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Since I last went mythbusting, the 2011 name data from the United States has been released, and this week it’s American Independence Day. To celebrate both events, I decided to compare Australian and US name data. (Lou at Mer de Noms brought out her own comparison of the data for the United States and England/Wales in May, and did something pretty interesting with it.)
That Australians are becoming increasingly Americanised, including their choice of baby names, is something not debated, but accepted as a truism. It is often mourned by older generations that Australians used to call their children good solid Aussie names like Barry and Sheila, and now give them sleek American-style names like Logan and Scarlett.
It’s a myth which sounds very plausible – I certainly know far more children named Logan and Scarlett than I do Barry and Sheila (actually I don’t know any children called Barry or Sheila). But I thought we should try to get some numbers to back the myth up.
So I decided to look at the Top 100 names from both countries, in the years 1930, 1950, 1970, 1990 and 2011. If the number of names shared by both countries went steadily up, that could help support the theory that Australian names were becoming increasingly “American”. By no means conclusive proof, but it would be a start, and frankly I couldn’t think of any other way of doing it.
As I went through calculating the number of shared names, I also took note of those trends at work in Australia and the United States, where they were the same and where they differed. This gave me a picture of changing trends through the years. (The data is from Victoria, because theirs go back to 1929).
1930
MALE – 65% shared with US Top 100
1930 marked the highest percentage of shared names between the countries. This wasn’t because Australians were more “American” in 1930, but because in every year, the common denominator for both countries were classic names like John, Thomas and William, and these sort of names took up more space of both countries’ Top 100.
Trends noticeable on the Australian Top 100 were names from Ireland, Scotland and Wales, such as Kevin, Malcolm and Trevor, and aristocratic English surnames, such as Neville. Americans preferred prominent surnames of their own citizens, such as Elmer and Lee. Popular names from America we didn’t share were “cowboy” names – Wayne, Earl and Jesse. In America, nicknames for boys were all the rage, including Billy, Bob and Jimmie.
FEMALE – 51% shared with US Top 100
Popular girls names in both countries were homespun names such as Margaret and Dorothy, as well as plant names like Hazel and Rose.
Australian trends for girls included names from Ireland and Wales, such as Sheila and Gweneth, saints names such as Carmel and Veronica, and literary inventions like Doreen and Mavis. American trends were for Germanic names such as Emma and Clara, and the clunky Old English Mildred and Bertha. America’s Hispanic population meant that Delores and Juanita were Top 100 there.
1950
MALE – 59% shared with US Top 100 (down 6%)
American trends for boys we had picked up by 1950 include Gary, after Hollywood star Gary Cooper, and that supposed Australian favourite, Bruce, also popular in the US.
America continued its love of nicknames, with Bobby, Joe and Fred all Top 100. Several of the Irish boys names such as Kevin and Barry were now on the US Top 100 as well, but new Irish-style names such as Shane were still to gain American acceptance. Already in the US you can see a reluctance to use “feminine sounding” or unisex names such as Lindsay and Noel, which were Top 100 in Australia. In Australia, that same 1950s gender-anxiety produced the opposite result, with some unisex names like Leslie becoming male-only.
FEMALE – 47% shared with US Top 100 (down 4%)
The most noticeable shared trends for girls were those glamorous Hollywood names such as Marilyn (Monroe) and Rita (Hayworth). Even when Australians did take a name from America, such as Jennifer from Hollywood star Jennifer Jones, it didn’t always follow that Americans would embrace it as rapidly themselves. Jennifer was a 1950s name in Australia, but didn’t peak in the US until the 1970s.
Australian girls were being given French names like Annette and Jeanette, while Americans girls had Jacqueline. Another popular Australian “French” name was Lorraine, given in honour of St Joan of Arc, sometimes called The Maid of Lorraine. The American love of the nickname meant that names such as Judy and Peggy were Top 100 for girls.
1970
MALE – 56% shared with US Top 100 (down 3%)
Popular 1970 names which we think of as “American style” were in evidence on both charts, such as Bradley, Jason, Glenn, Darren and Craig.
Australian boys names not picked up in the US included Scottish-style names such as Ross, Graham, Stuart and Gavin, and the “feminine sounding” Ashley and Jamie. Differing ethnicities also made their mark, with Spanish Carlos in the US Top 100, and Italian and Greek names like Giovanni and Giorgio in the Australian Top 100. American nicknames powered on, with Larry, Terry and Jerry amongst them.
FEMALE – 51% shared with US Top 100 (up 4%, return to 1930 level)
It was the decade of those 1970s names Sharon and Tracey, although Sharon in particular had been popular in America for some time and we’d only just caught up.
Names such as Samantha and Amanda were already popular in Australia in 1970, but would have to wait until the 1980s to make it big in the US. Conversely, Amy was popular in the US, but wouldn’t be here until the 1980s. French Nicole was in vogue in both countries, and we’d caught up with Jacqueline; however Australia also had Danielle, Louise, Justine, Natalie, Simone and Josephine – typical 1970s girls names that were underused in the US. Scottish and Welsh names like Fiona, Megan and Bronwyn were popular here but didn’t get a look-in in the US. We were proudly using names of Australian origin, like Kylie and Narelle; naturally these were unknown in the US.
1990
MALE – 56% shared with US Top 100 (no change)
Trends from the US we were embracing were Old Testament names, such as Jacob and Zachary; and the new surname names, such as Ryan and Mitchell.
A new generation of “too feminine” boys names that were popular in Australia were ignored in the US, such as Shannon, Tristan and Leigh, as were more Scottish, Welsh and Irish-ish names, such as Lachlan, Rhys and Kane. Hayden and Jayden were already Top 100 in Australia, but not in the US. America had finally gone off nickname names, while Australia now had Jack, Jake and Ricky. American names Beau, Jackson and Tyson were popular then, as now, in Australia; of the three, only Jackson has hit the US Top 100 so far.
FEMALE – 56% the same as the US Top 100 (up 5%)
Names that both countries had in common were those typical 1990s names, like Tiffany, Brittany, Kayla and Caitlin.
Americana we were still to discover included unisex names for girls like Ariel, Shelby and Paige. Although the US had Danielle and Natalie by now, French names such as Monique, Elise, Renee and Madeleine which were popular here had apparently failed to make an impression. Although Welsh Caitlin was all the rage, the US were not on board with Tegan and Rhiannon, as we were. Most notably, Emma, Amelia, Charlotte, Sophie, Chloe and Zoe were missing from the US Top 100 – while American parents who chose these names in 1990 were ahead of the trends, in Australia, parents choosing these names in 1990 were just following the trends.
2011
MALE – 59% shared with US Top 100 (up 3%, return to 1950 level)
Congruence in popularity between the two nations has risen to 1950 levels, with many name trends in common, mostly a fresh crop of Biblical names, such as Elijah, and surname names, such as Mason.
American parents are now avoiding a new generation of Scottish names, such as Angus and Hamish, while Irish names like Declan and Flynn are also neglected in the US. Oddly enough, Kevin is still Top 100 in the US, while it’s considered a bit dated here. The scunner against nicknames continues as Americans shun Australian populars Charlie, Harry, Archie, Sam and Nate. No longer merely shying away from “feminine sounding” names for boys like Bailey and Riley, parents in the US have actually given these names to their daughters in such numbers that they are now Top 100 for girls, while Top 100 for boys here. Several names we have taken from the US, such as Jett, Hudson and Jasper, are still not popular in America.
FEMALE – 47% shared with US Top 100 (down 9%, return to 1950 level)
Girls names have also returned to 1950s levels. Many names are shared because America has caught up with our popular names from 1990, but Australian parents have also begun to use unisex names for girls like Madison and Addison.
America has abandoned many names as “outdated” such as Amy, Jessica, Holly and Amber that have taken on “modern classic” status here. While America has accepted Lily, it is less keen on our popular plant names Daisy, Ivy, Violet, Willow, Olive and Rose. British-style names such as Isla and Imogen cut no mustard in the States. Meanwhile, popular American virtue names like Genesis, Serenity, Trinity, Nevaeh and Destiny do not resonate here. Perhaps they will in the future.
CONCLUSIONS
I did not manage to bust this myth, but neither did I find much evidence to support it, so I will give its status as MYTH UNCONFIRMED.
As I compared popularity charts from the two countries, I realised more and more that it was a case of apples and oranges. Names took longer to gain popularity in the US, and it was harder for them to stay in the Top 100; name popularity was a competitive environment there. Australia has a much smaller population size, which means that name trends show up faster here. We’re also more likely to hold onto our favourite names once we’ve found them, sometimes for generations.
I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say that American parents are absolutely obsessed with getting ahead of the current trends, and can watch the slowly rising popularity of their chosen names with almost comical anxiety. This makes some sense, because trending names can take so long to reach the Top 100 that they have a good chance of having ten to twenty years before that happens. In Australia, this behaviour makes no sense at all, because as soon as a name begins to show up in the data, it’s basically already quite popular. As we keep names around for longer, there’s no real rush to “catch” a name on the way up either; we can always wait until it’s a cosy, familiar “classic”.
In any given year, Australia and the US will share around half the names on their respective Tops 100s, and this has not changed across time. We share many name trends, and since at least 1950, Australia has been drawn to names from America. Sometimes it took us a long time to get onto a particular trend from America, and other times we took to it with greater enthusiasm than Americans did themselves.
Both countries also have their own styles of naming. Australia has always been fond of Irish-inspired names, and although Barry and Sheila have fallen by the wayside, we now have Finn and Molly. Scottish names continue to be a growth area, with Angus, Hamish, Callum and Isla seeming rather stylish to us. Through the years, there were many names unique to the Australian popularity charts. Names that I thought of as typical of their period, such as Dulcie in 1930, Glenys in 1950, and Jacinta in 1970 seemed to be unknown in the US.
Americans are slow to adopt Irish names, but often touchingly faithful to them, and are wary of Scottish and Welsh names. They have a deep suspicion of unisex names for boys or anything that even sounds remotely feminine, while comfortable with briskly masculine names for girls. Flower names are not popular there; perhaps they seem too girlish even for girls.
Due to going overboard on nicknames in the past, America has developed almost a horror of them, much in the same way I can no longer stomach gingerbread after overindulging on it a few Christmases ago. As nicknames are currently internationally popular, this has seen them unfairly branded as a bit stuffy on the issue, when they’re really just over the whole thing.
We don’t have to try to follow American trends, and in fact a couple of them would be downright foolish for us to imitate. But the United States has proved a rich source of name inspiration for many decades, and I know it will continue to be so for many decades to come.
Waltzing More Than Matilda 
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I disagree that Americans are slow to warm up to Irish names. I think it all depends on where you live. I come from a major American city (Chicago) where you will find generations of people of Irish descent where names like Brendan, Kevin, Sheila, Eileen, Deirdre etc are used ad nauseum. I know Kevins in their 50s and 60s, so I think it has been used in the United States just as long as it has been used in Australia. The difference is that where Kevin was specifically used among Irish-American families pre-1970s, it started to gain popularity among people who had no Irish heritage whatsoever, it is same story with Sean. It also depends on the American. An American of Hispanic or Polish heritage may be slow to warm to an Irish name because Sean Kowalski or Liam Gonzalez might sound a bit mismatched with their surname, though I have seen this occur, it is kind of unusual.
There are also huge regional differences in America. I don’t know if it is the same in Australia, but in the United States, a name may be popular in one city or region but completely unheard of in another. For example, Aspen and Brigham are pretty trendy in the Southwest and are completely unheard of in the Midwest, while Francesca and Aisling are not unheard of in my parts, they may get mocked in a place like Tennessee. Ethnicities also change from region to region. Chicago has an extremely large Italian, Polish (and other Slavic groups), Irish and Greek population. There are other ethnic groups which have made an impact on the city that may have slipped my mind, but these ethnic groups have had huge impact on what names are popular or will be popular in an area. In Minnesota or North Dakota, there are huge pockets of Scandinavian and German settlers, so names like Odin, Gunnar, Greta, Ingrid or Linnea are not unusual or even considered weird in those parts. I noticed that in Washington DC and in the neighboring suburbs, people tended to use very British or very English names. The area has a larger population of people who have English or Scottish ancestry than they do in Chicago, so it is not surprising that names like Eleanor or George are currently trendy in those parts. In Louisiana, especially in areas that are still heavily Cajun, French names are the norm.
The American South is its own name culture. It is actually not unusual, contrary to popular belief, to see several little boys and girls named Riley or Taylor in one class. Maybe a Northerner would be concerned to use a unisex name on a boy, but this is not so in the South. Southerners love using family surnames hence why you see names like Bailey, Taylor, Mackenzie and Madison used equally on males and females. Scottish names have always been extremely common in the Southern United States, not so much names like Angus or Duncan, but names like Aileen, Mackenzie, Sheena and Shane have always been really common. Friends of mine who recently moved to a small town in Northern Florida joked that it seems as if every young person in that town, male or female, is named Skyler, spelled every which way.
As for the popularity of Dolores and Juanita in the 1930s, it should also be noted that Dolores was also a common name among Irish Catholics and I recently found out it used to be a common name among Czechs. I had a great aunt named Dolores and she was 100% Bohemian. I could never figure out why she ended up with a Spanish name until I read that Dolores was actually a common name among Catholics in Bohemia during her time. I also notice that most ladies in that generation who are named Dolores are not of Spanish or even Hispanic descent. I know many non-Hispanic ladies in that age group named Juanita. It is just one of those names that caught on somewhat in the 1930s among the general population. Perhaps there was an actress or a character from a movie or book which propelled its popularity. Anita was also somewhat common during that period.
As for Barry and Sheila being specifically Australian, that is new to me. Those names were not unheard of in the United States in the 1930s, especially Barry and I would say that Scarlett seems far more common in other anglophone countries than in the United States, even if, technically, its origins, I suppose, are American. I also think it is interesting that Indiana is popular in Australia yet has probably not been used in the U.S. since the early 19th-century. It was a name originally given to girls of a mixed Native American/European heritage, it kind of fell out of usage once it became a State and probably Indiana Jones killed its usage.
Hi Sebastiane, thanks so much for leaving such a thoughtful response. I’ll try to answer everything as best I can.
1. The article is pretty clear that it is comparing Top 100s from 1930-2011. Although of course Irish names would have been used longer in the US (which has a longer history), they took longer to reach Top 100 status in the USA than they did in Australia. I did also point out that our smaller population size means that it’s quicker for names to get into the Top 100 overall.
I’m sure you can see that if I had used name statistics from Boston or Chicago only, people would have said that was hardly a representative sample of American names. And I did say that once Irish names became popular in the US, they often stayed popular longer than they did here (especially for boys names), so there is a real fondness for them. So yes, Irish names are popular in the US, but overall, took longer to be adopted on a broad basis than they were here.
I don’t think it’s any secret that in the past, Irish people in the USA often felt obliged to change their names or Anglicise them lest they face discrimination (or had them changed on their behalf). Pamela Satran from Namberry even wrote a novel where she discusses this. So I think that’s a real cultural difference between us, and one that is reflected in the different Top 100s.
2. Scottish names just aren’t as popular in the US – even the ones you quote are not traditional Scottish names (Shane is Irish and Mackenzie a surname). That’s a genuine cultural difference, and no doubt reflects a different ethnic make-up, as well as a different social mindset. (We’re influenced by Britain, where Scottish names are traditionally used by the nobility and even the monarchy, so for us, these are “upper-class” sounding names). Why *should* you like Scottish names, when you separated from Britain so long ago? There’s no reason for you to.
3. Unisex names – again, the name statistics clearly show a general American distaste for unisex names on boys from the 1950s onwards, or even names that sound slightly feminine (a few classrooms in the South are hardly indicative of a whole nation). Here it was the other way around. Equally anxious over masculinity in the 1950s, we forced many unisex names to become male-only. I thought it was interesting that the same anxiety of the era produced two opposing effects. Sure, here you will find plenty of girls with “boyish” names, usually in lower socio-economic areas, but in general they didn’t reach the Top 100 until recently (unless we only knew the name as feminine to begin with, like Kelly and Stacey).
4. Juanita and Dolores were also fashionable for Catholics in Australia during the 1930s – but they did not become popular enough to reach the Top 100. The obvious conclusion is that America’s significant Hispanic population has to have made that difference. Each decade, there were always Spanish names in the American Top 100, and naturally we just aren’t able to match this. In the same way, the American Top 100 doesn’t have as many Italian names as we do – we have different patterns of immigration.
5. The thing about Barry and Sheila being typically Australian is a joke, or a meme. They’re the kind of baby boomer names that older people will say (maybe jokingly) are “true” Australian names. For people born in the 1970s, it’s Darren and Sharon. They’re stock characters in the collective imagination, and I’m sure most people understand, not uniquely Australian names. (But nobody else has these stock characters, so in a way, they kind of are uniquely Australian!)
6. You raise a good point about Scarlett being American in origin, but more popular elsewhere. In fact, that’s one of the things I learned and tried to communicate – the definition of what makes “an American” name is rather unclear. There are many names which we learned of from America, but they became popular in Britain or here first – Beau and Scarlett are two examples (Indiana was originally English and pre-dates the American state, so is even more of a grey area) . Angie from Upswing Baby Names and I discussed how Samantha, which is from America, was a popular 1950s name here, although a 1970s name in America. In fact, pinning names down is pretty hard to do, and it’s probably not very useful to even describe certain names as “American-influenced”, which I guess is one of the main conclusions I reached.
This was so interesting! I am American yet I find that my naming style falls more in line with Australian trends, which is why I love your blog! 🙂 I am brokenhearted that Riley is now considered a “girl name” here (especially where I live, although it is generally spelled “Ryleigh” or “Rylee” or some other awful corruption) because I would love to use it should I ever have a boy – it is a family name on my husband’s side, his grandfather’s middle name. My girls are called Mia and Charlotte. Keep up the good work!
Thank you very much! Riley is actually falling in popularity here, I guess to make way for newer surname names such as Mason and Cooper. It’s still Top 100 though.
MIa, Charlotte and RIley would definitely fit in very well here!
Very interesting! I would consider Hudson as popular now (so much so that I wouldn’t use it, though I really like it). Flynn is on the radar and I was surprised that Kevin is still in the Top 100. I would personally consider it a 1970’s name.
I really enjoyed your overall analysis!
Dancingwithdad–American name nerd living in China
Very interesting!…though I have heard of a good number of Hudson’s in the the States recently…so many that I would not use it myself. I was surprised that Kevin was still in the top 100 as I never hear it for a little one now days (would personally consider it to be 70’s name). I also wouldn’t consider Flynn neglected, maybe not Top 100 but it’s definately used.
I really enjoyed your overall analysis!
Dancingwithdad (American name nerd, living in China)
Hudson is only just outside the Top 100 in the US, so it will be there soonish. You need to have some cut-off for what you call “popular”, and just for convenience I made inside the Top 100. Flynn is barely on the Top 1000, so by Australian standards, it’s neglected.
Thanks very much for your comment, DWD! 🙂
I am a 1990’s baby from Australia and there are three Emma’s in my homeroom as well as about 10 or so Emily’s in various classes. Also common is Sarah there are three of those in my math and English class though one is spelled Sara. and Sophie is also really common. I have met two Monique’s. Yes there are also heaps of Amy’s I know of three all spelt different there’s Amie, Aimee and Amy.
I actually think the 1990s had really great names for girls; it was a good time to get named! No wonder we’ve held onto so many of the 1990s names.
Me being Ebony I get confused for an Emily and with my last name of a popular chips brand and the most common last name in the English speaking world. There is an Emily with my exact last name so I am glad to be Ebony. The nineties were also start of the Madison/Maddison trend I know of two Maddison’s that go by Maddie and Maddi as well as a Madison who goes by Madi.
I’m not quite as crazy about all the many variations of Maddy ….
yeah there are also some but not as many Madeleine’s and yep they are Maddy’s too
(I tried making a comment awhile ago, but for some reason it didn’t go through.)
Interesting analysis, Anna! Maybe you could also do a UK vs. Aus comparison (filling in the last blank on the three-way comparison between the countries on name trends).
On the subject of cultural and geographical differences, I made a post at my blog talking about differences between regions within the U.S. (and mentions some points I’ve touched on before with unisex names):
http://millennialkelly.blogspot.com/2012/07/archetypes-of-american-naming.html
Sorry I de-spammed you – Askismet is usually pretty good, but sometimes it gets a bit muddled.
Good analysis, Anna! Maybe in the future you can fill in the blanks on the third part of this three-way US/UK/Aus “rivalry” by doing a comparison of the UK and Australia stats?
I’m working on a post for my blog that will discuss some of the variations between regions in the US (Anna knows about this because I’ve mentioned it to her, but the regions that are the most accepting of trends like unisex names for boys and nickname-names may surprise some outsiders, but are fairly logical to those familiar with the various regions of America). I’ll post a link to it once I get it up.
Once the UK data comes out in September (?), I will definitely have to think of a Myth to look at in regard to that.
I look forward to your blog post, you always think of an interesting angle to come at name trends.
I enjoyed reading your analysis and agree with the overall conclusion. I laughed when you said we Americans watch the slowly rising popularity of our chosen names with comical anxiety because it is so true and I do that and I’m aware my anxiety doesn’t make any sense!
I made some other observations. Declan may not be as popular over here yet, but it is a fast rising name. I wouldn’t consider it neglected. Declan may be an example of American adopting Australian trends.
Flower names are very popular here too. While none of them are as huge as Lily, Violet is near the top 100 (#101), and Rose is gently trending upwards. I’m not sure about the others, but Daisy was used by at least one celebrity and could get a little more popular, although I agree it probably won’t reach Lily’s status.
During research for my Fourth of July post, I noticed one glaring difference between the two countries is Lachlan (#3 in Australia). I wasn’t even comparing the two countries, but was looking into prominent people from America’s revolutionary times, that have since been forgotten, and came across Lachlan. Lachlan sounds like a name that would be huge in America, but it’s not even in the top 1000 over here.
I think it does make SOME sense for you, as you have generally have a nice long time before a name becomes Top 100, and also once a name’s popular it’s generally fast on its way out, so you want to grab it while it’s still fresh. I do see Australians trying to emulate this, and it’s basically a waste of time, as once a name starts trending upwards and we know about it, it’s probably just a year or two off Top 100 status, or already Top 100.
I know that Declan will be Top 100 in the US eventually, but it’s another example of you being slower to adopt Irish names, which are already popular internationally. I do see Americans saying Declan is a “weird” name.
Flower names are getting more popular, but the fact that most Americans would prefer to call their daughter Serenity rather than Rose makes it very different to here. In 20 years we may both have caught up with each other’s trends and swapped over – we’ll be into virtue names, and you’ll all be called Willow and Dahlia.
I’m not sure why, but the US just doesn’t seem to be into Scottish names very much. Perhaps they sound harsh and lumpy to you? To us they are quite upper-class sounding.