NameVoyager Analysis: The Flintstones Edition

There are a number of names that I (and, possibly, you) associate with cartoon characters, like Fred and Barney and Felix and Bert and Ernie (the latter two aren't cartoon characters, but you get the idea).

I don't think I ever knew a Fred or a Barney when I was growing up, but if one of them were in my class, I'm sure we'd be calling him Flintstone or Rubble.

Looking at the chart for Fred, it's no surprise that I didn't graduate with any.

If you were born at the end of the 19th century, only 14 names were more popular — as high as almost 7,000 Freds per million births — but by the 1940s the name dropped to a rank of 51 and continue to plunge before disappearing off the NameVoyager map by the end of the 20th century.

Fred's neighbor followed a similar yet weaker trajectory, dropping off by the 1980s.

Neither the reruns of the show, nor the brief popularity of Barney Miller, didn't give the Barney name any noticeable boost, alas.
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