By Cameron Huston-Anderson
Braydon, Olivia, Cameron and Elijah are all common names inside Delta High School. But out of all of these names, they are not the most popular. The most populars names are Abigail and Peyton.
There are 10 students with the first name of Abigail (nine Abigails, one Abegail). Those students are Abigail Louk, Abigail Weikel, Abigail Crawley, Abigail Penrod, Abigail Stilts, Abigail Brown, Abigail Brosher, Abigail Friend and Abigail Lindburgh as well as one alternate spelling, Abegail Alvarez.
There are eight students named Peyton/Payton, with five spelled Peyton and 3 Payton. Those students are Peyton Engle, Peyton Blackwell, Peyton Crow, Peyton Licht and Peyton Link for Peyton with an E and Payton Sparks, Payton Arnold and Payton Wihebrink for Payton with an A.
When having classes with someone of the same name it could get confusing. For example, Payton Arnold and Payton Wihebrink have a gym class together. If Mrs. Tyronda Benning yells “Payton!” both might look confused, questioning which Payton. Therefore, Payton Wihebrink says, “We usually go by last names to solve it.”
Abigail Friend offered another possibility, also.
“Either we do last names or Abby and then a last name, or a nickname,” she said.
Abigail Lindburgh has experienced the confusion before. She says, “It at one point was so bad that I used to not pay attention unless I heard my name more than twice.”
Although for some their name is by chance, for some there is special meaning. For example, Payton Arnold says, “Football was something big in my family, but around the time I was born the biggest players were Peyton Manning and Eli Manning. It was like it was meant to be with my brother being named Eli.”
With any name from Ava to Zach there is a story, and with a story comes a name, even if some are not named after an elite level quarterback. So maybe if you meet someone and ask their name there may be a story.
