Popularity Contest

The list of the most popular baby names for 2006 is out, and once again, "Eric" takes a hit — down from 66 to 77. "Mary" also didn't do well, dropping 12 spots to 84. Sarah, my sister's name, stayed put at 15, and more importantly, soundly beat the H-less version. "John", my father's name, dropped a couple of slots to 20. "Caledonia", our cat's name, hasn't cracked the top 1000 ever. "Mary" and "John" are former number ones; the best "Eric" ever did was 13 for a 4-year stretch in the 1970s; and "Sarah" peaked at 3 in 1993.