The software on this link:

http://babynamewizard.com/namevoyager/lnv0105.html

will show you the frequency of baby names given (in, I think, the US) from 1900 through 2003. The graph is very cool.

How popular is/was your name?

This IS interesting, Sparteye (I loved that Sparta-kiss appellation, btw! ). "Jackie" peaked several decades before I was born and dipped sharply about a decade after I was born. The name "Elnora" both peaked and dropped sharply in the 1920's, which fits the ages of the two ladies I know who are named that. There is no listing for the way my parents spelled my actual first name.
And darn all you parents who named your '80's-born kids Joshua, Jason, or Jessica: I would have liked to have used those names but didn't want mine to be one of 14 or so per class.
Patty was a popular name around the time I was born, but neither of my kids knew hardly any; nor a single Billy that I can recall. Martha is even older, fitting my cousin of that name's age. Robert is still pretty popular, I see.

> The graph is very cool.

Lovely site, and yes, the graph is neat - especially the 'hover over' interraction.

Mind you, my 'damn lies' training impels me to observe that having a scale that changes according to the name incidence can make comparison between a couple of names a bit deceptive at first glance - for example, the dramatic increase in post-1980s poularity of Antony (no h) is from SFA to [2 x SFA]!

wonder whether Tufte has seen this.

> Tufte

eh?

Edward Tufte.

from his site:
Edward Tufte has written seven books, including Visual Explanations, Envisioning Information, The Visual Display of Quantitative Information, and Data Analysis for Politics and Policy. He writes, designs, and self-publishes his books on information design, which have received more than 40 awards for content and design. He is Professor Emeritus at Yale University, where he taught courses in statistical evidence, information design, and interface design. His current work includes digital video, sculpture, printmaking, and a new book Beautiful Evidence.

http://www.edwardtufte.com/tufte/index

neat stuff.

Waht is very interesting to me is the way names suddenly take off inpopularity. Look at Tyler, Taylor, Emily, Alexis (which is Sasha's name, btw). It makes you wonder just what societal forces are at work that cause these booms and busts.

We named our daughter Margaret Alexis. Margaret because her mother and maternal grandmother share that name, and Alexis because the Russian woman who was my barber at the time suggested it as a pretty name. We'd not have used Alexis but Tatiana told us that Sasha is the Russian diminutive for Alexis, and both of us liked that name. I had no idea it was becoming popular.

And I still had no idea until I saw this data that Emily was the number one girl's name in 2003.

But not listed are the more interesting names. In Theo's kindergarten class there was a child whose parents (may they burn in hell for eternity!) had named him Nathzellious. Not sure of spelling, but the pronunciation had the emphasis on the second syllable. How could parents do this to a child??? And they refused to allow him to be called by a nickname.

Thanks, eta - neat indeed.

Yes, I agree, it's a weird series of currents at work, TEd. Some can be easily discerned - a key mover (in our age, entertainment or similar 'celebrity' status) is a model for umpteen young parents... but there are less discernable factors that seem to sweep through these fashions like tidal advances and retreats.