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I understand that my recent posts have been simply reposting NPR content, but there have been a number of interesting features lately. Yesterday I ran across this post about baby names. I have some anecdotal data of my own about popular baby names across socioeconomic groups. I worked with a number of women who looked to America's Next Top Model for their baby names. By the way, are the names on America's Next Top Model real? Or, does it really mean if you name your child something whild she is likely to make it in the world of reality television?
Coming up with the perfect name for a child can definitely be tricky. We chose names we felt gave enough wiggle room for our children to develop their own personality, not have their personality defined by their name. We wanted names that were known, but not super common. Both names we have chosen are starting to trend a little. I'm always fascinated how within one year a name can boom, especially if that name is not involved with some pop culture phenomenon (I'm speaking to you, all you Twilight babies!). I am not sure how common Grayson and Lucy are becoming, but on a regular basis I am told about other little children with the same name. It's not a big deal to me, just as long as there are not more than four or five Grayson's in his class. Interestingly, there were four Shannons in my kindergarten class. After elementary school I never had anyone in my class with the same name. Is my name for underachievers? Where did all the Shannons go?
I easily get sucked in to looking at name trends. The name mapper on the Baby Wizard is so fun! It turns out Grayson appears to be a name only folks in the deep South use, and Lucy spreads from the Midwest to West, with Utah taking first in favoring it. Trends!
What do you think about baby names? It's funny that we call it "baby names" when the term should be "person names".
We had the toughest time choosing a name for our baby, I think especially since we didn't know if it would be a boy or girl. We chose a boy and girl middle name that were sentimental to us and wanted the first name to be his or her own. We eventually landed on Isla and I love it. Although there have been days when I've thought maybe I should have chosen something else because I feel so responsible. With my name people always comment how unique or different it is and I always say I can't take any credit. But now when people ask my child's name I can't fall back on that answer.
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