If I were a cookbook writer, I think my first title would be: “100 Ways to Dice and Slice the Social Security List.”  There is so much information to be found embedded in it and so many ways to look at it, that there seems to be no end of different and intriguing ways to parse the data.

　　Pam will be writing later about the startling number of names that have been in the Top 1000 consistently—which is to say every single year– since score-keeping began in1880.  Today I’ll take a look at the patterns followed by the names that have moved in and out of fashion.

　　First, the girls, grouped by the decades they first came into favor, followed by the specific years when they were included in the Top 100. (This does not include names that have been up there every single year.)

　　You may be surprised at when some of the names initially appeared—sometimes earlier, sometimes later than you might have guessed.  Zoe and Chloe, for example, were both strong in the 19th century, as were Savannah and Samantha.  Alexis was already up there in the 1940s, but Alexa didn’t break through till the 70s; Kayla was there as early as the fifties, while—and this may not be such a surprise– Kaitlyn, Katelyn, Kaylee and Makayla all broke through as a group in the eighties, along with Hailey and Bailey.

　　1880s-90s (and possibly earlier)

　　Abigail: 1880-1897, 1901-1903, 1906, 1939, 1943, 1946, 1949-2009

　　Andrea: 1880-1881, 1884-1887, 1889, 1901-1904, 1907-2009

　　Ava: 1880-1972, 1974-1975, 1984, 1986-2009

　　Bella: 1880-1931, 2000-2009

　　Chloe: 1880-1943, 1982-2009

　　Ella: 1880-1983, 1988, 1990-2009

　　Faith: 1880-1882, 1884-1886, 1888-2009

　　Isabella: 1880-1948, 1990-2009

　　Isabelle: 1880-1954, 1957, 1991-2009

　　Jessica: 1880-1893, 1895, 1898-1900, 1903-1912, 1914-1918, 1935, 1937, 1939-2009

　　Lily: 1880-1964, 1966, 1970, 1972, 1976, 1979-2009

　　Madelyn: 1893, 1895-1965, 1986-2009

　　Mariah: 1880-1908, 1910-1911, 1913, 1973, 1975-2009

　　Melanie: 1886, 1938-2009

　　Samantha: 1880-1902, 1907, 1964-2009

　　Savannah: 1880-1922, 1924-1925, 1928, 1983-2009

　　Sofia: 1881, 1881, 1886, 1888-1889, 1891-1892, 1895, 1898, 1900-1901, 1906-1914, 1916-1917, 1920-1925, 1927-1931, 1935, 1969, 1971-2009

　　Sophie: 1880-1955, 1984-2009

　　Sydney: 1886, 1905, 1932-1957, 1959-1961, 1963-1967, 1981-2009

　　Valeria: 1881-1944, 1946-1976, 1983, 1985-2009

　　Zoe: 1880-1912, 1914-1926, 1928-1929, 1931-1941, 1951-1955, 1957-1961, 1966, 1970, 1973, 1975, 1983-2009

　　1910s

　　Alexandra: 1915, 1934, 1936, 1938-2009

　　1920s

　　Jocelyn: 1927-1937, 1939-1943, 1945, 1948-2009

　　1940s

　　Alexis: 1943-1963, 1965-2009

　　Allison: 1946-2009

　　Kimberly: 1946-2009

　　Lauren: 1945-2009

　　1950s

　　Brooke: 19053-1954, 1961-2009

　　Gabrielle: 1957-2009

　　Kayla: 1959-1960, 1962-2009

　　Paige: 1952, 1955-1956, 1958-2009

　　Vanessa: 1950-2009

　　1960s

　　Alyssa: 1963-2009

　　Ashley: 1964-2009

　　Autumn: 1969-2009

　　Mia: 1964-2009

　　1970s

　　Alexa: 1973-2009

　　Ariana: 1978, 1980-2009

　　Aubrey: 1973-2009

　　Brianna: 1976-2009

　　Destiny: 1975-2009

　　Gabriella: 1974, 1984-2009

　　Jasmine: 1973-2009

　　Kylie: 1978-2009

　　Layla: 1972-1978, 1993-1996, 1998-2009

　　Mackenzie: 1976-2009

　　Maya: 1970-2009

　　Morgan: 1976-2009

　　Taylor: 1979-2009

　　Trinity: 1974-1979, 1993-2009

　　1980s

　　Arianna: 1982, 1986-2009

　　Avery: 1989-2009

　　Bailey: 1983-2009

　　Genesis: 1988-2009

　　Giana: 1989-2009

　　Hailey: 1982-2009

　　Kaitlyn: 1983-2009

　　Katelyn: 1981-2009

　　Kaylee: 1984-2009

　　Madison: 1985-2009

　　Makayla: 1989-2009

　　1990s

　　Aaliyah: 1994-2009

　　Addison: 1994-2009

　　Brooklyn: 1990-2009

　　Camila: 1997-2009

　　Mya: 1997-2009

　　Payton: 1992-2009

　　Peyton: 1992-2009

　　Riley: 1990-2009

　　Serenity: 1997-2009

　　2000s

　　Khloe: 2006-2009

　　Nevaeh: 2001-2009

　　Tomorrow we’ll take a look at the boys’ list.