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Thanks for a fun thread! I've long been interested in this topic.

I find it fascinating the way moms (at least white ones) often try to give their kids glamorous, exotic, "special" names, but they evidently do not research the names, because they always pick the same names every other white mom is picking! Then, when they take their kids to preschool for the first time, they are suprised to see that half the other kids in the preschool have the same "unusual" name!

Throughout the '70s, '80s, and into the '90s, the name "Jennifer" seemed to reign supreme. Every time I'd hear about someone having a baby girl during those decades, and I'd ask what they planned to name her, I'd get one of two answers. Either, "Oooooh, I'm going to name her Jennifer!! I just looooooove the name Jennifer!!!" Or, "Well, I wish I could name her Jennifer, but my cousin/sister/whatever already named her baby that, so I can't, darn it!" Each of these moms was convinced that she'd chosen a very unique, special name, too. And maybe that's a good thing, since people who truly *do* have unusual names often hate them. But as one who grew up with an extremely common name, I hated THAT!

I'm sure all these people who are naming their kids Cameron or Dakota honestly think they're being "unique." The Camerons and Dakotas being born today will be tomorrow's Karens, Mikes, Kathys and Daves.

I've noticed black parents seem to love the name Demitrius for boys. Not sure why.

I like the names Asians choose best! They're nice, sensible names with timeless appeal. Isn't it funny how certain names such as Amy, Elizabeth, or Daniel, which were popular in the 1800s, never seem to go out of fashion, while other names do? Names popular in the '50s such as Barbara, Carol, Debbie, and Susan have now fallen out of favor.

Anyway, fun topic! :-)

Whenever I see one of those clueless white trash monikers...

Dakota, Montanna, Logan, Brianna, Cameron, Kaylie, Mackenzi, Tiffanie, Caleb, Cheyenne, etc.

all I can imagine is a toothless, pregnant, chain smoking ex-lap dancer laying on the duct-taped sofa of her Arkansas trailer, writing down name ideas from soap operas.

Names popular in the '50s such as Barbara, Carol, Debbie, and Susan have now fallen out of favor.

Add to that, Kathy(Cathy), Karen, Cindy, Mary. I went to elementary school in the sixties and girls with these names (in addition to Debbie) were always addressed by the teachers with their first and last names because there were at least 2 or more with the same name in the class. The "Marys" were often, Mary Ellen, Mary Ann,etc.

I suspect that the popularity of names has a lot to do with television, whether the influence is conscious or subconscious. (I bet you that Monica and Ross and Rachel are more popular of late than they have been for years.) The popularity of last names as first names is probably due to the supposition that rich people have three last names as their handle, each representing some moneyed forebear with a WASPy last name. ("Thurston Howell"... "Chandler Bing.") The recent phenomenon of place names as first names sounds like a Hollywood fad that has spread.