"Upset" & other nomenological phenomena

[Dave Wilton]

> Since I grew up in the era of Joseph Stalin and Adolf Hitler (among
> others), I most certainly recall that the adults around me said
> "Adolf" much more frequently than "Joseph." For some reason, the
> latter was always "Joe." (Of course, last name only mentions were by
> far the most frequent.)
>
> dInIs
>
> >         "Adolf" forms a real-life example of a name tarred by
> >too-close association with a single figure.  The associational
> >problem seems to arise whenever a name has become closely associated
> >with an actual or imaginary figure and parents consider that the
> >association would be embarrassing for their child.  It doesn't have
> >to be a negative association; it's been said that there is only one
> >Aretha.  Note that the name must be distinctive; "Joseph" is still
> >freely used, in spite of Joseph Stalin.

The relative frequency of the name's appearance before the famous
association certainly has something to do with it. Adolf, Aretha, Lolita,
and Sherlock were all relatively rare (for Adolf this is true in the
English-speaking world). Hence the negative (or positive in Aretha's case)
association swamps the ordinary usage. In the case of Joseph, the name is so
ubiquitous, that even someone as evil as Uncle Joe wouldn't ruin the name.

According to the 1990 census, 0.006% of women in the US were named Aretha.
It is 1260th in popularity, out of 4,275, right after Una and right before
Pearline. Lolita ranks at #969, with 0.009%. The top ten female names
account for 10.703% of the population.

For males, Adolf and Sherlock don't make the list. (Adolfo is 567th out of
1219; the list only goes to the 90th percentile, so 10% of the population
have names that are not listed.) Joseph is #9 with 1.404% of US males having
that name. Joe is #51 at 0.321%. (The ranking is based on data as reported
on the census forms; many of these "Joes" would have "Joseph" on their birth
certificates.) The top ten male names account for 23.185% of the population.

>From http://www.census.gov/genealogy/names/ which gives the frequency of the
appearance of names in the US (1990 Census).