top of mind

Would you say that you had a particular issue front of mind or top of mind?

We were introduced to the expression top of mind in the 1950s when it was part of the jargon of advertising and marketing.   These experts wanted to create the situation where a particular brand was top of mind, that is, at the forefront of a person’s awareness. Such familiarity led to greater uptake of the product.  The phrase spread to have a more general meaning — ‘at the forefront of someone’s thoughts or concerns’.

The frequency of use rose steeply from the 1950s, peaked about 2010 and then sharply declined, according to Google Ngram.

That was because we all suddenly adopted the phrase front of mind.  Perhaps this resonated better with that other expression at the forefront of one’s thinking. For some reason we decided that the better spot for concern was at the front of our brains rather than on the top.

So front of mind appeared in the early 1980s, rose steeply in frequency to outdo top of mind, and is now the preferred expression.