In 1984, according to the Social Security Administration, nearly 3.4 million Smiths lived in the United States. In 1990, the census counted 2.5 million. By 2000, the Smith population had declined to fewer than 2.4 million. Where did all the Smiths go from 1984 to 1990? I can believe it flatlined after 1990, but it's hard to believe that the count could have changed so much in 6 years. Perhaps it's the difference between the SSA and Census methods of counting?My theory is that after "Getting Away With It" was released in 1989, millions of people changed their name to avoid any possible association. See web-only content:
http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2008/04/weird-fact-of-the-day/3314/
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http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2008/04/weird-fact-of-the-day/3314/
