In 5-10 Years, Emily's and Michael 's Will Confuse Teachers

The city has announced the top ten names city mommies and daddies have given their babies. Emily is number one for a 2nd year in a row (it was also number in 2003), while Michael is number one for the 20th year! From 1010WINS:

For the 59,714 baby girls, the top names were Emily, Ashley, Kayla, Sarah, Isabella, Samantha, Sophia, Nicole, Olivia and Rachel. Brianna was knocked out of the Top 10 for the first time since 1997.

For the boys, the list was Michael, Daniel, Joshua, David, Justin, Matthew, Anthony, Christopher, Joseph and Nicholas.

Now, we all make fun of celebrities for naming their children stupid things (Pilot Inspektor? Moxie Crimefighter?), but there is an upside to having a relatively uncommon name - people will remember it, versus being one of legion of same-named kids in a playground, office, or school.

The Social Security website has a fun database of birth names (Emily has been number 1 for over 10 years nationally, but it's no Jennifer, which was number 1 from 1970 through 1984). The Name Voyager is a fun interactive way to see name popularity. And DaddyTypes inaugurated the Daddy Types Namewatch (we noticed Chablis Quarterman also).

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By Jen Chung in Arts & Entertainment on October 12, 2006 12:09 PM

Comments [rss]

alix

Jenny:

that "i" in my name was the only defense i had at the schoolyard when they teased me for having a boy's name. kids can be so cruel. i should send them my therapy bills. boo hoo.

Michael

I was top gun for so long, but now, according to the name voyager, Michael's been second to Jacob since 2003. Jacob? It always make me think of carob. And no one wants to be associated with fake chocolate.

so there

What about the urban legend in which the new mother sees "female" on the hospital bracelet and decides that "fe-MAL-lie" is a very pretty name?

There's always "Aquanetta."

jnnn

burpington hee hee

ed_Extinct

Good Names:

Hangovery

Mistaken

Burpington

Enronious

Haliburton-Snowboard

"It's too bad Chlamydia has to be a venereal disease. It's such a pleasant-sounding word..."

"...Chlamydia. I think I might name my daughter Chlamydia."

—Waiting

jenny

Whoa! That's the first time I saw another Alix with an I. That's my sister's name while I'm a Jenny. I have five other friends right now named Jenny. And when I got married, I took a common last name. After all that, I'm naming my kids something sort of weird.

alix

"there is an upside to having a relatively uncommon name - people will remember it, versus being one of legion of same-named kids in a playground, office, or school"

yeah, and all the jennifers and michaels also remember to kick your ass everyday on the playground for having a stupid name. no kid wants to be different.

Lilitu

Emily's and Michael's what will confuse teachers?

I usually get irritated with the people who obsessively correct Gothamist grammar, but the 'apostrophe + s to indicate plural' error is a pet peeve.

Mark

The Name Voyager is a fun time-waster for about 5 minutes if you type odd celebrity-esque names in there. Not surprisingly, "Fungus Face" is not a popular baby name.

WT Economist

Their first book came out in the early 1990s, and all my contemporaries read it, many taking their advice to chose out of fashion but still good names.

The consequences were unintended. Instead of five Emily's or Mary's in the class (previously popular names) you had five Emma's or Madeline's (names out of fashion at the time that the book recommended). We took their advice too, to an extent, but were less copied by our peers.

Moral: watch their sales. If they sell enough books, and you want to achieve their goal of a less common name for your kid, do the opposite of what they say.