The fastest-rising names for both girls and boys came from a pair of reality TV shows called “16 and Pregnant” and “Teen Mom.” Maci was the biggest riser among girls, jumping 423 spots to No. 232. Among boys, Bentley shot up 414 spots to No. 101.
Maci Bookout has starred as a teen mother on the MTV shows. Her baby’s name is Bentley.
Jacob and Isabella were the most popular names in 2010. Nevaeh, which is Heaven spelled backwards, was 25th.
To which I can only add, Emkcuf — which is Fuck me spelled backwards.
A long time ago I was developing a game show involving teenagers. We did our casting in big cattle calls, and drew a lot of the kids from the San Fernando Valley. It was more-or-less 17 years after “Charlie’s Angels” hit, and in almost every room of a hundred kids we’d have a Farrah.
I thought then and think still that this tendency to name people after TV characters indicates a big change in how we see the world. We used to name our children after heroes or ancestors, at least partially out of a sense of honor and the grandeur of time. Now we name them after TV characters, as a matter of fashion, as if naming a child were no more significant than picking a pair of shoes. (Somewhere, you know there are children named Manolo, right?) Maybe it’s no big deal, but it seems to me an indication of real hollowness at the American core.
Ridiculous names aside (and I’ve already created two name snobs in my house – whenever Mack hears a name that rings strange to him, he asks me, “Is that a soap opera name?”), the teen pregnancy shows are a serious problem.
It’s crazy – but I believe these stupid shows, which promise that a teenage girl can get all kids of money and attention if she has a baby – are undoing decades of work by health care workers. Teen pregnancy rates had been on a downward trajectory – but recent polls show that teenage girls now find motherhood to be an exciting new career opportunity. It’s really sad.