The current trend for baby names favors uniqueness over popularity, according to BabyNameWizard. In the 1950s, the top 25 most common boy’s names and the top 50 girl’s names comprised half of all babies born. Now, this list expands to the top 134 by’s names and top 320 girl’s names in order to account for half of all babies born.
Baby names reflect a parent’s values, socio-economic background, race, and ambition for the child. It also is one of the last areas untouched by marketer influence, says BabyNameWizard. “They’re practically the only case of a choice with broad fashion patterns that there’s no commercial influence on. There’s no company out there spending millions to convince you Brayden is a perfect name for your son.”
The annual rankings of baby names also influences decisions as parents do not want to have a child’s name come in at the top of the list.
Parents want their baby’s name to stand out, yet also fit in, resulting in similar-sounding names, such as Kayden, Brayden, Hayden, and Jayden. [Human Behavior]
Source: Generation Grownup, BabyNameWizard, Laura Wattenberg, Founder, info@generationgrownupcom; www.generationgrownup.com.
© Copyright 2011, EPM Communications, Inc. May not be reproduced without written consent of publisher.