On Friday, the Social Security Administration released info in regards to baby names for 2008. Liam is on the rise, coming at #75 for boys. Megan loses a few places every year and now is just barely in the top 100 (#100). Meanwhile Pamela is sinking like a lead duck - #670. At work I am always shocked when I see a young Pamela patient. It is going to be the Edith of the next generation! But what I find most upsetting is that Riley is #39 for girls and #106 for boys. Sorry if your kid is named Riley (actually I am really sorry for your kid), but Oh. My. God. - I hate this name! This is a dog's name! Why not just name your kid Spot, or Fido, or Butch - at least it would be more original! Well, to each his own. I had someone tell me Liam is a bad name (while he was still in utero, but that was the selected name), and MANY people tell me that one of my favorite names (Molly) is a dog's name and that it means 'prostitute' in Ireland. At least Trig hasn't hit the top 100 yet!
Check out where your name (or your kid's) ranked last year: http://www.ssa.gov/OACT/babynames/.
Maybe you should start going by Ruth-- now THAT'S a cool name!
ReplyDeleteRiley is a dog's name? I've never heard of a dog named Riley. I've never known a kid named Riley, either, but I do know the name used to be kicked around in the first part of the 20th century. There are several Rileys in pop culture. They're usually married to women named Molly! :)
ReplyDelete@ Kris: no kidding - i didn't exactly score in the names department, did I? although, Ruth is biblical so it may have more staying power in the long run. And at least it has family significance for me.
ReplyDeleteThe ladies in my family don't exactly have hip or beautiful names: Dorothy, Bernice, Edith, Ruth, Barbara, carol. My great grandmother was Helen - that's old lady, too, but somehow that one seems ok to me. My sister Sarah, was the only one who got a name with lasting popularity. oh well, a rose by any other name...
@JD - yeah, maybe I went off a bit too much. Megan has a book with "Riley the Raccoon" and that seems like the appropriate use for the name.
Pop culture is full of weird names, but that doesn't mean Sting, Madonna, Buffy, or Bono are good names for kids.
This is so funny, because I have a daughter named Riley and our family dog when I was growing up was named Megan!! LOL!
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, Liam was always on our boy list...so I guess your (or my?) taste isn't that bad ;)
TOTALLY with you on the Riley is a dog's name statement!
ReplyDeleteI had read this before I left and last night on the plane I heard a grandma call her grandson Riley and I laughed out loud thinking of you.