Happy Summer Birthday, Baby!
More American babies have summer birthdays than any other season, did you know that? According to sites like TheBump August has the highest overall births per month followed by July, but September sets the record for the highest number of births per day. The most common birth date is September 9. That was my grandmother's birthday back in 1898.
I discovered these facts this morning when I was thinking about how much popular names have changed over the years, especially for women. The Social Security Agency actually keeps track of these!
The top 20 baby names of the 1880's and 1890's included Minnie, Ida, Bertha, Bessie, Florence, Nellie and Mabel. Have you found any of those in your tree? The "Ought Years" beginning in 1900 still had some of those, but Edna, Gladys, and Lillian were close to the top.
With the invention of the motion picture certain stars names invaded the list in the 20's and 30's, like Shirley (Temple), Lillian (Gish), and Gloria (Swanson).
When I look at that photo I think a lot of things have changed besides naming patterns in the US!
The 40's brought us baby girls named Linda, Sandra, Donna, Judith AND Judy. The next big era of change seems to be the 80's when Jennifer, Amanda, Stephanie, Heather, Tiffany and Rachel appear. I was a little disappointed that the stereotypical hippy names of the 60's and 70's like Willow, Meadow, Luna and Indigo topping the lists.
DNA tests are on sale everywhere through Labor Day, which is next Monday. It is NOT TOO SOON to start thinking about holiday gift giving, even though the smell of Pumpkin Spice is not filling the air yet. If you would like to present a loved one with a gift of their own Family Tree, order that test ASAP and start looking for your own Nellie's, Bessie's, Lillian's and Gloria's. Doesn't that snow look nice now in these dog days of Summer?
I'd love to help you with your family research, whether or not you have a Summer birthday! Send me an email and let's talk! Check out my Services page and please send me an email for a free review of what you have.
Thanks for stopping by again this week!
Regards,
Leslie Ryan
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