The Cincinnati Health Department recently released a list of the most popular baby names of 2010. We live in Cincinnati, so there’s enough average people to balance out all the Braidans and Jakilynns (read: smooshing two names together or purposely misspelling a name isn’t being creative, folks) which means there aren’t any big surprises on this list. It just means that in 2020, fourth grade classes everywhere will have Ava S., Ava B. and Ava M. instead of Ashley R., Ashley T. and Ashley O. like when I was a kid.
Besides being mildly interesting, what’s the point of a list like this? To point out the least creative parents in the city? To give really dumb preggo people a basis for naming their offspring? Either way, If you’re walking around and you hear a little human crying, its name is probably…
WILLIAM
The most popular name for baby boys in Cincinnati was a pretty classic one. If names dictate a person’s life, these little dudes will grow up to have giant teeth, front a really shitty Hip Hop group or be a general badass sax player:
Or, if that screaming spawn is wearing pink…
OLIVIA
Olivia, the #1 baby girl name in Cincinnati, is alright. According to my research (15 seconds on Google), there are a lot of hot hoes by the name, but Olivia Newton John (pre-scary face) is the best of them all. Hopefully these babies will take after her, with a penchant for headbands and first words being “Xanadu.”
On their own, the second place names appear to be perfectly normal. Who could have anything mean to say about…
JACOB AND ISABELLA
That’s right, fucking Twilight. I can only assume that the increasing amount of teen moms out there are contributing to this fuckery (Thanks a lot, MTV!). There once was a time when I heard the name Jacob and immediately thought of the most perfect man of my John Hughes-inspired dreams…
Jake Ryan.
Isabella is a cute name, too. It has the potential of many ‘breves. Izzy. Ella. Sabel? I don’t know, but when little Isabella and tiny Jacob have their first kiss on the playground, “Twihards” around the world will feel a sense of glorious satisfaction that I just can’t deal with.
The rest of the names are pretty uninteresting, so here’s a quick list complete with what people (myself and Google) will probably associate with them:
NOAH
Obviously because the nearby Creation Museum is building a to-scale (WHAT SCALE?) ark
AVA
Would still be cool if it wasn’t on this list
MICHAEL
Never forget.
EMMA
Hermione Granger
ETHAN
Boring interior design
SOPHIA
My arch-enemy. Stereotypes are hilarious!
BENJAMIN
All about the Benjamin…Buttons
MADISON
Holly Madison, Dolly Madison – They’re both full of fake stuff, but probably preserved for all of time.
Go here to read more boring names.
This article appears in Jun 15-21, 2011.