US NameVoyager

The Baby Name Wizard: NameVoyager

This is one slick site. It shows you the popularity of about 5000 baby names in the US since the 1880's. It requires Java, and is well worth a look. I need to look into how they did the site - that is really nice.

"Explore the sea of names, letter by letter...watch trends rise and fall, and dive in deeper to see your favorite name's place in the historical tides.

The Baby Name Wizard's NameVoyager is an interactive portrait of America's name choices. Start with a "sea" of nearly 5000 names. Type a letter, and you'll zoom in to focus on how that initial has been used over the past century. Then type a few more letters, or a name. Each stripe is a timeline of one name, its width reflecting the name's changing popularity. If a name intrigues you, click on its stripe for a closer look."