Our earnest condolences to every Jennifer out there .
The list of most popular baby names in the U.S. doesn’t change too dramatically from one year to the next, but looking back over decades, some interesting shifts and trends do emerge.
Knowing theSocial Security Administration’s baby naming datagoes back more than a century, we decided to take a look at the top names from two decades ago to see how they stack up to their ranking today.
While popular picks from 2005 like Emma, Olivia, and Michael remain in wide use today, others feelso20 years ago. Think Tyler, Alexis, and Alyssa. And who could’ve known how theconnotation of the name Brandonwould’ve shifted?
“ Millennial names — those of the current generation of parent — have drop significantly from 2005 to today,”Sophie Kihm , the editor - in - chief at the website Nameberry , told HuffPost . “ Marissa is the fastest - hang little girl name that was in 2005 ’s Top 100 . Today , it ’s outside of the Top 1,000 . Along with Marissa , other Millennial name like Megan , Haley , and Katelyn for girls , Kyle , Cody , and Brandon for boys have strike significantly since 2005 due to oversaturation and feeling tied to onetime generations . ”
She note that the names that have dropped the most in range between 2005 and today finger clearly of another era .
“ gens like Jennifer and Michelle , Brian , and Eric were holding on in the Top 100 of 2005 but peaked in the seventies , making them reliable Gen X names , ” Kihm tell . “ Gen X is more probable to be the grandparent of today ’s babies , and parents are for the most part invalidate their names for fresher options . ”
At the same clip , we ’ve seen a revival of whatAbby Sandel , the creator of the baby name blog Appellation Mountain , name “ old - schooling antiques . ”
“ pet of 2025 like Eleanor , Evelyn , and Hazel would ’ve felt like grandma public figure compare to Kayla , Taylor , and Destiny , ” she allege . “ But now Megan is the mom , and she ’s naming her child Firenze . ”
Kihm also pointed to the decline of names ending in -ayden for male child and a counterpart to that trend ― name like Kaylee , Kailey , Kayleigh , Kaylie , Kaleigh , Kaley , Kayley , and Kayli for girls .
“ Girl name with a strong K sound like Katelyn , Kaitlyn , Katie , Kayla , Kimberly , Kylie , Kaylee , and Katherine each fall more than 100 spots , reflecting a shift toward today ’s girl name with stronger vowel phone , like Eleanor , Aurora , and Eliana , ” she said .
Interestingly , many names that were popular for boys in 2005 but have since fall are two - syllable nickname ending with the letter ‘ n. ’
“ Brandon and Gavin and Justin and Kevin all have story prior to 2005 , of grade , ” Sandel said . “ Along with names like Ethan , Ryan , Nathan , Logan , Dylan , Austin , and Evan , they amount to define the default sound for a twenty-first century male child ’s name . ”
Although the ‘ n ’ ending has n’t fully fall out of favor , thing have tilt a minute .
“ Softer , more hang names , like Liam , Julian , and Sebastian are wildly pop , ” Sandel said . “ Boys ’ figure ending with vowels , like Elijah , Luca , Theo , and Kai have become Top 100 go - tos . Twenty years ago , vowel - ending names were just begin to enter the mainstream . It ’s a trend that continues to accelerate . ”
“ Overall we ’re seeing many more unisex and gender - neutral names used for both sexes today , whereas in 2005 , manly usage of a name typically dropped if it was arise for female , ” she said . “ As society has shift its view on sex and gender identity , parent have become more comfortable with kid of any gender with epithet like Parker , Charlie , or River . ”
Without further ado , keep scrolling to find 20 names that were in the Top 50 in 2005 but have overleap considerably down the SSA ’s list since then . Are any of these ripe for a revival ? Only fourth dimension will tell .
Girls:
1. Alexis(No. 13 in 2005, now No. 449)
2. Alyssa(No. 16 to No. 333)
3. Lauren(No. 21 to No. 343)
4. Taylor(No. 24 to No. 261)
5. Kayla(No. 25 to No. 324)
6. Jessica(No. 27 to No. 553)
7. Jasmine(No. 29 to No. 190)
8. Sydney(No. 30 to No. 306)
9. Destiny(No. 32 to No. 439)
10. Morgan(No. 33 to No. 247)
11. Kaitlyn(No. 34 to No. 621)
12. Alexandra(No. 37 to No. 204)
13. Rachel(No. 38 to No. 255)
14. Kaylee(No. 40 to No. 180)
15. Megan(No. 41 to No. 694)
16. Jennifer(No. 42 to No. 517)
17. Angelina(No. 43 to No. 314)
18. Makayla(No. 44 to No. 457)
19. Trinity(No. 48 to No. 349)
20. Faith(No. 49 to No. 242)
Boys:
1. Joshua(No. 3 to No. 60)
2. Andrew(No. 6 to No. 65)
3. Christopher(No. 10 to No. 55)
4. Ryan(No. 14 to No. 83)
5. Nicholas(No. 15 to No. 109)
6. Tyler(No. 16 to No. 177)
7. Jonathan(No. 19 to No. 82)
8. Christian(No. 22 to No. 77)
9. Brandon(No. 27 to No. 219)
10. Zachary(No. 29 to No. 171)
11. Jose(No. 30 to No. 93)
12. Kevin(No. 33 to No. 186)
13. Justin(No. 36 to No. 185)
14. Robert(No. 37 to No. 89)
15. Austin(No. 38 to No. 101)
16. Evan(No. 39 to No. 137)
17. Aidan(No. 43 to No. 300)
18. Jordan(No. 46 to No. 98)
19. Gavin(No. 47 to No. 231)
20. Connor(No. 48 to No. 126)
This article originally appeared onHuffPost .
