June 6, 2026
The class of 2026… and not one Robert!
I attended my granddaughter’s high school class of 2026 graduation ceremony this week. And I have to admit that the emotions caught me off guard. My firstborn grandchild is all grown up now! I found myself feeling a mixture of pride and sadness as I reflected not only on her growing years, but on my kids’ years, too. It’s unbelievable that I have middle-aged kids already! I can’t really be that old! Right?
The graduation ceremony was one hour long, but it felt much longer while the school principal read off and called forward 261 individual senior students one at a time to receive their diplomas. That part of the event, sitting in the football field bleachers, out in the hot sun, gave me plenty of time to read the program brochure and contemplate the huge variety of the graduates’ first names. That is when I began to realize that many of the names listed are foreign to me. Not foreign as in nationality, but historically different from when I went to school in the mid 1900s. Yep, the mid-1900s is a true statement! Think about that, my friends! Many of the names I have never seen before, and some I’m not even sure how to pronounce. Also, I was surprised at how many of the names are not gender revealing. Or maybe I should say they are “gender neutral.”
AND…
Not one Robert! I can’t tell you how many Roberts were in my high school class. I guess I am or my name is officially “old-fashioned” now. Whatever happened to passing on family names? Family heritage? My friends and I were simply named Bill, Bob, and Frank. We were all named after our fathers and carried the “Jr.” suffix after our last names. (By the way, surprisingly, there is one Frank in this class of 2026!)
I suppose my generation, or at least my wife and I, may be guilty of slacking in the naming tradition. We did not choose a first name for any of our kids that had a family background, either. However, their middle names did.
Another surprise was how many of the class of 2026 names were individually unique, in that they were shared by no one else. More than half of the names were owned by a solitary student, as shown in this alphabetical list:
Abigail, Adelyn, Aidan, Aiden, Aidyn, Alaina, Alecia, Alexandria, Allianna, Amanda, Anderson, Anna, Anya, Arora, Ashley, Ashlyn, Aubree, Audrey, Austen, Ava, Ayden.
Blake, Braden, Brody, Bryce.
Calahan, Camaren, Caroline, Casey, Cecilia, Chad, Charley, Chloe, Colden, Colin, Cooper, Cora, Corrine.
David, Derick, Devin, Dylan.
Eden, Elija, Elizabeth, Ella, Emily, Emma, Evelyn.
Frank.
Gabriel, Gavin, Giana, Gianna, Ginnaro, Gloria, Grady, Grant.
Hadley, Hailey, Haley, Henry, Hudson.
Isabel.
Jake, Jason, Jaxon, John, Jordon, Joshua, Josie, Julian.
Kaden, Kai, Kathryn, Kaylie, Keira, Kiara.
Lacey, Laine, Laney, Lauren, Levi, Liam, Lily, Lincoln, London, Luca, Lucas, Luel, Luke, Lyle.
Madalyn, Madeleine, Madison, Maeve, Magdalene, Marco, Marcus, Marin, Marina, Mark,
Maxim, Melina, Michael, Miguel, Mikayla, Mya.
Naeema, Nathan, Naveen, Nico, Nolan.
Owen.
Paige, Peston, Peter, Phillip.
Rachel, Rain, Rebecca, Reed, Riana, Rowan, Russel, Rylee.
Sabine, Samantha, Sammye, Santiago, Sara, Savannah, Shala, Shane, Shaylee, Sophia, Stevie, Sydney.
Tara, Teagan, Tessa, Theresa, Timothy, Tristan, Troy, Ty, Tyler.
Utah.
Victoria.
Weston, William.
Zachary, Zoe, Zuri.
In the next alphabetical list are the 23 names that are shared by only two students:
Adam, Alexa, Alexander, Alexandra, Alivia, Avery.
Bella, Benjamin.
Carter, Chase, Christopher, Connor.
Hanna.
James.
Lydia.
Madeline, Maggie, Makenna, Mara, Mia.
Paul.
Ryan.
Sarah.
And next, we have 14 names that are shared by three students:
Addison, Alexis, Andrew.
Ethan.
Jacob, Joseph.
Landon.
Mathew.
Noah.
Olivia.
Riley.
Sean.
Taylor, Thomas.
The runner-up for the two most popular names that are shared by four students each:
Colton.
Logan.
And the winners of the two most popular names in this class of 2026 that are shared by five students each:
Grace.
Jack.
Now, my dear friends who are reading this, just to make myself feel better. If you have made the journey from graduating seniors to senior citizens, I bet most of your names are also not on this list! If not, then believe it or not, we may be in the same “old-fashioned” boat!
But regardless of your name, one thing remains the same, then and now; The memory of that good old universal fantastic feeling which we’ll never forget: School’s out for the summer! And for some of us… forever! Now that’s something to toss your tasseled mortarboard hat up into the air for! Hooray!!!
Robert Kuhn 