My entire life I have been one of many, many, many Jennifers. This has always bothered me and is something I'll keep in mind when naming my children so they won't be a "Jennifer R." for 18 years.
I found this really fun site and discovered Jennifer was the #1 name from 1970 until 1984. That is absolutely insane. I was born in the middle of that, so no wonder I will always be one of the many Jennifers. We're like the Jennifer generation (JENeration. Ha!). 14 years. Sheesh.
19 comments:
I love the Social Security baby name site! (Sometimes when I don't want to do homework, I look for more baby names that I like; so, in case anyone ever just throws a baby at me, I'll be all sorts of ready to give him/her a name :) ) But yes, I have promised my unborn children that they will not have a name that was top 20 for any of the 20 years before their birth (which breaks my heart, because Joshua and Hannah have been long time favorites). People should not be defined by the first letter of their last name. It's undemocratic.
JENeration - that's awesome! 14 years? Really? That's pretty crazy, but not surprising. Though if you named your child Jennifer NOW, they'd probably be the only one in their class. In 7 years of teaching, I've never had a Jennifer in my class.
The problem is that even if you think you are naming your child something unique somehow it catches on. When my family named Sage and Jade we had never met anyone with those names. Jade is now on top of the charts for baby names and we have met a ton of Sages - although they are normally boys.
Having a popular name myself, I feel your pain. Both my first and madien name are very common. It was horrible. Jeff is trying to convince me to name our first child "Blarsonkiton" - just so they wont have a common name like we both do. I'm sure if we did though every little kid would be named that in 3 years.
The problem is that even if you think you are naming your child something unique somehow it catches on. When my family named Sage and Jade we had never met anyone with those names. Jade is now on top of the charts for baby names and we have met a ton of Sages - although they are normally boys.
Having a popular name myself, I feel your pain. Both my first and madien name are very common. It was horrible. Jeff is trying to convince me to name our first child "Blarsonkiton" - just so they wont have a common name like we both do. I'm sure if we did though every little kid would be named that in 3 years.
It is really hard to find something unique, but not weird. And like the previous comment, a lot of times you think you're doing something different then everybody and their dog somehow ends up with it. I think the name "Madison" or anything shortened to Maddy will be the "Jennifer" from this decade. When you start to have little ones there is an awesome book called "The Baby Name Wizard" that I absolutely love. It kind of tells you about styles and trends. I love it. But to tell the truth, when it comes down to it I say pick whatever you like even if it is somewhat popular. One that's topping our list is definitely one that I hear a fair amount. But we love it regardless. Oh well. I'll have to check out that website.
I have known a few Jennifers in my lifetime, however they all go by something different; Jen, Jenn, Jenie, Jenny, and Jennifer. At least they are different when written down!
Oh, and as far as being scared about swollen ankles, I predict that you as a pregnant girl will be the twiggy with just the little bump in front and will have no problem with swelling. Basically you'll be the type that makes me sick. :)
Names are really tricky - especially for girls. I think boys don't care so much if they are one of the masses, but girls notice that sort of thing. That site is really interesting. I'm glad you shared!
Jeneration... nice! :)
It was for this reason that I refuse to use names that have entered the top 100 in the last year or so...
When I was searching for baby names I noticed that greek mythology names are very rarely popular. Using this single fact I have decided that Odysseus is the perfect name for a boy or a girl. You may steal it, just don't tell anyone, we wouldn't want it to catch on!
I definitely feel the JENeration pain!! I always hated it when people would try to tell me that my name really was Jennifer and not just Jenny!
When I was pregnant with Brody and tossing that name around, people thought we were strage and we never heard that name. Now, whenever someone hears it they say, "Oh, I know a Brody!" You can't win on names so just go with what you like.
Are you pregnant by the way...with all this name talk...
Hey- at least you're not Genevieve.
Yeah, being Jessica & Christopher, the #2 names of 1980 (following only Jennifer & Michael) I did not want the same thing for my kids either. I did not intend to pick wierd names or make up my own names, but pick something that we liked and thought fit our children and that was not Emily or Hannah or Isabella. (My personal opinion is that Isabella should be reserved for girls with dark hair.) I am so dumbfounded to see the popularity of "Avery" so on the rise. It's #48 this year!! Maybe we'll start calling her by her middle name.... At least "Kiefer" is not even in the top 1000!
Oh, I also once leafed through a baby name book and it had done studies the naming trends among different types of people. Like it had a chapter on "Yuppie Names" like Lauren and Nicole and maybe even Jacob. I wish I could find something like it again (only updated - it was when Jared was brand new)
I think Jen Jensen is a great name! I just noticed that you know Janelle Baugh. I know her from my Phoenix days. small world.
I think Jen Jensen is a great name! I just noticed that you know Janelle Baugh. I know her from my Phoenix days. small world.
Man I guess I never gave much thought to how many people were named something. Joshua is going to have a problem I think. Oh well. You should have lived in California because I don't remember any Jennifers in either high school I went too (my year at least). But it has been 10 years. I also wanted to add that my kids loved the footage with the taser. I think we watched it maybe 20 times in a span of a couple minutes. I think I might want to get one.
Wow. People sure have a lot to say about names. My favorite chapter about baby names is in Freakenomics. You should check it out if you have the time. That entire book is surprisingly entertaining. I actually put down Harry Potter to finish it.
I happen to know that you were named after two beloved aunts, one of which happened to be named Jennifer from back in the 50's. So you have a very old-fashioned name after all. And Lynn just fits about anything. And Jennifer Lynn flows beautifully and is elegant and flowery and smells nice.
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