Which girl names made the biggest gains from 2011 to 2012?
And which ones suffered the biggest losses?
This is where the stats start telling us some interesting stories!
Below I’ve got two different lists for both “increases” and “decreases.”
On the left is the my list. I looked at the raw number differences between the 2011 names and the 2012 names. My analysis covers all 19,380 girl names on the 2012 list.
On the right is the SSA’s list. They looked at the ranking differences between the 2011 names and the 2012 names. Their analysis covers approximately the top 500 girl names on the 2012 list.
Biggest Increases
The baby girl names that saw the biggest popularity increases from 2011 to 2012 were…
| Nancy’s list (raw numbers) | SSA’s list (rankings) |
|---|---|
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Check out Cataleya! That’s quite a jump.
Here are last year’s raw number jumps and last year’s ranking jumps.
Biggest Decreases
The baby girl names that saw the biggest popularity decreases from 2011 to 2012 were…
| Nancy’s list (raw numbers) | SSA’s list (rankings) |
|---|---|
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Here are last year’s raw number drops and last year’s ranking drops.
I think your numbers give us a better sense of the trends. What’s with Raelyn/n?
Just figured Raelynn out — RaeLynn (born Racheal Lynn Woodward) was on the 2nd season of The Voice.
I have a 17 year-old cousin named Raelin (rhyming with Waylon rather than Ray- lynn.) Her name seemed “funky” when she was born, but now it fits in with Kaylen, Ashlinn & Adelynn. That’s a trend that can wind down any day now.
On Arya/Aria:
Arya is a “Game of Thrones” character.
Aria is a “Pretty Little Liars” character.
(Imagine how high one of them could have jumped if the shows had used the same spelling.)
Any thoughts on the rise in Marilyn? It used by about 200 more babies this year than last. It’s my grandmother’s name, and I can’t see any trends in fits in.
Could be the movie My Week with Marilyn, which was released in late 2011. Michelle Williams was nominated for an Oscar for her portrayal of Marilyn Monroe.
Mila: Mila Kunis
Penelope: the Kardashian baby
Cora: the Downton Abbey character
Haven: Jessica Alba’s baby
Reagan: perhaps inspired by the American elections last year
Skylar: the Breaking Bad character
Elsie: Elsie Windes, American water polo player who won a Gold medal in the London Olympics
Why do parents name their daughters Paisley in the USA? I always have to think of Ian Paisley, a die-hard fundamentalist from Northern Ireland, when I hear that name.
My best guess on Paisley is country singer Brad Paisley.
Thanks for the guess. It fits well to the regional distribution of the name Paisley.
Arya has been given to 38 babies in Sweden since June of 2011, according to data from Statistics Sweden.
Source: Game of Thrones sparks Swede baby name trend