The Art of Literary Nomenclature

The video shown in the linked article is a fascinating graphic representation of the most popular girls’ names in the U.S., year by year, since 1880, and includes interesting statistical analysis as well as historical context. A running list shows the top ten for each year, and how they change, while the bubble graph includes all of the most popular names for the year. Click through the link to see what names ranked where in popularity:

“See the popularity of hundreds of U.S. girls’ names evolve every year for 133 years.”

The names which have made the top three since 1880 include:

Alexis, Amanda, Amy, Anna, Ashley, Barbara, Betty, Brittany, Deborah, Debra, Dorothy, Elizabeth, Emily, Emma, Hannah, Heather, Helen, Isabella, Jennifer, Jessica, Karen, Kimberley, Linda, Lisa, Madison, Margaret, Mary, Melissa, Michelle, Olivia, Patricia, Ruth, Samantha, Sarah, Shirley, Sophia, and Susan

What do you think? Did your name make the list, and if so, where and when? Any particular trends that caught your eye? (For me, I think it was interesting to see Emma make it back onto the top three after a hundred years or so! Everything old is new again, I suppose.)