Taken from: http://www.vancouversun.com/What+baby+name+Distinctive+tags+common+ones/2047797/story.html


In what's being called a "revolution in baby naming," unprecedented drops in common names for children are being recorded as parents gravitate toward distinctive monikers aimed at making their kids stand instead of fit in.

In analyzing the names of some 325 million children born in 1880 or later, investigators from San Diego State University and the University of Georgia found just nine per cent of boys born in 2007 were given a "top 10" name, compared with 32 per cent in 1955; for girls, only eight per cent had a top 10 name in 2007, versus fully 22 per cent in 1955.

"In another 10 or 20 years, to name your child Jennifer or Jessica or Jason or Justin will seem as outrageous as Gertrude or Myrtle today," says Nameberry.com's Pamela Redmond Satran, co-author of 10 books on baby names.

"When our first (naming) book came out in 1988, the whole point was to take parents by the shoulder and say: 'Snap out of it! Stop using the same names.' Over the years, they have taken us up on that and done us one better, to the point where we're trying to catch up to what parents are doing."

This year's celebrity babes include a Sparrow (born to Nicole Richie), Atlas (Anne Heche), Blaise (Olympian Amanda Beard), Ikhyd (singer M.I.A.), and Seraphina (Jennifer Garner).

A 2007 California State University study, however, reveals people aren't nearly as original as they think, with naming decisions being largely the result of "random copying."

Only a few per cent of parents are truly innovative, researchers found, with the rest unconsciously borrowing previously seen names parents presume are their own unique ideas. The study authors say this helps explain why the rate of name turnover has remained fairly consistent throughout the last century, despite immigration, new technologies and cultural shifts.

"You might think we're all individualists now, but our tastes haven't changed that much," says Laura Wattenberg, founder of babynamewizard.com.

"Yes, there are more eye-popping names. But what you're really seeing are little variations on the same themes."

Wattenberg notes, for example, that the number of names that rhyme with Aiden in the top 1000 names climbs every year, having come to include such entries as Brayden, Hayden, Caden and Zayden. Each, however, has multiple spellings as parents strive to make the title unique to their child.

"No name today is Jennifer. And certainly, no name is what John or Mary used to be," says Wattenberg, who describes the phenomenon as a revolution in naming trends.

"In some ways, the names we think of as 'common' and boring — like William or Margaret — have something going for them, in that they don't sound like anything else."

The implications of non-traditional names reach far beyond playground conformity.

According to psychologist Jean Twenge, co-author of the San Diego State study, society's increasing emphasis on individualism has spurred the quest for unique baby names — a post-Second World War trend that's peaked in the last two decades — which in turn, stands to foster even higher levels of self-importance in parents' offspring.

"People who score high on individualism like the idea of standing out," says Twenge, author of The Narcissism Epidemic. "These are the people who give their kids unusual names, and, in doing do, might be building or favouring those traits in their children."


Canada's top girl names of 2008 (distils multiple spellings)

1. Emma
2. Mikayla
3. Sarah
4. Sophia
5. Maya
6. Danica
7. Emily
8. Ava
9. Isabella
10. Lily


Canada's top boy names of 2008 (distils multiple spellings)

1. Ethan
2. Aiden
3. Lucas
4. Kaden
5. Jayden
6. Nathan
7. Logan
8. Noah
9. Liam
10. Jack