This week, for her Nameberry 9, Appellation Mountain‘s Abby Sandel picks the newsiest names on the boys’ side of the gender divide.

Midway through compiling this week’s list, I realized just how many great boys’ names are out there.

This is a subject of some debate.  Creativity in naming a son was long frowned on, and parents tended to fall back on the most familiar choices.  In 1900, more than 6% of all newborns were named John, while just 5.25% answered to Mary.  #2 name, William, was given to almost 5.3% of boys, but the #2 girl name, Helen, represented just under 2% of new births.  The names change, but the pattern holds.  In 1965, 4.3% of boys were Michael, and 3.3% of girls answered to Lisa.  Generally speaking, more boys receive the most popular names.

Reasons are plentiful, and even the most daring namer of daughters may very well veer towards the classics for a son, leading to sibsets like James, Henry, and Persephone.  But could this be the generation to challenge that pattern?

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