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Baby name statistics are interesting, even when you’re done having babies. (Hear that, universe? We’re done!) But the NameVoyager adds a compelling twist to the usual ranked lists.

A smooth, Java-powered graph can show you name popularity as you type, say, to find that Karen is generally about twice as popular as Kathy, or that Ryan was ranked 26th for boys in the 1970s, but also 748th for girls. You don’t even have to have a name in mind. Just type a letter or two, and browse through the colored bars. Compare what’s happened to “W” names versus “Q” names, for example.

If you are looking to pick a name, you can see when its popularity peaked, and whether it’s becoming more or less common. Katherine and Zachary peaked a few decades ago, but Alexander is still on the rise… [via MeFi]