You know when you discover a “unique” baby name you love—the one that you think would be just *SO* perfect for your baby? And you know that feeling of discovering that the special name you adore is actually atop the year’s “most popular baby names list?” Yeah, us too. Looking at you, Ella and Oliver. Every generation has its baby name trends. But data scientist David Taylor studied the U.S. Social Security list of baby names for every year since 1880 and discovered the single trendiest baby name in American history. Are you ready for it?. . .

Linda.

The name Linda, which started trending upwards in the late 1930s, became the single ‘trendiest’ in U.S. history because of its fast and intense rise from obscurity to the height of baby name popularity. At the height of the craze in the late 1940s, more than 5% of all baby girls born in the U.S. were named “Linda” each year. If you have a 65-year-old aunt, mother, neighbor or coworker named Linda, then this is your cue to remind her of just how trendy she is. As Brit + Co notes—
The rise was attributed to the success of a 1946 Jack Lawrence song , “Linda,” named after the singer’s attorney’s then one-year-old daughter, who later went on to marry Beatle Paul McCartney.
Linda. It’s a simple, beautiful name that means, “soft, tender” and “beautiful.” What’s not to love? Aunt Linda, you so trendy. [Originally published November 18, 2017]
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