Friday, February 10, 2006

A CLASSIC FRIDAY TIMEWASTER: At least 1/3 of ALOTT5MA bloggers find the whole ethos of babynaming to be singularly fascinating. In keeping with that obsession, I refer you to the Baby Name Wizard Blog. Today's post presents the results of a wholly nonscientific poll as to which names are gaining ground and which are losing it.

The hot list feels pretty accurate to me: 1. Ava 2. Violet 3. Emma 4. Ella 5. Madison 6. Aidan 7. Aiden 8. Olivia 9. Lily 10. Sophia 11. Lucy 12. Isabella 13. Avery 14. Owen 15. Cadence 16. Charlotte 17. Jack 18. Jackson.

Setting aside Violet, which is clearly anticipating a post-Garfleck boost, and Cadence (I don't know who exactly is naming their kid Cadence), I know at least one -- and usually significantly more than one -- preschooler with each of the top 18 names. The girls' names, incidentally, seem to fall within two broad categories: (a) wholesome Americana names (1-4, 9, 11) and (b) European Infanta names (8, 10, 12, 16).

The downward trajectory is a little more all over the place: 1. Madison 2. John 3. Ethan 4. Kayla 5. Aiden 6. Melissa 7. Nicholas 8. Allison 9. Hailey 10. Madeline 11. Michelle 12. Zachary 13. Elizabeth 14. Jasmine. I think the descent of a name is a much more gradual process than the ascent, so it's harder to peg a name as trending towards unhotness.

Any votes for names that should be on one or the other of these lists?

(For another great time sink, see the Name Voyager, which depicts the Social Security Baby Name Index graphically.)

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