How I know my name is coming into fashion

Claire has a birthday coming up (I know, I can't believe it either) and Tiny Prints had a 20% discount running, so I visited the site today, intending to shop for party invitations. The header scrolled a few times and THIS came up and I almost spit out my Ghirardelli Vanilla Caramel:

Do you see it? The name featured on the products? (Low res, because it was tiny)

Her name is ADELE. That seventeen-year-old-ish looking girl, heading to college is named ADELE. Spelled differently, but still. My name! On the front page of TinyPrints.com! On a seventeen-year-old! WHATEVER, THAT IS SO NOT HER NAME. I think we all know that the likelihood of meeting a seventeen-year-old Adele is pretty slim.

Have you noticed retailers doing this? They take popular names for today's baby-naming parents and use them as sample names on products, no matter what age group the product is intended for? Writers on TV shows do this too, the most glaring one being Private Practice. Seriously: Charlotte, Addison, Naomi, Amelia, Cooper, Sam, Violet, Pete, Dell (!) and Sheldon. REALLY???? These are the names their parents gave them in the sixties and fifties? I think not. They just picked these names because today's viewer finds them audibly attractive and we don't know anyone their age to project our existing thoughts on and tarnish their carefully crafted personas. This is a topic you can Google all night long and I think it's totally fascinating.

My name, in its most common spelling, hasn't even been in the top 1,000 since 1969. (I was born in 1979.) Just last year, in 2010, did it finally break the top 1,000 again (at #981). (I am guessing that's due to the popularity of the singer, Adele.) Over the last 150 years the name peaked in 1914 (but even then, only at #181).

Here, look at this snazzy chart from the nice people at Baby Name Wizard. Popular-popular-popular and then not at all and then a teensy blip back up in 2010.

My name is a hybrid of the last name O'Dell and a first name starting with A. (I confess, I might have the details wrong but it's something like that. It's been decades since I asked for the story.) It's my mother's college roomate's name. It would appear that some parents were inventing their own spellings in the fifties and it's not an altogether new trend. For the record, I really love my name. I never wanted another name and the only problem I've ever had is the apostrophe really screws up databases in today's modern era. But, small problem. I love the way it looks in print, I like the sound of it and I love-love-love that I don't know a single adult with my name. It makes me feel unique, but in a good way. Because the name is unusual, it's kind of like an insta-brand (for better or worse). I've had colleagues pick my name out of a conversation from across the room and ten years ago. It sticks out in my age group.

This might be interesting, because I did not go out of my way to choose particularly unique names for my girls. Truth be told, I really liked the names Emily and Emma and others in the top 20. (Chris did not - pffft! Boys.) We didn't choose them simply because they weren't OUR baby girl names, but I never discounted them because of their popularity. I was fine giving my kids a popular name. I was more concerned about finding a name I loved. Perhaps this is because I don't have a popular name and don't have any negative connotations on the topic.

All my life I have been the only Adele I'd ever heard of and the only Adele anyone else had ever heard of. Certainly, I was the only A'Dell. In just the past six months that has all changed. I met a six-week-old Adele at the playground a few weeks ago. Natalie has an Adele. After 32 years of never, ever meeting another Adele, I know two of them! Three, if you count the singer! It also appears that art directors are naming models Adele, that probably have the actual name Jessica.

No, seriously, here are the top 20 names from 1994, which is when our seventeen-year-old model would have been born. There's nothing in here that even looks like Adele.

This is kind of interesting, because Swistle and a few others have noticed a trend where names come back into vogue about 100 years after they peak. I wonder if Adele will make a quick climb up the charts over the next few years? There's a long way to go from #981 to the top tier of most commonly used names, but, I don't know, MAYBE? It would be such hilarity for me to be surrounded by baby Adeles after such a long time of being the one and only.

I suppose I'll know my name has really hit the bigtime when I open Pottery Barn Kids and see it embroidered on something preppy that costs too much. Yes, that is when I'll know that my parents had some serious vision when choosing a name for their firstborn.

What about you guys? Do you like your name? Did you go out of your way to choose a common/uncommon name for your kids? 

Comments

[Jennie]

I've hated (well, disliked) my name my entire life ... until I got married. Oh, am I ever glad to have the most boring, unoriginal name in the world now. Names fascinate me, though. The ones that stay popular, the ones that become popular (and why), and the ones that ebb and flow in popularity.

I had such strict requirements for Kyle's name, that I'm still shocked we picked a name I loved years before meeting Mike.

[Dr. Maureen]

Do you like Joss Whedon at all? We've been rewatching _Dollhouse_ on Netflix streaming, and a major character is named Adele. Or Adell. Or maybe even A'Dell; I've never checked how she spells it. But she's a grown up!

[Life of a Doctor's Wife]

I am not a huge fan of my name, primarily, I suppose because NO ONE CAN SPELL OR PRONOUNCE IT which drives me crazy. I mean, it's not common, but it's not an unheard-of name, you know?

But I do like being the only one with my name in most circles. My MIL does have several friends who share my name, but what can you do.

I love your name though. And I happen to know two Adeles - one from college (who is now 30, like I am) and one who was just born in 2009. It's lovely that it's coming into vogue again.

[Shilo]

I can talk about this topic OH BOY CAN I.

Until 5 years ago, the only other Shilo I had met was a dog, and google search results for my name yielded far more dogs/horses than people.

Ever since "the most beautiful child on earth" was given my name, I've met or heard of SIX babies named Shilo/h which, congrats ladies, you have an awesome name!

I met my first Shilo in person two years ago when my boss told me to call one (adult male) about repairing the gate to the bar I managed at the time. Lemme tell you, it was utter weirdville to say, "Hey Shilo, yes, this is Shilo at XYZ bar. When can we meet to get this gate fixed?"

Anyway, your name is beautiful and I'm actually kinda shocked it hasn't come into style sooner. I also really like hearing your perspective on using popular names because if we ever have a girl I'm at least middle-naming her Eva after a friend which obvs is a beautiful and very popular name.

[Jessica]

I like the way your name is spelled, because it makes it easy to pronounce. To me, the name Adele looks like it should be "ah-duh-lay."

My name was super common for the eighties (#2 the year I was born!) and that's never bothered me. In elementary school there were 3 Jessicas in my class. I was probably called Jessica N., but I don't remember. Middle school through high school there were only two of us and the other one liked to be called Jess (which I hate), so it worked out really well. I've always liked having a common, easy-to-pronounce, easy-to-spell name, especially now that I have a ridiculously difficult last name.

[Elsha]

I LOVE my name. I love that no one else in my classes was named Elsha, that I'm almost always the only Elsha anyone knows and therefore get to make my own impression. It's great. My parents named me after a little girl of some friends they had (they just really loved the name) but I've never met another Elsha. Weirdly enough my brother-in-law worked with one but none of my siblings have ever met another one.

Anyway, I went out of my way to pick a girls name that has never been in the top 1000 names (based on social security database.) And although I still have yet to meet another Kalena, I have run into a few people who know little girls named Kalena. Boys names, on the other hand I like very traditional (and as such, very common.)

Also, my mom has a friend named Adele that I've known for years, so to me it doesn't seem all that unusual. But now that I think about it, I'm pretty sure she's the only one I've ever met before.

[Natalie]

Oh, do I have THOUGHTS about this! As you pointed out, I HAVE an Adele, so my experience with it becoming more popular is definitely similar to yours. We are big Family Name People, first of all, which I know is often a southern thing, and I have a huge southern family. That being said, there are no fewer than SIX living Adeles in my family, all of whom are named after the same woman (who was my grandfather's grandmother.) Many women in my family also have the middle name of Adele, with the first name then usually being Sidonie, who was the original Adele's daughter and my great-grandmother. I love Sidonie but it doesn't work with our last name, so we went with Adele as the first name. Natalie is also a family name, and there are at least seven of us currently living, with at least four of us in the same generation. My cousin Natalie was married two weeks before I was, which wasn't confusing AT ALL since her last name is my middle name.
Oh, the south. We like to make things complicated.
We do get asked if our Adele is named after the singer, btw. I don't love the question, but I get it since before she was popular, most people had never heard the name.

[hillary]

Love having an uncommon name, but glad mine isn't completely out there. Insisted on uncommon names for both my boys, though both have links to popular names. The Boy's name is just an odd (though traditional) spelling for a fairly common name. The Lad's name is just the shortened nickname of several common ones. I think it's good to have a name that's definitely yours.

[Mom]

Don't forget knowing the "A'Dell" you are named for. She has been my friend since sixth grade. Her grandfather's first name was O'Dell and her grandmother's name was Ada, blend the names together and you get A'Dell. We named you for her not only because we liked the name, but because she was/is an exceptional person, and a very dear, special friend.

[HereWeGoAJen]

Well, I am named Jennifer and there are a million more Jennifers. I like my last name, except for the fact that it is more common than my maiden name, so I can't get my name as a user name or email address ever. But my maiden name was a pain because it is pronounced differently than it is spelled. Only biology teachers could pronounce it.

[Jen]

I was one of a bajillion Jennifers in my very small high school, so I sit here very envious of your unique and beautiful name :) My criteria for the girls' names was to pick something unique without making people wonder what the hell we were smoking when we picked it. LOL I think we did okay with that- Margaret (Maggie) and Audrey. Classic, pretty, and hopefully they won't have 12 of them in their homeroom class.

[Linnea]

Seriously!

I know 4 other Linneas. All of them have blonde hair & blue eyes--I have neither.

One of them has her mother's middle name, as do I.

I've meet other spellings and a few 2-syllable (as opposed to my 3) variations, but for the most part... not a lot of Linnea's running around.

It took me time to grow in to it. I went through some whiny teenage years where I didn't want to go by my name, so made up a nickname with my initials, and thankfully grew out of that quickly.

My parents only "naming" rules were:
It had to sound like a girl's name (not gender neutral)
No obvious nicknames (No one has EVER called me Lynn)
and it had to sound nice when said all together

I like these rules. I hope to use them someday.

[Maggie]

Ha! I know an Adele, a Linnea, and a Kalena, all under 4. And one of my best friends in college was named Shiloh.

At our pet-friendly hotel in Portland there was a sign welcoming all the doggies that weekend, and listed were the names Maggie and Molly. I have known more dogs than I can count with my name, but only a few people. (I am hearing it occasionally on playgrounds, though. Very disconcerting.)

I like boring traditional names which tend to be popular. I think Swistle once said that even the most popular names right now aren't handed out as often as Jennifer etc. So we are naming 3rd baby something very popular (as you know!) but I don't personally know any babies with that name. So hopefully Swistle's maxim holds true!

I REALLY wanted Jack to be James (is there a more boring name? I LOVE IT.), but Phillip would. not. budge. on Jackson. It's a good thing I like Jack. And if 3rd baby is a surprise boy he is totally going to be a James.

[Susan]

I have always loved your name. And in my opinion it's just not the same name without the apostrophe. So in my book there is no other A'Dell!

[Lucy]

I have always loved that my name was known, but definitely not popular. I knew a few other Lucy's growing up, but now I hear it ALL THE TIME. Everytime we are at the grocery store or mall or anywhere it seems, some parent is yelling Lucy, and being that I am used to being the only one around, I turn and look.

I wanted uncommon yet known names for my kids. It seems Eloise might be on an upward swing, as last year it jumped from something like 900 to 500. I just hope it doesn't become too popular. While Greta is officially named Margaret, we really just liked the nickname Greta out of the possible options and it nearly always catches people off guard, yet we don't have to spell it. We are still working on baby #3's name and so far are coming up emptyhanded. My husband is less concerned about popularity (he is a Matt). Who knows where we will end up. I do like Adele or Adela, but husband has nixed them :( Onto something else!

[Maura]

I didn't love my name when I was young. I insisted on being called Annie for a while, then tried to change my name to Elizabeth. I finally grew into it and like it now. I have to spell it always, and get "Nora" or "Laura" a lot, but it's no biggie.

I have heard of a few other Mauras, but it's relatively uncommon in the US. The highest my name ranked was 502 in the 1960s. In 2004 it was 739.

[Sarah in Ottawa]

Even though my name is a popular one (it cracked the top ten in Canada the year I was born, 1977, and stayed for a while), I still love it. It's a family name, it's biblical, it can be pronounced by the anglophone side and the Italian side of the family, and my parents knew two younger Sarahs that they loved. I know any other Sarahs in my elementary school, and there was one 'Sara' in high school.

Then I hit University. HOLY COW. Over 300! In our group of close friends, I had three OTHER Sarahs and a Sara. We all ended up going by nicknames based on our last names - I was 'Smac'. I spent YEARS with people asking me "I know you're Smac, but what's your actual name?"

Despite that, I still love the name. We're suckers for old fashioned but not creaky names especially if they're family names. Hence the kids - Edward Vincent and Veronica Floriana. Neither are super popular, but they're solid names.

[Lisa]

I was born in the 60s, and my name is Lisa. I was never in a classroom, from kindergarten to college, where I was the only Lisa. EVER. And I don't even have a cool "named after" story. My grandma picked it out because my parents couldn't agree on a name, and she was a fan of As The World Turns. So yes, I'm named after the bitchy slutty lady on TV. I'm so proud.

(I went to college with a Linnea, btw, and high school with a Maura!)

[Sara @ Belle Plaine]

I went through most of grade school never knowing another Sara(h), hit high school and my new BFF was a Sarah. Went to college and in my sorority pledge class alone there were 7 (!) Sara(h)s. To be honest, it never really bothered me though.

Now, as an adult Sara, when I meet a little girl Sara I kind of want to steal her and take her home. It's not that common of a name in our area and is falling in the SSA rankings (#121 for 2010).

Naming this new baby has been an Effort. I have always loved so many girl names but feel major pressure to pick something so perfect for ours that it eliminates pretty much everything. I think I am just going to let the husband take this one and lose the pressure.

[BigP's Heather]

I don't love Heather. There was always three or four of us in a class.

That being said, I had a very uncommon maiden name that everyone couldn't pronounce or spell and I hated that more. It embarrassed me to have to pronounce and spell my name for every teacher every year.

I picked Katherine because we loved it. Also because even though there are 84 ways to spell it, most people can pronounce it and there are lots of possible nick names she can pick/use later on. Kinda like picking her own name. And I know this sounds lame but I wanted her to be able to get personalized touristy stuff (at like Disney with the pencils and stickers and stuff).

That being said, my friend from high school has an unusual name and everyone always remembers her because of it. No one remembers "Heather"...or maybe that has more to do with my personality?

[K]

I love your name. A Lot.

I've never loved my name as people misspell like it's their job. And I could never find pencils/mini license plates/stickers with my name spelled on it. Boo.

Ezra is named after T's father (Ezira) and Iris is what I wanted to call her since the moment we knew we were having a girl. Amazingly, people still ask me how to spell Iris. People are idiots.

[Katie]

Well, as someone who named her kids Will & Emma, I am obviously not afraid of common names - LOL! Mike and I like solid names that will stand the test of time and not necessarily date our kids. While both of our children have currently popular names, they are also names that have always been popular, so you can't insta-guess their age just by name alone.

My name. . . I love the name Kathryn. What I love about it is that there are seriously SO many nicknames I could have chosen. I love that I can be "Serious" and "Professional" and go by Kathryn or "Fun" and "Casual" and go with Katie. What I kind of wish my parents had done was pick a more conventional spelling, because no one ever thinks of Kathryn spelled this way. I get a lot of the Catherine and Katherine. Also, because of the y, a LOT of people automatically shorten my name to Kathy. I have no problem with the name Kathy, but it's just not MY name, you know? But then again, I really think the name looks pretty spelled my way and I am quite fond of my name overall.

[Ashley]

My name has been in the top ten forever, so you better believe I've never been the only Ashley anywhere I went. I never gave it much thought, though; it was just my name. My maiden name is pretty unusual and I always liked that.

For my kids, I didn't really care about whether the names we picked were popular/common or not. My basic rules were that there would be no weird spelling and we would name them whatever we actually intended to call them. (For example, I didn't want to name a girl Jessica but call her Jessie; I figured if I wanted a daughter called Jessie, I should just name her that. I also didn't want them to go by their middle names.) Matt picked Haley's name and I chose what I thought was the simplest way to spell it. I picked Noah's name because I love it and I don't care how many other kids have it.

[Holly]

Because of my funky maiden name, my parents chose my name for the simplicity. And, no, I was not born at Christmas. There was only 1 other Holly in our grade at school. Easy enough, except we were both "Holly L." Same middle initial too. Since the married name is also a doozy, and listening to my husband forever be asked "What?" when he gives his whole first name (Bertrand) then an additional "What?????" with the last name, I was adamant that we chose our kids names with simplicity in mind. Also with no obvious nicknames, and something that most people can spell upon hearing since you're definitely spelling the last name EVERY time. It also couldn't be in the top 200 because always having to clarify "Jennifer who?" with our generation is no fun. Interestingly - I saw a little girl the other day named "Holly" and I was so taken aback. It's definitely a name of the 70s and 80s.

[craftyashley]

My parents thought they were being "creative" when they named me Ashley. I was one of a zillion Ashleys, in one class there was even a girl who had the same last initial as me. This made thigs properly impossible. There seems to be kind of personality traits that seem to hold true: ska my and/or blonde. There are spare few exceptions.