Dynamics of fashion: The case of given names

TL;DR

This paper models the rise and fall of given names as a fashion-like process driven by imitation and inhibition, using an activator-inhibitor model to explain historical naming trends in Quebec.

Contribution

It introduces a novel dynamical model that captures the social mechanisms behind naming popularity fluctuations over time.

Findings

The model accurately fits historical data from Quebec.

Name popularity exhibits characteristic rise and fall patterns.

Imitation and inhibition dynamics explain naming trends.

Abstract

We analyze the social mechanisms that shape the popularity rise and fall of the names given to newborn babies. During the initial stage, popularity increases by imitation. As the people with the same name grow in number, however, its usage is inhibited and eventually decays. This process mirrors the dynamics of fashion fads. An activator-inhibitor dynamical model for the interplay of the population bearing a name and the expecting couples wishing to give it to their children provides a satisfactory explanation of historical data from the Canadian province of Quebec during the twentieth century.