Anakin is one of the "top baby names" in the U.S

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well it’s kind of a cycle to a certain extent. People often name babies after someone famous or someone they like. Then when those babies grow up, maybe one of them will become famous in turn. So again parents will name their babies after him/her, and so on.

I’d be satisfied with the more generic “name cycles” explanations that others have offered, if it weren’t for the correlated resurgence and adoption among the 20-30-year-olds of garish floral-print polyester-blend dresses…

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I’ve known plenty of people who name their children after a beloved grandparent (or, in the case of my own kids’ middle names, great-grandparents), so that helps explain that cyclical nature. But yeah, resurrecting grandma’s fashion sense does seem to be the flavor-of-the-month these days.

I’ve noticed a couple of names that seem to have died out after the first round of GenX kids were born in the mid 60s. Janet and Joyce, for example… I’ve never met any of those who would be under the age of 46 or so today. Anyone think of any other examples of names that you might have seen wearing mullets or knee socks at the roller rink in 1978, but you haven’t run across at elementary schools since then?

Hmm. Gary. That’s another one.

Beverly is one.

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Glenn is another (Walking Dead notwithstanding; I’ve never met a Glenn younger than me). And even though Margot (with a T) and Stanley are on the list, they’re pretty low.

Willard’s been out of fashion since well before I was born.

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Helen. Thats nice, You look like a Helen.

Name the movie, actor, and sidekick :smile:

How about Sargent?

That’d be cool. My parents voted for Sargent Shriver on the bottom half of the McGovern ticket in '72.

Hmm… I’m stumped, unless I cheat and check the Internet.

(cheats)

Ah. I honestly can’t remember if I ever actually saw that movie.

Tommy Boy is Chris Farley’s finest movie. It is his height of Insanity/inanity.

I’ve never even heard of it.

I think the first time I ever heard of Chris Farley was when he died.

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Suck it, Elon Musk!

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This story will probably be longer than it’s worth.

Back in 1997 I was working on a sitcom called Boston Common. At some point I met my director brother for lunch at the Daily Grill, across the street from the studio at which I worked. He has an uncanny ability to spot celebrities, partly because he’s worked with several of them, but also because he’s just good at recognizing people. I’ve known him to recognize Eddie Deezen on a sidewalk while driving down Ventura Boulevard at 40 miles per hour on the other side of the street. Anyway, at this lunch, while we’re waiting for our table, I’m talking to my brother about this weird ability of his. And he looks over to his right, and casually says, “See that portly gent over there, with his back to us? That’s Chris Farley.” I didn’t believe him, so I casually walked past him and casually turned around and glanced in his direction, then walked back to my brother. Goddamn, he was right. And I explained how I’m terrible at recognizing anyone. After a couple minutes, I happened to look at the fella paying for his check just two feet to my right, then elbowed my brother. “See that guy next to me?” I said. “The guy who’s been standing right next to me for the last five minutes? I finally just recognized him. It’s Steve Paymer… y’know, David Paymer’s brother. And Steve’s a regular on the show I’m currently working on. And I still didn’t recognize him!”

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Come to think of it, that wasn’t even Chris Farley in my story. It was Louie Anderson. So, uh… never mind.

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Did Steve live right down the hall?

Heh. No, but he worked across the street. Looked a bit like Larry Fine.

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In the early twentieth century, there was a young painter named Adolph whose dedication to his passion made him a household name.

you guys are gonna be disappointed by it i’m sure…

but my wife and i can’t think of a more solid, comedic, funny 90’s movie. it is a well balanced stupid comedy that is timeless.

eta

okay groundhogs day, the big lebowski, and clerks are all solid. but they are all different kinds of funny. anyway, back to the topic on hand.

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