February 13th is observed annually as Get a Different Name Day. It’s a day when people give themselves permission to change their name—if only for the duration of the holiday. Most of us are given our names by our parents when we’re born, and we have little input into whether that name actually suits us.

That means that while some of us are happy with our birth names, others are not. Fortunately, this holiday allows everyone a 24-hour period to try out a new name. And that’s something that I think many of us can appreciate.

The History of Get a Different Name Day

Even though we’re not completely sure of the date of its creation, we do know that Get a Different Name Day is a holiday that was created by Tom and Ruth Roy. They own a website that not only sells herbs and other products but also features some pretty wacky holidays.

Some Fun Facts About American Names

Once we started researching this holiday, we came to the unnerving realization that we don’t really think too much about names. It just doesn’t come up all that often; we all seem to just take names at face value and not give them much thought. That’s why we’ve decided to list some facts about American names that will get all of our readers thinking about names and how they fit into our lives.

• In 2021, the name David was the 30th most popular name in the U.S. In 1971, it was the 3rd most popular.
• The most popular boy names during the 1990s were Michael (#1), Christopher (#2), and Matthew (#3).
• The most popular girl names during the ’90s were Jessica (#1), Ashley (#2), and Emily (#3).
• There are over 4,700 people with identical first and last names (for example, John John or Ralph Ralph).

Observing Get a Different Name Day

Well, we’re not sure how much more in-depth we can go into this holiday. After all, it’s simply a day during which people can take the time to go by another name. What is your new name going to be? Whatever it is, just be sure to share it with the world using the hashtag #GetADifferentNameDay.