Then, in 1997, Abcde began its dizzying ascent. In 1997 and 1998, five babies a year were named Abcde. That jumped to 13 in 1999, and 16 Abcdes entered the world in 2001.

According to an investigation by Vocativ, there are 328 instances of people naming their baby Abcde. And since the earliest instance they can find only goes back as far as 1990, ...