Facts: What's in a name?

Part of my job is to compile facts about the students who graduate  each year from the school where I work.  It's always interesting to see through the five years what trends in names come and go.  For example, when I first started, so many girls named Emily and Jessica were graduating, but this year it's dropped way off.  I get the impression that some names get too popular, and parents try everything in their power to not name their children that.  But I also know that the person who pulls these stats in 20 years will be up to their elbows in Madisons and Evas.

One thing that's always interesting is that while boy names are usually the same five names, girl names seems more all over the map.  While there are very popular girl names, the pools of each name are far smaller.  The top names don't have 10+ girls, just 3-4.  Boy's names are always the same, it seems.  Michaels, Matthews, Johns.  Very rarely am I changing the list of the top boy names, but girl names shift every year.  I sometimes wonder if parents feel more adventurous with their young daughters, but want a classic name for their young sons.

(typing this, I know there are plenty of Jaydens, Bryces, Chances, and Bacons out there entering kindergarten who will someday be part of my graduation data reports.)

I think one of the reasons why I've always been interested in the names of who graduates from my school because of my name.  I had the #4 most popular girl's name in my year.  When I graduated from high school, of the 68 people in my class... 4 of them had my name.  I knew several girls with my name in college.  Of my office of 15 people, there are two people with my name.  And this year, it's head and shoulders the #1 girl's name of graduates.

I joked with my same named coworker that my mother thought she was being creative because she didn't know anyone with the name of Sarah... and my coworker agreed.  I looked at a chart and it seems to be on the decline from when I was born, but I don't see a year with very few Sarahs graduating any time soon.  It is odd to see the trend names of my generation fade out, though.  There's hardly a Jessica, Emily, Katie, and maybe a single Meghan graduating this year.