The Social Security Administration updated their “Popular Baby Names”:http://www.ssa.gov/OACT/babynames/ site yesterday with the 2005 naming data, and we’re perversely proud that our name choice for Lucia has remained an oddity.
Her name was given to only 839 girls nationwide in 2005, ranking _Lucia_ at only the 366th most popular name in 2005 (though it is on the way up from 411th in 2004 and a low of 630th in 1998). This is 0.0421% of girls.
To put this in context, here are some names (spelled these ways) that are _more popular_ than Lucia:
* Nyla (just above at #365)
* Kaydence
* Raven
* Ryleigh (seriously: there were 48 more Ryleighs born than Lucias — not counting the Rylies)
* Brooklynn (no, not quite as in the bridge)
* Paris (yes, as in Hilton)
The way I make this seem real is that, in my colossal high school with 1,000 students graduating every year, there would be less than one Lucia at any given time, in any class in the whole school. That’s good enough for me.
By the way, _Martha_ (our Lucy’s middle name) is even rarer these days, ranked 509th. The shorter form _Lucy_ is understandably more common, ranked at 174th with 1,915 girls born (0.0961%) in 2005. But whatever: that’s still less than one in a thousand.
As for why we want her name to be unusual, that’s another story. Maybe we’re just freaks.
Try your own name! The SSA site has “several different ways to search”:http://www.ssa.gov/OACT/babynames/ for name-popularity data since 1879.
Thank you for posting this… You are totally not freaks! :-)
I wish that my parents were as interrested in the fact that I would have such a common name when they had me, as it was ranked 53-54 in the 3 years surrounding my birth. In High School I had one class that I had 2 Melanie’s, (besides me) a Melodie, and a Melinda. And that was just in my English class, and I had 1000+ in my graduating class. Someone would say Mel and nearly half the class would turn around.
I am now attempting to choose a name for my little girl, and this is one thing I am considering very seriously.
I too had a “popular” name… five in my 2nd grade class… several in my graduating class… and unintentionally committed my daughter to the same fate. We had her name picked out for the first child (who was a boy) and didn’t think to re-check. At least we’ll all get a white rock with a NEW name on it in the end!
And besides, Lucy has such cool anagrams:
My Rob cut a dahlia.
Bahama: cry it loud!
Do thy malaria, cub.
Barmaid, latch you! (I’m sure that’s what Ann cries out when Lucy refuses to nurse)
Hula my abdicator
Touch my Arab dial (so much for “don’t touch that dial”)
A brachial mud toy
Mad rich layabout (and if she becomes one, maybe she can support you in your old age.)
…and about ten million others for anyone bored.
My popular name doesn’t spell anything worthwhile.