What's in a name?

Genealogists' stock in trade are names, dates and places. I have beenthinking about names. My name "James" happens to be the number one most common name in the U.S. (according to some sources). John, Robert, Michael and William round out the top five. The top five for women are Mary, Patricia, Linda, Barbara and Elizabeth in that order. Now, we aren't talking here about popular names. The Social Security Administration has a websitelisting the most popular names by year back to 1879. The year I wasborn, James was also the most popular name. In fact, in that year, thetop five are almost the same as the all time most common names.

Going back to the earliest data in the Social Security Administrationdatabase, 1880, (compilation from the year preceding) John, William andJames are still the top three. If you know a little history, you mightrecognize King John, King William (William the Conqueror) and King James(as in the Bible edition) which might explain their popularity or maybeit was the other way around.

Read more...

Member Blogs

What's in a name?

Comments