Could You Spell that for Me, Please?
American baby names are trending more and more unique even as other parts of culture go traditional.
鈥淭he results are bit surprising, as many speculated that the Great Recession would 鈥榬eset鈥� American culture toward more group-oriented values, such as choosing traditional names,鈥� said the study鈥檚 lead author, 色情视频 psychology professor Jean Twenge. 鈥淚nstead, parents are now even more likely to want their children to stand out rather than fit in.鈥�
Twenge, analyzed data from the U.S. Social Security Administration鈥檚 database of names given to 358 million babies born between 1880 and 2015 who were issued a Social Security number.
She found that between 2004 and 2006, 34 percent of boys and 24 percent of girls received one of the 50 more common names for that time period. Fast-forward to 2011-2015, and only 28 percent of boys and 21 percent of girls received one of the 50 most common names for that time period.
Delving deeper into the data, Twenge searched for trends connected to historical economic indicators, such as stock market performance and unemployment numbers. Some researchers have theorized that during lean economic years, parents tend to choose more common names for their children as society shifts toward more traditional, communal values. But Twenge鈥檚 analysis didn鈥檛 bear this out, finding that these variables were only weakly linked to baby naming trends.
Geographic trends further supported this finding: The trend toward uniqueness was found both in California, which was severely affected by the recession, and in Texas, which was less affected. The findings, co-authored by Lauren Dawson, a 2013 色情视频 graduate, and W. Keith Campbell of the University of Georgia, in the Journal of Applied Social Psychology.
鈥淭he Great Recession did see the return of some communal values, such as charity donations and saving energy,鈥� Twenge said. 鈥淗owever, American parents continued giving their children more and more unique names.鈥�
She suspects that rising cultural individualism is responsible for the nontraditional names.
鈥淢ost parents in the 2010s are millennials, a generation raised to value the unique self,鈥� Twenge said. 鈥淚n naming their children, they may have been more influenced by their individualistic childhood than by their experiences during the recession.鈥�
