Baby Names - Choosing Trendy or TraditionalWritten by Barbara Freedman-De Vito
Lists of baby names are always fun to look at, whether you're seeking a name for your soon-to-be-born baby boy or baby girl, wondering about popularity of your own first name, or just curious about what baby names are currently hot. What I find particularly interesting is tracking popularity of baby names over decades. In looking through U.S. government baby name lists from 1880 to present, some amusing patterns emerge, particularly in regards to baby names for girls. For example, in Victorian times Biblical names, such as Mary, Sarah and Ruth were very popular for baby girls. There were also many baby names that sounded very old-fashioned to me, as a kid growing up in 1960s, including names like Martha, Alice, Bertha and Minnie. From 1920s to 1950s certain baby names rose in popularity. For example, I went to school with many Susans, Debbies, Patricias, and Lindas. All of these baby names have since waned, to be replaced, by 1980s, with fancier names such as Jennifer, Jessica and Nicole. When I was a children's librarian in 1980s my preschool storyhours were populated with little girls named Lauren and Jenny, and little boys named Alex and Matthew. More recently there's been a lot of renewed interest in more "old-fashioned" baby names like Hannah, Abigail and Ethan, plus many Biblical names such as Sarah, Rachel, Joshua, Jacob, and Samuel. There's also been a surge in nontraditional baby names including Madison, Ashley and Brianna for baby girls, and Brandon and Logan for baby boys. It's interesting to consider whys and wherefores of such developments. Sometimes, I suspect, popularity of a specific actor or fictional character might result in many babies with a particular name. For example, were some of Lauras born in 1970s and 1980s given a name suggested by older brothers and sisters who were growing up watching "Little House on Prairie ?" Were some attributable to super popular Laura of "General Hospital" fame ? Today Madison is a very highly ranked baby name for girls (ranking number 3 in 2003) but, when film "Splash" came out in 1984, Tom Hanks' character told Daryl Hannah's character that Madison was not a bona fide first name. While baby girls' names seem quite subject to whims of fashion and top ten lists can change radically over time, I've noticed that, in general, top baby names for boys remain far more stable. Names like John, William and James are perennials, perhaps because baby boys are often named for their fathers, perpetuating popularity of certain baby names from generation to generation. The "Junior" factor aside, baby boys are also less apt to be given fanciful names. A comparison of changing fortunes of my own first name, Barbara, with those of my husband's name, Robert, gives a good illustration of difference in stability between baby girl names and baby boy names over time. My name grew in popularity in 1930s, '40s and '50s, peaking at number 2 position in baby name popularity, which it tenaciously held from 1937 to 1944. When I attended grad school, of a class of approximately forty students, there were no less than three baby boomers named Barbara. Should I thank actress Barbara Stanwyck for this ? Alas, my first name later suffered a slow, steady decline and placed at a pitiful number 628 position on baby names popularity list for U.S. in 2003.
| | The POWER of Your WordsWritten by L.J. Davis
Words are truly powerful things. They are something that becomes a part of us, our history, and our legacy. From my own life experiences, I have understood how words, simple words said in passing to a child, can leave an impression and help manifest a future purpose.As a writer, I was born with words and stories of hope. When I was four, my mother let me construct words on a typewriter, always encouraging me to create more. Through years, she gave me words of strength, hope, and love that pushed me to become first person on both sides of my family to graduate from college. When I was in college, my English professor, Dr. Joanne Dempsey, told me one rainy day, "One day, you will be a writer." I've kept these women's powerful words in my heart and have, in turn, tried to give words of hope and encouragement to others. Through years, I have tried to pass on legacy that Dr. Dempsey, perhaps unknowingly, left for me that one rainy day. She taught me, as did my mother, that words spoken to an impressionable mind can invoke a sense of purpose that fulfills a destiny. For, indeed, all of us have a purpose. Our purpose lies like a tiny ember in our heart, stoked into brilliant flame by kind words of a stranger, a mentor, a parent, or a friend. A teacher can tell a struggling student, “You’re smart,” and those words help him find confidence to become President of United States. A stranger can say “You’re pretty” to a young girl from Mississippi and those words help her become a beloved humanitarian. A parent can say, “You’re special,” and those words can help his children unleash power of potential. Each day I give my two daughters, Dempsey and Ceiley, words to reach forward and fulfill their purpose. I believe that we are given gift of a child and, like wise elders of years past, we are meant to infuse them with all of our history and knowledge. The words of past and words of future connect us all like links in a chain. All powerful words give hope. The mightiest words are those we share with our children. They must know words of our ancestors for all families are linked together like a chain. Children must know value of their particular link. They must strengthen their bond and pass on words to their children so that future generations can grow in spirit. But how do we do this? Children are really taking a back seat in our society. Many children are spoiled, lacking nothing, but lacking much. For what they lack are words that would jump start their human spirit. The words that would make them tingle with an excitement to learn new things and explore their natural environment. I have crafted many stories about human relationships, but one day I was really struck by this particular notion of purpose. My daughters and I were walking home from school when a simple brown leaf fell silently from an oak tree lining sidewalk. No one really noticed. My kids kept walking but suddenly, for me, time stood still. It was sort of a "if a tree falls in woods" moment. Why did leaf fall, I wondered, and who really cared? I realized that even that leaf had a purpose, one that it may not have even realized.
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