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Using the SSA historical lists we can analyze how naming patterns have
changed over the decades. For example, by considering the percentage of
babies with the most popular names, we can look at parental creativity
levels over the years. A higher percentage of names in a given top
group means that parents were less creative. Fewer names in the top
groups means more variety and more unique names that outside the most
popular names.
In the period 1900-1909, boys with names on the top 1000 list made up 91% of the population. Boys with names in the top 10 made up 27% of the population. Conformity actually increased through the 1940s, with the top 10 names covering 32% of the boy population and the top 1000 names covering 96%. Since the 60s, creativity has increased steadily, with the largest jump from the 1980s to the 1990s. Only 15% of boys had top 10 names in the most recent past decade and a relatively large 14% had rare enough names that they fell outside the top 1000.
Like boys, girls names saw a slight increase in comformity through the 1950s though the overall increases were much flatter. There has always been more variety in girls than in boys. During the maximally conformal 1940s, only 23% of girls had top 10 names (versus 32% of boys). Also, since the 1950s, girls names have seen more rapid movement toward increased creativity. By the 1990s, only 75% of girls had top 1000 names and the top 10 names only covered 11%. At the very top, approximately equal proportions of boys and girls have the number one names.
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