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I find the names from the 1980s the most attractive, also. I avoided most of them only because of their popularity. But I find it impossible to believe that this has nothing to do with when I was born. I find the 1920s and 1930s names all too plain and rather ugly, but obviously people back then didn't think so, and they weren't finding reasons to use Jennifer, Amy, Amanda, Michelle, etc. I pretty much think there's no escaping letting what is popular color one's perceptions. And now that I'm older, I confess, I am appalled at some of the names that are popping up in the top hundred (even the top ten) and it makes me wonder what's going on with the younger generation and what the world is coming to.

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I was actually more interested in the top ten "Biggest Flash in the Pans" list under Name Analysis. This is because both my first and middle names are on that list! My first name was in the top one hundred for thirty-five years and my middle name was also in the top one hundred for thirty-five years. The average number of years for being in the top one hundred, for all ten names, was twenty-nine years. Are these really "flash-in-the-pans"? It seems to me that this is a pretty average length of time for a name to be popular. Granted, there are a few names, particularly boys' names, that haven't really had rises and falls in popularity, but I don't think that all names should be judged by that.