Re.: Brittany and other names...

[Millie Webb]

I have never seen the movie Splash (and don't plan to!).  And I know most of
the people I would ask who have children named Madison would never say they
used it because of Splash.  It is a theory though!  Started because of that
movie, and then actually caught on several years later?  Which year's list
is it in second place on?  (That movie must have come out at the latest in
1987 or so?)  I certainly don't hear it in teenagers so far, just in
children under about 10.

> The explosion of "Madison" as a name for girls (it's now in 2d place
> on the list) has been attributed not to the town of Madison, WI but
> to the mermaid character played by Darryl Hannah in the movie
> "Splash".  In the movie, she is walking (yes, she could walk,
> although I forget exactly how) in NYC with the Tom Hanks character,
> who she's previously saved from drowning and who she ends up falling
> in love with and vice versa, when Hanks asks her what her name is.
> Of course she doesn't have a (human) name but can't admit this, and
> looks up and sees the Madison Avenue street sign, so she immediately
> says her name is Madison.  (I assume that both Madison, WI and
> Madison Avenue were named after James Madison.)  Curiously, the #3
> name for girls is Hannah, so that was evidently a very influential
> movie for parents.   :)
>
> Larry
>