What’s In A Name: The Surprising Rise And Fall (And Rise) Of ‘Kevin’

By Erin Crouch

What happened to Kevin?

Once one of the most popular names in America, Kevin now connotes pariah status in many parts of the world — in Germany, there’s even a disease named after it. Seemingly just a first name that’s fallen out of fashion (save, of course, for its ties to the Jonas Brothers), tracking the rise and fall and rise again of “Kevin” actually reveals many of the hidden societal forces that shape our world.

Seriously.

***

If all of your friends jumped off a cliff, would you jump off too?

The Simmel effect holds that individuals are inclined not only to follow, but also to distinguish themselves from others. Simmel, a philosopher and essayist born in 1858, whose interest in money and fashion endeared him to popular audiences, saw this effect as both as an abstract concept that generates and influences cultural perception, and as a defining factor in social and interpersonal relations. People adopt higher-status symbols and discard lower-status ones in an endless flux as social norms change and group membership or individualism is prioritized. Like your mother understood, the urge to fit in is a strong one, but we’re also sometimes compelled to buck the tide.