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!

The Classic Name Formula

Inspiration :: Bernard (painting by Mike Bernard)

It is a question that plagues name nerds- what consists of a classic name? As this brilliant article says, classic is often associated with good especially at this time in fashion history where people are favouring styles that were fashionable decades ago. When this is combined with the minimalist buy-only-a-few-items philosophy, 'classic' is the new modern. But classic is hard to pin down.

I feel that there should be a formula or a system to find classic names but this is hard when classic is so undefinable. Upswing Baby Names (in the post I linked above) did such a great job at this and I would like to have a go myself.

My first though was to find names that were popular in the late 19th century and early 20^th century that are still popular now. Below is a chart of my findings:

The problem with this method is that, because names from the 19th century are popular again now, we see the revival names rather than the classics. Their graphs look like a U shape rather than the level graph you would expect with a classic name.

It also leaves out the names we consider classic (Mary etc.) that are in decline at the moment.

And where do we stop? There are so many names that peaked in the 80s that are still popular today – we can hardly class all of them as popular. In my chart, I used all the names from 1940 and before that are still popular today.  So maybe classic isn’t a fixed state. Maybe it is more fluid. We can’t say that Isla is a classic name at the moment but it may well be in the future.

For my next try, I used the number of times a name had been in the top 100 as a marker. These names have all appeared in the top 100 ten or more times:

But this doesn’t take into account that some of these names just don’t ‘sound’ classic. Mohammed still sounds exotic – even though it has been in the top 100 since the 1920s. Bernard and Janet sound incredibly dated. However, these names appear further down the 'classic' list. We could just use the top few as they seem like the most classic names but that doesn't give parents much of a choice when trying to find the stylish classics they crave.

Sadly, it is obvious that I still haven’t found a foolproof system yet. But I am beginning to understand that when many parents say 'classic', they are actually looking for revival names. 

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.

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.

100 year rule :: 1914 and 2014

Inspiration :: Mary (St Mary's Lighthouse, No. 1 in 1914)

Name nerds use the term '100 year rule' to explain the pattern of name popularity where popular names from 100 years ago become popular again. But how accurate is this 'rule'? I'm going to look at the similarities between the 2014 and 1914 chart to discover this.

Names that were in the top 100 of 1914 and 2014.

27% of names from the top 100 of 1914 were in the top 100 of 2014.

Many of these names are those we would consider 'classic' but is this just because they are historical and are popular at the moment? 

Names in the top 100 of 1914 and the top 1000 (but not top 100) of 2014.

40% of names from the top 100 of 1914 were in the top 1000 (but not top 100) of 2014.

67% of names from the top 100 of 1914 were in the top 1000 of 2014.

These names are what people would call 'vintage'. They are the comeback names that seem fresh and exciting after being uncommon for 100 years.

Names from 1914 that were not in the top 1000 in 2014.

33% of names from the top 100 of 1914 were not in the top 1000 of 2014.

These names are the names that people would say were too 'granny-ish' and would be unlikely to return to our charts. However, I think some such as Marion, Bessie and Freda could make a comeback - just a bit later than their 100 year schedule.

I do not have enough data to comment whether the '100 year rule' works or is just a myth but hopefully, when I have data from other years and from the boys' names, I will be able to create some graphs and charts to reveal the truth.

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?

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?