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Baby names

21st Mar 2019

The surprising factor that could determine your choice of baby name

What do you think, mama?

Keeley Ryan

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There are plenty of places that parents turn to for inspiration when it comes time to pick a name for their little one.

Family, friends, celebrities – sometimes even television or movie characters.

But it turns out there may be something else that’s influencing baby name choices: the stock market.

Alan Hall, a senior analyst at the Socioeconomic Institute, examined trends in baby names and the stock market data over the last 70 years.

He found that parents tended to name their kids differently depending on the collective mood of society at the time.

So when the stock market was doing well and people felt more positive and secure, they gave their little ones more unique names.

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Meanwhile, when the stock market was down and people felt more disheartened, parents were more likely to stick to the traditional names.

During a recent interview with The John and Heidi Show, he explained:

“What you see is that from about 1880 to 2007, parents increasingly gave their children less common names, which suggests a growing interest in uniqueness and individualism.