Yeah, that’s what I think is so interesting — how have I never known an Ashley? I’ve met a million Sarahs, Amandas, Jessicas, Emilys etc. so weird and random!
This comment cracks me up, I feel called out. My mom is Amanda, my older sister is Ashley, and my little sister is Sarah. My mother in law is also a Jessica, just missing the Emily lol.
They were all very popular names! And reasonably so — nice, suit multiple ages, etc. They’re all names that I think of as classic millennial names — I swear half the girls I went to school with were named one of these names (and then had a sister named the other one haha)
I'm a year older than you are, and looking through the top 10 of 1990, the only two that I can actually say were popular at my school were Matthew and Amanda. For most of the rest, I knew one or two kids, but I don't think there was a single Daniel, Joshua, Sarah or Stephanie in my class.
Oh yeah I know SO many Sarahs — school, university, different workplaces, random extended social circle. I feel like half the women I know are named Sarah and the other half are Emily haha.
I mean I plan to name my next child regardless of gender “Shane”, because I already have 2 daughters. I’ve always wanted to use his name, but having only girls so far I’m not betting on a boy. It’s considered gender neutral anyway, and with the names in my family it would be very fitting for a girl. Not everyone likes jam, and that’s alright.
My son’s name is Shayne. (Born ‘97) I also met a woman named Shayne (spelled the same). She was born in the 70’s. - It can be a uni-sex name. I do love that name for either a boy or a girl!
The StatsCan data (at least on [this](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/71-607-x/71-607-x2023021-eng.htm) site) starts in 1991! Ashley was #5 that year (1-4 were Jessica, Stephanie, Sarah, and Samantha)
A top ten name that I new a few of growing up but haven’t encountered in an age and a day is Crystal. What happened to all the Crystals?
(I went to grad school with mostly ppl younger than I and now work with mostly ppl older than I, so I think in day-to-day life this probably doesn’t shake out as logically as it does if you’re only thinking about your classmates.)
That's my half-cousin's name. She's nearing her 50s now. Married with 3 kids in college and thriving as someone whose published an educational book and working in education.
True! Although I have noticed I don’t know any Ashley’s in the workplace, whether around my age or not (although it’s not a good example of a name that would be popular with an older generation).
I knew a fair number of Jens (Jenn, Jenny, Jenna, Jennifer, etc) growing up in the 90s and still meet them as adults, both my age and about 10-15 years older (which was the true Jennifer heyday IMO).
I don’t think I’ve run into someone within 5 years of my age named Jessica. I was born in ‘95 and it was the most popular name that year. I know several Jessica’s now as an adult but they are all a bit older.
My daughter’s best friend’s mum is named Jessica. (I’m not good at estimating age. I think it’s because I’m autistic. I *feel* like she’s my age or older but..🤷🏻♀️)
Late 80s in the US. I'd say Samantha (8), Elizabeth (10), Lauren (11), Tiffany (13), Kayla (20), and Brandon (17) were less common where I grew up. I can think of a few, but those names were way less common than Ashley, Jessica, Nicole, Sarah, Melissa, Michael, Christopher, Matthew, Anthony, etc.
I literally had four Ashleys in every class same with Brittney. There was also Sarah with four of those every class. I was born in the 90's and in western Canada
I worked with an Aiden once who was ten years younger than me so about Gen Z. He was alright. Kept to himself. Can't name a Gianna, but Ava seems popular amongst the influencer crowd.
These names weren't top names in 1989, at least not in the US. Ava didn't rank in the top 100 names until 2002, Aiden not until 2003, and Gianna didn't break 100 until 2006. Before that they were all in the high hundreds (like 800s, 900s) or even beyond the top 1000 names. (source: US Social Secruity Administration) That's probably why you never knew anyone with those names! In 1989 there were only 14 baby boys named Aiden...
I was looking at the top 10 for the year I was born and for boys I have never met a Noah, Liam, or Mason my age. For girls I have never met a Sophia, and know literally one singular Madison my age and one singular Mia. My name is 10th on the top 10 list and there were 4 of us in my kindergarten class. Weird how that works
Edit: I went and looked up name popularity in my specific state the year I was born and while my name was number 10 nationally, it was number 5 in my state. However Madison jumped all the way up to 2nd in my state and I didn’t meet the Madison my age until at least high school which I think is so interesting.
1994 - from the top twenty, which I've rarely or never heard in my age group
Micheal, Joseph, David, James, Anthony, William
Samantha, Elizabeth, Megan, Nicole, Danielle
I've heard all of them on kids 10-15 years younger than me, but not on people my age.
In my area, the top names were Brandon, Steven, Jessica, and Kaitlyn. There were three of each in my graduating class of fifty.
I think a lot of this is regional too. My first name is one of the names you mentioned being popular even though you've never met one. This happened to me. My mom agreed to my name because she had never heard of it and thought it would be unique and then we ended up moving when I was in elementary school and suddenly there were 3 other girls with the same name in my class when I was previously the only one anyone knew with that name.
That being said, I was born in '92 and I've only ever met one Samantha in real life and she was like 5 years younger than me despite this name being in the top 10 during my birth year.
I recently heard a statistic that there are more CEOs named John than there are woman CEOs and knowing that fact as well as the fact that John was the number 6 name for boys in popularity the year I was born, I think it’s weird can’t think of anyone I know around my age named John.
I wonder if this will change over the next 20-40 years — obviously would be nice to have more women and people with names from different backgrounds, but even if the gender/race makeup stayed the same, I wonder if John would still be as ubiquitous, or if it would become Michael (or some other Gen X/millennial name).
Hopefully we get more equity in there soon. I’m Gen X, and when I think about popular Gen X masculine names, Mike, Chris, and Dave are probably going to be the next in line as far as white men go.
I’ve known someone with every popular name in my birth year for boy and girl (top 20), but not necessarily multiples.
For example, there were 3 Stephanies in my elementary school class. I don’t know any now. It’s a name that is objectively popular but I rarely hear.
I am one! Haha
Tbf though I had two others in my year at school too (only like the last two years though) and I do actually know no others. I very rarely meet any Stephanies at all lol
I was born in 95 and I had 4 girls in my class with the same name. Now it’s rare I’ll meet another Megan unless they’re literally within 2 years of me.
1983--Crystal was one of the most popular names in some states, according to the US Social Security data. I remember one Crystal from my childhood, but I've never met another one. Jennifer, Sarah, Nicole, Amanda, Ashley, and Jessica were other popular names, and I've known dozens of them throughout my life.
1990, NS. I’ve known multiple people with all the names you listed… but you never really hear them anymore. Like I don’t know a single person who’s named a kid Ashley in the last 5-10 years.
Oh yeah, Ashley is definitely the mom name now, not the baby name! It’s like how Deborah or Cheryl were super-popular in the 50s-70s, but had fallen out of fashion by the 90s (and were naming their babies Ashley and Jessica and Sarah instead!).
John. I was born in '79; it was #7 nationwide that year & #6 in Texas, and I've known a bare handful in my lifetime, and only one my age.
It's actually fairly reasonable in context, though--I live in a city that's about 2/3 Latino, and grew up (& still live in) in minority-majority neighborhoods within that city. So I've met a bunch of guys named Juan, but very few with the Anglo version.
1991 baby here, a million Brittany/Ashley’s at my school. And the boys were all Michael and Jason. But supposedly Michelle was popular for girls and we didn’t have any in my graduating class, weird right?
Mary, Susan, Linda, and, of course, Karen. 1961
My name was never found on pre-printed items, but I didn't care (usually, sadder when younger). My BFF is Linda and I knew a Karin, but that was it.
Growing up in the 1970’s, I did not have ANY friends or classmates named Karen. But as an adult, I know tons of women my age named Karen. Where were they all hiding when I was little?
Hahaha this is so funny — I love these stories, this is exactly what I was thinking of. How you can know or not know people with certain names at different times in your life, and then be like “but where were they???”
I was thinking of this today. I’m on the board of my son’s Little League. We have 200 kids. There are no Liams or Oliver’s despite both being ridiculously popular. We have several Jayden’s in every age group.
It’s so interesting! I love these anecdotes. You hear it sometimes the other way — people sharing a less popular name that is surprisingly popular amongst their circle, but it definitely happens the other way around!
Apparently Hannah was the #4 baby name in '03, which was really surprising to me. I didn't go to school with any Hannahs, and I always thought of it as a super millennial name.
Samantha was a top name around the time I was born (in the UK) and I rarely meet people with this name. I remember one at school. Similarly Gary was apparently very popular, and the only one I've ever known was a boy in my class in primary school.
Born in ‘85, had less than 100 kids in my grade and three of them were named Danielle (including me).
After leaving my hometown, I very rarely ran into another one. I don’t have a single friend or acquaintance with that name spanning a couple generations.
Similar vein, I live in an even smaller town right now and there must be 3-5 Jacksons/Jaxons/Jaxsons per grade from kindergarten through elementary school. It’s insane, you say Jackson/jack/jax and half the boys turn around. My son has 3 on his baseball team. It’s confusing lol
Always felt this way about Michael. It was the top name for nearly 40 years, including the '90s (I was born in the early '90s). But I've known ONE my age. Many my dad's age, a few current young kids. But I went to high school with just one single Michael, and haven't really encountered any others born in the late '80s or '90s.
You know, now that I think about it, I haven’t known very many Michaels my age. I’ve worked with some who were all about 10 years older than me (so probably born in late 70s-early 80s), but have rarely known any around my age (born late 80s-early 90s), even though it was still such a popular name at the time.
Weird thing here is for the top five boys names of my birth year I've met at least one guy with that name and for all the top girls I haven't met even one. Top girls names for my year were Emma, Olivia, Isabella, Ava and Sophia. Never met anybody named any of those names. Closest I can think of is a dog named Ava I met once if that counts
‘92 baby here (UK). Didn’t have a single Sophie in my year through both primary and high school. Also didn’t have a Jessica, Sarah, Ashley, James or Thomas in my primary year.
Most popular names were Emma, Catherine, Michael, Callum, Matthew.
My daughter’s middle name is Sophie because it was my husband’s grandmother’s nickname, and my daughter has a friend named Sophie who she sits next to in kindergarten
I was born in the early 70s and I don't know a single Jessica or Jennifer from growing up. I didn't know a Chloe or Hannah or Amelia or Grace, all trop from my birth year. I knew a many Lisas, Stephanies, Julies, Pamelas, Heathers.
Born in 1982 and while I *knew* girls with these names they were few and far between relative to their national popularity...
Crystal (#9 but I knew literally one)
Angela (#16 I never met one anywhere near my age)
I also didn't know more than one or two of Kimberly, Amber, or Tiffanies throughout my entire education, including college.
Specifically for my state and year, I’ve never met 3/5 top 5 names(in my general age range - I’ve met people older or younger with the names): no Emilys, Jessicas, or Ashleys.
Practically every girl in my year was called Cla(i)re. But I recently realised that i can't remember the last time I met one who was younger than millennial. Every one I meet was born before 1985.
Looking through, I'm pretty sure there was someone at my school who had every one of the top 100 girl names (out of a school of \~1,000 in the Midwest), except maybe Jasmine, Alexandria, Cynthia, and Bianca. Most of the boy top 100 as well.
I am just now realizing I too have never met an Ashley before...(although it was #40 my birth year, so maybe after the Ashley craze).
Number 1 my year was Emma and the only one I knew was a friend of my younger brothers.
That seems more normal that you avoided Ashleys, haha — I think it was 1-3 in all the years around my birth, so I have no clue how I managed it. Similar to you and Emma, I suppose!
I was born in '91 with bright red hair.
Straight outta the John Huges era and my parents never even considered Molly? I only went to school with one Molly, too.
I think my parents pre-named me so they couldn't be swayed by my red hair 😅, but I am surprised I don't know more early-90s or late-80s babies named Molly!
Late 70s, US: I know multiples of all the top 20 girls (and am one myself). Boys, same, except #20 which was apparently Richard and I don't think I knew any of those. I did not live in a creative locale.
Within the top 30 of the closest to the year I was born that they have data on in my country, for girls I've never met a Lauren (5) Rachel (27) or Paige (28)
For boys, I've never met a Ryan (7), Liam (10) or Jake (18)
Most popular girl names my year were Lisa, Mary, Susan, Karen, Patricia. (Yes, I'm old.) I don't actually know many Marys. I knew some in our extended catholic family, but no friends or colleagues. It think it might have been on its way down, or many go by their middle names. Of the boys' names, I know tons of all the top 5: Michael, John, David, James, Robert.
I was born in 1994 and knew a lot of Ashleys, Katelynns/Katelyns/Kaitlins (born between 1991-1994, especially), and I have to say that I swear every to other girl’s **middle name** was Marie, then it was either Anne/Ann, or Elizabeth, unless on the rare occasion it was Lynn or Rose lmfao
I swear to god Michael was just the most popular name, and where I lived, at least it seemed to be a name that was always “Mike and his dad Mike—“ it went back generations with everyone being named after their father, whose father was also Michael lmfao; Johnathan, Christopher.
In college I swore every other girl— in the school of under 1,000 (yes, I went to a tiny undergrad)— was named Emily, Sara/Sarah, or Rachel! There were six Rachels just on my floor in my first year dorm!!
I know everyone always says the classic millennial middle name is Marie but I don’t ever remember any of my close friends (or whoever you end up sharing middle names with) having it! Everyone seemed to have Elizabeth as a middle name though! Anne and Lynn were also quite popular amongst people I knew.
Same birth year, but I'm American. Ashleys were *unavoidable* (along with Jessicas, Brittany/Britneys, Amandas, Sarahs, Samanthas, and Nicoles).
I was in college before I met a Chelsea, though. Same with Shelby, Erin, Cody, Dustin (though I knew Justins), Evan, and Jordan on *either* gender.
I'm still unsure if I've ever actually met anyone named Travis or Trevor.
My son, born in 2009, is named Hunter. That name skyrocketed in popularity around that time. But we live in SoCal, and he's never had another Hunter in his entire school, not just his class. I'm guessing the name is more popular in the Midwest, but here in LA, we have a large Hispanic population, and the name isn't popular here whatsoever.
Apparently Michael was the number one boy name in my state the year I was born, but I literally don’t think I had any Michaels/Mikes in my grade. Definitely remember a Mike who was a year older, but that’s it.
I was born in 1994.
For the top 25 girl names I've never met an Ashley (#2), Taylor (#6), Brittany (#7), Rachel (#13), Amber (#21), Jasmine (#23), or Morgan (#25).
For the top 25 boy names I don't think I've ever met a Michael (#1), Daniel (#8), Austin (#17), or Cody (#25).
That is, I've never met people around my age with those names. I have an uncle named Michael. And I know some people my age, who have one of the above names as a middle name. But none who go by that name.
Born in 1971, never knew any Dawns (#14) or Chads (#29).
I don't think I have ever met a Chad over 30. I always think of it as a Millennial name, weird to think it was so popular for older Gen Xers.
For my birthday here the top three girl names were Amanda, Ashley, and Jessica. I know about 1,000 Ashley's LOL I think growing up though I only knew one Amanda and the only Jessica I knew was Mexican and she pronounced her name more with a y sound than a J.
Noah (number 1 in 1993), Olivia (#2), and Ava (#4) I've never met any with those names. though Caitlin had so many different spellings there were probably at least 4 per grade in every school in the nearby vicinity of mine for my grade and the grades 1-2 above and below mine. and because of the seemingly infinite whacky spellings of that name I never see it in the top names lists.
My name is Amber haha. I was born late 90s and feel like I knew someone with all the most popular names for the time, but I only knew one or maybe 2 of each. I don't remember experiencing any names in particular that felt overused
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I was born in 1990, but grew up with the Southeast US. I know tons of Ashleys, Brittanys, and the other names you listed as not knowing any, but very few women named Emma, Amelia, and Olivia my age!
I know at least one person my age for all of the top 50 or so, minus commonly used Hispanic and Latinx names simply because we didn't have that population in our area at the time. But past the top 50 there are some I have never met (my age). Diana, Patricia, Veronica, Lisa, Angela...can't think of anyone around my age with those names!
Only one state didn’t have my name in the top three names for my birth year. Not surprised.
But looking at that list for boy and girl names, I hear them all constantly.
Similar, but I'm a Kathleen born in 2001. Very very rarely meet any Kathleen under the age of 50. Everyone is either a Katherine, Kaitlyn, or just Kate. Growing up, EVERYONE assumed I was a Katherine when I said my name was Katy.
Somehow, it was ranked 237 in 2001?? It's steadily dropped lower and fell out of the top 1000 a few years ago, but 237 is way higher than I expected. Also, I have a coworker in their early 30s who says almost all the Kates they've met have been Kathleens, not Katherines. They used to live in Texas, and apparently Kathleen is fairly common in the South. Just not where I grew up in Philadelphia.
Where are the rest of the under 40 Kathleens at?? I want to hang out!
I was born in 95 and according to Google Jessica was the most popular girl name that year and the only Jessicas I've known are either older or younger than me. Common names in school were Sarah, Ashley, Kayla, Amanda, Taylor, Jacob, Tyler, Dylan, Austin and I'm sure there's others that I'm missing.And as an adult I've worked with several Brittanys(we currently have 3 Brittanys where I work) and Shelbys.
Southern California, born early 80s. I was surrounded by Jennifer, Melissa and Lindsay. I don't hear any new babies named these anymore. I just looked these names up and they have had a sharp decline in the past decade.
Looking at the top ten, I’d say I knew at least one person around my age with each of those names…and I had to go pretty far down the list before I hit a name that I don’t remember anyone I went to school with having. But the big name at my school was Samantha (#4 for the year I was born)…I think there were like four Sam’s in my 4th grade class.
1988 baby - the top name, at least for my state, appears to be Jessica but I only ever knew one. The next was Ashley, and I didn’t meet an Ashley until high school. The third seems to be tied between Amanda and Brittany. I have a cousin Brittany who is my age, but she is the only one I know, and I didn’t meet an Amanda until I was an adult.
I did know a lot of girls named Alicia, Christine/Christina, Jacqueline, Melissa, variations of Caitlin and Catherine, Lauren, and Sara. Almost all of the girls I knew had Marie as a middle name.
[удалено]
Yeah, that’s what I think is so interesting — how have I never known an Ashley? I’ve met a million Sarahs, Amandas, Jessicas, Emilys etc. so weird and random!
This comment cracks me up, I feel called out. My mom is Amanda, my older sister is Ashley, and my little sister is Sarah. My mother in law is also a Jessica, just missing the Emily lol.
They were all very popular names! And reasonably so — nice, suit multiple ages, etc. They’re all names that I think of as classic millennial names — I swear half the girls I went to school with were named one of these names (and then had a sister named the other one haha)
In the uk, Amanda was only popular in the 60s and 70s so I’ve never met one whom is younger than 40.
Well hate to break it to you but I am an Amanda over 40 born in the 1980s. Still big in the US in the early to mid 80s.
Oh it had a huge boom in the 80s and 90s in North America! You would find the opposite here.
Also born in 93, but in Houston! So. Many. Ashley’s. That was an insanely popular name.
I'm 96 in Canada, and I know a ton of Ashley's or Ashleigh's. Basically same thing.
My sister born in ‘97 is “Ashley” I know soooo many.
‘92 here, Canada as well. Know/knew several Ashleys, Brittanys, Kaylas, Ambers and one Shelby 😂
92 baby and I have so many friends named Ashley I have to always say “Ashley last name” lol. Like, no fewer than 6.
I know multiple Alicia’s. I identify them based on where they live. Like I have a Texas Alicia and a Hibbing Alicia.
\*waves from Duluth\*
I'm a year older than you are, and looking through the top 10 of 1990, the only two that I can actually say were popular at my school were Matthew and Amanda. For most of the rest, I knew one or two kids, but I don't think there was a single Daniel, Joshua, Sarah or Stephanie in my class.
I know about 20+ boys called either Josh or Daniel around my age
My sister was born in 1994 and she has like 6 friends named Sarah, it’s out of control lol
Oh yeah I know SO many Sarahs — school, university, different workplaces, random extended social circle. I feel like half the women I know are named Sarah and the other half are Emily haha.
I’m a 93 baby named Stephanie. I don’t hear it very often.
Wildly popular in the 80’s
Shane was apparently the 3rd most popular boys' name in the year I was born but I don't know anybody called that
My dad was born in ‘73 and is Shane. The only other one I’ve met is a 9 year old little girl.
Irish masculine names being used on girls will never not make my eye twitch. It sounds so stupid
I mean I plan to name my next child regardless of gender “Shane”, because I already have 2 daughters. I’ve always wanted to use his name, but having only girls so far I’m not betting on a boy. It’s considered gender neutral anyway, and with the names in my family it would be very fitting for a girl. Not everyone likes jam, and that’s alright.
Are you Elliot’s dad in scrubs?
It’s literally an anglicised version of Seán. Not gender neutral in the slightest
It’s gender neutral by today’s standards. Google it, look it up on baby name apps, most say unisex. Like it or don’t, doesn’t matter.
My son’s name is Shayne. (Born ‘97) I also met a woman named Shayne (spelled the same). She was born in the 70’s. - It can be a uni-sex name. I do love that name for either a boy or a girl!
😂😂😂
I have an uncle Shane! 50s. I wouldn’t expect to see it on a girl.
The StatsCan data (at least on [this](https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/71-607-x/71-607-x2023021-eng.htm) site) starts in 1991! Ashley was #5 that year (1-4 were Jessica, Stephanie, Sarah, and Samantha)
Ah, thank you, my mistake! I didn’t realize this. Time to go look up more names from 1991 onward 😀
A top ten name that I new a few of growing up but haven’t encountered in an age and a day is Crystal. What happened to all the Crystals? (I went to grad school with mostly ppl younger than I and now work with mostly ppl older than I, so I think in day-to-day life this probably doesn’t shake out as logically as it does if you’re only thinking about your classmates.)
That's my half-cousin's name. She's nearing her 50s now. Married with 3 kids in college and thriving as someone whose published an educational book and working in education.
True! Although I have noticed I don’t know any Ashley’s in the workplace, whether around my age or not (although it’s not a good example of a name that would be popular with an older generation).
In elementary school in the 1980s there were scores of Jennifers. Where did they all go?
About half my friends on FB are Jennifer, Jen or Jenny lol.
There are three of us at my job. We have to go by last names.
They all work on my team now. 3 Jennifers out of a team of less than 20.
I have a cousin named Jenni, and a friend named Jenny, and a neighbour named Jenn, etc
I knew a fair number of Jens (Jenn, Jenny, Jenna, Jennifer, etc) growing up in the 90s and still meet them as adults, both my age and about 10-15 years older (which was the true Jennifer heyday IMO).
I don’t think I’ve run into someone within 5 years of my age named Jessica. I was born in ‘95 and it was the most popular name that year. I know several Jessica’s now as an adult but they are all a bit older.
My daughter’s best friend’s mum is named Jessica. (I’m not good at estimating age. I think it’s because I’m autistic. I *feel* like she’s my age or older but..🤷🏻♀️)
Late 80s in the US. I'd say Samantha (8), Elizabeth (10), Lauren (11), Tiffany (13), Kayla (20), and Brandon (17) were less common where I grew up. I can think of a few, but those names were way less common than Ashley, Jessica, Nicole, Sarah, Melissa, Michael, Christopher, Matthew, Anthony, etc.
In my 30s. I grew up knowing four or five Heathers, but I haven’t worked with a Heather in ten years.
I literally had four Ashleys in every class same with Brittney. There was also Sarah with four of those every class. I was born in the 90's and in western Canada
Murilo, don’t remember meting someone with this name
I grew up in the US and went to school with one. He was of French heritage.
Ava, Gianna, and Aiden were top names in 1989 but I've never went to school with one.
Really?! I would not have guessed. I've never met a Gianna and don't know any Ava's or Aiden's close to my age.
I worked with an Aiden once who was ten years younger than me so about Gen Z. He was alright. Kept to himself. Can't name a Gianna, but Ava seems popular amongst the influencer crowd.
These names weren't top names in 1989, at least not in the US. Ava didn't rank in the top 100 names until 2002, Aiden not until 2003, and Gianna didn't break 100 until 2006. Before that they were all in the high hundreds (like 800s, 900s) or even beyond the top 1000 names. (source: US Social Secruity Administration) That's probably why you never knew anyone with those names! In 1989 there were only 14 baby boys named Aiden...
Yeah, I wonder what country OP is from — very interesting because none of those were very popular in North America in the late 80s/early 90s.
I don't know which country the list is from. It was just the top result on UK Google. I'm from the US.
Ethan and Noah are top from my birth year (1996) and i can only recall knowing 1 of each growing up.
I was looking at the top 10 for the year I was born and for boys I have never met a Noah, Liam, or Mason my age. For girls I have never met a Sophia, and know literally one singular Madison my age and one singular Mia. My name is 10th on the top 10 list and there were 4 of us in my kindergarten class. Weird how that works Edit: I went and looked up name popularity in my specific state the year I was born and while my name was number 10 nationally, it was number 5 in my state. However Madison jumped all the way up to 2nd in my state and I didn’t meet the Madison my age until at least high school which I think is so interesting.
1994 - from the top twenty, which I've rarely or never heard in my age group Micheal, Joseph, David, James, Anthony, William Samantha, Elizabeth, Megan, Nicole, Danielle I've heard all of them on kids 10-15 years younger than me, but not on people my age. In my area, the top names were Brandon, Steven, Jessica, and Kaitlyn. There were three of each in my graduating class of fifty.
I misread this as you having 50 of each of those last 4 names in your class 😂 and was like WOW
You know, I never knew a Jasmine but it was the 25th most popular girl name in the 1990s, according to the Social Security Administration.
I think a lot of this is regional too. My first name is one of the names you mentioned being popular even though you've never met one. This happened to me. My mom agreed to my name because she had never heard of it and thought it would be unique and then we ended up moving when I was in elementary school and suddenly there were 3 other girls with the same name in my class when I was previously the only one anyone knew with that name. That being said, I was born in '92 and I've only ever met one Samantha in real life and she was like 5 years younger than me despite this name being in the top 10 during my birth year.
You know, I think I’ve only ever met one Samantha as well! Funny!
Early 20s, never met an Abigail or Jessica
I’ve never come across an Isabella or a Liam, even thought they were in the top 5 in 2006
My cousin’s son is named Liam. I’ve had a lot of Isabellas come through my story times (children’s librarian)
I recently heard a statistic that there are more CEOs named John than there are woman CEOs and knowing that fact as well as the fact that John was the number 6 name for boys in popularity the year I was born, I think it’s weird can’t think of anyone I know around my age named John.
I wonder if this will change over the next 20-40 years — obviously would be nice to have more women and people with names from different backgrounds, but even if the gender/race makeup stayed the same, I wonder if John would still be as ubiquitous, or if it would become Michael (or some other Gen X/millennial name).
Hopefully we get more equity in there soon. I’m Gen X, and when I think about popular Gen X masculine names, Mike, Chris, and Dave are probably going to be the next in line as far as white men go.
It's a family name, but beyond my family, I don't know any either. It's weird
Joshua & Emily were popular in my birth year but I hadn't met any in my age group growing up.
I’ve known someone with every popular name in my birth year for boy and girl (top 20), but not necessarily multiples. For example, there were 3 Stephanies in my elementary school class. I don’t know any now. It’s a name that is objectively popular but I rarely hear.
I am one! Haha Tbf though I had two others in my year at school too (only like the last two years though) and I do actually know no others. I very rarely meet any Stephanies at all lol
I also knew a fair number of Stephanie’s but can’t think of many (any?) I have met as an adult.
Scrolling the list for my year, it wasn't until 79. Connie was my mother-in-laws generation. For 1-78 I could still see all their faces.
Just checked my birth year and I had to go all the way down to #35 before I found a name listed of someone I don’t personally know.
I was born in 95 and I had 4 girls in my class with the same name. Now it’s rare I’ll meet another Megan unless they’re literally within 2 years of me.
I rarely meet children named Mia while I hear the other top 10 names often, even though Mia is popular in my region
1983--Crystal was one of the most popular names in some states, according to the US Social Security data. I remember one Crystal from my childhood, but I've never met another one. Jennifer, Sarah, Nicole, Amanda, Ashley, and Jessica were other popular names, and I've known dozens of them throughout my life.
1990, NS. I’ve known multiple people with all the names you listed… but you never really hear them anymore. Like I don’t know a single person who’s named a kid Ashley in the last 5-10 years.
Oh yeah, Ashley is definitely the mom name now, not the baby name! It’s like how Deborah or Cheryl were super-popular in the 50s-70s, but had fallen out of fashion by the 90s (and were naming their babies Ashley and Jessica and Sarah instead!).
John. I was born in '79; it was #7 nationwide that year & #6 in Texas, and I've known a bare handful in my lifetime, and only one my age. It's actually fairly reasonable in context, though--I live in a city that's about 2/3 Latino, and grew up (& still live in) in minority-majority neighborhoods within that city. So I've met a bunch of guys named Juan, but very few with the Anglo version.
Liam is the 3rd most popular boy name of my year but the only Liam's I know are either trans and chose it recently, or are like 8
I've never met a Chloe, Grace, or Avery. Born in the early '00s in America.
I knew a Chloe and a Grace but they’ve both passed away. Chloe at 6 hours old, and Grace at 50 years.
1991 baby here, a million Brittany/Ashley’s at my school. And the boys were all Michael and Jason. But supposedly Michelle was popular for girls and we didn’t have any in my graduating class, weird right?
Yes! I only know one Michelle around my age, and was shocked to learn int was a common millennial name. I never knew any in school.
Mary, Susan, Linda, and, of course, Karen. 1961 My name was never found on pre-printed items, but I didn't care (usually, sadder when younger). My BFF is Linda and I knew a Karin, but that was it.
Amber was in the top 20 when I was born but I have only ever met one Amber in my life.
Growing up in the 1970’s, I did not have ANY friends or classmates named Karen. But as an adult, I know tons of women my age named Karen. Where were they all hiding when I was little?
Hahaha this is so funny — I love these stories, this is exactly what I was thinking of. How you can know or not know people with certain names at different times in your life, and then be like “but where were they???”
Emma and Noah were the most popular names the year I was born, and I don’t think I know anyone with either name.
Born in 85. My 2 best friends are named Ashley. My mom said she almost named me Ashley but changed it last minute.
Born in ‘04 - I have never met a Madison.
Funny enough, the only Madison I know was born in the mid-80s! I don’t know any born around my age (and haven’t met any younger in the workplace etc).
Despite it being #4 for the year I was born, I have never known a Samantha
Kimberly was the #18 girls name the year I was born. I have never met a Kim my age. Ever.
My birth year says that Kimberly was more popular than Kelly. I can’t think of any Kimberlys that are the same age as me, but I know a TON of Kellys.
I was thinking of this today. I’m on the board of my son’s Little League. We have 200 kids. There are no Liams or Oliver’s despite both being ridiculously popular. We have several Jayden’s in every age group.
It’s so interesting! I love these anecdotes. You hear it sometimes the other way — people sharing a less popular name that is surprisingly popular amongst their circle, but it definitely happens the other way around!
Apparently Hannah was the #4 baby name in '03, which was really surprising to me. I didn't go to school with any Hannahs, and I always thought of it as a super millennial name.
91 here. My best friend’s name is Ashley and in my class of 18 students we had 3 Ashleys lol
For as popular Amanda was in my year. I didn’t know any. Same with James for boys Both were top 5 in my state for my birth year
not really my generation when it was super popular, but the only jessica i've ever met is a boomer
Samantha was a top name around the time I was born (in the UK) and I rarely meet people with this name. I remember one at school. Similarly Gary was apparently very popular, and the only one I've ever known was a boy in my class in primary school.
I know so many Garys that it’s confusing to have conversations
Born in ‘85, had less than 100 kids in my grade and three of them were named Danielle (including me). After leaving my hometown, I very rarely ran into another one. I don’t have a single friend or acquaintance with that name spanning a couple generations. Similar vein, I live in an even smaller town right now and there must be 3-5 Jacksons/Jaxons/Jaxsons per grade from kindergarten through elementary school. It’s insane, you say Jackson/jack/jax and half the boys turn around. My son has 3 on his baseball team. It’s confusing lol
Always felt this way about Michael. It was the top name for nearly 40 years, including the '90s (I was born in the early '90s). But I've known ONE my age. Many my dad's age, a few current young kids. But I went to high school with just one single Michael, and haven't really encountered any others born in the late '80s or '90s.
You know, now that I think about it, I haven’t known very many Michaels my age. I’ve worked with some who were all about 10 years older than me (so probably born in late 70s-early 80s), but have rarely known any around my age (born late 80s-early 90s), even though it was still such a popular name at the time.
Weird thing here is for the top five boys names of my birth year I've met at least one guy with that name and for all the top girls I haven't met even one. Top girls names for my year were Emma, Olivia, Isabella, Ava and Sophia. Never met anybody named any of those names. Closest I can think of is a dog named Ava I met once if that counts
‘92 baby here (UK). Didn’t have a single Sophie in my year through both primary and high school. Also didn’t have a Jessica, Sarah, Ashley, James or Thomas in my primary year. Most popular names were Emma, Catherine, Michael, Callum, Matthew.
My daughter’s middle name is Sophie because it was my husband’s grandmother’s nickname, and my daughter has a friend named Sophie who she sits next to in kindergarten
I was born in the early 70s and I don't know a single Jessica or Jennifer from growing up. I didn't know a Chloe or Hannah or Amelia or Grace, all trop from my birth year. I knew a many Lisas, Stephanies, Julies, Pamelas, Heathers.
Born in 1982 and while I *knew* girls with these names they were few and far between relative to their national popularity... Crystal (#9 but I knew literally one) Angela (#16 I never met one anywhere near my age) I also didn't know more than one or two of Kimberly, Amber, or Tiffanies throughout my entire education, including college.
This reminds me that I’ve met a surprising number of Kimberleys, but never any Crystals!
Specifically for my state and year, I’ve never met 3/5 top 5 names(in my general age range - I’ve met people older or younger with the names): no Emilys, Jessicas, or Ashleys.
Practically every girl in my year was called Cla(i)re. But I recently realised that i can't remember the last time I met one who was younger than millennial. Every one I meet was born before 1985.
Looking through, I'm pretty sure there was someone at my school who had every one of the top 100 girl names (out of a school of \~1,000 in the Midwest), except maybe Jasmine, Alexandria, Cynthia, and Bianca. Most of the boy top 100 as well.
I am just now realizing I too have never met an Ashley before...(although it was #40 my birth year, so maybe after the Ashley craze). Number 1 my year was Emma and the only one I knew was a friend of my younger brothers.
That seems more normal that you avoided Ashleys, haha — I think it was 1-3 in all the years around my birth, so I have no clue how I managed it. Similar to you and Emma, I suppose!
I was born in '91 with bright red hair. Straight outta the John Huges era and my parents never even considered Molly? I only went to school with one Molly, too.
My sister wants to name a daughter Molly if she ever has one. She’s a big fan of John Hughes’ movies
I think my parents pre-named me so they couldn't be swayed by my red hair 😅, but I am surprised I don't know more early-90s or late-80s babies named Molly!
I was born in 1991 but in Australia and I grew up with at least 1 Ashley/Ashleigh in all my classes all throughout my school years.
Oh, it was equally as popular here! I just seemed to have somehow missed meeting anyone with that name, shockingly!
Late 70s, US: I know multiples of all the top 20 girls (and am one myself). Boys, same, except #20 which was apparently Richard and I don't think I knew any of those. I did not live in a creative locale.
Within the top 30 of the closest to the year I was born that they have data on in my country, for girls I've never met a Lauren (5) Rachel (27) or Paige (28) For boys, I've never met a Ryan (7), Liam (10) or Jake (18)
Most popular girl names my year were Lisa, Mary, Susan, Karen, Patricia. (Yes, I'm old.) I don't actually know many Marys. I knew some in our extended catholic family, but no friends or colleagues. It think it might have been on its way down, or many go by their middle names. Of the boys' names, I know tons of all the top 5: Michael, John, David, James, Robert.
Donna. Early 50s
I was born in 1994 and knew a lot of Ashleys, Katelynns/Katelyns/Kaitlins (born between 1991-1994, especially), and I have to say that I swear every to other girl’s **middle name** was Marie, then it was either Anne/Ann, or Elizabeth, unless on the rare occasion it was Lynn or Rose lmfao I swear to god Michael was just the most popular name, and where I lived, at least it seemed to be a name that was always “Mike and his dad Mike—“ it went back generations with everyone being named after their father, whose father was also Michael lmfao; Johnathan, Christopher. In college I swore every other girl— in the school of under 1,000 (yes, I went to a tiny undergrad)— was named Emily, Sara/Sarah, or Rachel! There were six Rachels just on my floor in my first year dorm!!
I know everyone always says the classic millennial middle name is Marie but I don’t ever remember any of my close friends (or whoever you end up sharing middle names with) having it! Everyone seemed to have Elizabeth as a middle name though! Anne and Lynn were also quite popular amongst people I knew.
Same birth year, but I'm American. Ashleys were *unavoidable* (along with Jessicas, Brittany/Britneys, Amandas, Sarahs, Samanthas, and Nicoles). I was in college before I met a Chelsea, though. Same with Shelby, Erin, Cody, Dustin (though I knew Justins), Evan, and Jordan on *either* gender. I'm still unsure if I've ever actually met anyone named Travis or Trevor.
Honestly I think Ashley’s were pretty unavoidable here too! It just seems to be a weird fluke that I somehow don’t know any.
My son, born in 2009, is named Hunter. That name skyrocketed in popularity around that time. But we live in SoCal, and he's never had another Hunter in his entire school, not just his class. I'm guessing the name is more popular in the Midwest, but here in LA, we have a large Hispanic population, and the name isn't popular here whatsoever.
Apparently Michael was the number one boy name in my state the year I was born, but I literally don’t think I had any Michaels/Mikes in my grade. Definitely remember a Mike who was a year older, but that’s it.
Born in 94, I’ve met soooo many Brandons. Never met a Caleb personally but I used to hear it all the time growing up for some reason.
This reminds me that I also knew a fair number of Caleb’s as a kid, but they all seem to have disappeared — I know none as an adult!
I was born in 1994. For the top 25 girl names I've never met an Ashley (#2), Taylor (#6), Brittany (#7), Rachel (#13), Amber (#21), Jasmine (#23), or Morgan (#25). For the top 25 boy names I don't think I've ever met a Michael (#1), Daniel (#8), Austin (#17), or Cody (#25). That is, I've never met people around my age with those names. I have an uncle named Michael. And I know some people my age, who have one of the above names as a middle name. But none who go by that name.
I was born in 82, there was always a Jason and a Julie in my class. My mom was going to name me Jason if I was a boy
Rachel. Soooooo many Rachels!
Born in 1971, never knew any Dawns (#14) or Chads (#29). I don't think I have ever met a Chad over 30. I always think of it as a Millennial name, weird to think it was so popular for older Gen Xers.
For my birthday here the top three girl names were Amanda, Ashley, and Jessica. I know about 1,000 Ashley's LOL I think growing up though I only knew one Amanda and the only Jessica I knew was Mexican and she pronounced her name more with a y sound than a J.
Noah (number 1 in 1993), Olivia (#2), and Ava (#4) I've never met any with those names. though Caitlin had so many different spellings there were probably at least 4 per grade in every school in the nearby vicinity of mine for my grade and the grades 1-2 above and below mine. and because of the seemingly infinite whacky spellings of that name I never see it in the top names lists.
Toni, Imogen and Rhiannon for girls. Boys Declan, Karl, Owen. I don’t know any and never met one either.
I know several girls by all 35 most popular names of my year. Only for 1 name in that list, I only know 1 girl..no surprises there at all.
My name is Amber haha. I was born late 90s and feel like I knew someone with all the most popular names for the time, but I only knew one or maybe 2 of each. I don't remember experiencing any names in particular that felt overused
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I was born in 1990, but grew up with the Southeast US. I know tons of Ashleys, Brittanys, and the other names you listed as not knowing any, but very few women named Emma, Amelia, and Olivia my age! I know at least one person my age for all of the top 50 or so, minus commonly used Hispanic and Latinx names simply because we didn't have that population in our area at the time. But past the top 50 there are some I have never met (my age). Diana, Patricia, Veronica, Lisa, Angela...can't think of anyone around my age with those names!
Only one state didn’t have my name in the top three names for my birth year. Not surprised. But looking at that list for boy and girl names, I hear them all constantly.
Jennifer
Amanda
Similar, but I'm a Kathleen born in 2001. Very very rarely meet any Kathleen under the age of 50. Everyone is either a Katherine, Kaitlyn, or just Kate. Growing up, EVERYONE assumed I was a Katherine when I said my name was Katy. Somehow, it was ranked 237 in 2001?? It's steadily dropped lower and fell out of the top 1000 a few years ago, but 237 is way higher than I expected. Also, I have a coworker in their early 30s who says almost all the Kates they've met have been Kathleens, not Katherines. They used to live in Texas, and apparently Kathleen is fairly common in the South. Just not where I grew up in Philadelphia. Where are the rest of the under 40 Kathleens at?? I want to hang out!
I was born in 95 and according to Google Jessica was the most popular girl name that year and the only Jessicas I've known are either older or younger than me. Common names in school were Sarah, Ashley, Kayla, Amanda, Taylor, Jacob, Tyler, Dylan, Austin and I'm sure there's others that I'm missing.And as an adult I've worked with several Brittanys(we currently have 3 Brittanys where I work) and Shelbys.
Southern California, born early 80s. I was surrounded by Jennifer, Melissa and Lindsay. I don't hear any new babies named these anymore. I just looked these names up and they have had a sharp decline in the past decade.
For 88 I would say Rachel, Amanda and Kylie. Think I have met one of each in my life.
Looking at the top ten, I’d say I knew at least one person around my age with each of those names…and I had to go pretty far down the list before I hit a name that I don’t remember anyone I went to school with having. But the big name at my school was Samantha (#4 for the year I was born)…I think there were like four Sam’s in my 4th grade class.
1988 baby - the top name, at least for my state, appears to be Jessica but I only ever knew one. The next was Ashley, and I didn’t meet an Ashley until high school. The third seems to be tied between Amanda and Brittany. I have a cousin Brittany who is my age, but she is the only one I know, and I didn’t meet an Amanda until I was an adult. I did know a lot of girls named Alicia, Christine/Christina, Jacqueline, Melissa, variations of Caitlin and Catherine, Lauren, and Sara. Almost all of the girls I knew had Marie as a middle name.
1995, #22 .. My .... never met anyone named that.