Elisabeth, I think you’re right that there’s a small (or not so small!) community out here, and some of the names are driven by that conversation.

But what’s interesting is that these aren’t top search names – they’re the most read posts. Esme, Isla, Lorelei and Finn are actually the top search names, along with a few surprises – Pomeline, for example, is one of the most common searches. And I’m sure that’s because there’s so little info about the name. (Google “baby name Pomeline” and this site is the fourth one to pop up.)

There are probably quirkier things driving the most read posts. The NotD post on Vaughn, for example, was mentioned by an Alias fan site for Michael Vartan fans. (His character was Michael Vaughn.) And Tallulah is referenced in the Norwegian Wikipedia page on the name – so when the whole Talula Does the Hula brouhaha broke, a whole lot of people in Oslo found the site.

I’m most curious about this – until recently, we haven’t been able to track the names that parents consider – only the names that they choose. But for a new name to catch on, it has to make the “possibles” list for many more parents. I don’t know if there’s an official statistic, but on any site, something like 99% of the readers never comment. So does that mean that web hits will translate to actual children’s names in a few years? Can a namenik with a passionate love for, say, Doris or Bruce, encourage all those lurkers to consider the name?

Some of these names indeed might be well on the rise. Others are so unusual that when you type in “baby name _______” to a google search, Appellation Mountain will be one of the first sites to come up, so more people will come specifically to this site for that name.

In addition, there are a few names here that individual baby name fanatics with a wide presence on the web (blogs, name boards) tend to talk about a lot. So they may either be on the rise with the baby name fanatics, or those fanatics may be indeed changing the tide ever so slightly!

Two of those names are ones that I suggested, one to you, and one to a friend, who subsequently asked you to write about it! Funny what a tight circle it is…

Very interesting post!

Thanks for taking the time to look at everything. It’s really fascinating to see what people are looking at. I imagine this is probably a good name nerd haven, though. Then again, you haven’t done a post on Jayden; it might become the top viewed if you did!