At the beginning of the week I pondered the question of which decade the current Top 100 is closest to in style. The stats are now in from 1904, 1914, 1924, 1934, 1944, 1954, 1964, 1974 and 1984, so let's take a closer look.
| Decade | % of boys names in Top 100 in 2009 | % of girls names in Top 100 in 2009 | % of boys names in Top 500 in 2009 | % of girls names in Top 500 in 2009 |
| 1904 | 28 | 25 | 56 | 54 |
| 1914 | 27 | 22 | 54 | 49 |
| 1924 | 24 | 16 | 53 | 40 |
| 1934 | 22 | 10 | 51 | 32 |
| 1944 | 21 | 5 | 54 | 21 |
| 1954 | 21 | 5 | 58 | 23 |
| 1964 | 17 | 7 | 56 | 27 |
| 1974 | 25 | 17 | 66 | 47 |
| 1984 | 36 | 25 | 77 | 65 |
Overall, the Top 100 for 1984 is closest to the rankings for 2009, when many current favourites such as Adam, Jamie, Joshua, Amy, Chloe, Jessica were rediscovered. For most new parents, these names represent their contemporaries and childhood. Your best friend, the name of a childhood doll, the most popular boy in school or the name of a character from your favourite cartoon growing up.
If we take the 80s out of the pile -- as clearly, we are still hanging on to several favourites from that era -- 1904 actually has the most overall comparison to 2009, especially for girls names, followed by 1914. There is clearly something to be said for the Four Generations rule and current speculation about turn-of-the-last-century trends. Names from your parents' generation are "stuffy", grandparents names are "old", but great-granddad is starting to look cool again.
