Popular names 2008 compared to 1973

The Social Security Administration tracks the popularity of names. You can see the most popular names from 2008 and, by way of comparison, from 1973, the year I was born.

For 2008 I like all the boy names except Alexander and Anthony. On the girls side, they all seem pretty decent except I can't stand Madison. Why is that name so popular? It's the surname of the fourth president of the United States and the capital city of Wisconsin - not the first name of a girl. To my thinking, Madison just isn't a girl's name, but I guess I'd better get used to it since there are lots of girls named Madison.

I can tell that I'm getting older because I generally prefer the 1973 names to the 2008 ones. Before seeing the 1973 list, I predicted that Jennifer and Amy would be at the top since there were always tons of Jennys and Amys in my classes from kindergarten through college. In college, If I couldn't remember a girl's name, I'd always guess Jennifer or Amy, and oftentimes, I'd be right.

Steven was #20 in 1973. In my lifetime, Steven peaked at #18 and 1975, and has been declining in popularity ever since. For 2008 it ranks #104 after being #46 in 1998. You can look this up at the Social Security popular baby names site.