What's in a name?

So MSN this morning had a list of the top U.S. baby names of 2006. This is another reason it’s good I don’t have a kid – I would never be able to name the poor little thing. Every name I hear either sounds too common, or too trendy, or too weird. It seems like it’s very difficult to find names that are unique but not bizarre. And if you DO find a name that seems unique today, who’s to guarantee every kid and their cousin won’t have that same name ten years down the road? I remember that the first time I heard the name “Kaitlyn,” which was probably about fifteen years ago, I thought it was really pretty. But now, if I hear that name, I cringe. I can’t stand it. There are five billion girls named Kaitlyn running around on the planet, and there appears to be no stopping brand new Kaitlyns from popping up every day (“Kaitlyn” is number 6 on the top ten baby name list).

My apologies to anyone named Kaitlyn or anyone who KNOWS anyone named Kaitlyn – but the same can be said for my own name. MSN also has lists of the names that have been popular for the last 120 years or so, and when I looked at “popular names of the 1970’s,” I discovered that Lisa was the second-most popular name (right behind Jennifer). No WONDER there seem to be Lisas all over the place. I also looked at the 1980’s (since I WAS, in fact, born in the 1980’s, not the 1970’s… don’t listen to all the vicious rumors…), and Lisa was down to number sixteen. Jennifer, on the other hand, was STILL the number one name in the country. Which makes sense, because I’ve met a lot more Jennifers in my lifetime than I have Lisas…

What’s really interesting about these lists is how trends come and go – back in 1880, for instance, the sixth-most popular name for girls was Emma. Today in 2006, the MOST popular name for girls is Emma. Back in the 70’s and 80’s, when Jennifer ruled over all names, Emma was nowhere to be seen. It had obviously fallen out of favor over the decades. And then some time in the 90’s, it began a steady climb back to the top ten. Where did it go between the turn of the last century and the turn of this century? Did people stop reading Jane Austen for a while?

It’s gotten so difficult to find nice, unique names that some parents resort to naming their kid something really common, but spell it in a weird way in an apparent attempt to be unusual. His name isn’t Michael, it’s Maekel! Or Maechell! Or Pmikil (the P is silent)! – yeah, you’ve still named your kid Michael, but now you’ve ensured a lifetime of mispronunciations and mislabeled mail…

One of the most unusual names I’ve heard was of a girl I knew when I was about eleven years old. That year, Eric and I attended a horsemanship camp out in the hill country of Austin, where we learned how to properly care for our “own” horse (and speaking of names, I believe my horse’s name was Kate), how to put on saddles and bridles, and how to ride (I never got past a canter... and even then it was because Kate was a bit of a free spirit...). One of the best riders was a girl named Citaborea (it was pronounced “si-TAH-bree-ah). I always thought her name sounded so pretty, and I eventually learned that her father was an aerobatic plane pilot, and a “Citaborea” is a kind of aerobatic plane. Citaborea is also “aerobatic” spelled backwards. She remains the only person named Citaborea I’ve ever met in my life…

My mom has a pretty unusual name here in the contiguous 48 states, but every time we’re in Hawaii, Leilanis are everywhere. As is evident by the pictures we return with – mom standing next to the “Leilani’s on the Beach” sign… mom standing next to “Leilani’s Bakery”… mom pointing to the “Lani” on the Mauna Lani sign… we would’ve had one of mom standing next to the “Leilani Street” sign in Hilo, but there was a lot of traffic… :) You get the idea. But maybe that’s a good medium – a name that seems unusual most of the time, but it CAN be common when you want it to be. Because sure, it’s nice to see your name on a t-shirt now and then, or on one of those novelty license plates they sell in touristy gift shops.

And I guess this year, they’ll be ordering extra Emmas…