In the 1880s, almost half of boys were given one of just ten names, and nearly 1 out of 4 girls received one of the ten most popular names. Names were a way to fit in. That was still true in 1946, when the first Boomers were born—especially for girls, who were actually more likely to receive a common name in the 1940s than in the 1800s. Then the change begins: Common names became less and less popular, falling precipitously as the decades went on (see Figure 3.4). Names became a way to stand out. By the time Boomers were naming their Millennial children in the 1980s, only 1 out of 5 received
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