBee · May 2010

I agree about regional and social variations. You can see variations state-by-state (but not by socio-economic, ethnic, or other groups) at this website:

https://nametrends.net/

Blondangel · May 2010

*justducky*:
I agree to an extent, but in real life the numbers will often feel much higher than the 1% or 1.5%. First, certain names are more popular or less popular among certain socioeconomic groups or racial/ethnic groups. One of the reasons some names are so high on the SSA list is if they are names that are popular among white, African American, and Hispanic people. Also, you have to look even more specifically at your smaller area. Some names will be really popular in certain cities but not others.
For example, I used to teach and a couple years ago I had 3 Alyssa's and 3 Hannah's in the fifth grade. There were only 48 kids in the fifth grade (it was a small private school), so there were approximately 24 girls (I don't remember exactly how many girls). That means that 12.5% of the girls in this grade at this school had the name Alyssa and 12.5% of the girls had the name Hannah. Now these kids were in fifth grade in the 2007-08 school year, so they were born in 1997. In 1997, Alyssa was the 15th most popular girl's name and Hannah was the 5th most popular.
I know this isn't a statistical analysis or anything, but I just wanted to point out that even if the name is only used by 1% of the population, it might feel like a lot more in real life. Now, could there have been a random coincidence where 3 girls in this grade were named Dorothy or Karen or some other name that was not popular in 1997? Yes, but it's super unlikely.
okay.... done rambling now!

All this exactly. The names that are most popular in your community need to be considered instead of focusing on the SSA list. The SSA list provides the big nationwide picture.

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