A NYTimes article that I read today pointed me to Popular Baby Names, where I noticed (among other things) that "Trinity" was the 70th most popular girl's name for 2002. A check of the popularity-tracker for "Trinity" revealed that it jumped from #555 in 1998 to #216 in 1999 (The Matrix came out in March of that year) and to #74 in 2000, holding steady since.

sadly, it appears that so far, the little Trinitys will have no little Neos or Morpheuses to play with.

"Parents continue to be more conventional with their sons, more conscious of tradition and generational continuity," says the article (by Peggy Orenstein). "Girls' names are more likely to be chosen for style and beauty. That makes them more interesting to track and more vulnerable to sounding passé, the human equivalent of bragging about your new pashmina."

That reminds me of a guy I heard about in college, whom a dormmate had a class with. I don't remember his last name; I think his first name was John; but his middle name was Neptune. Not only that, but he was something like John Neptune [Lastname] the 13th (perhaps the number grew in the telling, but some unusally high one). Apparently this wonderful streak got started in a family of ship captains. Now there's a tradition for you.

copyright 2003 carrie lynn king.