I know [name]Henry[/name] is getting really popular. I keep calming myself but saying it’s classic not trendy, but really, how popular do you think it’s becoming? Am I going to faint when I see the SSA rankings in [name]May[/name]? Anybody have any predictions?
Well, what goes around usually comes around, and about 127 years ago, [name]Henry[/name] was a top 10 name. He was just out of the top 10 100 years ago and 40 years ago he was barely out of the top 100. 15 years ago, he made his turnaround, rising, instead of falling. And he hasn’t looked back since! [name]Henry[/name] jumps or sinks a little bit, 5 to 10 points a year, on average. Since he’s on an upswing, I’d expect a maybe 5 point rise which would put [name]Henry[/name] at # 89 for 2008. I’m pretty comfortable saying that. [name]Henry[/name]'s lovely and deserves a comeback. Mind you, that 91 is already too popular for me, so [name]Henry[/name] goes in the middle for me. He was one of his grandpops but even with that family connection, far too popular for my liking. Middle spot only.
Last year, the number of Henrys increased by 8.8%. If that happens again this year, then that would give almost 5500 Henrys, placing it around #85 - 6 places above where it was last year. The previous year (2006) [name]Henry[/name] increased by 11%, as it increased by less in 2007 then it may go down to an increase of 5ish%, which would still place it around #85/6.
[name]Henry[/name]'s increases in popularity have not been steady (eg it hasn’t gone 1%, 2%, 3%, 4% etc.) and I can’t think of anything in the last year that would have really pushed [name]Henry[/name] up to being in the public consciousness (eg [name]Addison[/name], [name]Miley[/name]) so I doubt that it will have a dramatic increase this year.
What [name]Henry[/name]'s done since 2000:
Year No. of births % increase
2007 5052 8.81
2006 4643 11.56
2005 4162 6.69
2004 3901 12.97
2003 3453 4.10
2002 3317 4.24
2001 3182 2.28
2000 3111 7.02
I hope that hasn’t baffled you with maths (and anyone please tell me if I messed up my calculations!). Basically, I doubt [name]Henry[/name] is going to rush up the popularity charts this year.
I don’t think [name]Henry[/name] is going to make it to the top ten. If you just adore it more than any other boy’s name, use it. You can always call him [name]Hank[/name] or [name]Harry[/name] as a nickname. [name]Henry[/name] is an amazingly gorgeous name!