What is in a name, anyway? +

Stealing from Amy. It's what I do.

There is a wonderfully arcane site about names here, courtesy of the 1990 U.S. Census.

My first name is in the low 400s (so over 400 girls' names in the U.S. are more popular than mine). Quite heartening really, since the list ends at #4275. I'm less popular than Nadine, Robyn, Sadie and Muriel. But I'm more popular than Mindy, Laverne, Olive and (weirdly) Kate. I know three Kates. I find that...just wrong. Although, come to think of it, this site probably lists only "official names" not nicknames.

My middle name is in the top 20 (of first names). Again, this is odd because I literally know NO ONE with that name. Except one of my nieces, and she's British.

My maiden name isn't on the list of last names--huh--but The Beast's last name is, in the 2500s, after "Ngo" but before "Bull." Huh again. There are approximately 89,000 last names listed.

My boys, who share a first name, are in the top 10. Sparky's middle name is number 1. Beast's balances that by being nowhere on the list (of 1219 names).

We are nicely average. Our names are mathematically 147.

My siblings' first names average out to 82. If you add me in there, though, we're up to 149 as an average.


There ya go. Now I'm going off to read a book on trash, or possibly a mystery, or maybe fairy tales.