Exactly 1.61 percent of students enrolled at Hillsdale are named John, making it the top name on campus. Hannah is the second most common name; Matthew is the third.
It should come as no surprise that John would be popular in Hillsdale. The name is everywhere, from Miller to Somerville to Wayne Gacy. Local police name unidentified dead people John. And it’s not just Hillsdale where John sits at the right hand. According to the computational knowledge engine Wolfram Alpha, there are about 3.56 million people named John alive in the country today, making it the third most popular name in the United States.
Senior John Gage said the pervasive commonality of his name often allows humorous situations to arise.
“People mistake me for the bathroom all the time,” he said.
Hannah, in addition to being the second most popular name on campus, is on its way to becoming a national mainstay in the name game. It’s the 137th most popular name in the United States, with an expected 356,880 people alive today bearing it, according to Wolfram Alpha.
Junior Hannah Schaff said she likes how the name identifies her as Christian.
“I have had a couple times where adults I meet when I’m working at the sports complex have commented on my nice Bible name, and I like that,” she said. “I like having a name with meaning, and I think it’s cool that people can identify my family as Christian because of my name.”
With 1.28 percent of the student body, Matthew is the third most common name for Hillsdale students. Also biblical name, it has been popular nationally since the nineteenth century. There are about 1.431 million people in the United States with the name, according to Wolfram Alpha, making it the 14th most popular in the country.
Junior Matt Nolan said his name’s commonality among his peers doesn’t bother him. In fact, he enjoys it.
“I was friends with two other guys named Matt in high school, and we all decided to sit next to each other in our sophomore chemistry class, which was funny for us, but not so much for the teacher,” he said. “I think the thing I run into the most is when I meet another Matt, I always have a one-liner like ‘awesome name dude!’ or something like that to say back.”
