Aiden vs. Finn

I looked at the latest SSA name list and took the rankings of [name]Aiden[/name] and [name]Finn[/name] from the past 15 years, and plotted them in a simple Excel XY graph (yes - I had a BLAST getting geeky on this one!!)

The slopes of their trajectories are NOT that different. In other words, [name]Finn[/name] is gaining in popularity almost as fast as [name]Aiden[/name] did. By my graph, [name]Finn[/name] could reach the same popularity in 2014.

Granted, this doesn’t take into account different spellings of [name]Aiden[/name] which increase it’s popularity BUT there are many more names that will use [name]Finn[/name] as a nickname (ie. [name]Griffin[/name], [name]Finnian[/name], [name]Finnegan[/name], etc).

SO. I’m curious: [name]Finn[/name] is a VERY popular name on this website. And I know this website didn’t exist when [name]Aiden[/name] was gaining in popularity BUT:

For those of you who were searching out name info 10 years ago, was there the same buzz about [name]Aiden[/name]? Or did the web resources simply not exist then?

Thoughts?

Yes, [name]Finn[/name] is at the top of my list for many reasons (esp. since it is equally Irish and Danish which is what we want since I’m Danish and my Husband is Irish; and it sounds good with our last name and middle name choices) BUT I am clearly hesitant about it’s rising popularity. I HATE HATE HATE running into another person with my name.

ps. This was an easy exercise to do in MS Excel if you want to see for yourself!

Wow, that is very interesting! I’m not at all surprised, I’ve been hearing [name]Finn[/name] all over the place. It’s a shame, it’s SUCH a nice name! I wasn’t researching anything 10 years ago, so I have no insight for you… but I would actually be shocked if [name]Finn[/name] DIDN’T get super popular! Your info alone is enough to make me not use the name, even though it’s one that I would consider.

P.S. Is your real name [name]Moxie[/name]? I ask because it’s one of my favorites, [name]Moxie[/name] Crimefighter is my favorite celebrity baby name, and was my screen name on everything for a really long time.

This is very interesting indeed and given that [name]Linda[/name] and I have been writing about and analyzing names for over 20 years, I can attest that [name]Aiden[/name] (mostly in its “real” form, [name]Aidan[/name]) was indeed at about the same place a decade ago that [name]Finn[/name] is now. I love [name]Finn[/name] too, but I think it has almost more potential than [name]Aiden[/name]/[name]Aidan[/name] to rise to the top: Simpler, based on a great hero, no unpleasant AIDS association. [name]Aidan[/name] got a big boost from Sex in the City and [name]Finn[/name] is also prime for adoption for a hunky TV hero – ever notice how they all get names that in real life are used only for babies?

[name]Pam[/name], thanks for the insight. I think it has more potential too.

This is where I need to seriously consider my love of the name [name]Finn[/name] with my need for a unique name for my son.

I try to remember that it may just be MY need. My husband has an extremely common name and I don’t think it bothers him. And even though my name was top 10 for my birth decade I’ve never actually shared a class with another [name]Nicole[/name], and only have in my extended workplace, where a much wider age ranges mingle together.

There comes a point where if you love a name, you use that name, regardless of what’s going on around you. But am I at that point?

ps. No, [name]Moxie[/name] was the name of my sweet kitty who died 2 weeks ago. [name]Moxie[/name] WAS on my name list but I figured my husband would never go for it so we used it for the kitten. After [name]Moxie[/name] died, I asked my husband about it and he said he would have totally gone for it for a daughter: [name]Moxie[/name] [name]Marie[/name]. So sad. Now not only have I lost the best cat ever, but I have also lost that name…we can’t use it or else friends and family will think we’re naming the kid after our cat! I miss her. She was the epidomy of the name: a 5 pd. kitten who took swipes at our 65 pd. boxer and climbed on our boxer’s back.