Georgia Baby Names

My lovely wife and I are expecting baby (and boy) number 2 this coming February, and we're in the middle of the 'names' discussion.  As we're all prone to do, we are curious about ideas for names, but we're looking for timeless southern names.  So I did the first thing that came to mind and found a data set that captures baby names from the state of Georgia going back to 1910.  As I said we're looking for 'Classic Southern' names so I figured it would be fun to take the top 35 names from 1910 and see how they changed in popularity over time all the way to 2012.  
In doing so, we found some really interesting trends, which made us realize how pop culture really drives naming trends.  Below are some of the most interesting:

Jacob was a biblical name (the son of Joseph) and has been fairly popular over time but really takes off around 1975.  So what happened?  It turns out that 1975 just so happened to be the year that the soundtrack for Andrew Lloyd Webber's  Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat was released.  As the musical gained popularity, so did the name.  

The second big one that jumps out is the leap that the name Benjamin takes starting in 1967. Again, this just so happens to coincide with the iconic cult classic of the 60s - The Graduate. The leading character's name is Benjamin Braddock, a college student who is seduced by the famous Mrs. Robinson. Shortly thereafter, the name Benjamin skyrockets.

Another interesting one was Matthew - it takes off in 1964, which just so happens to be the same year that  The Gospel According to St. Matthew is released to critical acclaim (Rodger Ebert gave it 4 stars!).

Check out some of the other trends by clicking on the names one either side.  You might be curious about some the trends you see, so I've included Wikipedia and Google search links to help you put the pieces together.  Enjoy!

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