What are we talking about today?

I'll get back to theme days once I find a groove of posting regularly. In the meantime, most of my posts are about some variation of books, bikes, buses, or Broadway. Plus bits about writing, nonprofits, and grief from time to time.

This blog is mostly lighthearted and pretty silly. It's not about the terrible things happening in the world, but please know that I'm not ignoring those things. I just generally don't write about them here.

02 January 2014

Erin

(I may do a New Year post sometime this month. Maybe. But not today. Stay tuned.)

So over my break, I've been binge watching The Waltons, along with some of my other old favourites (Boy Meets World and Little House on the Prairie). You know what's great about all these shows? The plotlines are exactly the same. Only the clothes are different. That doesn't stop me from watching all of them.

Anyway, we've come to the Walton middle child, Erin. I can't really say anything about being a middle child, since I'm the oldest in my own family, but I imagine middle child syndrome is exacerbated when you're in the middle of seven.

Erin
Anglicized version of "Eireann", which means "Ireland", which works out well for the red-headed Walton clan. Peaked in the US as the 18th most popular girl name in 1983, and is currently #262. It also made an entrance to the charts as a boy name in the '60s, sticking around until the '90s, but never more popular than #442 for boys. In the British Isles, where you might expect Erin to be popular, she is: #20 in Northern Ireland, #47 in Ireland, #22 in Scotland, and #39 in England and Wales.

You should read this book.
Source.
Famous Erins: Erin Brockovich, environmental activist; Erin Moran, actress (Joanie Cunningham, but she also guest starred on The Waltons!); Erin Andrews, sportscaster (her birthday is the day after mine, so she gets a mention); Erin Morgenstern, writer (The Night Circus).

Fictional Erins: Erin Whitney, The Whitney Cousins; Erin Hannon, The Office; and of course, Erin Walton.

My Erins: I was born during the Erin boom, so much like Jason, I went to school, summer camp, and church with a bunch. There is no shortage of Erins in my life. I also have one minor character called Erin.

Are you an Erin? Do you know an Erin? Do you wish I watched more TV shows so I'd give The Waltons a rest?

Source:
Behind the Name
This List (but I only used people I've heard of)

4 comments:

J E Oneil said...

I know lots of Erins too. I think I actually know more in real life than I've seen on television, which is kind of surprising.

Su said...

Yep, me too. I was amazed at how hard it was to find people (real or fictional) that I've heard of for this one.

Karen M. Peterson said...

My sister's name is Erin and she's one of the coolest people I know.

Su said...

Most of the Erins I know are very cool. Must go with the name!