What’s in a name?
These days, it’s likely to be four letters:
American names are shrinking. The two most popular names in the US for baby boys in 2017 were Liam and Noah; for girls, Emma and Ava were two of the three most popular. That’s a dramatic shift from just a few decades ago. In 1990, no name in the top ten had less than five letters—the interminable Michael and Christopher topped the list. No name with fewer than six letters made the top five in 1990—thank you Jessica, Ashley, Brittany, Amanda, and Samantha.
Girls’ and boys’ name lengths both reached their peak in 1989, with girls’ names averaging over 6.4 letters, and boys’ names average about 6. Since then, the average girl’s name fell by 0.4 letters and the average boy’s name by over 0.2 letters. The US government data used for this analysis includes all names given to at least five babies in a given year, which is the vast majority of names.
A lot of parents are using what used to be considered nicknames as given names, probably a trend towards less formality. There’s also a general trend towards shorter titles of businesses, as the article points out:
The length of popular song names are getting shorter. So are the length of video game names. Even company names are shrinking (e.g. Dunkin’ Donuts is now just Dunkin).
Shorter attention spans, too?
Don’t get me started. Two recent ones: Dulce and Maximus.
Nebraska case this week: J’Loyal P., born in
September 2008; J’Ahnesti M., born in August 2009; J’Endlessly F., born in November 2014; and J’Legacy S., born in November 2016.
Have you ever noticed the nearly all NFL quarterbacks have short monosyllabic names?
This is a by product of social media I think. I know that is true of song titles as this really kicked into gear when twitter became such a big deal.
#Happy is easier to promote than #doesanybodyreallyknowwhattimeitis or #youcantalwaysgetwhatyouwant.
Example number 5,736 of how social media is dumbing down and corroding our culture.
Roy Nathanson,
The University of Washington has like five quarterbacks named Jake or Jacob. It’s comical really.
Roy,
That’s one of the reasons I loved Sonny Sixkiller….
What a great name for a QB!
(Probably should have changed his name to Elevenkiller, though.)
For real, genuine, true-blue, unmitigated minimalists, there’s the symbol representing “The Artist Formally Known as Prince” (which itself is rather on the long side….)
Barry,
If Sixkiller was playing now his name would be a collision for the ages. Very violent and refers to nasty guns but he is also Native American.
“Shorter attention spans, too?” No. Easier to texting on phone.
Anyone just named their kid an emoji?
Sergey on November 3, 2018 at 2:52 pm at 2:52 pm said:
“Shorter attention spans, too?” No. Easier to texting on phone.
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Maybe it’s because they just can’t spell anything with more than four letters.
I love onomastics (the study of names) and especially love researching the history of personal and family names; there are some fascinating stories. However, it seems to me there are two trends now, kind of pulling in opposite directions: people who search naming dictionaries and websites for meaningful or ethnically-appropriate names; and those who just make things up (including the idiosyncratic spellings that made teachers pull their hair out, back when there were teachers who knew how to spell).
http://www.babynamewizard.com/
https://qz.com/1285427/american-parents-invented-1100-new-baby-names-last-year/
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And then there is this, which covers a lot of the thoughts parents have in choosing names:
https://qz.com/978760/popular-baby-names-the-psychology-of-growing-up-with-an-extremely-common-name/
“I think in past generations, parents were much more concerned about their kids’ names fitting in. But in the past 20 years, the focus has been 100% on standing out,” Wattenberg says. “Parents are really, really worried about their kids being ordinary.” [Wattenberg has a popular baby-name website]
Wattenberg attributes the cultural shift to several factors, including the introduction of baby-name statistics and the cable TV explosion, which let people see a wider variety of names. But the most important change was the dawn of the digital era. “Two aspects of the internet had a big impact,” Wattenberg says. “All of us were choosing user names and becoming accustomed to the idea that a name has to be unique to be usable.” Search engines also changed the way we think about names. “It used to be that if there was a Sophie Adamson, there would be 100 other Sophie Adamson’s and she’d never know about them. But now parents type a name into the search engine, see the name is ‘taken,’ and panic.” [genealogists also know this phenomenon, of discovering that the unique family name from the 18th century was dirt-common back in the day]
…
It’s understandable that parents get nervous about picking a name: Our names send a signal to the world about who we are. At a basic level, they may hint at our age, ethnicity, and religion. Research shows that our names can also reflect our families’ socioeconomic status and political affiliations. Because they disclose so much information to the world, choosing a name is a high-stakes game. As Maria Konnikova writes in The New Yorker, “We see a name, implicitly associate different characteristics with it, and use that association, however unknowingly, to make unrelated judgments about the competence and suitability of its bearer.”
But there is an exception: Extremely common, classic names give very little away. Biblical names like these never really go out of style, which means their bearers can be almost any age. They can be Jewish names, or Christian ones, or religiously unaffiliated. There are white Michael’s and David’s and Mary’s, and black, Latino, and Asian ones too. And these names are not particularly linked to politics: According to a 2016 Political Behavior study, “White mothers in liberal neighborhoods are just as likely to give their children Biblical names like Jacob, Daniel, Hannah, or Sarah as mothers in conservative neighborhoods.”
And so giving your child a classic, common name can be a way to steer clear of cultural stereotypes and unjust discrimination. Historically, Wattenberg says, research has shown that people find familiar, easy-to-pronounce names to be likable and trustworthy. When you hear from a person with a name like Dave or Jen or Mike, “you’re more likely to answer their email, more likely to swipe right on Tinder,” she says.
But a lot of people rightfully take pride in having a distinctive name that speaks to their family’s culture and origins. And bearing a name that practically screams “basic” can present its own challenges.
…
There are definitely benefits to growing up with a common name, particularly as a child—when fitting in is paramount. Emily Arden, owner of the arts organization ReCreative Spaces, says that as a kid, she was delighted by how easy it was to find her name on keychains and other trinkets, and happy that the name translated across multiple cultures and nations. “I have a bowl my dad brought back from Paris with the French spelling, Emilie, that I’ve always loved,” she says. “It never bothered me that it wasn’t an ‘original’ name.”
Another Quartz coworker, growth editor Jennifer Chang, said that she appreciated that her parents—first-generation immigrants from Taiwan—had given her a popular American name. It made her feel more at ease among her classmates in a predominantly white elementary school in Texas. “Chinese parents often give their kids names that reflect good fortune or a wish for their lives,” she says, “something that will keep them safe or make them happy. So to give me a common name like Jennifer reflected a desire for me to be accepted as American.”
…
“Finding a name that has authentic roots, but is completely undiscovered, is the ultimate baby name status symbol,” Pamela Redmond Satran, founder of the baby-naming site Nameberry, told the New York Times in 2013.
Wattenberg adds that this cultural shift also reflects anxieties about economic mobility and competition. “Parents are worried about their kids’ futures and want to carve out shelf space in the marketplace of life,” she says. “Some think that standing out with a name will help their kids do that.”
When you live in a culture that values standing out, it’s no surprise that some people with popular names try to find ways to customize their names to better suit their personalities. Kati Haynes Gulde, a freelance musician, recalls considering the various nicknames available to her as a “Katharine.”
“Katie’s were always nice and soft, something homemade or home-baked,” she says. “Someone you met through your mom. Definitely creative. Katy’s were popular, athletic, intimidating. Kate’s are really cool. They skateboard. They don’t talk much. They’re mysterious.” Ultimately, Kati decided to go with Katie, then dropped the “e” from her nickname in the sixth grade. “I felt pretty unique after that,” she says. [believe it or not, there are multiple Katye’s out there as well]
There’s also the option of attempting to change your name to something a bit more unusual. When I went to boarding school at age 16, I thought about going by one of my middle names, Charlotte. But I ultimately stuck with Sarah.To be a Charlotte, I felt, meant committing to a particular kind of personality—someone polished and feminine, the kind of girl who went to art galleries on weekends and spoke flawless French. The issue wasn’t so much that I didn’t feel like a Charlotte as that I was afraid of not living up to it. Sarah, by contrast, was reassuringly commitment-free.
…”
Born way back in ’49, and my first and middle names together total 7 letters. My early 90s-born daughter’s first and middle names together total 11 letters.
So, these days might just be like the old old days.
I guess former UN Secretary-General U Thant was ahead of his time.
Short attent-
SQUIRREL!
I have no middle name. What were my parents thinking?