I saw [this post](https://www.reddit.com/r/dataisbeautiful/comments/i8daoz/oc_most_popular_baby_girl_names_in_the_us_from/) and was rather interested at how this happens. The only thing I can think of is people naming their child after famous people (or infamous people, like the popularity of Monica nosediving in the mid 90’s).
Another example from the aforementioned post is ‘Jennifer’. That name was the most popular for nearly a decade until it suddenly disappeared in every state.
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People often pick a name that gets exposure in the media for some reason, e.g. “Megan”. After a while prospective parents find that there’s so many little Megans running around that it becomes the last thing they want to name their girl.
It’s just like any other fashion, once a trend becomes too popular it becomes untrendy.
Popular names often come from the popular media of the day. A popular movie or television show are common sources. It could be names of actors and actresses or names of the characters they portray. In any case, people who get really involved with a movie or show will often hold some affection for the names associated with it. And when they have a baby, those names will be more immediate in their mind.
These decisions are not made on a state-by-state basis. They are made on a child-by-child bases by the child’s parents. Those parents are exposed to popular culture, news events, and all sorts of cultural influences. Most of those influences are national, but some may be more regional.
One bad Monica or Adolf can spoil the name for many.
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