Through the Decades :: 1 syllable, Male

Inspiration :: Dale (Yorkshire Dales)

Below is a chart showing all the one syllable names in the top 100 for each decade. The names are listed in their order of popularity. For example, you can see how John is the top 1 syllable name in 1860 and 1870 but in 1964, it slips to 3rd place.

John, George and James take the the top places for a good 100 years. Others like Fred, Frank, George and Hugh were less popular but remained in the top 100 for a long length of time. Many of the name that appear fleetingly in the top 100, seem dated now - Carl, Bruce, Dale and Shane.

Modern 1 syllable names are a mix of historical (John and James) and Modern (Zain and Cole). The rise of nicknames has had a bigger impact on the boys' 1 syllable names than the girls. They are often diminutives of older, longer names such as Max for Maximillian, Ted for Edward or Frank for Franklin. The longer, older names are rarer now - sometimes we even forget that they were ever a diminutive!

Below are the 1 syllable names from the top 200 names in the UK 2014.

Below are the 1 syllable names in the top 200-1000 in the UK 2014.

Through the Decades :: 1 syllable, female

Inspiration :: Dawn

1 syllable names have been present throughout history - pretty, unfussy, usually nickname-proof and with less spelling and pronunciation problems, they are a popular choice for many parents.

Below is a chart showing all the one syllable names in the top 100 for each decade. The names are listed in their order of popularity. For example, you can see how Ann is the top 1 syllable name in 1860 and 1870 but by 1890, it is only the 4th most popular one syllable name for girls.

From 1860 to 1890, the names are those that we would call 'pretty but ordinary' today. Apart from Maud who now bears the weight of stigma, they are still used. Jane and Ann took the No. 1 spot whereas names like Grace were less popular. This has been reversed today - Grace is at No. 1 , Ann and Jane are not even in the top 1000 although they are still seen as plain and ordinary.

From 1914 to 1944, there was an influx of new 1 syllable names. We see a mix of the Victorian favourites with these new, 'modern' names like Jean, Jill, Joy and Joyce, J was definitely the initial letter in vogue. 1954 claims the longest list of 1 syllable names. Lynne, Lynn, Gail, Dawn and Kay entered the top 100 - the names we see as extremely dated today. 

After 1964, the number of 1 syllable names starts declining. Claire becomes the new popular name, Ann finally leaves the top 100. By 2004, many of the names are 1 syllable word names like Brooke, Jade and Faith. This is still the pattern we see today. Sky, Hope and Rae (the modern 1 syllable names) sit amongst old favourites from the 1800s like Kate, Grace, Ruth and May. I think that we will see another rise of 1 syllable names as we borrow even more words from other languages and if the nicknames culture continues. Maybe someday, even Maud will arrive back in our Birth Announcements.

Below are the 1 syllable names currently in the UK top 1000.

Name Style

Inspiration :: Caroline (painting by Caroline Ashwood)

We often discuss names using words such as ‘vintage’, ‘modern’ or ‘frilly’ when discussing names. People often describe their style as ‘old fashioned’, ‘arty’ or ‘unusual’. But most of these terms are highly subjective. When researching ‘classic’ names I found everything from Waldo and Wolfgang to Mary and Caroline and even greater number of variations on how people defined a ‘classic’ name. Some thought that all ‘old-fashioned’ names were classics and some ‘classics’ mentioned hadn’t ever entered the top 100.

This lead me to want to devise a system of categorising naming style. There are many quizzes you can do but they are often based on non-naming questions, have confusing categories and have highly subjective lists of names that ‘fit’ each category. I thought about the elements of a name that I could measure – a similar idea to shape, colour, texture etc. - the elements of art.

Names may first seem like a bundle of letters with the elements of phonology (sound) and length. Then you can research the meaning, the etymology (where the name came from and the components that make it up) and celebrity usage or cultural connotations. The third group of elements would look at its birth (when the name was first used), past popularity and current popularity.

My system takes the sound and length of the name and the past popularity of the name to create 16 main categories and 4 side categories (which I haven’t published on the page yet) of name style. I tried to pick elements that were easily quantifiable and that seem the main components of peoples’ favourite names lists. I classified the names according to sound and length and then looked at the point in which they peaked from the 1880s to the 2010s (using NameVoyager as it is the only tool to do this – even though it is based on the American charts). The downside of it is that, in a decade, the system will seem out of date but I am working on updating the system so that this will not matter.

Another problem I had was naming the categories. I had made sure that it was the same system for male and female names (unlike my first attempts) as we continue to see gender-bending and gender-equality as themes in today’s naming culture. I also did not want to make any category sound more positive or negative than any other (eg. if I had used the word ‘dated’ which has a negative connotation). The popularity labels were harder. I worked on the rule that an antique was something older than 100 years and vintage meant that something was older than 50 years. Retro has many meanings but it sounded much better than the ‘early modern’ label that was originally for the ‘retro’ category. The current popularity labels are not really part of the system but I thought it would be useful for those who would prefer a more popular or less popular name.

So if you would like to look for names that are similar in style, visit the ‘Name Style’ page. I have sorted all of the names from the UK top 1000 2014 and am now sorting names not in the top 1000. You should find an explanation of the category names also.

Quiz :: Your Girls' Names Era

This quiz will* tell you which era in British history you may like for girls' names.

To have a go, you will need a pen and paper with the letters A to H written down. You choose the name that you like the best and tally a point next to the correct letter. 

*This is not a scientifically created quiz so your score may not actually reflect your style but it is a bit of fun.

First Round
Alba vs Alice
Beatrix vs Beatrice
Camilla vs Christina
Augusta vs Eleanor
Felicia vs Felice
Helena vs Helen
Juliana vs Joan
Lucia vs Lucy
Marina vs Marion
Octavia vs Osanna
Paulina vs Petronilla
Victoria vs Rose
Serena vs Sybil

Tally how many right names by letter B and how many left names by letter A.


Second Round
Ann vs Alice
Bertha vs Beatrice
Christabel vs Christina
Elizabeth vs Eleanor
Faith vs Felice
Hannah vs Helen
Joanna vs Joan
Leah vs Lucy
Muriel vs Marion
Emma vs Osanna
Phillipa vs Petronilla
Ruth vs Rose
Sarah vs Sybil

Tally how many right names by letter B and how many left names by letter C.


Third Round
Ann vs Amelia
Bertha vs Barbara
Christabel vs Charlotte
Elizabeth vs Eliza
Faith vs Frances
Hannah vs Hester
Joanna vs Julia
Leah vs Lydia
Muriel vs Maria
Emma vs Olivia
Phillipa vs Phoebe
Ruth vs Rebecca
Sarah vs Sophia

Tally how many right names by letter D and how many left names by letter C.


Fourth Round
Ada vs Amelia
Blanche vs Barbara
Clara vs Charlotte
Elsie vs Eliza
Florence vs Frances
Harriet vs Hester
Josephine vs Julia
Louisa vs Lydia
Martha vs Maria
Olive vs Olivia
Phyllis vs Phoebe
Rosa vs Rebecca
Susannah vs Sophia

Tally how many right names by letter D and how many left names by letter E.


Fifth Round
Ada vs Agnes
Blanche vs Bessie
Clara vs Catherine
Elsie vs Edith
Florence vs Freda
Harriet vs Hilda
Josephine vs Joyce
Louisa vs Lily
Martha vs Marie
Olive vs Ida
Phyllis vs Vera
Rosa vs Ruby
Susannah vs Sheila

Tally how many right names by letter F and how many left names by letter E.


Sixth Round
Audrey vs Agnes
Betty vs Bessie
Cynthia vs Catherine
Elaine vs Edith
Fiona vs Freda
Heather vs Hilda
Jacqueline vs Joyce
Linda vs Lily
Maxine vs Marie
Alison vs Ida
Patricia vs Vera
Rosemary vs Ruby
Sally vs Sheila

Tally how many right names by letter F and how many left names by letter G.


Seventh Round
Audrey vs Ava
Betty vs Bethany
Cynthia vs Chloe
Elaine vs Ella
Fiona vs Freya
Heather vs Harper
Jacqueline vs Jasmine
Linda vs Lola
Maxine vs Mia
Alison vs Isla
Patricia vs Willow
Rosemary vs Robyn
Sally vs Sophie

Tally how many right names by letter H and how many left names by letter G.


Eighth Round
Alba vs Ava
Beatrix vs Bethany
Camilla vs Chloe
Augusta vs Ella
Felicia vs Freya
Helena vs Harper
Juliana vs Jasmine
Lucia vs Lola
Marina vs Mia
Octavia vs Isla
Paulina vs Willow
Victoria vs Robyn
Serena vs Sophie

Tally how many right names by letter H and how many left names by letter A.

RESULTS (look at the letter with the most tallies on your paper):
A Roman
B Medieval
C Tudor and Stuart
D Georgian
E Victorian
F Edwardian and WW1
G Post War Years (40s to 70s)
H Modern 

My results showed that my top era was Roman. Other high scorers were Georgian and Victorian. My lowest score was Medieval. What was your score?

Through the Decades :: Flower Names

Inspiration :: Heather (painting of heather on the Yorkshire Moors)

Introduction

Flower names are amongst the most feminine names you can give your daughter. Arboreal and other nature names such as Rowan or Clay are used for boys but flower names are mostly exclusively for girls. They were extremely popular along with jewel names such as Ruby in the Victorian and Edwardian era and are recently on the rise. 

Method

I looked at the top 100 names four years (eg. 1904, 1924) into each decade for each gender. The following chart shows all the flower names from those years. The arrows represent the years that each name was in the top 100.

Analysis

Flower Names 
Ivy, Lily, Rose and Violet were the staple flower names in this time period and were joined by Daisy (who dropped out of the top 100 after 1924) and Iris (who continued to be popular into the 1940s). These names all have a short, simple but pretty style which is probably why they have all returned to the top 100 recently. They make great siblings to some of the diminutive names I discussed last week eg. Elsie, Lily, Annie and Rose.

By 1954, Heather was the only flower name in the top 100. However, she never reached the top 50. For this reason and the beautiful moorland associations, I think she could make a comeback in the UK much earlier than other 1960s/70s names which seem very dated today.

Names with Flower Meanings
These names appeared in the top 100 and whilst they are not the names of flowers, they do have floral links in their meanings.

May :: She is an alternative name for a hawthorn flower and appeared in the top 100 from
1904-1934.

Samantha ::  Samantha is a feminisation of Samuel with the added bonus of the -anth- element which means flower in Greek which makes her a flower name in disguise. You may be more familiar with the -anth- element in names like Iolanthe and Ianthe which relate to the violet. Samantha featured in the top 100 names from 1964-1994.

Maryam :: This Arabic and Persian form of Maria is also the word for a tuberose in Iran. She appears in the top 100 in 2014.

Conclusion
I wonder which flowers will make the top 100 over this decade. We have seen the comeback of flower names from the early 1900s and I wait in hope for the resurgence of Heather. But will parents ever be brave enough to make Zinnia and Amaryllis seem ordinary? I am intrigued to find out.

Please check out the Plato Admetus Electra Demeter pinterest board here where I will share lists and infographics related to the posts.

Through The Decades :: -IE Names

Inspiration :: Barrie (picture of a scene from Peter Pan by JM Barrie)

Introduction

The series of the 'Through the Decades' posts is going to look at trends of particular elements of names. This week I am starting with names ending with -ie; a popular ending usually associated with diminutives. 

Method

I looked at the top 100 names four years (eg. 1904, 1924) into each decade for each gender. The following list shows all the names ending in -ie from those years.

Analysis
Female Names :: 1900s-1930s
Apart from Marjorie, these names are the typical 'vintage' diminutives that are becoming popular again. This is easily demonstrated by Elsie who appears in the top 100 from 1904 to 1934 and reappears on the 2014 list. She started to be used as an independent name in the early 20th Century and it is often said that parents are starting to use diminutives as given names but I now feel like this is not exclusive to the 21st Century - there are many diminutives on the popularity charts here.

Female Names :: 1930s-1990s
Marie takes over from Marjorie to be the resident -ie name for this time period and there are not as many diminutives seen. Longer names such as Natalie, Valerie and Stephanie have replaced the two-syllable names from the early 20th Century.

Female Names :: 1990s-2010s
Another shift takes place towards two syllable diminutives again. There are not many repeats of diminutives but names of a similar feel like Mollie and Charlie which may have felt too informal or even too masculine (in the case of Charlie) to be written on a birth certificate previously.

Female Names :: The General Pattern
The sketch-style graph below shows the general pattern in the amount of -ie names in the top 100 for girls.

Male Names
Overall, there were less -ie names for boys. Over the first half of the 20th Century, there were one or two names in the top 100 for each decade; usually Bertie, Leslie or Barrie. In the 1970s, Jamie takes over as the longstanding -ie name for boys. As seen with the girls' names, 2004 was a turning point for -ie names. Many nicknames from earlier times are having a resurgence and are being used as given names.

Male Names :: The General Pattern

The sketch-style graph below shows the general pattern in the amount of -ie names in the top 100 for boys.

Conclusion
The general trends show a dip in popularity of -ie names in the middle of the 20th Century then a sudden rise in 2004. The same pattern is seen with the number of -ie names that are diminutives (eg. Many names in the 1940s-1980s were longer, complete forms of names such as Valerie and Sophie whereas names like Bertie and Katie are diminutives and seen in the early and more recent popularity charts.) It will be interesting to see how long this diminutive madness continues.