Last night I went to 2 Cats on King Street, which I have to say was the single most crowded atmosphere I've ever witnessed but that's a different story. I ended up meeting a girl named Jen which reminded me of something I've been meaning to research for a while now. It seems that every time I go out 1 out of every 3 girls I meet is named Jen. Two weeks ago in Cancun I met 5 Girls named Jen, 2 of which were friends (Jen and Jen), and I have at least 10 friends called Jen. These are not acquaintances but people I know quite well on a personal level.

Anyway I decided to check the statistics for the most popular Canadian female names from the 1970s and 1980s. I figure that most of the Jens I know are now between 25 and 35 years and here is what I found. From 1970 through 1984 Jennifer was the most popular female name given at birth in the United States. I was unable to find Canadian statistics going back that far but I can assume they wouldn't be to far off the American. In 1985 Jessica finally took over as the most popular name, only for Jennifer to make a brief comeback in 1988 before dropping out of the top 10 completely by the mid-nineties. My brother who was born in 1990 will probably meet a few Ashleys, Jessicas and Emilys in his time let alone the last batch of Jens.

Here is the data gathered from US Social Security Card applications:

1970
1. Jennifer
2. Lisa
3. Kimberly
4. Michelle
5. Amy
6. Angela
7. Melissa
8. Tammy
9. Mary
10. Tracy

1971
1. Jennifer
2. Michelle
3. Lisa
4. Kimberly
5. Amy
6. Angela
7. Melissa
8. Tammy
9. Mary
10. Julie

1972
1. Jennifer
2. Michelle
3. Lisa
4. Kimberly
5. Amy
6. Angela
7. Melissa
8. Stephanie
9. Heather
10. Nicole

1973
1. Jennifer
2. Amy
3. Michelle
4. Kimberly
5. Lisa
6. Melissa
7. Angela
8. Heather
9. Stephanie
10. Rebecca

1974
1. Jennifer
2. Amy
3. Michelle
4. Heather
5. Angela
6. Kimberly
7. Melissa
8. Lisa
9. Stephanie
10. Rebecca

1975
1. Jennifer
2. Amy
3. Heather
4. Melissa
5. Angela
6. Michelle
7. Kimberly
8. Lisa
9. Stephanie
10. Nicole

1976
1. Jennifer
2. Amy
3. Melissa
4. Heather
5. Michelle
6. Angela
7. Jessica
8. Lisa
9. Maria
10. Kimberly

1977
1. Jennifer
2. Amy
3. Melissa
4. Heather
5. Jessica
6. Michelle
7. Angela
8. Kelly
9. Sarah
10. Amanda

1978
1. Jennifer
2. Jessica
3. Melissa
4. Heather
5. Amy
6. Sarah
7. Angela
8. Amanda
9. Michelle
10. Elizabeth

1979
1. Jennifer
2. Melissa
3. Amanda
4. Jessica
5. Sarah
6. Amy
7. Heather
8. Angela; Kimberly (tie)
9. Michelle
10. -----

1980
1. Jennifer
2. Jessica
3. Amanda
4. Melissa
5. Sarah
6. Nicole
7. Heather
8. Amy
9. Michelle
10. Elizabeth

1981
1. Jennifer
2. Jessica
3. Amanda
4. Melissa
5. Sarah
6. Nicole
7. Elizabeth
8. Michelle
9. Amy
10. Stephanie

1982
1. Jennifer
2. Jessica
3. Amanda
4. Sarah
5. Melissa
6. Michelle
7. Nicole
8. Elizabeth
9. Crystal
10. Amy

1983
1. Jennifer
2. Jessica
3. Ashley
4. Amanda
5. Sarah
6. Melissa
7. Nicole
8. Elizabeth
9. Stephanie
10. Heather

1984
1. Jennifer
2. Jessica
3. Ashley
4. Amanda
5. Sarah
6. Stephanie
7. Nicole
8. Elizabeth
9. Heather
10. Melissa

1985
1. Jessica
2. Ashley
3. Jennifer
4. Amanda
5. Nicole
6. Sarah
7. Stephanie
8. Heather
9. Melissa
10. Elizabeth

1986
1. Jessica
2. Ashley
3. Amanda
4. Jennifer
5. Sarah
6. Stephanie
7. Brittany
8. Heather
9. Elizabeth; Megan (tie)
10. Nicole

1987
1. Jessica
2. Ashley
3. Amanda
4. Jennifer
5. Sarah
6. Stephanie
7. Nicole
8. Brittany
9. Elizabeth
10. Heather

1988
1. Jennifer
2. Ashley
3. Amanda
4. Jessica
5. Brittany
6. Sarah
7. Stephanie
8. Samantha
9. Heather
10. Elizabeth

1989
1. Jessica
2. Ashley
3. Amanda; Brittany (tie)
4. Sarah
5. Jennifer
6. Stephanie
7. Samantha
8. Elizabeth
9. Lauren
10. Heather