I’m no stats whiz, but Nathan Yau of FlowingData and David Taylor of Prooffreader are, and each has taken a stab at determining/ranking the trendiest baby names of all time in the U.S.
The FlowingData list of trendiest baby names was published last year. Nathan analyzed girl names and boy names separately. Here are his top 5 for each gender:
| Trendiest Girl Names | Trendiest Boy Names |
|---|---|
| 1. Catina 2. Deneen 3. Aaliyah 4. Allisson 5. Katina | 1. Jalen 2. Tevin 3. Elian 4. Demond 5. Mcarthur |
The Prooffreader list of trendiest baby names was published earlier this month. David analyzed all the names together (his overall top 100 was 80% girl names, 20% boy names). Here are his top 5 for each gender (with placement on the original list in parentheses):
| Trendiest Girl Names | Trendiest Boy Names |
|---|---|
| 1. Linda (#1) 2. Brittany (#3) 3. Debra (#4) 4. Shirley (#5) 5. Ashley (#6) | 1. Dewey (#2) 2. Jason (#11) 3. Grover (#15) 4. Mark (#20) 5. Woodrow (#30) |
Click through and check out their full lists. Then come back and tell me which list/methodology you prefer, and why.
I think the FlowingData method picks out names that rise and fall again in a very short amount of time (and thus is a good tool for finding strongly pop-culture or headline influenced names for example). The Proofreader method appears to show how strongly associated a name is with those born in a particular era (e.g. the “generational association” of a name, and how well someone could guess your general age by your name).
Great observation, Kelly.