If you’re celebrating Easter today, wishing you a joyful day!
Lately I’ve been thinking about this: do names ever really go away? Stories like this one come up from time to time, and specific names, like Gary, tend to grab headlines.
My thought: Gary isn’t going anywhere. That’s because the name charted in the US Top 1000 nearly every year since we started tracking the information – we’re talking well over 100 years of history. Sure, Gary has evolved from leading man Cooper to Spongebob’s pet snail over the last fifty years. But with countless men by the name, it’s only a matter of time before we rediscover Gary.
In fact, if the 100-year rule holds, it could be as soon as 2030.
I wrote about 1930s baby names a while back:
It could be time to update those posts, because I think some of these 1930s names have caught on.
The names that are at risk, I think, are the true rarities. The ones that never made a Top 100 list; the ones that aren’t found on lots of family trees and history books, just awaiting rediscovery. But in 2017, we have so many marvelous resources – The Dictionary of Medieval Names from European Sources, anyone? –  it’s possible that even obscure names like Gisela and Tudor can be re-discovered indefinitely.
Elsewhere online:
- Kind of loving brothers named Deacon and Xander, from this week’s British Baby Names birth announcements.
- What’s the best substitute for Scarlett? Some interesting suggestions from Baby Name Wizard.
- We all want to help name Beyonce’s babies. Even Neil deGrasse Tyson.
- Excited that this family is expecting again! What would you name a sister or brother for Atticus, Elm, and Orion?
- I feel like I’ve shared this before, but oh, Bluegrass Baby Names!
- This list of women governors and lieutenant governors makes for an interesting source of inspiration.
- Ooh … Ren’s guesses about names that will enter the US Top 100 when we see the new data in May. Some good thoughts here!
- Duana takes on finding non-trendy names for twin boys.
- Wow – if a certain 1980s television series had been a hit, maybe Tyger would be right up there with Ashley.
That’s all for this week. As always, thank you for reading – and have a great week!
It’s great to have the Sunday Summary back! 🙂
I have a week-old baby! In thinking about Easter names, we settled on Winifred after learning that one of its possible meanings is “reconciled to God.”.
We also have a Gareth, and while I have no intention of calling him Gary, I could totally see him eventually answering to that nickname. It never occurred to me to consider that a name headed for ” extinction “. 480+ babies in one year is a lot for an ” out of fashion” name.
I agree that in our era of obscure sources, no name should be permanently discounted. Although I do think association can be powerful. Elmo may eventually loose it’s Sesame Street vibe, but I doubt Adolf will ever fully recover from the grime of WW2.
“Gisela” is obscure! *laugh* It just goes to show that what is common and what is obscure, what is normal and what is unusual, is SO dependent on what your context is. 🙂