(Anthropology) How does nearly every US state’s “most popular name” change from “Name X” to “Name Y” within only a year?

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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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Anonymous 0 Comments

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.

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