In 1880, Mary was the most popular girl's name in the country. In 2013, Mary wasn't even in the top 10, but how did we get there?
A video posted on Youtube by Abacaba on Saturday uses information from the Social Security Administration to animate the evolution of girl's names from 1880 until 2013.
It wasn't until 1962 that Lisa overtook Mary as the most popular name in the country.
Also of note, there are now more names being used than ever before. Starting in 2007, no one name accounts for more than one percent of all names and the top 100 names accounted for less than one third of all girls.
The creators of the video say that they are working on a version that shows boy's names over the same time period.
(
http://www.nbc4i.com/story/28526669/the-evolution-of-us-girl-names)
YT: Linda. Tiffany. Jennifer. Dorothy. What's in a name? For something you're expected to stick with for your whole life, names seem to come and go as quickly as fashion trends. While some names stick around forever (Elizabeth), others flash into popularity in an instant (Shirley, Brittany). Regardless, these names live on in American history through the people to whom they are given. Why do parents choose the baby names they do? We've been working on this video for a while. Hope you like it!
5 Comments
lucky760No no no no no!
TMI TMI TMI TMI
Lots of interesting info but you have to pause every frame to read all the juicy gossip in the sidebar turning this 4 minute video into a half-hour.
Who has that kind of time to burn? I'm late. I'm LATE for a very important date. No time to say hello. Goodbye. I'm late. I'm late. I'm late!
antA hot date named Mary?
No no no no no!
TMI TMI TMI TMI
Lots of interesting info but you have to pause every frame to read all the juicy gossip in the sidebar turning this 4 minute video into a half-hour.
Who has that kind of time to burn? I'm late. I'm LATE for a very important date. No time to say hello. Goodbye. I'm late. I'm late. I'm late!
lucky760No, Alice.
Queen of Hearts.
And if you'd really like to know... He went that way.
Who did?
The white rabbit.
He did?
Did what?
Went that way!
Who did?
The white rabbit!
What rabbit?
A hot date named Mary?
sanderbossays...Madison is my favorite American girl's name (already before this video), history wise.
That name comes from the 1984 movie Splash, before that it was hardly ever used as a girls name. Here is that very beginning:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8CRERCoC10
In this video the name Madison has an 'info bubble' at 3:26, but it's really fun to watch the rise and rise of that name starting at around 3:10 (so the movie started it in 1984, but it really needed about 10 year to become an unstoppable powerhouse name).
deathcowME WANT MORE INFOGRAPHICS
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