As a Baby Boomer, I’ve earned the right to talk about the Good Old Days. When I was in school, my friends had names like Kathy, Mary, Susan, Robert, William and John. OK, so Marilyn isn’t one of the most common names. But, it wasn’t that unusual back then, either. I wasn’t named after Marilyn Monroe, but she was very popular back then. Dad wanted to name me Mary, like my mom. Mom wanted to name me after her mom, Eva, but update it to Evelyn. They settled on Marilyn. Good thing. I don’t think I’m an Evelyn!  Funny how we grow into our name.

Today, I don’t meet many young people with common names. So, now the trend is unique names. But, the more they’re given, the more common they become. I’m thinking there’s always a Madison, Taylor, Logan and Jayden in every classroom. I hope there’s also a Kathy, Mary, Susan, Robert, William and John.

Here’s a database of the most popular baby names, sorted by state, by year and for the last 100 years.  Surprisingly, some common names made the list.

Is your name on the list?  How about your children and grandchildren?