On names
When we were choosing The Kid's name, one of our constraints was that we wanted something that wasn't very common. As it turned out, the name we liked the most hadn't been in the top 1000 names in the US since 1939, and had only ever gotten as high as the 368th most common girls' name.
Today I wondered what the top 1000 looked like for The Kid's birth year, and turned to the Social Security Administration to find out. Turns out her name isn't in the top 1000 in 2006, either.
What was really interesting, though, was the last 50 in the top 1000 names list. Remember, these are the girls' names that are more common than The Kid's.
| Rank | Female name | Number of females |
| 951 | Kaylah | 270 |
| 952 | Lacie | 270 |
| 953 | Marin | 270 |
| 954 | Maryam | 270 |
| 955 | Bree | 269 |
| 956 | Jalyn | 269 |
| 957 | Leia | 269 |
| 958 | Riya | 269 |
| 959 | Alize | 268 |
| 960 | Briley | 268 |
| 961 | Micaela | 268 |
| 962 | Tatianna | 268 |
| 963 | Khloe | 267 |
| 964 | Mckinley | 267 |
| 965 | Akira | 266 |
| 966 | Beatrice | 266 |
| 967 | Brandi | 266 |
| 968 | Carol | 266 |
| 969 | Jorja | 266 |
| 970 | Miya | 266 |
| 971 | Amirah | 265 |
| 972 | Destiney | 265 |
| 973 | Lucero | 265 |
| 974 | Sanai | 264 |
| 975 | Shyann | 264 |
| 976 | Stacey | 264 |
| 977 | Nya | 263 |
| 978 | Amina | 262 |
| 979 | Areli | 262 |
| 980 | Fabiola | 262 |
| 981 | Lina | 262 |
| 982 | Hillary | 261 |
| 983 | Mireya | 261 |
| 984 | Christiana | 260 |
| 985 | Dania | 260 |
| 986 | Leyla | 260 |
| 987 | Selene | 260 |
| 988 | Dahlia | 259 |
| 989 | Lorelai | 259 |
| 990 | Chana | 258 |
| 991 | Iyanna | 258 |
| 992 | Rayne | 258 |
| 993 | Ericka | 257 |
| 994 | Janice | 257 |
| 995 | Mina | 257 |
| 996 | Neveah | 257 |
| 997 | Nicolette | 257 |
| 998 | Izabelle | 256 |
| 999 | Joana | 256 |
| 1000 | Flor | 255 |
Close readers will note that it's more likely that she'll have a classmate named Akira or Leia than it will be for her to have a classmate with the same name.
It's also interesting to note that although the execrable Nevaeh is the #43 girls' name, the poor speller's version — Neveah — is all the way down at #996 .
Uncle Vinny, on Thursday, November 15, 2007 at 11:48 AM:
Huh! 'Janice' all the way down at #994? That's a very cool name, I'm kind of glad it's rare now.
heather, on Thursday, November 15, 2007 at 12:05 PM:
Cool!
Bobbin's name isn't in the top 1000 for 2005 or 2006 and was ranked 970 in 2004. We went through the same process when selecting her name - really wanted to find a name that wasn't common, that wasn't shared with another family member, but that was attractive and didn't set her up for a lot of teasing, and that also had some personal relevance to us/our family. It took a while and a tonne of research but we eventually did it!
Both Zed and Bobbin's names suite them perfectly, I think.
Are we good parents, or are we good parents? ;-)
Savannah, on Thursday, November 15, 2007 at 2:36 PM:
Yeah, but past performance is not a guarantee of the future. When I was born, "Savannah" was not in the top 1000. More girls were named Aida (787), Athena (757), and Gia (729) than Savannah that year. When I was a kid, people kept calling me "Samantha" because they literally could not wrap their heads around the weirdness that was my name. These are the people who are now naming their children that! To the point where it's #30. So things can change, and change fast.
I think you have to go with the name you love, and forget everything else.
nocklebeast, on Thursday, November 15, 2007 at 8:08 PM:
Janice is my super role model.
This all reminds me of a chapter in Freakonomics on baby name frequency and economic success. There were some poor spellers is the years studied. The one that stands out in my mind was pronounced something like "shah-teed" but its spelling may not be appropriate for a "family website."