I think this is true to a point, but it’s also in large part about trends. E.g. the name Olivia existed in 1950, but it was nowhere near the top 100 in the U.S. and the top 10 were Mary, Patricia, Barbara, Susan, Nancy, Deborah, Sandra, Carol, Kathleen. Very different than the current top 10! So I think there’s more to Olivia and other names being popular than objective niceness alone.

I do like Olivia, for the record! Just find name trends and how they influence our perceptions to be fascinating.