The Friday File: In 1952, James was the most popular boys name given to 4.4% of all boys, while Linda was name number one for girls with 3.5% receiving it. By 2012, Jacob was tops but claimed only 0.94% of boys, while Sophia was most popular with just 1.2% of newborn girls. I think a combination of a larger pool of names and parental desires for uniqueness explain this phenomenon.