Some names never seem to go out of style, like David or Emily. Some never really catch on. Not many girls are named Laurel, even fewer are named lauryl sulfate. And now a study in the May 5th issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences shows that the faster a name gains in popularity, the more rapidly it falls.

一些名字似乎一直沒有過時，比如大衛或艾米麗；一些名字則從未變得流行起來，沒有太多女孩被起名為勞瑞爾，叫“勞瑞”或“索菲特”的就更少了。發表在5月5號出版的《美國科學院院報》上的一項研究表明，一個名字流行開來的速度越快，它被人忘記的速度也越快。

The authors were interested in why products or cultural phenomena die out. Are they displaced by the Next Big Thing? Or do they fade away, leaving behind a void that has to be filled by something. Well, one cultural taste that’s easy to catalogue is what we name our kids. So the researchers looked at the popularity of baby names in France and the US over the past 100 years. And they found that names that enjoy a meteoric rise—Madison and Brittany come to mind—fall from the charts just as quick.

研究者們對一種產品或文化現象消亡背后的原因非常感興趣，它們是被新的事物取代了？還是自身逐漸消失，留下亟待填補的空白？我們知道，人們怎樣命名他們的孩子體現了一種文化趣味，而這種現象又很容易被統計分析，所以研究者們就統計了過去一百年法國和美國兩地新生兒名字的流行度，他們發現名字（比如麥迪遜或布列塔尼）的流行就像流星，來得快去的也快。

The scientists also asked expectant couples what names they’d consider inflicting on their children. And found that most parents tend to avoid names they feel are too “faddish,” ones that became overnight sensations, like Kristi and Cody. So those names soon disappear. Which could mean that the world may be safe from Cody Juniors.

研究者們也詢問了準爸爸媽媽們將如何命名他們的孩子，發現這些夫婦并不打算給自己的孩子取太過時興的名字，就好比“克里斯特”“科迪”這樣一夜之間流行起來的。這樣，那些名字也會很快消失。這可能意味著，將來不會有太多叫科迪?朱尼爾的人了。

（英語點津Jennifer編輯）

相關閱讀：

擺在桌上的盆景充電器

牛奶補鈣只是神話？

胖人對環境危害更大

戴口罩能預防豬流感嗎？