US vs UK :: 1904

Inspiration :: Herman (art by Nada Herman)

1904 takes us into the 21st Century - Edwardian Britain and a period of change. Again we see more nicknamey names in the US chart for girls. There are two types of boys names I see standing out -the clunky Ronald, Gerald, Clyde and Eugene in both charts and the 'posh' names like Hubert and Percival in the UK charts that have too many connotations for use nowadays.

Names that were in the US chart but not the UK chart in 1904

Names that were in the UK chart but not the US chart in 1904

Creative Baby Naming :: Tilly & the Buttons

Inspiration :: Françoise (painting by François Krige)

Being a name nerd, the first thing that I look for when browsing sewing patterns are their names. The names of the patterns are important in attracting the right customer and they add to your business style. My next part of my creative baby naming venture will look at designers’ pattern name choices – to analyse, praise or criticise.

Tilly and the Buttons

Martha
Marigold
Dominique
Fifi
Coco
Bettine
Orla
Françoise
Arielle
Agnes
Miette
Mathilde

Tilly and the Buttons’ bright, classic sewing patterns have names in a distinctly French style. She uses tailored names like Arielle, Miette and Mathilde to reflect the nature of her fitted garments alongside familiar vintage choices like Agnes and Martha and the lighter style of Fifi, Coco and Orla.

The highest placed name in the UK top 1000 is Mathilde (at number 30) and then Martha (at number 69). Coco, Orla and Agnes are ranked further down the list. Coco and Orla are very pertinent to the fashion world with links to Coco Chanel and Orla Kiely. This adds a touch of glamour to the list which balances out some of the datedness of names like Dominique.

As a sort of sibset, the names work very well together. She has a specific naming style but with a lot of variety. From unusual to familiar, from shorter to longer names.

Sewing pattern name ranking :: 4/5

Around the World :: Iceland

I was watching the credits for the film 'Noah' the other day. Only a name nerd would skip the actual film and go straight to pages and pages of lovely names! About halfway through, there was a set of names titled 'Icelandic Crew' that contained so many new names to me. Thoranna and Finnur are my favourites.

Male 'Icelandic Crew' Names

                                              Female 'Icelandic Crew' Names

Top Baby Names in Iceland 2015

Girls

1. Guðrún

2. Anna

3. Kristín

4. Sigdríður

5. Margrét/Margrjet/Margret

6. Helga

7. Sigrún

8. Ingibjörg

9. María

10. Jóhanna

11. Elín

12. Katrín

13. Hildur

14. Ragnheiður

15. Lilja

Boys

1. Jón

2. Sigurður

3. Guðmundur

4. Gunnar

5. Ólafur/Olav

6. Einar

7. Kristján/Kristian/Christian

8. Magnús

9. Stefán/Stefan

10. Jóhann

11. Björn

12. Arnar

13. Árni

14. Bjarni

15. Helgi

Baby Naming Rules in Iceland

Forenames

A forename must follow the linguistic structure and orthography of the Icelandic language. It must also be obviously male or female. There is a list of approved names and any others must be approved by the court.

Family Names

You are allowed one family name and this also has to be established in the Icelandic language.

Surnames

Surnames are either patronymic or metronymic. You can use the name of your father or mother with the suffix –son (for a boy) or –dóttir (for a girl). People in Iceland do not take their spouse’s name when they get married.

My favourite bit of the Icelandic rules says ‘A name may not be such as to cause its bearer embarrassment.’ Good advice indeed.

US vs UK :: 1880s and 1890s

I always thought that the UK and the US popularity charts looked pretty similar. I talked to my US friends as if the same names were popular in the same decades. But when I took a closer look at the charts, I was amazed at how many names differed.

Names that were in the UK but not US popularity charts in 1880

 

Names that were in the UK but not US popularity charts in 1890

 

 

Names that were in the US but not UK popularity charts in 1880

 

 

Names that were in the US but not UK popularity charts in 1890

On the whole, the US names were shorter and had many more nicknames. The boys' names included names ending in -d and -er. The UK names were longer and more ended in consonants. It was interesting to see the amount of Biblical names in the 'only UK' list. This seems to have switched round now with many Biblical names in the US popularity list.

Around the World :: United Kingdom

Introduction

Around the World will be a series of blog posts that highlight naming laws, popular names and name culture around the world. Today I start with my home; the UK.

Naming a child in the UK is relatively easier than many countries in the world. You choose a forename or forenames (which can be just about anything) and usually the surname is passed through the family through the males.  If your grandfather’s surname was Cooper, your father’s surname will be Cooper and your surname will be Cooper. However, if you are a woman, you will usually take the name of your husband on marriage and your baby will also have this name. This isn’t law though and with the rise of blended and separated families, parents are becoming creative with surnames. Some will use a double barrelled name, some will blend the surnames (eg. Mr Smith and Miss Wilson may become Mr and Mrs Smithson) and some will discard their history in favour of a completely new name.

What are the laws about names in this country?

A selection of laws about names in the UK (for more information visit this page) 

:: Names must include at least one forename and one surname and are not allowed to be impossible to pronounce or include numbers/symbols/punctuation marks except hyphens and apostrophes.

:: They cannot promote criminal activities, promote hatred, promote the use of controlled drugs or ridicule groups or government departments.

:: They cannot lead people to believe that you have a title, rank or academic award when you do not (eg. Sir, Lady, Professor)

:: There is a limit of 250 characters including spaces for forenames and 50 characters for surnames.

I think these are very sensible laws although some are a bit vague. What counts as impossible to pronounce? Many Irish names such as Saoirse or Ruadhri seem impossible but they would not be declined as a name because it would be seen as prejudiced against someone’s heritage.

What are the popular names in this country?