Daniel and Katherine most popular names among Stanford students

Try this experiment sometime: Stand in the middle of White Plaza and yell, “Hey, DANIEL!” or “Hey, KATHERINE!” Then see who turns around. Chances are, it will be a fair number of students.

That’s because Daniel and Katherine are the most popular names among Stanford students, including the incoming class.

For Daniel, that’s not much of a surprise. It ranked eighth on the U.S. list of the 100 most popular baby names of 1994, which is when most of the freshmen were born. In California specifically, Daniel ranked number one in 1994. Katherine, however, doesn’t show up on the U.S. list until 30.

Theoretically, Michael and Jessica should be the most popular names on campus, based on name popularity in 1994, 1993, 1992—with maybe Christopher and Ashley not far behind.

The most popular names for Stanford male students are, according to the Registrar’s Office:

1. Daniel
2. Michael
3. Matthew
4. Andrew
5. Alexander, David (tie)
6. Christopher
7. John
8. Benjamin
9. Kevin, William (tie)

The most popular names for Stanford female students are:

1. Katherine
2. Sarah
3. Alexandra
4. Emily
5. Rachel
6. Jessica
7. Laura
8. Nicole
9. Hannah, Julia (tie)