American monikers are becoming more original

A BABY’S name can affect his life profoundly. That was the reason a Tennessee judge gave for changing the name of a seven-month-old called Messiah, a name that the judge argued would have put him “at odds with a lot of people” in his mainly Christian home county. But young Messiah (who now goes by Martin) was by no means a one-off. According to data from the Social Security Administration, last year 762 babies in America were named Messiah, up from about 200 in 2005. In fact since the 1950s names have become less uniform across the board. Back then 76% of baby boys were given one of the 100 most popular names. Now the proportion is 43%. Immigrants, who bring different traditions and fresh spellings, are one reason. Living in big cities may force parents to search harder for names that stand out. Popular culture is another explanation: an outbreak of Tyrions, Neds, Sansas, and Aryas suggests that some parents are picking their children’s names from the television series “Game of Thrones”.