My wife has a somewhat less than common name (but not rare by any means), and ever since she was a kid has been disappointed when she enters a gift shop and they’d have those little license plates, keychain, or things like that with first names on them. Her name was never there (mine always is, as one of the most popular names in the US). This happened again recently, and I tried to think of a way to console her by finding an even more common name that doesn’t appear. It got me thinking: there must be some sort of list that these manufacturers use, since they all seem to have more or less the same names. That list could be matched against a list of first names by frequency, and then the most unfortunate kids name could be found.
Those manufacturers probably use lists of most popular names (as provided by the SS). I guess they will create objects for only the top 100 names in the list… Of course, gifts will be created based on different lists according to age group.
Thus, name number 101 would be the ‘most common name not in the list’.
I’ve got a little cranberry glass cream pitcher that says “World’s Fair 1897” on one side and “Martha” on the other. I think my mother’s aunt Martha got it at the Chicago world’s fair when she was a little girl. Kinda MPSIMS for GQ but it shows it’s not a new marketing concept.
You never find Aaron on pencils and whatnot? My, I see “Aaron” stuff constantly! My name, though, is hit or miss. Quite often I see “LindsEy”, but my name is “LindsAy”.
Perhaps the names are regionally tailored? i.e. certain names are more likely to be found in one area than another.
It seems to me that which names are included on a given trinket do vary. For one thing, the number of names offered varies quite a bit. Some racks of stuff include a lot more names then others. Presumbably, a manufacteror first decides how many names to offer, and will it be both male and female names. Then, a list is drawn up or chosen from some source or other. Seems likely that they try to choose a list based on popular names for the age group they think will want the item in question.
I sometimes find my real name (which isn’t Hazel), but most often it isn’t there. It was at one time quite popular (there were three of us in my elementary school class (in the '50s), but has since become less common. I guess they don’t expect adults to want the various keychains, date books, etc.
Finding my name(the most common middle name for a girl in the US) is hit or miss, I usually find the variations with either a y or an a at the end. My oldest son’s name is everywhere, as is the name that my baby goes by(his middle name). I’ve never looked for his first name, but according to a post already in this thread, I guess it’s not common, no big surprise. The one that I have a hard time finding most, however, is my daughter’s name, Veronica.
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