I spend a lot of time thinking up names. For heroines, heroes, villains, sidekicks, and federal agents, and for their parents, henchmen, acolytes, and pets. I make lists. I let characters try names on for size to see if they fit. If a name’s wrong, I toss it. Sometimes a character starts the first draft of a novel with one name and ends the final draft with another.
Fortunately, the Husband has gotten used to this. When he sees 10,000 Fabulous Baby Names on my desk his jaw no longer drops. He assumes I’m populating a book, not that we’re going to have yet another nine-month dustup over what to call our offspring. Those arguments get messy, and turn unpleasant when the obstetrician and the labor-and-delivery nurses throw in their own gratuitous suggestions, and inevitably end with me heaving a whole slew of names at everybody in the delivery room. (And to Dr. Get the Hell Out and Take Your Ugly-ass Plaid Golf Pants with You: Hi! Hope you’re well!)
Anyway. Here are the top baby names in the U.S. for 2007. Emily and Jacob top the list.
And if you want to track the rise and fall of various names over the last 130 years, check out Baby Name Wizard’s marvelous Name Voyager.
7 responses so far ↓
Stacey // May 13, 2008 at 10:57 am
You always find the coolest links! My search engine is under used in comparison!
Emma // May 13, 2008 at 3:18 pm
Very good point. I always check character names and the meaning/derivation behind them to ensure there’s nothing in the meaning that contradicts the character. http://www.behindthename.com is another useful site. Chloe and Jack top the UK lists.
Patti // May 13, 2008 at 4:22 pm
The Canadian list is slightly different: Emma, Emily/Emilie, Sarah, Matthew/Matthieu, Jacob, and Ethan. Now I know who will be in my classes around the time I retire. This year it was Lindsay, Julia, and Chantal. A number of years ago, a group of 13 students included 2 Christines, a Christina, 2 Crystals, and a Christiane. I’d get emails from someone named “Chris” wanting an extension and wonder, “which one?” It was hell.
On the character naming front, as well as the name fitting the character, there’s whether the name fits the character’s age/generation/location. It always bugs me when a character in her mid-40s is given last year’s most popular girl’s name or there’s a whole pack of white female characters of North American origin in their late 30s-40s and not a Lisa, Chris, or Kim among them. Try spitting into that demographic and not hitting one.
susan (b. 1950) // May 13, 2008 at 7:53 pm
Call my family predicatable, but I typed in me, each of my siblings, and 2 generations of antecedents and descendants. All but one (my brother Patrick) has a name that hit its peak in the decade of their birth.
naomi // May 13, 2008 at 8:02 pm
What a useful site, at least for US names. I teach international students and every so often ask them to write down for me what a typical teenager in their country calls Mother, Father, Grandmother, Grandfather, and a typical contemporary girl and boy name. The difference between the countries is fascinating. So far I have used just one (Turkish) name in anythingI’ve written.
Don // May 13, 2008 at 8:45 pm
I am the world ruler and you shall all bow down before me and give tribute!!!!
C.D. Reimer // May 14, 2008 at 7:49 pm
I remember going to junior high school being surrounded by girls named Jennifer, Stephanie, and Tiffany. You couldn’t swing a book bag without hitting a multitude of the trinity.
Don, the Jennifer/Stephanie/Tiffany all had the same attitude.
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