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[Opinions] Re: Regional names in the US
A lot of names that are ubiquitous in the Midwest were also popular elsewhere during the time. Donna, Lisa, and Debbie (Deborah) are the office ladies in their 60s. Every institution has an efficient handyman/building manager named Steve (probably really Stephen) who is on the brink of retiring. Among older men (98-60) in my corner of the Midwest, Don (probably short for Donald) seems to have been popular. There are even more men named John and Robert and William, but they're perennials all over. Don is every 10th grandpa it seems. According to statistics, Donald had a run of popularity in the USA, but I'm guessing that half of the men contributing that statistic were born somewhere in the Midwest. Old ladies in nursing homes have in their eucre or hand-and-foot group a Mary, Mary Alice, Helen, or Margaret (Peggy or Margie) and a friend named Dorothy who just passed. There seem to have been a crop of men born sometime in the 1960s with one syllable names that include but are not limited to Glen, Dale, Lane, and Craig. It is suspected that their parents were hippies. They may have a sister named Dawn. Women born during the 90s will have at least one friend named Kate, Katherine/Kathryn, Katelyn/Caitlin, Kayla, one named Jessica, and former classmates named Sara(h) and Rachel (Rachael). 90s kids were on a soccer team with a Brice, Brock, or Blake or all three plus a Nathan.
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"There seem to have been a crop of men born sometime in the 1960s with one syllable names that include but are not limited to Glen, Dale, Lane, and Craig. It is suspected that their parents were hippies. They may have a sister named Dawn."Nobody back in the 1960s thought of these as "nature names" so they definitely weren't give by parents who were "hippies." The stereotype of "hippy names" is always things like Rainbow and Sunshine, but these were actually rare. Glen (or Glenn), Dale, Lane, and Craig are surname transfer names which were already well-used back in the late 19th century -- especially Glenn. Dawn also began to be used in the late 19th century. The bestselling early 20th century novelist Edna Ferber's first novel, published in 1911, was titled "Dawn O'Hara, The Girl Who Laughed". :)

This message was edited 9/1/2022, 2:43 PM

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