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HelpRe: Jane?
in reply to a message by Bee123
I say it's middle-aged and boring, not quirky and retro.
I say it's middle-aged because it fell from the top 100 in 1966. So most Janes these days will be either middle-aged or elderly.
But that's not why I say it's boring and it's not why I say it isn't quirky and it isn't retro. It could be argued that it isn't retro because it hasn't been out of style long enough to become retro, which is why most names that went out of style as recently as the mid 1960s are not yet retro. But that's not why Jane isn't retro. Jane isn't retro because for centuries it was extremely popular. As far back as this site goes in listing popularity statistics, 1880, it was never lower than 151. And if popularity statistics were kept prior to that, I think we would be able to see that for most of those years, it was far more popular than that. This is the same reason it isn't and I don't think ever could be quirky. And it is the reason that it's boring.
Because it was so common for so long, it has a generic image for me that renders it unusable for me and keeps me from really liking it, despite the fact that I don't dislike its sound. It doesn't say anything. I feel it's the equivalent of naming a child "Hey you."
I feel the same way about Mary.
I say it's middle-aged because it fell from the top 100 in 1966. So most Janes these days will be either middle-aged or elderly.
But that's not why I say it's boring and it's not why I say it isn't quirky and it isn't retro. It could be argued that it isn't retro because it hasn't been out of style long enough to become retro, which is why most names that went out of style as recently as the mid 1960s are not yet retro. But that's not why Jane isn't retro. Jane isn't retro because for centuries it was extremely popular. As far back as this site goes in listing popularity statistics, 1880, it was never lower than 151. And if popularity statistics were kept prior to that, I think we would be able to see that for most of those years, it was far more popular than that. This is the same reason it isn't and I don't think ever could be quirky. And it is the reason that it's boring.
Because it was so common for so long, it has a generic image for me that renders it unusable for me and keeps me from really liking it, despite the fact that I don't dislike its sound. It doesn't say anything. I feel it's the equivalent of naming a child "Hey you."
I feel the same way about Mary.
This message was edited 4/25/2014, 5:34 PM
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