Surrounded by Heather

Mike Doughty may have gone to school with 27 Jennifers, but in my workplace I’ve discovered that I’m surrounded by Heather — the name that is. I’d say that the median age in my workplace is somewhere around 31, which should provide some clues regarding the prominance of the aforementioned name. According to the Social Security Administration, the name Heather was in the top-20 for baby names between 1970 and 1990. In 1980, the birth year of the median-aged employee, Heather was at number 6.

By contrast, Heather was ranked number 685 in 2010. One can only hope that the outbreak of Heather has abated.