I’ve got a post on the top names in England and Wales scheduled for Monday, but until then here are a couple of “biggest changes” analyses. We’ll do the girl names today and the boy names tomorrow.
The tables below include two versions of each list. On the left are the top raw-number differences, taking all names into account. On the right are the top ranking differences, taking only the top 1,000 names (roughly) into account.
Biggest Increases in Popularity
| Raw Numbers (all names) | Rankings (top 1,000) |
|---|---|
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Eleanor “Elea” Nickerson of British Baby Names mentioned the rise of Reeva yesterday on Facebook, attributing it to Reeva Steenkamp, the girlfriend Oscar Pistorius allegedly murdered. That sounds like a good explanation to me. In fact, the murder early last year (and the ongoing news coverage) might explain why Oscar itself saw such a big increase in 2013.
Can you think of explanations for any of the other names? (Well, besides Khaleesi. I think we all know where that one comes from at this point.)
Biggest Decreases in Popularity
| Raw Numbers (all names) | Rankings (top 1,000) |
|---|---|
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Top Debut Name
Everly.
Fewer than 3 baby girls got the name in 2012, but 21 baby girls were named Everly in 2013. Everley, Everleigh and Everlyn have been on the list before, but never Everly. (I only have the full England and Wales baby name lists going back to 2007, though.)
Here are the U.S. girl names that changed the most in popularity in 2013, if you’d like to compare.