How to Tell Someone’s Age When All You Know Is Her Name

Re:How to Tell Someone’s Age When All You Know Is Her Name by jaxytee on Thursday May 29, 2014 @03:32PM (#7818127)

The Wizard of Oz was released in 1939, so it makes sense that the median age for Dorothy's is around 75 years of age.

I wonder what other pop culture events influenced naming trends.

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Re:How to Tell Someone’s Age When All You Know Is Her Name by richardfontana on Thursday May 29, 2014 @08:49PM (#7819540)

A few examples:

Tabitha http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=tabitha Rise begins right around the second season of _Bewitched_ when the character Tabitha was introduced; peak (maybe coincidentally) appears to be around the short-lived 1977 spinoff series.

Michelle http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=michelle The rise in popularity was probably influenced by the Beatles song (released in December 1965).

Shirley http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=shirley The peak appears to correspond to the height of Shirley Temple's film career in the mid-to-late 1930s.

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Re:How to Tell Someone’s Age When All You Know Is Her Name by baddox on Thursday May 29, 2014 @04:15PM (#7818354)

I'm guessing that the Twilight book and movie series has something to do with the rapid rise in popularity of the name "Isabella."

http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=isabella

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Re:How to Tell Someone’s Age When All You Know Is Her Name by probably_wrong on Thursday May 29, 2014 @04:16PM (#7818360)

I bet Liam Neeson is the reason for the new wave of Liams, but I can't decide whether the Karate Kid remake is the reason for the wave of Jaydens, or if it's just a coincidence.

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Re:How to Tell Someone’s Age When All You Know Is Her Name by personZ on Thursday May 29, 2014 @05:46PM (#7818789)

http://names.yafla.com/#n=Jayden&s=mt

Coincidence. The name started its ascent in the mid 90s.

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Re:How to Tell Someone’s Age When All You Know Is Her Name by Larx-3 on Saturday May 31, 2014 @05:43PM (#7827372)

Not necessarily. Liam Neeson was the star of the 1993 film "Schindler's List." It won 7 Academy awards in 1994, including best picture.

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Re:How to Tell Someone’s Age When All You Know Is Her Name by cookiecaper on Friday May 30, 2014 @05:36AM (#7820959)

Jayden from the Karate Kid is part of the wave of Jaydens (and -dens in general).

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Re:How to Tell Someone’s Age When All You Know Is Her Name by wmil on Thursday May 29, 2014 @04:16PM (#7818362)

You'll like this. Maps of top girls names by state by year.

http://jezebel.com/map-sixty-years-of-the-most-popular-names...

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Re:How to Tell Someone’s Age When All You Know Is Her Name by dllthomas on Thursday May 29, 2014 @03:55PM (#7818252)

Wouldn't we expect the mode to be 75, while the median and mean would be younger? Assuming, of course, that Wizard of Oz produced any sort of lasting increase on the popularity of Dorothy as a name.

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Re:How to Tell Someone’s Age When All You Know Is Her Name by stonemetal on Thursday May 29, 2014 @04:47PM (#7818511)

I wouldn't expect a lasting increase more of a S curve. Movie comes out, there is a spike in Dorothy usage. A few years pass and the original spike slows down. Then the movie is seen as old fashioned and you start to see a negative trend. Then Dorothy is seen as an old lady's name so it sees an even sharper decline.

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Re:How to Tell Someone’s Age When All You Know Is Her Name by dllthomas on Thursday May 29, 2014 @05:00PM (#7818565)

True, and with the population growing generally we'd see it pushed back toward that spike...

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Re:How to Tell Someone’s Age When All You Know Is Her Name by jaxytee on Thursday May 29, 2014 @04:11PM (#7818337)

The median is actually not 75 exactly, I looks to be 74ish on the graph. This makes sense.

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Re:How to Tell Someone’s Age When All You Know Is Her Name by stickmangallows on Thursday May 29, 2014 @05:38PM (#7818744)

I've noticed my name, Bret, spiked in popularity in 1959 and 1982, corresponding nicely with the TV shows 'Maverick' and 'Bret Maverick'. http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=bret

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Re:How to Tell Someone’s Age When All You Know Is Her Name by zipdog on Friday May 30, 2014 @10:32AM (#7821964)

Samantha was an obscure name until 1964:

http://www.babynamewizard.com/archives/2010/7/samantha-the-u...

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Re:How to Tell Someone’s Age When All You Know Is Her Name by skizm on Thursday May 29, 2014 @03:34PM (#7818143)

Check for patterns here: http://www.ssa.gov/oact/babynames/top5names.html

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Re:How to Tell Someone’s Age When All You Know Is Her Name by jaxytee on Thursday May 29, 2014 @03:41PM (#7818169)

From 1954 - 1998 The boy name Michael reigned supreme. I'm sure this run had a lot to do with the ArchAngel, the Basketball player, and the pop star.

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Re:How to Tell Someone’s Age When All You Know Is Her Name by derekp7 on Thursday May 29, 2014 @03:48PM (#7818218)

Don't forget about the kid who liked Life cereal.

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