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HelpRe: Jacob
in reply to a message by Mie
Even here (Scotland), where the name was uncommon, it's on the rise. Thinking of the States ... I just couldn't bring myself to give my child the #1 most popular name, however much I liked it. Chronically overused names like Emily etc. seem very impersonal to me because they're shared by so many others. Apart from anything else, though, they're impractical: the purpose of a name is to identify someone. If in a class of 25 there are 6 Jacob's, then the name really isn't doing it's job. Being "no - I meant the other Jacob!!" or "no, Jacob Smith" throughout his life would be very irritating. Most Jacob's would, out of frustration, eventually take up different pet forms anyway.
In my grandmother's generation in Scotland, Margaret was ridiculously overused (because of the princess Margaret Rose being the first royal to be born in Scotland since the single monarchy, blah blah blah). In her secondary school class, there were 20 girls. 11, I kid you not, were named Margaret. The teacher told them that three could keep that name, but that the other 8 were to think of nicknames to go by. My gran chose Meg. Today, she still keeps in touch with Margo, Peggy, Madge and Maggie. I just think, what was the point in all that? Their parents might have loved the name Margaret with all their hearts, but in the end their daughters really couldn't it anyway, the overuse was so bad. *Sigh*
Eventually, Jacob will subside. It happens with every name-of-the-decade. After years of overuse it begins to sound meaningless and generic, almost like naming your son "boy" or your daughter "girl". People are simply bored to tears of it. But names don't normally drop all of a sudden: especially if they have a long history, the change is gradual. Look at John. It remains at #17 - still far too popular to use, in my opinion - almost 100 years since it first began to slip away from the #1 spot.
http://www.behindthename.com/php/search.php?terms=John&popterm=&gender=both&extra=p
Sorry if that was a very dreary reply ... I do have a thing about overused names though, as you can probably tell ;-)
In my grandmother's generation in Scotland, Margaret was ridiculously overused (because of the princess Margaret Rose being the first royal to be born in Scotland since the single monarchy, blah blah blah). In her secondary school class, there were 20 girls. 11, I kid you not, were named Margaret. The teacher told them that three could keep that name, but that the other 8 were to think of nicknames to go by. My gran chose Meg. Today, she still keeps in touch with Margo, Peggy, Madge and Maggie. I just think, what was the point in all that? Their parents might have loved the name Margaret with all their hearts, but in the end their daughters really couldn't it anyway, the overuse was so bad. *Sigh*
Eventually, Jacob will subside. It happens with every name-of-the-decade. After years of overuse it begins to sound meaningless and generic, almost like naming your son "boy" or your daughter "girl". People are simply bored to tears of it. But names don't normally drop all of a sudden: especially if they have a long history, the change is gradual. Look at John. It remains at #17 - still far too popular to use, in my opinion - almost 100 years since it first began to slip away from the #1 spot.
http://www.behindthename.com/php/search.php?terms=John&popterm=&gender=both&extra=p
Sorry if that was a very dreary reply ... I do have a thing about overused names though, as you can probably tell ;-)
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