Jared

The name derives from the Hebrew root yered, meaning descent. It surfaced in English records during the seventeenth century before crossing the Atlantic during early colonial settlement. American birth certificates registered only a trickle of bearers until the mid-1960s, when television westerns introduced the sound to a national audience.

The name lands squarely in the late 1990s, with the average bearer standing at thirty-three years old. A Jared tends to be pictured carrying a zippered CD wallet or negotiating four square rules on playground blacktop. With forty-seven percent of living bearers belonging to the Millennial generation, the moniker carries the unmistakable cadence of turn-of-the-century homerooms. The sound suggests an enduring loyalty to a particular brand of skate shoe. After peaking fifty-first in the nation in 1998, it has drifted down the rankings to become a fixture of thirty-something email signatures.