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HelpRe: Erin?
in reply to a message by pixie_btrfly
Whether or not Erin has ever been popular enough to be dated is something that wanders into the territory of fact, as opposed to an opinion. The fact is, Erin was popular enough to be dated. It went into the top hundred in 1971, hovered around #20 from 1977 through 1983, reaching a high of #18 in 1983. Then it started dropping, but didn't leave the top hundred until 2005. If it isn't dated already, it's well on its way to being so. That type of popularity run and then drop is the very definition of being dated.
Now you can say it doesn't feel dated to you, and that is an opinion. But personally I determine dated-ness by the statistics and not how it feels to me based upon whom I've known. How it feels to any individual really isn't relevant to someone who wants to avoid a dated name, anyway.
Now you can say it doesn't feel dated to you, and that is an opinion. But personally I determine dated-ness by the statistics and not how it feels to me based upon whom I've known. How it feels to any individual really isn't relevant to someone who wants to avoid a dated name, anyway.
This message was edited 3/15/2016, 6:55 PM
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You're right and I was just thinking like Tuesday. I have only known 2 Erins in my whole life.
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How it feels to any individual really isn't relevant to someone who wants to avoid a dated name, anyway.
That actually is important to me, more so than facts. :) I'd rather get a bunch of opinions on how dated a name feels rather than statistics, as I don't think the charts necessarily answer the question all of the time.
Anyway, I do see what you're saying and I should retract that Erin hasn't been popular. I guess what I meant was, in Erin's case, it was in the top 100 for about 30 or so years, so it would be hard for me to have confidence in pinpointing when an Erin was born. It doesn't seem dated to me, because at this point, there are lots of Erin's of different ages.
Some other examples of names that reached a peak in the U.S. but were relatively common for decades: Christine, Angela, Rachel, Megan. I could make educated guesses as to when these ladies were born, but there's really a wide range of possibilities here, and I don't associate them with one specific time period (which is more my definition of datedness). YMMV!
That actually is important to me, more so than facts. :) I'd rather get a bunch of opinions on how dated a name feels rather than statistics, as I don't think the charts necessarily answer the question all of the time.
Anyway, I do see what you're saying and I should retract that Erin hasn't been popular. I guess what I meant was, in Erin's case, it was in the top 100 for about 30 or so years, so it would be hard for me to have confidence in pinpointing when an Erin was born. It doesn't seem dated to me, because at this point, there are lots of Erin's of different ages.
Some other examples of names that reached a peak in the U.S. but were relatively common for decades: Christine, Angela, Rachel, Megan. I could make educated guesses as to when these ladies were born, but there's really a wide range of possibilities here, and I don't associate them with one specific time period (which is more my definition of datedness). YMMV!
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I must admit I've known only two Erins, while I've known a plethora of Heathers, Amandas, Ashleys, Jessicas, and Sarahs. And the two Erins I knew were widely divergent in age. One was my age, born circa 1960, and the other roughly my daughter's age, born in the early 1980s.
It happened that I greatly disliked both Erins, so maybe that's influenced my opinion of the name, lol.
It happened that I greatly disliked both Erins, so maybe that's influenced my opinion of the name, lol.
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