Kids Names Reflect Sports, TV, Bible

Yahoo! News ^ | Fri May 23,10:05 AM ET | Reuters

[yonif]

OKLAHOMA CITY (Reuters) - Los Angeles Lakers basketball star Kobe Bryant and the cast of "Friends" are in heavenly company -- at least when it comes to naming children.

Parents in Oklahoma apparently like to thumb through the Bible, watch Bryant slam-dunk, or take in the popular television sitcom while mulling over names for their children-to-be.

According to statistics provided by the state's Health Department, there were 74 children born in Oklahoma in 2002 who were named Kobe or a derivative of the name.

Religious names were also popular for the 50,160 babies born in Oklahoma last year. Jacob was the most popular name for boys born in the state while Caleb, Joshua, Daniel, Samuel Matthew and Michael also made it near the top.

For girls, more Oklahoma parents chose Madison than any other name, with 363 children being handed that moniker.

Religious names like Hannah, Sarah, Grace and Faith also scored well.

For parents not looking for names related to the Good Book, the TV show "Friends" provided a good source of inspiration.

There were 91 girls named Rachel, a popular character on the show, although it was not clear if Rachel was chosen from the show or the Bible. As for the other "Friends" characters, there were 29 girls named Monica and 27 boys names Chandler.

Bad news for their TV buddies Phoebe, Joey and Ross, whose names barely registered a blip in the rankings.

And bad news too for Lakers star center Shaquille O'Neal. There were no boys named Shaquille or Shaq last year in Oklahoma.

[Bobby777]

interesting ... my sister used Biblical names for the middle names for my nieces ...

[qam1]

Good to see that there is at least some sanity in Oklahoma.

Unfortunately for a lot of the country the popular baby names especially for boys now a days are these faggy, Gender nuetral names like Brandon, Cody, Dylan, Kyle, Justin, Taylor, etc. Names that you used to name your dog.

[Qwerty]

"Gender nuetral names like Brandon, Cody, Dylan, Kyle, Justin, Taylor, etc. Names that you used to name your dog. "

Which of those names are gender neutral?

[driftless]

Equally bad is the use of last names, like Madison, for girls names. My younger bros ex-wife insisted on naming their baby girl Morgan. She's always going to be Morgan the Pirate to me. This habit of trendy names for babies is driving me crazy. Maybe all those hippies who named their kids Moonchild, Riverflow, or Starpeace are owed an apology.

[mlmr]

My daughter is named Morgan and it is an old English family name, not a trendy name like moonbeam. I picked all old names for my children. Heck I grew up with two Morgans both males and I am fifty (almost.)

[2Jedismom]

ping! Matthew was born in Texas, though.