Last week, I added another pointless app to my iPhone. Although it is pretty useless to me, I still find the Alberta Baby Names app entertaining, as I searched and scrolled through statistics on what Albertans have been naming their children since 1980.
Picking names for my kids was one of the most exciting things about knowing I’d be bringing a little person into the world. There’s something special about stumbling across that perfect name, even after growing so frustrated and feeling like nothing is perfect for your soon-to-be mini-me.
Every year, when the province releases the most recent statistics on the most popular (and unique) baby names, I find myself scrolling through the lists, often giggling or scratching my head at some of the chosen names.
Personally, I feel like it’s important to name a child something different, but not to the extent that the child (and eventually adult) will grow frustrated with people spelling or mispronouncing their name wrong throughout their entire life.
But, I might be a bit of a hypocrite there, after naming my second child Brodie. Although it’s a rather popular name now, the fact that we spelled it with an “ie” rather than a “y” bumps the name down from #56 to #440 on the popularity of the list. And so, he will likely have a lifetime of friends and family spelling his name wrong, something that has already been proven in just four years of life.
Our oldest son, Gavin, rarely has his name spelled wrong, so that was a success – but, despite trying to hit the balance between unique and different, there is often another kid nearby with the same name.
In 2006, the year before our oldest son was born, the name “Gavin” broke the 100-mark in the number of times it was used per year. In 2007, there were 111 kids named Gavin in Alberta, our son being one of them. The name has since lost some of its popularity, dipping to being used just 67 times in 2013.
I then had to search up my own name in the app. In 1985, I was one of 14 baby girls named Janice born in Alberta. The name has gone down in popularity over the years, and there were no statistics listed for 2013, which means there was probably no new Janice born. Like my sons, I clearly have a name that was likely part of a trend, and a sign of the times.
Then, there are the names that truly stand the test of time. My husband’s name is one of those. Despite seeing a bit of a decline in popularity lately, “Adam” still manages to attract a lot of parents’ attention, having never gone under the 100-Alberta-babies-named-per-year since statistics were available in 1980.
In 1982, he was one of 287 babies given the name.
Now, spelling a name differently, simply for the sake of being different, gets to me. Maybe because as a writer, getting people’s names spelled right is crucial, and spelling Paisley with a “z” instead of an “s” begs for mistakes to be made.
The Alberta Baby Names app was created as part of the Apps for Alberta competition, which encouraged people to use information from the province’s open data. Winners from the contest are being announced in August.
