I wonder if hyperpopularity of names is regional, and *how* regional it is. Like - were the names for which you had 3 girls per class,
Emma and
Olivia? Were they top 2 in the state? Maybe just in the county? and if not, if they were #3 and #4 - then why didn't you see the same high frequency of names ranked above those names? It's just so random, how representative is the sample of people we run into.
We have excess Nathans and Ethans here (in my daughter's age group) - they were ranked somewhat higher than statewide in the 00s, but if you just went by the local school, you'd think they were totally #1 and #2.
It's interesting and bizarre that you had 3/20 girls with 1 name. That makes it way more frequent than the #1 name nationwide - that's like 15 percent. Statistically only 1/20 girls should have each of the very most popular names so one triple and a few doubles is really wild.
Anyway this is off topic, I'm not arguing with the idea that you can still observe that popular names are popular! I just thought it was interesting.
When my sister and I were little kids in the 70s, my sister (always very well read, and I don't know where it came from) had a doll she called "
Bree" short for
Sabrina. So I always think of
Sabrina first when I hear
Bree!
- mirfak