Democracy Dies in Darkness

What is being 30 like? We spent a year answering that question.

In 1989, the most popular name for girls in America was Jessica. In 2019 ...

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September 25, 2019 at 11:39 a.m. EDT
(Maya Sugarman/Maya Sugarman/The Lily)

We have been on a search to find people who were named Jessica in 1989 — the most popular name for girls that year.

Jessicas who teach yoga, Jessicas who are mothers, Jessicas who rap, Jessicas who are famous, Jessicas who are in school and Jessicas who don’t have it all figured out. Jessicas in Oregon and Ohio and New York and California. Besides their name, they all have one big thing in common:

This year, they’re turning 30.

For The Lily’s biggest project yet, we went deep into what it means to turn 30. We wanted to find out exactly how it feels to wrap up your 20s and step into your next decade. We’re sharing 10 stories that helped us figure that out.

Read the stories here.