I went through an old box of diaries and other youthful crap last night, and one of my finds was a series of lists of my favorite baby names from 1984-1988. SCORE.
I’m going to list all the names, along with each name’s popularity ranking the year I liked it (source for rankings: Social Security Administration) and any reason I remember for liking it.
1984
Girls:
Alexandra (#96)
Emily (#24) (I knew a very cute little toddler Emily)
Boys:
Theodore (#213) (likely The Cosby Show)
David (#5) (crush)
1985
Girls:
Christy (#151; Kristy was #145) (liked a book with a Christy in it)
Emily (#24)
Jenny (#157; Jennifer was #3) (my best friend was Jenny)
Megan (#10)
Michelle (#22)
Boys:
Darren (#161) (nice, cute, smart classmate)
Jonathan (#17)
1986
Girls:
Christy (#174; Kristy was #158)
Emily (#24)
Boys:
Jonathan (#16)
Seth (#97)
Jimmy (#150; James was #7) (crush)
1987
Girls:
Christy (#207; Kristy was #181)
Emily (#19)
Jenny (#165; Jennifer was #4)
Megan (#12)
Miriam (#325) (I knew a cute toddler Miriam)
Saradonna (not in the Top 1000) (and I have no idea)
Boys:
Joshua (#4)
Jimmy (#154; James was #8) (crush)
Seth (#89)
Jonathan (#18)
Andrew (#6) (crush)
1988
Girls:
Emily (#18)
Kristen (#36)
Miriam (#336)
Boys:
Jason (#27) (crush)
Joshua (#4)
Jimmy (#162; James was #9) (crush)
Andrew (#5) (crush)
This is so funny! You’ve loved names for a LONG time!! (i have too)
After viewing this list I can’t believe you didn’t use Emily for Elizabeth! I love Elizabeth though, hope to have one some day!
My sister, Emily, was born in ’84. I love that name.
I love how Jimmy keeps popping up year after year. Especially since it doesn’t really fit with the rest at all … young love!
The Schwant Family- I REALLY wanted to, but Paul was all “meh” about it, and then I came upon the name we ended up using (not Elizabeth—Elizabeth is a pseudonym). If the twins had been girls, my top picks were Emily and Liana.
For years, I was obsessed with the name Samantha (because of Who’s the Boss, natch). I always wished I had a name that could be shortened into something androgynous. I don’t know why.
Well, I know you probably won’t tell, but I’d love to know if any of these names actually made it as one of your kids’ names. :)
Kel- I will say this: that Emily and Megan both made it to the adulthood Girl Name List, and that Jonathan and James both made it to the adulthood Boy Name List.
I was going to ask the same thing as Kel!
I used to make these kinds of lists all the time. I would be HORRIFIED today if they ever saw the light of day. Think: Twins named Wellesley and Whitney. Oh, no, no no no.
This is so entertaining for me as my husband and I struggle to pick out names for our baby due at the end of February.
In high school (late ’80’s), my friends and I all did a page that detailed:
How old we would be when we got married
How many kids we would have
The names of our future children
The type of guy we would marry (cut out from magazines)
Where we would live
My kid names (then):
Luke (crush)
Brady (my cousin’s middle name that I thought was so cool)
Brianna (heard it on a news report about test-tube babies.)
Oh, the names we liked as kids……funny. As a young kid (6-8ish) I always named my dolls something like Stephanie and Tricia. Then I went through a phase where I loved Austin and Anna.
One name that has lasted is Lily. I liked it 15 years ago and it is still very close to the top of my list. Cael is also a name that I have liked for about 10 years and it still is probably my favorite boy name.
Oh, man. In the 80s I was sure I was going to have two girls named Hope and Taylor.
Now I only have a son, but I’ve got my girl’s name picked out and ready to go (and no, I’m not pregnant) and the name isn’t Hope nor Taylor.
(I got Taylor from the movie Parenthood with Steve Martin, but I’m not sure where Hope came from. I’m guessing a cabbage patch kid?)
I am pretty sure I loved the name Samantha and that it was for the same reasons as Lawyerish.
Wow, you’ve got documented evidence that you’ve always had solid baby-naming taste (says the person whose taste is pretty much identical). Do I really see your own name in 1988? Also, Saradonna is, um.
It’s funny — that one favorite boy name of yours never, ever made it on my own lists. I like it fine now, though. :)
I cannot believe you were so into baby names at such a young age. You were destined to have many babies AND a blog to faux-name them so you could use up all your favorites!
Oh, I was always into names too. When I was little I named all of my dolls Katie, after my cousin, because I was so jealous of her name.
I remember when I was young I imagined myself having twins named Emily and Kelly. I thought those were ultimate girly names!
Wow. I’ve always loved names too, but never thought to document my favorite names when I was a kid. All I can remember is when I was around 12 I fell in love with Emma because of that TV Show “Kate and Ally.” Then in High School I liked the name Mercedes. It wasn’t until High School that I even considered boy names, when I decided I liked Austin for a boy. None of my favorites from child/teen-hood are still my favorites now. In fact, I don’t even like them anymore.
Gah, I recently uncovered an old journal hidden on a book shelf. Here are the highlights from my 1992 list (I was 14):
Aristotle (boy OR girl); huh?
Axelle (girl)
Craven (boy OR girl)
Andromeda (girl)
Zodiac (girl)
Kensington (boy)
Weird much? The most interesting thing about this list, by far, is that I have drawn gender symbols next to the names, but I obviously didn’t know them, so I have a version of the male symbol denoting “girl” and vice versa. I was a strange teenager. I’m sure my hypothetical daughter is already thanking me for veering away from Andromeda and Zodiac.
I love that one of your favorite names was Kristen!
Stumbling upon this late, but just had to comment! It’s too awesome that you found this!
I’m relieved that had you of been of baby-makin’ age in 1985, you actually WOULDN’T have chosen the name “Stephanie” (my name). I’m shocked and awed. (My name = severely over-used in 1985).
When I was a kid, I used to like the names Kelly and Alannah (yes, that spelling). My tastes have changed.
Too fun!
OMG. Swistle. We may be twins. I used to make lists of my favorite names too. I thought I was the only person who did this in 8th grade. But, apparently there were two of us. I used to like Dale and Corbin for boys and Blake for a girl (in 11th grade). Now I would never use ANY of those names!