Probably didn’t take long. There are an estimated 4.1 million of them alive in America right now, more people than the city of Los Angeles.

Michael was the most popular boys’ name in America for 44 of the last 100 years. In its peak years, more than 5% of all male births carried it. One name. One in twenty boys. You couldn’t walk into a classroom, a bar, an office without finding one.

Jennifer did the same for girls. Then Jessica. Then Emily, 13 years at the top. In each era, one name absorbed a disproportionate share of the country’s collective imagination and held it. Parents were participating in something gravitational.

But that world is gone.

In 1925, Mary accounted for 5.6% of all girls born in America. Jennifer peaked at 3.4% in the 1970s. Today, Olivia, the most popular girl’s name, accounts for just 0.8%.

For boys, Michael once commanded 4.8% of all births. Today Liam, sitting at #1, takes about 1.2%.

The top 10 boys’ names combined once covered 25.6% of all male births. The top 10 girls’ names covered 21.4%. Today those figures are 7.4% and 6.5%.

Nearly 30% of babies born in America now receive names that don’t crack the top 1,000.

The playground test is broken. Shouting a name across a schoolyard and watching heads turn doesn’t work anymore. The internet didn’t just fragment culture. It fragmented naming. Instead of a few dominant names, we now have thousands of smaller ones.

We have never, in recorded American history, been less uniform in what we name our children.

Names used to move through American culture the same way everything else did: slowly and together. A handful of television shows, a shared radio dial, a few national magazines. Trends traveled in wide, predictable waves. When a name caught on, it caught on everywhere.

But the internet shattered that dynamic.

Today culture splinters into thousands of overlapping communities, each with their own celebrities, aesthetics, and influences. Naming followed the same path.

Subscribe now

Which is why what happened next is one of the most interesting stories in modern American naming data.

In 1990, a name sat at rank #228 with 1,296 births across the entire United States. It wasn’t obscure, but it wasn’t a powerhouse; it was a name people recognized from the Bible but had largely moved on from.

Then something shifted.

In 1995 it had cracked the top 100.

By 1996 the top 50.

Three years later it broke the top 25.

Ten years after that in 2009, the top 10.

And finally in 2013, it was #1, dethroning Jacob after 13 consecutive years at the top.

The name?

Noah.

I should know. I’m one of them.

All of this during the period of maximum naming fragmentation in American history. While the consensus mechanism was collapsing around every other name, Noah continued to climb.

And not at a slow pace.

Since losing the top spot in 2017, Noah has held #2 every single year without exception. In 2024, 20,337 boys were named Noah. That is not near the all-time peak. That is the all-time peak, set seven years after relinquishing #1. That same year, it dethroned Liam as New York City’s #1 boys’ name, a title Liam had held since 2016.

The estimated 503,000 living Americans named Noah are almost entirely under 30. Still entering school. Still entering workforces. Still building the social fabric of this country. And if you were hoping the name’s cultural saturation had peaked, on the contrary: it’s only just begun.

By 2030, Noah will be the most common name in entry-level offices, college rosters, and Slack channels. Every HR department in America will have one. Every Little League team. Every warehouse. Every Teams call.

It’s already happening in public life. In everything, everywhere, all at once.

Start with the original.

Noah Wyle is 54. Thirty years after debuting as Dr. John Carter on “ER,” the role that lit the fuse, he’s still the most relevant Noah in Hollywood. “The Pitt” won Outstanding Drama Series at the 2025 Emmys. Wyle won Lead Actor, his first acting Emmy win after seven career nominations. His acceptance speech closed with a tribute to healthcare workers: “If anybody is going on shift tonight or coming off shift tonight, thank you for being in that job. This is for you.”

Then the flood hits.

Noah Schnapp anchored “Stranger Things,” Noah Centineo became Netflix’s rom-com face, and Noah Beck turned a TikTok following into an acting career and is now a series regular on Fox’s “Baywatch” reboot.

Noah Eagle has become the fastest-rising voice in American broadcasting, following his father Ian, one of the most respected in the business. He’s called the Super Bowl on Nickelodeon, Team USA basketball at the Paris Olympics, and NBC’s primetime college football package. Sports Emmy winner. All before turning 30.

In sports, Noah Lyles is the fastest man on earth. Olympic 100-meter gold medalist at Paris 2024. Eight-time world champion. Born in 1997. In a sport built entirely on speed, he even beat Speed.

And then there’s Noah Kahan. Also born in 1997, one of the defining musical voices of his generation. “Stick Season” became a multi-platinum global phenomenon. Two-time Grammy nominee. Headlining festivals and stadiums. A Netflix documentary, “Out of Body,” premiering this April. He’s not emerging. He has arrived.

From the man who started it all to the generation he helped create, Noahs are at the top of film, television, music, broadcasting and track simultaneously. That’s not a coincidence. That’s a generation coming of age.

So what drove it?

Three things, arriving perfectly in sequence, over thirty years.

First: Television.

“ER” debuted on September 19, 1994, and quickly became the second most-watched show in America after “Seinfeld.” One of its leads was Noah Wyle, playing the beloved Dr. John Carter. While audiences fell in love with Wyle on screen, his name slowly grew to mean more to would-be future parents. And nobody consciously registered it. In 1993, Noah ranked #203. By 1996 it was at #50. A 150-rank jump in three years. All thanks to one man on one show.

Second: Culture.

Noah didn’t rise alone. It rode a broader Old Testament wave. Joshua had been a top-5 staple since 1983. Jacob hit #1 in 1999 and held it for 13 years. Elijah and Isaiah climbed steadily through the 2000s. Evangelical Christianity’s expansion through the ‘80s and ‘90s created a decade-long runway for names that felt grounded and ancient. Noah was positioned perfectly on that runway, with one advantage the others didn’t have: everybody already knew his story. Noah's Ark is one of the most universally recognized biblical narratives in the world, belonging to Christians, Jews and Muslims alike. No other name in the top 10 carries that range. Noah has ranked near the top of naming charts across Europe and North America for more than a decade, and has remained in the US top 10 for 17 consecutive years.

Third: Ryan Gosling.

“The Notebook” came out in June 2004. Noah ranked #29. Two years later, #15. Four thousand additional births. The timing speaks for itself. Ryan Gosling’s Noah Calhoun was working class, loyal, and quietly strong. He built a house with his hands and wrote love letters every day for a year. That character became the measuring stick for an entire generation of soon-to-be parents for what a good man looked like.

Underneath all three: the name itself. Two syllables. Meaning “rest,” “repose” or “comfort.” Nickname-proof. It works the same in English, Spanish, French, Arabic, and Hebrew. And it doesn’t date itself the way almost every other name does. Michael sounds mid-century. Brandon sounds like the ‘80s. Tyler the ‘90s. Noah sounds like it could belong to anyone, born in any year, carrying any ambition.

That’s why it’s still here.

The names we give our children are never just names.

They’re a signal. A hope. A quiet vote for the kind of person we want them to become.

Michael was a name for an era of certainty, when culture moved in mass and one name could speak for millions. Jennifer did the same for girls. She peaked at 3.4%, dominated a decade, then disappeared from the top five entirely. One era, one name, then gone.

Noah achieved generational significance in an era where the top name owns barely 1%.

These are not the same.

Noah didn’t have the tailwind of monoculture. It won in spite of fragmentation. It climbed through a landscape actively fighting against any single name becoming dominant, reached the top anyway, and has kept climbing.

A name for the era we’re actually in.

An era of fracture and a thousand parallel choices. And yet, Noah achieved a miracle: a generational verdict from a jury that couldn’t agree on the time of day.

That’s not the new Michael.

That’s grit.

20,337 boys named Noah in 2024. The name’s current all-time high, set seven years after losing #1. Zero signs of slowing down.

I’m one of 503,000+. Consider this your warning.

If you don’t No-ah Guy yet...

You will.

1. psychological manipulation of a person usually over an extended period of time that causes the victim to question the validity of their own thoughts, perception of reality, or memories and typically leads to confusion, loss of confidence and self-esteem

2. the act or practice of grossly misleading someone especially for one's own advantage

The 2024 United States Presidential election - aka reality TV on steroids - consistently features high stakes for the American people:

• “The most important election of our lifetimes” - a phrase used to emotionally motivate voters for over 200 years.

• “Democracy is on the ballot” yet again.

• The Republican candidate is labeled as a “fascist”, continuing a tradition that’s been ongoing since 1964.

Emotional drivers, specifically fear, have unfortunately become a leading driver for the Democratic Party. Regardless of the opponent, there’s been a consistent focus over the last 16 years toward pathos-oriented messaging compared to highlighting their candidate’s logistical strengths. Even the Obama campaign, which was primarily centered around hope and change, also strategically included a dose of fear-mongering - that the 2012 Republican Presidential nominee would, “drag America back to a dark past”.

Sound familiar? If the current, “we’re not going back” being run by the Harris campaign rings a bell, it should: it was utilized 14 years ago in 2010 by Obama during the midterms.

Beyond using the same playbook to get voters motivated via what they feel vs what logically makes sense, the modern-day (2020 & 2024) campaigns have resorted to full-blown deception at levels not previously seen.

Here’s an ongoing list of some of the misinformation being pushed:

Project 2025:

Despite the Republican Nominee’s disavowal, noted here, here, and here - there are still ads & stories being run to manipulate voters into thinking that it is something that would be implemented should Harris lose.

This is blatantly false. And they know it. The Vice President herself repeated these falsehoods during the debate last month. The actual policy agenda that would be implemented in the event of a Harris loss would be Agenda 47. Why push something that has been disavowed?

National Abortion Ban:

Abortion, understandably, is one of the most important issues in 2024. The current messaging about what would happen in regards to reproductive freedom, however, should Harris lose, is largely based on the above - Project 2025.

The Republican Nominee has clearly stated that he would not sign a federal abortion ban and then going even further on X (fka Twitter) that he would, “VETO” a national abortion ban. Should abortion be left up to the states and voted upon (as done so already in states such as Kansas, Michigan, and Ohio) - 63% of Americans support it. Why mislead voters on such an important issue?

Bloodbath, Suckers & Losers, and Mischaracterizations Galore:

The Vice President’s campaign has knowingly pushed out of context and even made up quotes to stoke fear and division among voters:

• Micharacterized the use of the word bloodbath by the Former President, claiming that he implied there would be a “bloodbath” if he loses the election. This was checked in real-time as he was referring to the impact of economic policies.

• On multiple accounts - even as recently as during her closing speech in DC - the Vice President has taken an alleged quote (“suckers and losers”) - that has been denied by over 10 individuals including former national security adviser John Bolton - and used it to insinuate disrespect by the Former President towards the military community. The quote in question originated from anonymous sources and was only “confirmed” by one individual.

• During the final week of October 2024, there were misleading articles from Politico, Reuters, The Washington Post, CNN, and even the Vice President herself claiming that the Former President was pushing a violent rhetoric against Liz Cheney. These claims were quickly proven to be misleading and lacking context as the Republican Nominee had simply suggested that those who send Americans to war should imagine what it feels like to be on the front lines themselves.

Very Fine People

One of the longest-running misinformation campaigns against the Former President is that he called neo-Nazis and white supremacists “very fine people” in 2017. This alleged quote was even used as the reason for President Biden to start his campaign.

It took seven years, but even Snopes certified that the claim was false. Despite the claim being debunked and verified as a hoax, the Vice President repeated this blatant lie during the debate last month.

Even Former President Obama, as of November 3, 2024, is also pushing this lie to influence and mislead voters across the country.

A Common Theme

The six examples given above, as well as those not listed, share a common theme amongst them: all are designed to invigorate an emotional response; all are designed to invoke fear - that should Harris lose on Tuesday, America will “go back” to a dark age; should Harris lose, women and members of the LGBTQ+ community won’t have rights that others do. Those examples are not accurate and are designed to scare folks as they head to the ballot box.

These tactics are not rooted in intellectual honesty. They are not rooted in joy. Nor hope. Nor unity. Stoking fear, creating confusion, and sowing this division amongst the populace only works to further divide instead of focusing on the values and common ground many Americans share.

A campaign that is confident in its nominee, its policies, and what it feels it can offer to the American public would not need to resort to blatant falsehoods. It would not need to resort to twisting their opposition’s words. These decisions are unfortunately intentional - because it works.

Running a campaign that is based on division, while accusing the other of doing exactly that (accusation through confession), is the sort of hypocrisy that many are fed up with. Yet, the emotional driver behind these claims, that inflict guilt and uncertainty, have tremendous success. Humans are emotional creatures, that want to feel like they are doing the right thing.

But if one has to lie. To mislead. To manipulate the public to prop up their candidate. Who, is not a product of the democratic process but a coup, as detailed below by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Seymour Hersh.

Seymour Hersh

LEAVING LAS VEGAS

In late 1967, as the Vietnam War was raging and President Lyndon B. Johnson was becoming increasingly unpopular, I was recruited to handle the press and write speeches for Senator Eugene McCarthy of Minnesota, the only Democrat gutsy enough to run against the Democratic president…

Read more

2 years ago · 1381 likes · Seymour Hersh

Where Former President Obama and Vice President Harris threatened to utilize the 25th Amendment should President Biden not step aside. Usurping the democratic process and the will of over 14 million voters that participated in the democratic primary process.

One party continues to mischaracterize the January 6 capital protests, claiming that the Former President was attempting to overthrow democracy, lying about the number of deaths attributed to that day. Then in the span of 3.5 years, that same political party actually succeeded in the same allegations.

That is not fighting for democracy. It’s gaslighting at the most basic definition. Even after he was shot by a democratic donor, the Vice President continued to further amplify the violent rhetoric against the Republican Nominee.

The Right is not exempt from spreading misleading claims, such as one of the most memorable moments from the ABC Presidential Debate, “they’re eating the cats, they’re eating the dogs”. A moment that instantly became the top trend on X.com as viewers discussed what they were seeing. This was also not accurate as while there were reports of an Ohio woman eating a cat, this was not a migrant and to impose that sort of fear towards immigrants was unacceptable. Furthermore, while there is a massive illegal immigration problem, the Former President’s framing that migrants have the “highest rate of criminality” is also not accurate as immigrants are 60% less likely to be incarcerated.

This 5th of November

As voters head to the polls this Tuesday, they’re faced with a reminder:

• Do they support a candidate who has directly lied to the American people: about President Biden’s health, about Project 2025, and a potential National Abortion Ban, while usurping the democratic process as they campaign for the most powerful position in the world? On a ticket that features putting a serial liar one heartbeat away from the Oval Office.

• A known felon who has been arrested and has numerous flaws from the way he speaks to the public, the press, and other world leaders to how there will likely be major reform across numerous government platforms.

Fear has become the ultimate tool of this sitting administration. People should not be afraid of their government - not knowing who is in charge as the Commander-in-Chief reads off a teleprompter written by a public relations practitioner.

Governments should be afraid of their people. Citizens that will hold them accountable. That will stand up when enough becomes enough. To reject the lies, manipulation, and inauthenticity as one people, one nation, indivisible, together.

Share

Leave a comment

Subscribe now