Popular Baby Names and Students

Posted by Naomi Rockler-Gladen Feb 3, 2007

One thing I've learned as a college professor: people are not very creative when it comes to choosing baby names! I've been reading class rosters since 1992 and watching name trends come and go. Since I've never taught at a very racially diverse school, most of my students have been white, so I've always had classrooms full of students with the top 10 names from 18 years ago.

It's been kind of fun to watch, actually. I think name trends are fascinating.

When I first started, there were the Jennifers. Lots of Amys and Kellys and Lisas too. Then the Megans and the Lindsays started. The first time I had a Lindsay was in 1997, and I remember complimenting her on her neat name. Apparently lots of people felt that way around 1977, because I don't think I've had a semester since then without a Lindsay. When I started getting the 1980s babies, that's when the Ashleys and Brittanys and Emilys started. My most common girl's names? Probably Jessica and Sarah. Or maybe Kristen.

And boy's names? There's just so few of them. Last semester, out of 80 students, 11 of them were named either Michael or Shawn (or, in one case, a Sean-Michael). Lots of Brians and Ryans, and an endless supply of Matts. Recently I've been getting the trendy boy's names of the 1980s, like Hunter and Baker.

As a kid, I hated having such an uncommon name like Naomi, but now I like it. I've only had one Naomi student, ever. And I haven't had any students named Gwendolyn, my daughter's name.

So, my days of watching the name trends in my classes are over. If I want to watch name trends, though, I can always go to the playground and meet the future college students of America. Eighteen years from now, the classrooms will be filled with all the "Ailey" girls (Hailey, Bailey, Kaylee) and "Aden" boys (Aiden, Caden, Jaden, Braden). Maybe a professor will see Gwendolyn's name on a roster someday and be impressed.

Do stop by and read more about my last semester as a professor, and join the discussion!