If You Have One of These Names, You’re More Likely to Have a Baby Next Year
For better or worse, there are a lot of things that people use to predict pregnancies these days, including legit biological factors, if your last name is Kardashian, and what you’re buying at Target (remember when the retailer discovered a girl was pregnant before her father did? That was… awkward). UK’s Closer Magazine has found another way, using a woman’s first name.
Last year, when Closer listed the 20 names of women most likely to have a baby in 2017, let’s just say a lot of Jessicas had some explaining to do. Naturally, Closer repeated the study for 2018, so get ready to throw your British BFF Emma a baby shower next year.
In order to come up with this “scientific” conclusion, Closer used the average age of first-time mothers in the UK: 28.6 years old. They then calculated back from 2018 to the year in which those women would have been born (1989-1990) and found the most popular girls’ names in those years. Emma topped the list, followed by Laura, Sarah, Stephanie, and Kirsty.
If we apply the same logic in the US, based on recent data from the CDC, the average age of first-time mothers is around 28. Now, looking at Social Security data, the 20 most popular names in 1990 (based on Social Security card applications at birth) were as follows:
1. Jessica
2. Ashley
3. Brittany
4. Amanda
5. Samantha
6. Sarah
7. Stephanie
8. Jennifer
9. Elizabeth
10. Lauren
11. Megan
12. Emily
13. Nicole
14. Kayla
15. Amber
16. Rachel
17. Courtney
18. Danielle
19. Heather
20. Melissa
The CDC also reports that the average age of a first-time mother has increased over the years, and for the first time, women in their 30s are now having more babies than women in their 20s. Even if we build a few years into the above, the two most popular girls’ names from 1985-1990 are still Jessica and Ashley.
We know — there are, obviously, a million caveats involved here. This is a very basic numbers game and doesn’t account for a woman’s preferences, health, life choices, or if they are actually trying to have a baby. Also, regardless of names, you shouldn’t need someone else to tell you if you are pregnant or not (unless that person is your doctor). But it’s still fun to see the results, and to all the Jessicas out there, we have plenty of baby shower and unique baby name ideas. You know, just in case you need them next year.
Is your name on this list? Let us know your thoughts on the results @BritandCo.
(Photo via Getty)