Bloodless Coup

The only thing I can possibly think of (as I have met only one Landon in my life, and technically, thats his middle name) is that there was some guy on the Real World a couple years back named Landon - maybe all the pregnant teens in those redneck states really liked his dumb oafishness and all named their kids after him.

And we aren't shocked by Angel being the top name in Arizona? I'm guessing it must be a Mexican name since its big throughout the Southwest - either that, or all the Buffy fans are concentrated there.

Well while an entire state of BtVS fans (and Angel) fans sounds fascinating and I'd love to go visit ... yeah, somehow I'm guessing the love for the name Angel in Arizona is likely an Hispanic thing.

Though of course it could also be a bit of a religious thing. I mean the popularity of the names Genesis and Trinity has surged in recent years (Trinity's been in the top 50 names for girls 2 of the last 3 years). Though of course again with Genesis maybe it's a Real World effect, and with Trinity a Matrix effect.

Then again, maybe it is a BtVS thing since Xander, Willow and Harmony have become much more popular names since that show came on the air.

Btw, there was a post on Foreign Policy Passport today that noted the following:

"Quick, before you read down to the next paragraphs, guess what was the #2 most popular name for baby boys in Britain last year?

Was it perhaps Harry, Hugo, Jack, or Joshua?

Actually, it was Mohammed, if all 14 spellings are taken into account. (The top spelling, Mohammed, comes in at #23.)

It's a sign of our times, and predictably, commentators are already freaking out about Eurabia. Keep in mind, though, that the list of top baby boy names probably makes it look like there are more Muslims in Britain than there really are since Mohammed is so hugely popular of a name among the tiny 3 percent of the British population that is Muslim."

That's still much easier to explain than Landon.

Looking at the Top 100 names by state I see something else that's kind of interesting. If other states are like ours, it appears that people go back to the same names again and again for boys, while there's much more creativity in the names for girls, and the number of girls' names is higher.

Back when I was up to my knees in preschool students named Madison and Jordan, I read that Madison took off after "Bridges of Madison County" became popular. Of course that was ten years ago; it seems to have developed its own gravity now.

WRT names like Genesis and Trinity, surely you've heard of Nevaeh ("heaven" spelled backwards), a name for girls that's growing in popularity. We've got a few around here (TX). I mentioned this to my dad and he suggested I rename one or both of my sons Lleh.

Your dad should have his own standup gig. :)

I have seen Nevaeh, but never realized what it was supposed to be. Silly heathen that I am.

So heaven backwards is a good thing? Yeah, there's some thinking I don't think I'll ever quite grasp.

Btw, Nevaeh is now the #16 name for baby girls here in Almost Heaven (Nevaeh Tsomla?). For context, the #16 boys name in the state is Nicholas.