I Was Thinking... Names

When my wife and I were expecting our first child, one of the most challenging tasks was selecting a name we both could agree upon. Since we both had been teaching for several years, some names were quickly eliminated because they reminded us of some kids we had had in class.
There were even books with whole lists of possible names. But the popularity of names seems to change with the times. Names that were once very common may seem old-fashioned to the next generation. You also don’t want to give your child the most popular name, so they are just like everyone else.
When I look at friends of my generation, their names seem normal to me. It isn’t like they were like every Tom, Dick or Harry, but it was pretty close since I do have friends named Tom, Dick and Harry.
The common boys’ names of my generation were: Bob, Jim, Mike, Dennis, Gary, Al, Steve, Dan, Dave, Bill, Larry, Don, Wayne, Ken, Phil, or Mark. The popular girl names were Nancy, Barb, Sharon, Janice, Marge, Kathy, Mary, Darlene, Carol, Joyce, Diane, Pat, Terry, Kay or Jane.
Every spring, the DCI runs a special supplement with the names and pictures of the high school graduates. As I perused the pictures and read the names of Kasson-Mantorville, Byron, Triton and Hayfield graduates, I didn’t find very many names I would consider familiar. In fact, there were a lot I wasn’t even sure how to pronounce.
For all those students that graduated, there was one Tom but no Dick or Harry.
Growing up, one of my best friends’ name was Bob (OK, Robert) and I’ve known numerous Bobs in my lifetime. But in the 2026 local classes, there wasn’t one. There was, however, Brady, Brayden, Bode, Brooks, Blake, Brody, Bryson, Brenden and Braeden.
I had a cousin named Gary as well as two with that name in my graduating class, plus a friend from the lake also named Gary. But none in this year’s classes. Instead, I found a Gabriel, Garret, Gavin, Grant and Garin.
Als, whether it was really Alan or Allen, were common in my neighborhood, but not so in the 2026 classes. But there was Aram, Austin, August, Aidan, Alexander and Aiden.
While everyone of my generation knew many guys named Mike, no one in this graduating class did. But there was a Mason and Max.
I only knew a handful of guys named Carl growing up, but that was totally lost for the 2026 group. Instead, there was Caedyn, Cooper, Caden, Carter, Cole, Caisen, Corbin, Cohen, Colin and Collin.
By now, you get my drift: Naming children today must be a lot harder than when I grew up. You want to make it distinctive and not like other people, so you even change the spelling. Donald could be shortened to Donnie or Don, but it was still easy to spell. But no matter how it was written, only one appeared in this year’s classes — though you did have Dawson Deegan, Dillion, Dayne and Dylan. But this isn’t true of just boys.
Girls’ names are just as diverse as the boys’ are. My first-grade reader had stories about Alice and Jerry. Growing up, I knew a few Alices, but there were none in the 2026 class.
However, names that started with “A” were numerous. There was Ashley, Asha, Allie, Alexa, Ava, Annika, Abigail, Annalise, Alivia, Aurora, Amberlyn, Alexis, Amity, Amaya, Aliyon, Ashlie, Addison, Alisson, AnaLeisa, Allyah and Alyssa. As a former teacher, I would be at a loss to pronounce most of them.
Sometimes common names take on new cultural meanings. A “Karen” recently became a slang term typically used to refer to a middle-class woman who is perceived as entitled or excessively demanding. Maybe that’s why there wasn’t any in this year’s class. But there was Katrina, Kennedy, Kaylee, Kadence, Kira, Khloe, Kaylene, Keigan, Kileyah and Kallani.
At one time, Pat could be used for a boy or girl. But none of these schools had any. Instead, there was Piper, Page, Peyton and Paige.
My wife’s name is Marge, but it isn’t very common anymore. The new “M” names are McKenzie, McKenna, Montana, Madeline, Megan, Mallory, Maya, Mars, Madison and Macy.
I must admit, the names of today’s kids are original, even if they are unique to my hearing. I wonder what the next generation will come up with?
By the way, there were no Rons either.

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