The website Jezebel has an amazing infographic up this week showing the most popular names given to baby girls over the last forty-two years.
The infographic – drawn from U.S. Social Security Administration data – can be viewed here.
“Baby naming generally follows a consistent cycle: A name springs up in some region of the U.S.—”Ashley” in the South, “Emily” in the Northeast—sweeps over the country, and falls out of favor nearly as quickly,” the website reports. “The big exception to these baby booms and busts is ‘Jennifer,’ which absolutely dominates America for a decade-and-a-half.”
Mmmmmm … Jennifers.
So … why does this matter to us? Well, our founding editor is the father of one daughter (Johanna Elyse) – with another one (Eva Margaretta) on the way sometime between now and the end of the year.
In fact were it not for the fact he produces sons as well, he’d be a regular Abu el Banat (this one … not the Abu al Banat who hangs out with U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham’s buddies over in Syria).
Anyway, in case you’re keeping score at home here is a list of the top girl names for South Carolina from 1960-2012 …
1960: Mary
1961: Mary
1962: Mary
1963: Mary
1964: Mary
1965: Lisa
1966: Lisa
1967: Lisa
1968: Lisa
1969: Lisa
1970: Angela
1971: Angela
1972: Angela
1973: Jennifer
1974: Jennifer
1975: Jennifer
1976: Jennifer
1977: Jennifer
1978: Jennifer
1979: Jennifer
1980: Jennifer
1981: Jennifer
1982: Jennifer
1983: Ashley
1984: Ashley
1985: Ashley
1986: Ashley
1987: Ashley
1988: Jessica
1989: Brittany
1990: Brittany
1991: Ashley
1992: Ashley
1993: Ashley
1994: Ashley
1995: Taylor
1996: Taylor
1997: Hannah
1998: Hannah
1999: Hannah
2000: Hannah
2001: Madison
2002: Madison
2003: Madison
2004: Emily
2005: Madison
2006: Madison
2007: Madison
2008: Madison
2009: Emma
2010: Madison
2011: Madison
2012: Emma
2013: ????
UPDATE: Oh, and if you’re in the mood for a good “girl name” laugh, here’s the indispensable scene from the movie “Ted.”
35 comments
“Bitch” wasn’t most popular in SC anytime in the last decade? Huh, go figure.
Totally naming my first kid ????.
I’m surprised that DaQuishana and Shaniqua aren’t the top girl names.
Ma’Dison
Those are some seriously white names
I think more black people use “unique” names, so they won’t have many on the most-common list.
I knew a Unique. Seriously.
How do you catch a very rare bird? Well, “unique” up on it….
Ugh, painful pun…
There was a kid who was named “Scrambled Eggs” because his mother mixed with so many men!
This is best achieved while in “blackface” so the bird does not see you coming!
Abigail
What about Kristen? Very popular and not hideous.
2013 is going to be Maria Jose
No Shaniqua?
Can anybody beat Shifty, who dated Tequila Mockingbird?
My mother in law taught school in York county for more than 30 years, these are some of the “names” she swears she had in her sixth through eighth grade classes:
– Urangelo
– Unigua (pronounced “unique wa”)
– Yarethra
– Shakeen (pronounced “shocking”)
– Crevice’ (pronounced “Krev eeeece”)
– Boya
– Boyba (Boya and Boyba were twin brothers who – and I swear this is true – were in the NICU prior to being named and had tags on their bassinets labeled “Boy A” and “Boy B” and the mother liked the sound of it and stuck with the names )
– Junior (that was his name, not a nick name and he wasn’t a junior)
– Valjean (son of a very wealthy family – apparently the parents were big Les Mis fans)
– Jordache’
– Chanel
– Hermes (universally called “Herpes” by the 8th grade)
– Rabanne
– Mercedes
– Porsche
– Ferrari (all three girls, Mercedes, Porsche and Ferrari were in the same homeroom class)
– Twyce
– Gawayne
– Kilo
– Graham (Kilo and Graham were twin brothers – no, i’m making that up – Kilo was actually two years older)
Probably all from negro families. They tend to name kids with little to no consideration on the impact they will have in life.
At a Christmas party with some doctors from Richland Hospital they were telling about naming those babies when the mother was unmarried or didn’t know who the father was. They had a game where they would take parts of the name of drugs, ointments, medications, etc and mix them up and put the result on the birth certificates. They swore to me this was true.!
I have a buddy who is a NICU nurse and he’s told me the same thing.
Nope, not even close – ValJean, Junior and Kilo and Graham (real brothers) were white kids as were two of the three “car” Girls. We’re talking about York County here…
Also some folks I knew: (1) Junior Senior, (2) in Sumter, Green Berry Bush. He told me his father had a farm hand whose son was born on a Saturday which was pay day and his son was named -Payday, (3) in Columbia wasn’t there an attorney named I.P. Freely (for real)?, and (4) John Kinchen came to Dreher HS with monogrammed shirts for a few days, but his mother had included his middle initial – “JRK”. Yes, we kidded him!
I knew a Berry Bush in middle school.
And how could I have forgotten that cute girl “Cookie” Crum, or the twins, Merry and Noel Christmas.
What is it called when birds get herpes?…… Chirpes
What is so bad about it?….. It’s difficult to tweet.
Had a girl named Godzilla and another named Uneeda in school w me. We just called her Zilla. 100% true.
Jurisdoc, from your handle, are you making fun of the beloved Jean Toal?
Names of my father’s family members in Horry County:
Bug
Rib
Meach
Dewitt
Flossie
The twins Pete and Repete(their spelling)
The thing that has been “bugging” me is, how the hell is your handle pronounced!?
It’s pronounced just like it’s spelled. :-)
If you’re really interested the first two letters are the first letter each of my first and middle names. The rest is my last name without any vowels.
“R W Williams”
When the Navy decided that I wasn’t progressing on the job with my Morse Code ability to send on the key, they assigned me to receiving which I was better suited for. Thus, whenever it became necessary for Shifty to send I was tagged a “shitfist”, and deservedly so. But if they could only see me now!
There was a guy whose initials were S.O.B. and he proudly wore a belt with those initials. Had a business and wanted to use his initials for a business name, wife had to talk him out of it, so he used S.O. Brown (fake name).
Also there was a family who last name was Hines and they name one of their sons Herbie.
A couple were so intent on naming their son after the two grandfathers without realizing after receiving the birth certificate that the initials were P.E.W.
New parents should think of a name that looks good on a law degree AND a wedding invitation.