Think Olivia is a popular baby name? Hold my beer, says Jennifer, and Jenny, and Jen

If you're a parent and think your child's daycare is overstuffed with Olivias, Noahs and Olivers, please spare a thought for the moms and dads of the 1980s.

Back then, you couldn't throw an alphabet block without hitting a Jennifer or a Michael.

This week, as the Alberta government released the latest rankings of baby names given last year, CBC Calgary looked over a database of popular (and not-so-popular) baby names going back more than four decades, compiled by the province's vital statistics unit. 

One thing stood out when comparing the Top 10 lists of then to now, besides the near-complete absence of Jennifers in contemporary Alberta nurseries.

The popular names of today are way less popular than the big baby names of yesteryear were. 

Let us illustrate.

Olivia was announced Wednesday as the top newborn girl name for the 11th straight year, according to Service Alberta.

Over that span, there have been 2,744 Olivias — more than enough to fill the Jubilee Auditorium. But that's nothing compared to the more than 3,000 girls named Jennifer in only four years, including 1982, when Alberta reached Peak Jennifer and 882 sets of parents announced to the world their little Jen/Jenn/Jenny.

To put it another way: the 210 Olivias recorded last year would have only been good enough for 10th place in the 1980 rankings, bumping the 191 Heathers off the charts but remaining just behind the 215 Angelas. (Or is the plural Angelae?)

Meanwhile, Noah was last year's top boys name, with 276 newborns in the province.

But back in 1980, the earliest year data is available, that wouldn't have even been good enough to crack the Top 10. Not with 732 Michaels, 633 Christophers, 537 Jasons and all those Daniels and Kevins.

We created this racing bar chart to give you a better sense of how popular baby names evolved, rose in popularity or fell off the map (or all three rather quickly, for the Amandas):

And here's the same chart for the baby boy names. Brandon had his day, until the 1990s ended.

Baby names come and go in popularity, and always have, as your Grandma Betsy could tell you. But why have baby names become so much less homogenous over the past 43 years? Why are the most common birth names less common?