Category Archives: Popular Baby Names

Popular and Unique Names in England and Wales, 2008

Don’t get too excited — these aren’t the top names for 2009. (If only!) Why am I posting old news? Because I recently found a more complete version of the 2008 list that goes all the way down to baby names used in England and Wales just three times. So, the top-ranked names may be [...]
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Popular and Unique Names in South Australia, 2009

The state of South Australia, home to about 8% of Australia’s population, has released its baby name rankings for 2009. Here are the top names for each gender, followed by two dozen names that were used only once last year. Boys Girls Popular Names Jack Riley William Oliver & Lachlan [tie] Thomas Charlotte Emily & Chloe [tie] Ella Isabella Lily Unique names Calcypher D’Artagnan Hercules Legion Lilallel Livingfaith Mamadee Mornorom Reef* Smit Swastik Trigger Alaska Antigone Bronkay Cider Dawt Ellaouise Highbury Karma-Shaide Loveness Oricle She-II Tender *As far as nature names go, Reef seems [...]
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Most Popular Baby Names in England and Wales, 1837-2005

Civil registration began in England and Wales in 1837. Between 1837 and 2005, approximately 318,000,000 names were recorded. The most popular were: Boys Girls John (2,090,961) William (1,918,538) Thomas (1,277,284) James (1,195,922) George (1,089,770) Joseph (729,456) Robert (585,341) Arthur (501,581) Charles (485,873) David (470,377) Elizabeth (1,167,650) Mary (1,128,958) Mary Ann (718,245) Margaret (692,674) Ann (610,010) Jane (560,064) Ellen (512,836) Sarah (503,947) Alice (491,250) Annie (475,101) Mary Ann makes things tricky, doesn’t it? Elizabeth took the top spot, but [...]
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Red Stilettos, Brown Loafers and Baby Names

Many people want unique names for their babies. They believe unique names will help their children stand out. And they’re right–unique names do indeed attract attention. But is it the kind of attention parents should want for their kids? Let’s try an analogy. A unique name is a pair of red stilettos. A common name is [...]
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Popular Baby Names in 17th- and 18th-Century New England

Caitlin GD Hopkins posted about historically popular baby names in Boston, MA and Windsor, CT at her blog Vast Public Indifference earlier today. Using a book of birth records for Boston, she came up with the top male and female names given to babies born in Boston in 1710: Mary Elizabeth Sarah Abigail Susanna John William Thomas James Samuel Then she used church records from 1635 [...]
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Are Baby Names Influenced by Retail Trends?

Here’s a baby name theory I don’t think I’ve ever come across before: “Something happened when children under 5 became a market, maybe around 1983, with things like Baby Gap,” said Christine Farina, associate professor of communication at the Richard Stockton College of New Jersey. “We became more conscious of each other at the same time. [...]
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Which Baby Names Would You Popularize? Why?

You write for a television show that’s watched by tens of millions of people every Wednesday night. Next week, two new characters will be introduced. These characters will become integral to the plot, have tons of screen time, and be played by two young, good-looking actors (one male, one female). It’s your job to name [...]
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