By Kelli Brady, thenamefreak.com

　　I am so very excited to finally announce the release of my eBook! Name-alytics: An In-Depth Analysis of the Top 100 Names in the United States Since 1880, a project I have been working on for over a year now. I had the idea and started the research last summer. It took a while to figure out how I wanted to organize it, and then when I realized I wanted to be a control freak about it all, I was tremendously blessed to have a husband who helped with creating the database after I collected the raw information from the Social Security Administration.

　　Once the data was put together, I retrieved the information for all the names that have been in the Top 100 since 1880 and formulated several Excel spreadsheets from which to work. Then I started writing the book by going back and forth between Excel and Word. Then I realized all the awesome lists I could create from what I had gathered. Then I got the bright idea to research the possible pop culture effects on name popularity. After that was completed, it dawned on me that a graphic would be really eye-opening in terms of what I wanted the results to present, so I spent quite a while generating graphs.

　　By that time, I realized I had to update all of the information with the 2013 numbers. All of that plus the day-to-day, school events, trips, holidays, and a kid’s broken elbow that required four surgeries make the year go by fairly quickly. In any case, the outcome of all this work is something that I am extremely proud of and thrilled to share with you!

　　So what exactly does Name-alytics present to you?

　　Well, just how popular is popular when it comes to the top names of the country? Name-alytics takes a look at every Top 100 name in the United States since 1880 and presents an entirely new perspective on name popularity. From Mary to Sophia, John to Noah, Beulah to Brittany, Edgar to Ethan… Name-alytics’ full analysis of how each name performs throughout time serves as a great resource for soon-to-be-parents, repeat parents, name enthusiasts and even history lovers.

　　I make an argument that percentage of use is the best way to measure popularity over time. Rankings show how popular a name is in comparison to other names, but doesn’t present an accurate picture of exactly how many babies were given that name. And raw numbers tell you exactly how many babies were given that name, but because of the increase in birth rates over the years, they don’t show if the name is more popular now or 100 years ago. Besides giving you a thorough list of all 825 names that have ever been in the Top 100 since 1880, I also include when it was at its peak as well as its highest ranking (and comparing the two can be quite interesting).

　　Here is an example from the book…

　　Alice (1880-1956)

　　Highest Percentage: 1.4487% (1880) <– about 15 girls out of every 1,000 were named Alice in 1880

　　Highest Rank: 8 (1880, 1882, 1906) Decade: 1880s (1.2431%)

　　Variants: Alicia, Alyssa

　　Additional lists include which names have been in the Top 100 every year since 1880, which names fell out of the Top 100 and returned later, and which names appeared on both the boy side and the girl side. As I said before, the graphs are a visual way of showing a new way of looking at popularity. An example of something I discovered while doing this research is best presented in a graph. Did you know that Bertha was more popular at its height than Catherine ever was?

　　Just take a look at one the graphs included in the book…

　　This graph shows the highest percentage of use for each Top 100 girl name beginning with the letters A-D and how it lies in comparison to the percentage of use for the #1 girl name (the line). As you can see, Bertha was at its height in popularity in 1883, when Mary was safe at secure at #1. Then you see classic Catherine at its height in 1914, well below Bertha‘s peak. I’m not sure any of us would have guessed that Bertha was a more coveted name than Catherine.When you see where these Top 100 names actually lie at the apex of their popularity, you will view the acclaim of each of these names in a different light.

　　There have been several posts concerning “then and now” on my blog. These posts are what got me interested in doing this research in the first place, so I decided to include them in the book. I also include a section discussing the coincidences between certain pop culture/historical names/events and the popularity of Top 100 names. While there is no way to determine for sure why parents used a certain name on their baby, it is fascinating to see possible correlations.

　　As you can see above, the graphs are pretty detailed and would probably be hard to view on a Kindle or iPhone. Because of this and the fact that I only want to release the best I have to offer, the book is currently available as a PDF file. That is all I have to say about this tremendous project of mine! I hope you all find it as interesting as I did.

　　To purchase Name-alytics, please click on the link below.

　　Buy Name-alytics

　　I thank you for your consideration and please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions about the book.