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ArchivesRe: Differing popularity info....
in reply to a message by Another Theory
This reminds me of something I've wondered about... In earlier years, wouldn't many people have not filed for a SS# until adulthood? Then they may have filled out the forms using their nickname instead of their actual birth certificate name. This would account for the high ranking of short forms like Jim, Don, Bill and Bob on the SS list for, say, 1940. Sound plausible?
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Yes, I think this is part of the reason the pet forms show up higher on these lists. There certainly are some people who get the pet forms on their birth certificates, but parents in the USA (as opposed to the UK) are much more likely to put the -y pet forms such as Jimmy, Donny, Billy, and Bobby on the birth certificate than they are to use Jim, Don, Bill, or Bob.
I think the name that this has affected the most in the earlier SSA lists is Joe. Joe is extremely high for birth cohorts before 1960 in the SSA data. Back when I was collecting data from state birth records, Joe was almost never used as an official given name. So I bet most of the Joes in the SSA data were actually named Joseph by their parents.
I think the name that this has affected the most in the earlier SSA lists is Joe. Joe is extremely high for birth cohorts before 1960 in the SSA data. Back when I was collecting data from state birth records, Joe was almost never used as an official given name. So I bet most of the Joes in the SSA data were actually named Joseph by their parents.
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Well, I know a lot of older adults whose full names are simply Jim, Bill, etc. Just like I can think of little girls today whose parents have named them Rosie and Gracie. Perhaps some filled out their nickname rather than their full name, but there were certainly others who were never called anything but Jim, even on the birth certificate. :)
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