Joe the Unabrewer linked to this nifty Baby Name Wizard NameVoyager. WARNING: Java may crash your browser. However, despite the technical difficulties, the site is a lot of fun and lets you track the popularity of names through the last 100 years. Of course, the first thing anyone does is look up their own name.

Let's just say that I wasn't shocked that "Kristin" reached the height of its popularity in the early to mid-70s. My junior year in college I lived with two other Kristins and a Chrissy. Among our group of friends were two other Chrissys and a Kirsten. Suffice it to say, we looked for people to introduce ourselves to. We made their heads spin.

After checking myself out, I wanted to figure out why certain names gained or dropped in popularity. For example, Adolf was popular in the 1900s and 10s and then dropped like a rock. Hmmm, I wonder why? Similarly, Kobe shot up in the 90s and early 00s, but I expect that nurseries aren't exactly overflowing with little Kobes today.

Some names are popularized by world events. I noticed that kids were being named Monserrat following that island's volcanic eruptions in the 90s. It makes you wonder if Tsunami will be the choice of hip, but tasteless, parents this year?

I think lots of parents find names from soap operas. The emergance of Ashley in the 80s coincides nicely with The Young and the Restless' character Ashley Abbot. Harley started getting popular for girls when Guiding Light introduced their heroine Harley Davidson Cooper in the late 1980s.

Even politics can be an inspiration. James pointed out that Patricia peaked in popularity right around the time that Patricia Nixon was in the spotlight. First daughters get lots of namesakes. Amy was the second most popular name in the 1970s. Chelsea skyrocketed in popularity after Clinton's election, and even Jenna has been on the rise since 2000.

On the other hand, guess what name went from being the 290th ranked name for girls in the 90s to not even being in the top 1000 in 2003.