It’s a HUGE responsibility giving someone a name, and I don’t think you realize this until you’re pregnant.  Or, at least I didn’t.

Just agreeing on a name can be tough.  I know everyone has said,

“Yeah, I knew a real jerk named Bob*, we’re not going with Bob*.” 

(* Fill in any possible name in the world) 

Family names are cool.  And old-fashioned names are making a comeback.  But they always are, aren’t they?  We have a neighbor named Harriet, and her granddaughter is Harriet too, they call her ‘Haddy’.  Neighbors down the street gave their 2 kids the same monogram.  We have another little neighbor named Jasper (it’s old-fashioned AND a family name, it turns out). 

Don’t believe me about old-fashioned names? Check out the Social Security website!  Yes, that social security.  The Social Security Administration has a part of their website devoted solely to the popularity of names!!!

Click Here to Continue Reading at DC Metro Moms-

I  was watching an NCAA tournament game the other night and the cameras panned over to an older gentleman in the stands, a former basketball player, named Kermit…  I stopped paying attention to the commentators at that point and my mind wandered (as it does quite frequently)…

‘… Kermit, you never hear that name anymore, except for the Frog.  Actually, I’ve never met anyone named Kermit.  It probably was never a REALLY popular name, but I bet Kermit the Frog killed it.’

So I looked it up- and I was right.

Kermit, of Irish and Gaelic origin, hit the height of it’s popularity in 1909.  And held steady,

until 1955- when Kermit The Frog was created.

Since 1955, and as Kermit The Frog’s popularity grew, naming a son Kermit has consistently dropped in popularity.  And since 1980 it does not even show up in the top 1,000 baby names.

I’ve lived in the DC area pretty much my whole life, and it’s pretty diverse, but I’ve never met a Kermit.

Kermit The Frog, we love you… but you inadvertently screwed any parents who wanted to name their son after their ‘Old Irish Grandfather, Kermit’ or ‘That Cool Uncle Kermit from the Old Country’.