2008 Woodie Awards
Students with common names reveal statistical trends
Jade Enoch
Issue date: 10/5/07 Section: In the Spotlight
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What's in a name? The so- called members of "Generation Y" are growing up, and the babies of the latter half of the 1980's are now the current college generation, filling campuses across America with "Hi, I'm Ashley" and "Hi, I'm Matt."
For children of the 1980's, the most common names of the time are still evident.
According to the Social Security Administration, from 1985 to 1989 the top five baby names list for boys and girls changed very little. Michael was the number one name for each of those years, followed by Christopher, Matthew, Joshua and Daniel.
For the girls, the name Jessica took the top, followed (with some variations in rank from year to year) by Ashley, Jennifer, Amanda and Sarah.
How common are these names on the Southwest Baptist University Campus? How many people does the average person know who has one of these common names?
According to www.facebook.com, there are 27 people in the Southwest Baptist network named "Michael" or "Mike." The number two name, Christopher, and its variations, falls slightly more with 31. "Matthew" and "Matt" have 33, "Josh" and "Joshua" have 31, and "Daniel" have only five.
But what about other common names on the top five list? "Andrew" which placed only seventh overall, had 34 names listed, and David, the eighth had 23.
The Omnibus was not able to obtain official current student data for all those currently enrolled so the data does not reflect the students that do not have Facebook.
The girls were more consistent. Jessica, the number one name, had 27 first names in the Facebook database.
Ashley had 36. Jennifer had 27. Amanda had 28. But Sarah (with variations including Sarah and Sara) had 45 names, revealing that it is the most common female name on campus, according to Facebook.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau's top 25 male and female names in America during the 1990's, Michael places fourth. Christopher, the second most popular baby name places eleventh. Of the remaining top seven names, only David places, landing in sixth. The only popular girl's name of the 1980's found on the list is Jennifer, placing fifth.
For children of the 1980's, the most common names of the time are still evident.
According to the Social Security Administration, from 1985 to 1989 the top five baby names list for boys and girls changed very little. Michael was the number one name for each of those years, followed by Christopher, Matthew, Joshua and Daniel.
For the girls, the name Jessica took the top, followed (with some variations in rank from year to year) by Ashley, Jennifer, Amanda and Sarah.
How common are these names on the Southwest Baptist University Campus? How many people does the average person know who has one of these common names?
According to www.facebook.com, there are 27 people in the Southwest Baptist network named "Michael" or "Mike." The number two name, Christopher, and its variations, falls slightly more with 31. "Matthew" and "Matt" have 33, "Josh" and "Joshua" have 31, and "Daniel" have only five.
But what about other common names on the top five list? "Andrew" which placed only seventh overall, had 34 names listed, and David, the eighth had 23.
The Omnibus was not able to obtain official current student data for all those currently enrolled so the data does not reflect the students that do not have Facebook.
The girls were more consistent. Jessica, the number one name, had 27 first names in the Facebook database.
Ashley had 36. Jennifer had 27. Amanda had 28. But Sarah (with variations including Sarah and Sara) had 45 names, revealing that it is the most common female name on campus, according to Facebook.
According to the U.S. Census Bureau's top 25 male and female names in America during the 1990's, Michael places fourth. Christopher, the second most popular baby name places eleventh. Of the remaining top seven names, only David places, landing in sixth. The only popular girl's name of the 1980's found on the list is Jennifer, placing fifth.
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