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The Tradition-Shattering Names of Rural White America : Namerology

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It has become a familiar part of America’s modern political narrative. The white, small-town experience is portrayed as the most traditional American experience. Some elevate it as an ideal, the model for returning the nation’s culture to an earlier, prouder time. Others see it as just one element of a broad, rich tapestry of equally authentic American experiences. Then there’s the perspective of baby names. According to names, white rural life is the least traditional corner of American culture. That’s the surprising conclusion of a review of name traditionalism across America. White, rural areas appear to have strayed the furthest from classic American naming. To measure traditionalism, I compared current name choices within each of the continental US states with nationwide naming trends 60 years earlier, in 1958. That year has been cited as a prototype by Americans who wish to turn back the culture clock with a white, small-town model. I based my comparison on boys’ names, since the

It has become a familiar part of America’s modern political narrative. The white, small-town experience is portrayed as the most traditional American experience. Some elevate it as an ideal, the model for returning the nation’s culture to an earlier, prouder time. Others see it as just one element of a broad, rich tapestry of equally authentic American experiences. Then there’s the perspective of baby names. According to names, white rural life is the least traditional corner of American culture. That’s the surprising conclusion of a review of name traditionalism across America. White, rural a

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