Red Room Where the Writers Are

"Author" was the 868th most popular baby name in 1880. There were forty-nine families who named their baby son "Author" during that decade, according to the Social Security Administration. No one named their baby girl Author.

The 1880s are as far back as these things are tracked on the Social Security website.  It's fascinating. You can see the progression of history reflected in the names. The Adolphs disappearing after WWII, the namesakes, the vogues, the values. My favorites are the names so stuck in time that they evoke instant recognition and nostalgia, like a sudden picture show of characters we met in old books written during a particular era, or they evoke movie heroines from old movies with names that seemed glamorous at the time but now sound like cleaning ladies (who were named after those movie heroines). Some names remind us of our great-grandparents. From Benedict and Rosamond to Manford and Gussie, you have to go look at these names at http://www.ssa.gov/OACT/babynames/decades/names1880s.html.

I searched the drop-down menu for more Authors. I checked the 1890s. None. the 1900s. None. The 1910s. None. the 1920s. None. Was it a fluke? Maybe those forty-nine families were all in one small town with something unusual going on? And then I searched the 1930s. A sudden resurgence of boys named Author! Barely making the list, at number 990 of the 1000 most popular baby names, but now due to a larger population, 244 boys named Author.

I checked every subsequent decade, including this one. No more Authors at all. Too bad, I think a little boy named Author would be adorable. So no girl Authors ever, I guess. But you know, that doesn't mean there weren't any. I would prefer to think there was a little girl somewhere named Author, but she was only one of very few, and didn't make the list, but she existed. Many modern women have normal names, and write, but are afraid to call themselves an "author" or they dream of being an "author." I wonder what Author would think of that. I wonder if she wrote. I wonder if she existed.

And before anyone asks, no, I am not looking for baby names because of reasons regarding the next generation of Madisons and Mertenses. I stumbled upon these esoteric tables because I needed a name that seemed authentic for a story I'm writing. All of this was because I'm a girl Author.