The Name Almanac

The Name Almanac

Name Trends & Data

This is the almanac proper: names as numbers. Working from Social Security records that run back to 1880, we chart the rise and collapse of American names, explain why a name suddenly 'sounds old', spot the fast risers before they hit the top ten, and decode what a peak year reveals about every generation of Jennifers, Lindas, and Liams. If you want charts, rankings, and the stories hiding inside them, you're on the right page.

Name Trends & Data

5 guides
Name Trends & Data

America's Disappearing Names: Once Everywhere, Now Gone

Names don't fade overnight. They slip below the SSA's five-baby floor and quietly vanish from the record, one christening at a time.

August 2, 2026
Name Trends & Data

The Fastest-Rising Baby Names in America

What actually launches a name from obscurity to the charts, and how to spot the next fastest-rising baby names before everyone else does.

August 1, 2026
Name Trends & Data

How the Social Security Baby Name Data Works

Where SSA baby name rankings actually come from, what the five-baby privacy rule hides, and why the file can't see nicknames or names given before 1937.

July 31, 2026
Name Trends & Data

The 100-Year Rule: Why Vintage Names Keep Coming Back

Why do names skip a generation before coming back? The 100-year rule for baby names, explained with real revival examples from SSA data.

July 30, 2026
Name Trends & Data

Why Every Jennifer Is About 50: How First Names Date Us

SSA baby-name data shows how Jennifer, Linda, and Michael pin down a birth decade at a glance, and what your own name reveals about you.

July 29, 2026

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