I’m sure many of us are familiar with the Social Security Administration’s annual list of most popular baby names. The database, which dates back to 1880, can also be used to look up popular names by state and territories, as well as track the popularity of a name over time! (The name Jenny was most popular in 1977, when it was the 108th most popular female baby name of the year.)
Well, Time.com has taken it a step further by utilizing the SSA database to tell you what your name may be if you were born today…and every decade since 1890.
Is it a foolproof prediction? Absolutely not. After all, it only compares the rank of your name’s popularity, not your parents/guardians’ preferences, cultural and/or familial factors, etc. But it’s still a fun tool, wouldn’t you say?
My results are even less accurate for 2 reasons: (1) my legal, originally given name is Hyojin, not Jenny; and (2) I was not given the name Jenny until the year 1988, when my family immigrated to the United States and the secretary at the school where we were registering could not pronounce my sister or my names and so gave us our English names. (True story!)
“Hyojin” is, predictably not in the database. However, I was able input “Jenny” for 1988…
Personally, I like the 1980 results much better. However, I’m drawn to the name Mona from the 1988 results (from the 1970’s), since my sorority nickname was Mona Lisa. 🙂
What would your name be if you were born today? Do you like any of the names from the results?
