Hazel

Derived from the Old English hæsel, referring to the hazel tree or hazelnut. Plant names surged in the late nineteenth century alongside Ivy and Violet. American parents adopted it in the 1880s, carrying it into the top forty during the First World War. It then drifted out of common use for nearly a century.

The name reads as a split-screen portrait with no middle ground. It belongs either to a toddler in canvas shoes or an octogenarian who recalls three-cent stamps. The record confirms this divide: sixty percent of living bearers belong to Gen Alpha. The middle of the demographic curve is essentially vacant. The name skipped two full generations of office workers just to show up at preschool roll call.