Hortence, Agnes, Mildred, Winifred, Ichabod, Hobart, Percival, Archibald… they all sound horrible to me.
That’s what I was talking about with “creative” names; kids may not be more likely to get teased, but as a person of color in this country, it matters quite a bit what moniker you saddle your kid with. A name that sounds too creative or “ethnic” on a resume can be easily tossed aside with no consideration to that person’s actual skill set and abilities.
They already are; I don’t know where the info for this article came from, but ‘Jennifer’ is already one of the most common female names in the US.
I think it’s funny Oliver/Olivia got popular. I’ve always liked them, and yes, this is probably at least somewhat related to Fringe and Little Miss Sunshine.
I’m not sure having kids is in my cards in this incarnation, but I always thought I would consider these names strongly if I did.
Ha, I’m sort of amused to see that Adele (I had a grandmother with that name and as a kid it struck me as archaic and very rare even then) practically went extinct, dropping out of the top 1000 1970. Until 2010. Funny how that happened.
Can confirm it happens, as a real-life Jennifer who was one of five same-named kids in a high-school class, and one of three Jennifers in a college history course. (The teacher used to call-our-name-and-point to tell us apart. )
eta - interesting thing if you look at the graph on the main part of that site - in the past years you can see clear large bands with popular names. Now it looks like even the most popular names today aren’t nearly as popular as the most poplar names in the recent past.
I’m a real-life Emma who was named before anyone this side of the ocean used that name. When I was young, people thought it was a nick-name for Emily or something. I was always disappointed that the mugs and toothbrushes and key chains with names on them in souvenir stores never had my name (because these things are really important when you’re a kid).
Then in 2002 Rachel on friends had a baby named Emma. Admittedly the name had been getting popular from the very late 80’s but that really pushed it over. Then I was in grocery stores hearing flustered parents yelling my name and when I tell people my name they’re like “Oh! My niece/granddaughter/cousin is named Emma!” as though it’s in any way remarkable these days.
I think I’m spelling that right.
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