You want to name your baby something uncommon enough that she’s not the seventh Sarah in her class…but not so out there that she’s doomed to explain to her college roommates why her parents went with Portabella. If only there was a way to predict baby name trends—unfortunately, even researchers haven’t figured that one out.
But did you know there’s a theory that claims it can reveal what monikers will be the next big thing since Asa and Joel? It’s called the 100-Year Rule, and according to Australian baby name website Kidspot, it might be able to tell us what’s coming next.
The theory is simple: It takes 100 years for an old-fashioned name to cycle back into style. Given our collective love for vintage names, it seems totally plausible that this could hold true. (Anecdotally, for my own daughter born last year, I chose a name that in 1923 ranked just outside of the top 200. It then spent more than half a century unranked before returning to the top 1,000 in 2021.)
The Social Security Administration has yet to release its list of top-ranking names for 2023, but its data is searchable back to the 1880s. And among the top 200 most popular names from the 1920s, you’ll find classics like Henry (18), James (4) and Oliver (149) for boys; and Evelyn (12), Emma (59) and Nora (174) for girls.
