Name Data :: Origins of Names

Inspiration :: Maya (art by Maya Hayuk)

The name Maya has many different origins - Greek, American Indian, Spanish, Latin and Hebrew. It seems like many different languages had the same 'idea' at the same time.

I would have expected to see most names coming from Latin and Greek with others coming from English. But there was an overload of Hebrew names in the top 100 - England loves traditional, Biblical names like Hannah and Jacob. Surprisingly, there weren't many Greek names (like Thea, Phoebe and Leon). 

When we break the data down into the different genders, we get a more detailed picture. Latin or 'other' origins are favoured for girls and Hebrew or Celtic names for boys. This fits the theory that girls are more likely to be given aesthetically pleasing names (aka. flowing Latin names like Amelia) whereas boys are given names with history and status (aka. 'Strong' Biblical names).

And more than one quarter of all names in the top 100 were diminutives. They are gradually taking over our ranking charts!