Britney Spears and Adolf Hitler

I never thought I'd see Britney Spears and Adolf Hitler discussed in the same news story. Hats off to a Hartford Courant writer, namely Matt Eagan, for pulling it off. Eagan tells an interesting story:

Sometimes all it takes is one person to ruin a name. Take Adolph.

The name was relatively popular in the 1890s. Not "John" popular, mind you, but always fighting for a spot among America's top 200.

But once Hitler showed up, it was kaput for Adolph.

By 1970, Adolph was no longer among the top 1,000 names in the United States, and it doesn't show any signs of coming back.

Hitler spelled his name "Adolf," but that was a meaningless distinction for parents-to-be.

[...]

The popularity graph for Britney, which can be seen at the terrific Web site www.baby namewizard.com, looks like a shark fin.

The name was almost non-existent in 1980, rose to prominence on the blond-headed shoulders of bubble-gum princess Britney Spears and has deflated into irrelevance right along with her.

She has dragged the alternative spellings – Brittney and Brittany – along for the fall.