Can someone explain Nameberry to me?

[AnnieW625]

I am not having another baby.

I reading Huffington Post yesterday and this website Nameberry (www.nameberry.com) came up and stated that Imogen was now a top girls name. I just don't get it. I mean I haven't met a kid named Imogen or even heard the name since Imogene Coca played in one version of Alice In Wonderland I watched as a kid as the cook (the Alice movie with Scott Baio and Red Buttons and whole host of others from the mid 80s). I just don't get it. Can someone explain this to me? It just seems soo weird.

[elbenn]

I know a child named Imogen. Her nickname is Immy.

[Jacksmommy2b]

It is funny isn't it? Jackson is high on the list and we don't know any other Jacks. We also know of only one Aiden (who lives across the country) and one Braiden. But we know three Luke's (all under a year!) and six Logans!

I think location plays a lot into also!

[BabyBearsMom]

The Nameberry list on Huffpost right now is based on clicks, i.e. how many times people look up the name on their site, not the frequency that the name is used for the children. Typically this list shows names that will be becoming popular in the next few years but not the names of this year.

[buttercup]

I've no idea but i LOVE that name!

[queenmama]

I love the site. But then I have a baby called Agnes and a teen called Henry. :p

Henry has an Imogen ("Immy" ) in his 8th grade class, but she's from England.

ETA: we do not live in a hipster-centric area, unless you consider Podunk, Missouri super cool.

[Melaine]

I believe it because I *swear* when I chose DD2's name, it was NOT popular and now it is like in the top 5. I think it is regional and my region is usually behind (in more ways than one).

[rin]

If you want to know the names that parents are actually giving to their children, for the US you can visit the Social Security website (http://www.ssa.gov/oact/babynames/), where they track all the names given to American babies for the past 150 years or so. Like a PP said, Nameberry is registering the number of clicks, so it's how many times people (worldwide) click on the page for information about a name. That's why Merida/Katniss/etc are so high; I don't think many people are naming their girls Merida or Katniss, but people have never heard the name so they're looking it up.

[candaceb]

A kid I used to babysit has a daughter named Imogen. She is about a year old and they live in NYC. He is some sort of hotshot banker. That's the only Imogen I know of and I was just discussing her name with my mom a couple of weeks ago.

[hellokitty]

I know someone who named her dd Imogen. I agree with Rin, that if you want to see what ppl are really naming their kids, go to the ssa.gov site. I clicked on a lot of names I would never have named my kids, just out of interest and curiosity when I was looking for baby names.

[AnnieW625]

Oh yeah I know about the SSA database. In 2009 when we were thinking of names for baby 2 Genevieve was our girl name, now 4 yrs. later I am hearing it more. I definitely think naming is regional. When naming DD2 I loved the name Madison (have since I was a kid), but DH and others here (http://windsorpeak.com/vbulletin/showthread.php?350235-what-do-you-think-of-when-you-hear-the-name-Madison&highlight=Madison) thought it was way too trendy. Madison hasn't been a top 10 name in a good 7-10 yrs. in CA, and recently DH even said he likes the name and we could have named DD2 that:shrug: Madison is still in the top 10 in the Midwest and the south iirc.

Old school names like Harper and Hazel are popular in my area and along with Everly and Finn (for boy or girl) are popular here.

[crayonblue]

I have a great aunt named Imogen. Never met anyone younger than 80+ with that name.