> parents jump on the bandwagon, only to peak and decline as everyone on the playground starts answering to the same name

Is the USA more individualistic when choosing names than, say, China or Brazil?

Brazilians regularly give their date of birth in mundane situations because first+last name is not nearly unique enough:

http://brazilsense.com/index.php?title=Giving_birth_date

It's a shame the chart is US names only. I'd like to see common names ranked by country, to see if it says something about a culture's desire for either homogeneity or individuality.

It would be interesting to see changes in conformity over time as well. In the USA, Sophia and Noah peaked at 1% each -- which seems like parents slavishly follow fashion -- but John was actually 9% back in 1880! Maybe conformity was more important a hundred years ago, and the USA has actually become more individualistic.