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Media Names the Babies?


baby names.JPGWhen I was born, the name Meredith was so unusual that people, when they heard it, looked at my mother funny. One older woman scrunched her nose up and said, “Why would you saddle a little girl with that?”

Mom says she had to bite her tongue to keep from saying, “Well, Mrs. Mudd, I hardly think you’re the one to question me.”

Ha. But I digress.

I was the only Meredith I’d ever known until I was 19 and went to the East Coast. Nowadays the name is fairly common—but not nearly as common as Isabella and Jacob, 2009’s most popular baby names.

Jacob and Isabella have been popular for years, of course, but there was a spike in Isabella’s popularity this year, and some experts say it was because of the Twilight series. It seems the werewolf and gloomy teenage girl may be impacting new parents.

What’s more, the name Cullen, the prime player in Stephanie Meyers’ vampire books (and, maybe more importantly right now, movies) rocketed up 297 spots in the past year and is now the 485th most popular baby name. That is definitely a Twilight effect.

I can see it now: a kindergarten classroom full of 10 brooding Bellas, eight hairy Jacobs and one Cullen who shimmers in sunlight. But hang in there, Cullen! At this rate when you turn 19, maybe just your sparkles will turn heads, and not your name.