It's Our City is a project that uses TV, Radio and Web
to promote civic engagement in the Philadelphia region.What’s In A Name?
Thursday, February 19th, 2009 at 12:00 pm - by Tom Ferrick. Filed under: Uncategorized.
By Tom Ferrick
There was a piece in the Philadelphia Inquirer the other day about trends in naming children that pointed out what has been true for several decades now - naming, which used to be a bow to tradition, is becoming a matter of personal expression.
Naming the kid after your father or grandfather or favorite aunt is passé. Now, people look to make a statement with their child’s name, even if sometimes that statement is: Hey, I just came up with a new way to spell Sean!
It reminded me that I saw the 10 most popular boys’ and girls’ names in Philadelphia listed in a city Health Department’s Vital Statistics Report. This is the list for 2005, the latest year available.
Most Popular Girl Names Most Popular Boy Names
Kayla Michael
Destiny Anthony
Emily Christopher
Madison Joseph
Samantha Joshua
Angelina Daniel
Ava Nicholas
Brianna Matthew
Makayla John
Olivia Isaiah
Two notes: Could Madison be the beginning of a new trend of naming girls after state capitals? Can Sacramento be far behind? The boys names have a decidedly Old Testament prophet cast to them. By the way, Michael has been the most popular boy’s name for years.
So what do you think the next trend in names will be in Philadelphia?
February 19th, 2009 at 2:12 pm
I always wished my parents named me something more “LATINO” but that’s just me, I like my name. The worst part…I didn’t even get a middle name so I’m just Eric Cortes. However, my brother is Adrian Enrique Cortes (much cooler).
Latinos love to give their children all these fancy names too, I’ve seen friends with 4 middle names.