The trendiest baby name in US history is…Linda.
Surprised? You wouldn’t be the only one. These days you don’t get introduced to many bubs named Linda.
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Previously, FlowingData determined the trendiest baby name in US history (Catina) by looking at the quickest rises and falls in popularity. However, at its peak, Catina wasn’t overly popular, comprising only 0.0097% of girls’ names.
Now, David Taylor, biotechnologist and blogger, has approached ‘trendy’ by investigating not just the rate of a name’s rise and fall, but also how intensely popular it is within that period. And voila – Linda came out on top.
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In 1947, Linda skyrocketed in popularity, making up approximately 5.5% of girls’ names. And it remained the most popular name for baby girls in America until 1952. Why, you ask? It’s thought Jack Lawrence’s song “Linda”, which was topping the charts in 1947, was the inspiration. The trend eventually fell off and by 1964, it was no longer in the top five most popular girls’ names.
In the United States, no other baby name has trended as much as Linda did in that period. According to Taylor’s research, those that have come close are Shirley, Ashley, Debra and Brittany. And the trendiest boys’ names were Jason, Mark, Dewey, Grover, and Woodrow.
The most popular baby names of 2017 were wildly different. For the second year in a row, Olivia topped the girls’ list and the most popular name for boys was Harvey. But it seems parents are still influenced by popular culture, with the Game Of Thrones-inspired Khaleesi making 2017’s most popular list.
Were you surprised that Linda was the trendiest? How do you pick baby names?
