Article in New Issue of Matilda Magazine

02 Tuesday Apr 2013

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Appellation Mountain, Baby Name Pondering, Jane Austen names, Matilda magazine, name data, rare names, surname names, US name popularity

Kate and Sarah have a new issue of Matilda magazine out. They are having a few problems with their website at present, but the second issue of Matilda looks great. There’s sage advice from Abby at Appellation Mountain, some wonderful surname names from Brooke at Baby Name Pondering, name interviews, names from Jane Austen from Kelli at The Name Freak, Easter ideas, and more.

I have an article in it titled Beyond Liv and Zeke: One Syllable Names. It looks at some of the one syllable names that don’t make the Top 1000 in the United States, such as Bo, Nox, Haze and Jinx. I had a lot of fun scouring the US data to find some gems … and some curiosities.

Thanks Kate and Sarah for another fantastic issue!

Your Questions Answered: How Popular is That Name?

31 Sunday Mar 2013

Posted by A.O. in Your Questions Answered

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classic names, Google, name data, name popularity, name trends, popular names, UK name popularity, US name popularity

With all the state and territory data out before Easter, this seems the perfect time to cover those questions people have asked about name popularity.

In a way, it’s a bit pointless, because all the data is out, and these questions can be answered by accessing information on the blog under Links to Name Data, or under the category archive for Name Data.

However, I did think it might be interesting for others to know what names people were most concerned about. In some cases, they could indicate names that are on the rise.

I couldn’t answer all the questions Googled to reach the blog, but I gave precedence to those searched for multiple times, those asking about Australian data, and those asking specific questions.

GIRLS NAMES

How many baby girls were named Bonnie in 2012, and in which age group is the name Bonnie most popular?

There were 54 babies named Bonnie born in Victoria, and 10 in Tasmania, and those are the only states who have data on that name available so far (there were 117 in New South Wales in 2011). Bonnie has never been more popular than it is now, so it is most popular on babies and small children.

Is the name Darcey going up the charts, and is it more popular in the UK?

Darcey doesn’t rank, and there is no evidence of it going up the charts. It is #126 in England/Wales for girls, so I’d say it is more popular there.

Is the name Eva too popular?

It hard to say whether a name is “too popular” – some people think any name that shows up on the data at all is too popular, while other people think the #1 name isn’t too popular to use. Eva is a classic name, in the Top 30 and rising in most states and territories, which makes it fairly popular. It’s really up to you what’s “too popular”.

How popular is the name Fiona in Australia?

It’s not as popular now as it was in the 1970s, when it hit its peak. At the moment it’s #424 in New South Wales, and #337 in Victoria.

Popularity of name Florence in Australia?

It’s #284 in New South Wales and rising, and #199 in Victoria.

Is Hazel a common name, and is it becoming popular?

It’s not common, but on the other hand it’s not rare either. It is currently #264 and rising in popularity in New South Wales, and it is only just outside the Top 100 in Victoria.

Popularity of the name Iris in Australia

It is #317 in New South Wales and #252 in Victoria.

Popularity of name Mary in Australia

It is just outside the Top 100 in New South Wales, and has been there since the 1990s. It’s much the same in Victoria – #116.

Popularity of the baby name Millicent in Australia

It is #572 and falling in New South Wales, and #383 in Victoria.

Is the name Olive popular in Australia, and how popular is it?

It has recently joined the Top 100 in some states, but in some areas it fell in popularity last year, so it’s hard to say right now how popular it will get. It is #99 in New South Wales, #94 in Victoria, and #92 in Tasmania.

When was the name Stacey popular?

In the 1970s and 1980s, and it was most popular in the 1980s.

Popularity of name Zara in Australia for 2012

It is #27 in New South Wales, #26 in Victoria, #43 in Queensland, #24 in South Australia, #32 in Western Australia, #49 in Tasmania and #20 in the Australian Capital Territory.

BOYS NAMES

Popularity of name Banjo in Australia

It is #376 in Victoria, which is the only state to have data available for that name.

Is the name Callum becoming popular in the United States?

I wouldn’t say so. It is in the 800s and apparently stable. Compared to Australia, the United Kingdom and Ireland, where it’s a Top 100 name, it doesn’t seem popular to me at all there.

Is Darcy popular as a boy’s name in Australia, and how popular is it?

Darcy has a significant history as a boy’s name in Australia, and it has been in the Top 100 since the early 2000s. However, it has been falling for a while now, and may not be Top 100 for much longer. It is #100 in New South Wales, #95 in Victoria, #91 in Queensland, #76 in Tasmania, and #92 in the Australian Capital Territory

Declan name popularity Australia

It is just outside the Top 100 in New South Wales, and falling in popularity. It is #74 in Victoria, #60 in Queensland, #50 in Tasmania, #50 in Western Australia, and #56 in the Australian Capital Territory.

Ezra name popularity Australia

It is #347 in Victoria, and that’s the only state with data on the name available.

Is the baby name Flynn becoming popular, and how many boys have the name Flynn in Victoria?

I’d say it is already popular, as it in the Top 100 and rising in almost every state and territory. 389 boys named Flynn were born in Victoria between 2010 and 2012, and there were almost a thousand born in the 2000s, so there are quite a few little Flynns out there.

Is Hamish a common name in Australia?

Yes – it began charting in the 1950s, rose sharply in the 1980s and was Top 100 by the 1990s. It’s still in the Top 100, but falling in popularity.

Popularity of name Jake in Tasmania

It is currently #41.

Jasper name popularity

It’s #91 in New South Wales, #65 in Victoria, #82 in Queensland, #51 in Tasmania, and #30 in the Australian Capital Territory.

Popularity of Jed as a boy’s name in NSW

It is #214 and falling.

Popularity of the name Nash in Australia

It is #177 in Victoria, which is the only state to have data available on that name.

How common is the name Taj in Australia?

It’s certainly not uncommon, having charted here since the 1980s. However, it’s never been in the Top 50 except in Western Australia, and in several states it’s never been in the Top 100.

Underused Names for Girls

03 Sunday Feb 2013

Posted by A.O. in Name Themes and Lists

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Arabic names, Arthurian legends, celebrity baby names, Disney names, english names, ethnonyms, famous namesakes, fictional namesakes, flower names, French name popularity, French names, German names, germanic names, Greek names, historical records, How Green Was My Valley, Italian names, Latin names, mythological names, name data, name history, name meaning, name popuarity, names from movies, nature names, nicknames, Old French names, Old Welsh names, Oz: The Great and Powerful, plant names, Poldark, popular culture, Puritan names, rare names, royal names, saints names, Shakespearean names, surname names, The Iliad, The Wizard of Oz, tribal names, unisex names, virtue names, vocabulary names, Welsh names, William Shakespeare

Last week we had names from Victoria which were used less than ten times in 2012. Those names are uncommon – but what if you wanted something even rarer? These are names which don’t appear even once in the Victorian data from last year, and have never charted in Australia. However, they are not strange or obscure, and all of them can be found in Australian historical records.

Angharad

Angharad is an Old Welsh name meaning “greatly loved”. It was reasonably common in medieval times, and there are several Angharads in Welsh history. In Welsh mythology, Angharad Golden-Hand is the lover of Peredur, one of King Arthur’s knights. Angharad Morgan is a main character in How Green Was My Valley, and in the film version was played by Maureen O’Hara. Actress Angharad Rees became well known in the 1970s for playing the role of Demelza in the TV series Poldark. Lots of famous Angharads, yet I could find only one woman named Angharad in Australian records. The pronunciation, ang-HAH-rad, may have caused some concern. This is a strong and unusual name with a lovely meaning. It would definitely stand out.

Beatrix

Beatrix is based on the name Viatrix, the feminine form of the Latin name Viator, meaning “voyager, traveller”. Early on, the spelling was altered to associate it with the Latin word beatus, meaning “blessed”, and it was common amongst early Christians. Some baby name books sandwich these two meanings together and interpret it as “blessed traveller”. Saint Beatrix was an early Roman martyr; according to legend, she was strangled by her servants. The name became less common in England after the Middle Ages, but was revived in the 19^th century. One of the most famous people with this name is Beatrix Potter, the children’s writer and illustrator, who gave us such delightful characters as Peter Rabbit, Jemima Puddleduck, Squirrel Nutkin and Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle. As well as these talents, she was also a scientific researcher, conservationist, farmer, and sheep breeder. Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands helps give this name a royal touch, and a famous literary character is Beatrix “Trixie” Belden, girl detective. To me, this charming name seems spunkier and more eccentric than her sister Beatrice.

Cressida

In Greek mythology, Chryseis was the daughter of a Trojan priest named Chryses, and she was captured by the Greek champion Agamemnon as part of the spoils of war; he refused to give her back even after being asked nicely. Chryseis’ dad prayed like blazes to the god Apollo, who obligingly sent a plague through the Greek soldiers until Chryseis was returned. A later legend says that she bore Agamemnon a son. Her name given in the Iliad simply means “daughter of Chryses”; appropriately for a priest of Apollo, Chryses’ name means “golden”, perhaps in reference to sunlight. Some writers say Chryseis’ real name was Astynome, meaning “possessor of the city”. When medieval authors retold the tale of the Trojan War, this story had a complete rewrite. Chryseis became Cressida (KRES-ih-duh), and one corner of a tragic love triangle; she is made the epitome of the false woman and the whore. Some authors were sympathetic to Cressida’s plight, and in Shakespeare’s version, Cressida is complex, highly intelligent and witty. A famous Australian with this name is the artist Cressida Campbell. I find this literary name quite bewitching.

Emmeline

Emmeline is the Old French form of the Germanic name Amelina, based on the word for “work”; it is therefore related to the name Amelia, and not to Emily. The name was introduced to Britain by the Normans, and many people prefer to give it a slightly French pronunciation as EM-uh-leen, while others seek to Anglicise the way it is said as EM-uh-line (like Caroline). My experience is that the British tend to say leen, Americans tend to say line, and Australians have a bob each way and can usually cope with either. There were several prominent suffragists named Emmeline, including Emmeline Pankhurst, Emmeline Pethick-Lawrence and Emmeline Wells. Australia mountaineer Emmeline Du Faur was the first woman to climb Mount Cook (in record time), and the first person to climb several peaks – always dressed in a skirt. Emmeline Pethick-Lawrence was a keen hiker and woodcrafter, and to me the name Emmeline sounds vigorous, healthy, and practical. Emmeline has a solid history of use in Australia, being commonly found in old records, and today its nickname Emmie means it fits in with popular names such as Emily, Emma and Emmerson.

Isadora

Isadora is a variant of the name Isidora, the feminine form of Isidore, from the Greek for “gift of Isis”; the Egyptian goddess Isis was worshipped widely in the ancient world, and she was also important to the Greeks and Romans. Saint Isidora was a 4^th century Egyptian nun, considered to be a “holy fool”, and treated with contempt by the other nuns for her eccentric ways, such as wearing a dirty dishrag on her head instead of a veil, and eating only leftovers instead of proper meals. When a visiting saint came to the nunnery, he immediately picked out Isidora as the only person holier than himself; upset by the praise and attention, Isidora ran away into the desert to be a hermit, and nothing more is known of her. The most famous Isadora is the American dancer Isadora Duncan, who developed her own unique style of dance, based on the natural movements of the human body. Like the saint, she was considered eccentric and radical, and danced to the beat of her own drum. Isadora is a beautiful, glamorous and individualistic name!

Lavender

Lavender has been used as a personal name since the 17^th century, and was given to both sexes. It may have originally been derived from the surname, which is Norman-French and based on the word lavandier, referring to a worker in the wool industry who washed the raw wool (this is an occupation that both men and women had). Even in the middle of the 20^th century, you can still find boys named Lavender. By now, however, it is almost entirely thought of as a girl’s name, and considered to be from the flower. The flower name comes from the Old French lavendre, possibly from the Latin for “blue-coloured”, lividius, but also influenced by lavare, meaning “wash”, because lavender was used in washing clothes. Lavender is often used to scent soaps and beauty products, and has been used as a relaxation aid for thousands of years. The colour lavender is associated with sensuality and decadence, and at one time, was considered symbolic of homosexuality. Like Rose, this is a pretty old-fashioned flower name that is more complex that it first appears.

Sabine

Sabine is a French and German form of Sabina, the feminine form of the Latin name Sabinus, meaning “Sabine”. The Sabines were an Italian tribe who inhabited the region where the city of Rome stands today, and some of them fought against Rome for their independence. According to legend, the Romans abducted Sabine women to populate the city of Rome; the war between the Romans and Sabines ended when the women threw themselves and their children between the armies of their fathers and those of their husbands. The history behind the legend is that the conquered Sabines assimilated with the Romans, beginning a new line of inheritance. Many of the noble Roman families traced their ancestry to Sabine origins, and at least some of the deities and rituals of Rome came from the Sabines. The Sabines were said to have taken their name from the hero Sabus, who was worshipped as a deity. Although it is too long ago to be sure, one theory is that the tribal name Sabine meant “us, ourselves, our own people”. You can either say this name the French way, sa-BEEN, or the German way, za-BEE-nuh; most English-speakers use the French pronunciation. There is at least one famous man named Sabine – the writer Sabine Baring-Gould, whose name was after the surname (derived from the personal name). You can find both men and women named Sabine in Australian records. Sabine is smooth and sophisticated, but comes with a cute nickname – Bean.

Theodora

Theodora is the feminine form of the Greek name Theodoros, meaning “gift of God”. The name pre-dates Christianity, but its meaning appealed to early Christians, and there are a few saints with this name. One of them was Saint Theodora, who as punishment for her pious celibacy, was dragged into a brothel. Her first “customer” was a Christian man, who had came to save her; they were both martyred, but their virtue remained intact. This story is probably fictional, and may have been inspired by sacred prostitution, of which Christians obviously disapproved. An Eastern Orthodox Saint Theodora disguised herself as a man and joined a monastery. Her identity as a woman was only discovered after her death. The name was a very popular one for Byzantine empresses, and Theodora I is also regarded as a saint. A Roman Theodora was a senator, and supposedly the lover of one of the early popes. She was harshly condemned for daring to “exercise power like a man”. The hussy! The image you get from these historical Theodoras is of very strong, independent, determined women – which might explain why Disney has chosen this name for the Wicked Witch of the West in Oz: The Great and Powerful. Pop star Robbie William welcomed a daughter named Theodora Rose last year, called Teddy; he wanted a dignified full name for the cuddly nickname, and Theodora fit the bill perfectly.

Verity

Verity is an English word meaning “truth”, especially in regard to religious truth or doctrine. It has been used as a personal name since the 17^th century, and would have been given as a virtue name by the Puritans. However, it was most likely also given in honour of the surname, for births of Veritys in Yorkshire are suggestive, given that the Verity family is a prominent one in that county. The surname is Anglo-Norman, and has the same meaning as the personal name. Originally, Verity was a unisex name, and in early records is given equally to boys and girls. The first Verity I can find born in the United States was a boy, and his family were Puritans in Massachusetts. You can find the name Verity given to both sexes in Australian records, but only as a middle name for boys, and it has never been very common here. Famous Australian women named Verity include the politicians Verity Barton and Verity Firth, the ABC presenter Verity James, and the actress Verity Hunt-Ballard, who played Mary Poppins in the Australian version of the musical. This is a crisp, clean name which sounds intelligent and upper-class to me.

Zia

Zia is a variant of the Arabic name Ziya, meaning “light, shine, splendour” – more specifically, it refers to light which shines by its own illumination, and is connected to the sun and sunlight. Traditionally, Zia is a male name, but Arabic baby name sites usually list it as female, and the name charts in France only for girls. There are quite a few people called Zia in Australian records, and they are not all Arabic men. There are women called Zia from different cultures, including Italian, where Zia may be short for a name such as Annunzia (zia means “aunt” in Italian, but this doesn’t seem to have been a hindrance to its use by Italians). Most women called Zia in the records seem to be of British descent, and I’m guessing either it was seen as a short form of other names, or parents just liked the sound of it. I can imagine parents today also liking the sound of it, because it is so similar to popular names such as Zara and Mia – indeed, it almost seems like a cross between these names. This is a zippy name which sounds a bit different, but won’t seem out of place in the playground.

POLL RESULT: People’s favourite names were Beatrix, Emmeline, and Isadora, and their least favourite were Lavender, Zia, and Angharad.

(Picture shows a detail from The Intervention of the Sabine Women (1799) by Jacques-Louis David)

How Unisex is a Unisex Name?

20 Sunday Jan 2013

Posted by A.O. in Naming Issues

≈ 15 Comments

Tags

name data, name popularity, name popularity - Victoria, name trends, popular names, unisex names

I intimated that we’d probably do a couple of things with the complete 2012 name data from Victoria, now that it’s been released, and something I thought might be interesting would be to look at the unisex names in the data, and see whether they were used more often for girls or boys, or evenly for both.

Unisex Names More Popular for Girls

Addison – 76 girls, 7 boys
Ashley – 31 girls, 13 boys
Eden – 65 girls, 7 boys
Harper – 144 girls, 25 boys
Sasha – 30 girls, 6 boys

There are only five names used by both sexes that are significantly more popular for girls.
Some parents chose names for their sons which had a reasonable history of being established as feminine by usage, and which are gaining rapidly in popularity for girls, such as Addison and Eden.
Ashley is the only one of these names which has a reasonable history of usage by both sexes.
The most feminine unisex name is Harper, which has the biggest gap between the sexes.

Unisex Names More Popular for Boys

Alex – 89 boys, 9 girls
Bailey – 93 boys, 15 girls
Casey – 16 boys, 7 girls
Charlie – 264 boys, 63 girls
Darcy – 78 boys, 10 girls
Hunter – 156 boys, 8 girls
Jamie – 31 boys, 6 girls
Jordan – 120 boys, 13 girls
Phoenix – 48 boys, 14 girls
Riley – 217 boys, 9 girls
River – 21 boys, 9 girls

There are more than twice as many names used by both sexes that are significantly more popular for boys.
Casey, Charlie, Darcy, Jamie and Jordan have a reasonable history of usage as unisex names.
Most of these “more boyish” names, even if still popular, are falling in popularity for boys; Charlie and Hunter are the ones who buck this trend, and are still increasing in male popularity.
The most masculine unisex name is Riley, which has the biggest gap between the sexes – a much bigger gap than between the boys and girls called Harper.
Some parents will choose a name for their child which is Top 100 for the opposite sex (such as Harper or Bailey), so name popularity isn’t always a factor in whether a name is considered a “boy” name, or a “girl” name.

Unisex Names Given Fairly Evenly to Girls and Boys

Ariel – 12 boys, 11 girls
Asher – 35 boys, 26 girls
Blair – 15 boys, 12 girls
Brooklyn – 17 girls, 15 boys
Emerson – 14 girls, 8 boys
Frankie – 12 boys, 9 girls,
Morgan – 13 boys, 11 girls
Quinn – 30 boys, 24 girls
Remi – 11 boys, 7 girls
Remy – 19 girls, 14 boys
Taylor – 31 girls, 20 boys
Tully – 10 girls, 8 boys
Yi – 10 boys, 8 girls
Zi – 7 girls, 7 boys

These 14 names could be considered “truly unisex”, in that they are used by both sexes in roughly equal numbers.
None of the names are popular, which makes me wonder if once a name gains a high level of use, it will tend to skew towards one sex rather than another.
The most unisex name is the Chinese name Zi, with the same number of boys and girls possessing it.

Theoretically Unisex Names Overwhelmingly Used by Girls

Alexis – 112 girls, 5 or less boys
Allie – 12 girls, 5 or less boys
Allison – 12 girls, 5 or less boys
Ally – 11 girls, 5 or less boys
Angel – 21 girls, 5 or less boys
Arya – 19 girls, 5 or less boys
Aubrey – 7 girls, 5 or less boys
Avery – 11 girls, 5 or less boys
Bonnie – 52 girls, 5 or less boys
Brooke – 24 girls, 5 or less boys
Cassidy – 8 girls, 5 or less boys
Chelsea – 104 girls, 5 or less boys
Chelsey – 12 girls, 5 or less boys
Clare – 18 girls, 5 or less boys
Cleo – 34 girls, 5 or less boys
Clover – 12 girls, 5 or less boys
Coco – 23 girls, 5 or less boys
Courtney – 12 girls, 5 or less boys
Crystal – 15 girls, 5 or less boys
Dakota – 25 girls, 5 or less boys
Dana – 12 girls, 5 or less boys
Ebony – 66 girls, 5 or less boys
Elisha – 9 girls, 5 or less boys
Erin – 31 girls, 5 or less boys
Esme – 7 girls, 5 or less boys
Evelyn – 68 girls, 5 or less boys
Florence – 26 girls, 5 or less boys
Gigi – 12 girls, 5 or less boys
Ginger – 8 girls, 5 or less boys
Harlow – 18 girls, 5 or less boys
Indiana – 68 girls, 5 or less boys
Indie – 29 girls, 5 or less boys
Indigo – 36 girls, 5 or less boys
Indy – 21 girls, 5 or less boys
Iris – 20 girls, 5 or less boys
Jade – 53 girls, 5 or less boys
Jessie – 14 girls, 5 or less boys
Joyce – 7 girls, 5 or less boys
Kalani – 8 girls, 5 or less boys
Kelly – 14 girls, 5 or less boys
Kelsey – 8 girls, 5 or less boys
Koa – 11 girls, 5 or less boys
London – 11 girls, 5 or less boys
Madison – 134 girls, 5 or less boys
Maria – 26 girls, 5 or less boys
Marley – 40 girls, 5 or less boys
Mary – 42 girls, 5 or less boys
Mika – 11 girls, 5 or less boys
Miley – 22 girls, 5 or less boys
Mischa – 11 girls, 5 or less boys
Nicola – 13 girls, 5 or less boys
Nikita – 27 girls, 5 or less boys
Nikki – 6 girls, 5 or less boys
Noor – 7 girls, 5 or less boys
Olive – 53 girls, 5 or less boys
Paige – 85 girls, 5 or less boys
Paris – 8 girls, 5 or less boys
Payton – 7 girls, 5 or less boys
Pearl – 21 girls, 5 or less boys
Peyton – 24 girls, 5 or less boys
Piper – 68 girls, 5 or less boys
Reese – 7 girls, 5 or less boys
Ruby – 419 girls, 5 or less boys
Sage – 13 girls, 5 or less boys
Scarlet – 6 girls, 5 or less boys
Scarlett – 256 girls, 5 or less boys
Shelby – 19 girls, 5 or less boys
Shiloh – 8 girls, 5 or less boys
Skye – 43 girls, 5 or less boys
Stacey – 6 girls, 5 or less boys
Stevie – 16 girls, 5 or less boys
Sydney – 8 girls, 5 or less boys
Teagan – 13 girls, 5 or less boys
Tegan – 9 girls, 5 or less boys
Tia – 23 girls, 5 or less boys
Vivian – 19 girls, 5 or less boys
Wendy – 8 girls, 5 or less boys
Willow – 129 girls, 5 or less boys
Winter – 22 girls, 5 or less boys

The most feminine unisex name is Ruby, which is #3 for girls and in very rare use for boys (quite possibly, no boys at all). Ruby does have some usage as an Australian male name in the 19^th century.

Theoretically Unisex Names Only Used by Boys

Adrian – 37 boys, 5 or less girls
Aiden – 144 boys, 5 or less girls
Ali – 65 or less boys, 5 or less girls
Arlo – 28 boys, 5 or less girls
Ash – 8 boys, 5 or less girls
Beau – 75 boys, 5 or less girls
Blake – 163 boys, 5 or less girls
Bodhi – 19 boys, 5 or less girls
Brodie – 55 or less boys, 5 or less girls
Brody – 35 boys, 5 or less girls
Cameron – 53 boys, 5 or less girls
Campbell – 35 boys, 5 or less girls
Chance – 8 boys, 5 or less girls
Chase – 94 boys, 5 or less girls
Chris – 18 boys, 5 or less girls
Clancy – 13 boys, 5 or less girls
Coby – 17 boys, 5 or less girls
Cody – 48 boys, 5 or less girls
Colby – 8 boys, 5 or less girls
Cooper – 248 boys, 5 or less girls
Dallas – 13 boys, 5 or less girls
Dion – 12 boys, 5 or less girls
Dusty – 8 boys, 5 or less girls
Dylan – 146 boys, 5 or less girls
Elliot – 41 boys, 5 or less girls
Elliott – 24 boys, 5 or less girls
Evan – 50 boys, 5 or less girls
Ezra – 13 boys, 5 or less girls
Finlay – 18 boys, 5 or less girls
Finley – 23 boys, 5 or less girls
Francis – 8 boys, 5 or less girls
Harley – 53 boys, 5 or less girls
Hayden – 119 boys, 5 or less girls
James – 381 boys, 5 or less girls
Jay – 18 boys, 5 or less girls
Jesse – 65 boys, 5 or less girls
Joey – 10 boys, 5 or less girls
Jonty – 15 boys, 5 or less girls
Jude – 60 boys, 5 or less girls
Julian – 70 boys, 5 or less girls
Kai – 89 boys, 5 or less girls
Koby – 51 boys, 5 or less girls
Kody – 10 boys, 5 or less girls
Logan – 178 boys, 5 or less girls
Luca – 113 boys, 5 or less girls
Luka – 53 boys, 5 or less girls
Mason – 266 boys, 5 or less girls
Max – 283 boys, 5 or less girls
Maxwell – 49 boys, 5 or less girls
Memphis – 6 boys, 5 or less girls
Micah – 32 boys, 5 or less girls
Milan – 6 boys, 5 or less girls
Miller – 21 boys, 5 or less girls
Musa – 6 boys, 5 or less girls
Myles – 16 boys, 5 or less girls
Noah – 409 boys, 5 or less girls
Oakley – 8 boys, 5 or less girls
Parker – 31 boys, 5 or less girls
Rafferty – 17 boys, 5 or less girls
Reece – 17 boys, 5 or less girls
Reed – 7 boys, 5 or less girls
Reid – 9 boys, 5 or less girls
Reilly – 6 boys, 5 or less girls
Rory – 36 boys, 5 or less girls
Rowan – 12 boys, 5 or less girls
Ryan – 228 boys, 5 or less girls
Sam – 66 boys, 5 or less girls
Saxon – 26 boys, 5 or less girls
Shane – 8 boys, 5 or less girls
Sean – 32 boys, 5 or less girls
Sidney – 7 boys, 5 or less girls
Sunny – 12 boys, 5 or less girls
Toby – 78 boys, 5 or less girls
Tristan – 38 boys, 5 or less girls
Troy – 9 boys, 5 or less girls
Zion – 15 or less boys, 5 or less girls

The most masculine unisex name is Noah, which is #6 for boys, and very rare for girls (perhaps not used at all). Noah can also be a Hebrew name for girls, from a completely different derivation than the male name Noah. I was not able to find any women named Noah in Australian records, but this might be because the high volume of male ones obscured them.

So … how unisex is a unisex name? Disappointingly, the answer seems to be “not very”. Most unisex names are in fact used much more by one sex over another, and those that are given fairly equally to both boys and girls do not have a high level of use.

I see no reason why a boy cannot be called Sage, or a girl Memphis, but even these obviously unisex names are skewed either female or male in the data.

Some people worry that girls are “taking all the boys names“, which will lead to some kind of naming cataclysm of epic proportions. Others look forward to an era when parents feel free to choose whatever name they like, unconstrained by gender.

So far, there is little evidence of either this fear or hope coming into being. Although we all seem to know a boy named Jade or a girl named Arlo, their numbers are too insignificant to show up in the data.

MYTH: Australian Baby Names Follow English Trends More Closely Than American Ones

09 Sunday Sep 2012

Posted by A.O. in Baby Name Mythbusters

≈ 7 Comments

Tags

Arabic names, British Baby Names, Gone With The Wind, Greek names, international name trends, Italian names, Legitimate Baby Names, name data, name poopularity, name trends, popular names, Southern names, UK name trends, US name trends, Welsh names

Last time we went mythbusting, we looked at whether Australian names are becoming increasingly Americanised, and didn’t find a lot of evidence. This is the flip side to that myth – the one that comforts us that we are essentially more British in our ways than American, and so are our baby names. That despite an increasing tendency to call our children Jett and Harlow, most of us will trustingly follow dear old Mother England, and choose something like Archie, Evie, Callum or Isla.

Again, this myth sounded quite plausible to me. But we have to look and make sure, so once more I prepared myself to examine the Top 100 from each nation. The first hurdle is that both of us are slightly data-challenged, so I was forced to rely on data from Victoria only (the only state with stats going back to 1929), while the data from the UK would include both England and Wales, but not Scotland or Northern Ireland. I did feel that already the waters were getting slightly muddied, only to find that England/Wales doesn’t publicise historical Top 100s.

I express my heartfelt gratitude to Elea at British Baby Names, who has provided on her blog, through her own labours, Top 100s for England/Wales for each decade from 1904 to 1984. Upon e-mailing her to enquire where I might find the one for 1994, she very kindly sent me a copy of her own personal spreadsheets so I could have that one as well.

Now I acknowledge this leaves me with some flaws in my methodology before even starting. I only had data from one state of Australia; furthermore this state has a reputation of being slightly more “English” than average. I only had data from England/Wales, and only had access to years ending in a 4. As I had already examined the earlier myth using data from the United States in years ending with a 0, it was possible I wasn’t going to be comparing apples to oranges so much as bananas to hedgehogs to timeshare villas in Spain.

However, we won’t get too gloomy, but show a bit of British pluck and press on. No, this won’t be the most statistically persuasive thing you’ll read all year, but we’re not doing a study, not trying to prove anything, just having a keen yet amateurish look around us to see if anything obvious shows up. And after all, if the myth is clearly and inarguably true, then broad trends should be pretty obvious even through a fog of slightly dodgy data.

1934

Boys – 82% the same (17% higher than US)

Girls – 69% the same (18% higher than US)

1954

Boys – 75% the same (16% higher than US) – down 7% overall, down 1% relative to US

Girls – 68% the same (21% higher than US) – down 1% overall, up 3% relative to US

1974

Boys – 72% the same (16% higher than US) – down 3% overall, no change relative to US

Girls – 62% the same (11% higher than US) – down 6% overall, down 10% relative to US

1994

Boys – 67% the same (11% higher than US) – down 10% overall, down 3% relative to US

Girls – 61% the same (5% higher than US) – down 1% overall, down 6% relative to US

2011

Boys – 63% the same (4% higher than US) – down 4% overall, down 7% relative to US

Girls – 63% the same (16% higher than US) – up 2% overall, up 11% relative to US

Based on these numbers, I would say that’s a MYTH CONFIRMED – at no time in history did the the amount of popular names shared with the US overtake the amount of popular names shared with England/Wales.

However, you can clearly see that while the number of shared girls names went down only very slightly between 1934 and 2011, the number of shared boys names sunk by almost 20%. In fact, yes, we still share more boys names with England/Wales than with the United States, but only by 4% – four names! Statistically, that’s what I call a big-whooping-deal difference, and if this trend continues, future Australian boy’s names are going to look much more like those in the US than the Top 100 for England/Wales.

Girl’s name did not show this steady decline, and in fact last year had a slight increase since the 1990s, while also showing a significant gain relative to the US data. This makes me think that when we say that our names are more English than American, we are primarily thinking of our names for girls.

GENTLE MUSINGS

Last time I ended the article with “conclusions”; this now seems far too definite and perhaps arrogant considering that we are left with far more questions than answers. So I will not reach any conclusions, but merely gently muse on some of the issues that have been raised.

Questions

Many names are shared by the Top 100s of all three countries. Therefore, can you really label names such as Olivia, Jacob, Ella and Liam as “English” or “American”, or are they more properly “international trends”?
If determined to designate a name as “English” or “American”, do you rely upon the place which provided the cultural impetus for the name, or the place where it became popular first, or the place where it reached the highest levels of popularity? If the first, then many popular names could be classed as American; if the second or third, a large number would be classed as Australian more than anything else.
I used the example of Scarlett as an “American-style” name in the preceding article (I admit without much forethought), and Sebastiane from Legitimate Baby Names quite correctly pointed out that Scarlett was more popular in England than in the United States. Now, it cannot be disputed that Scarlett hails from the United States, because the name became known through Margaret Mitchell’s novel, Gone with the Wind, and was popularised by American actress, Scarlett Johansson. However, the name is #19 in Victoria, #25 in England/Wales, and #80 in the USA. It reached the Top 100 of both Victoria and England/Wales in the same year, 2004, New South Wales in 2005, but only became Top 100 in the USA last year. So which country, if any, claims it?
Sometimes my blog entries end up being copied and discussed in some odd places, so my Referrer stats tell me; occasionally they end up somewhere rather disturbing. I found the Mythbuster on Australian and US trends on a not-very-nice forum (not baby name or parenting related), where the poster claimed that supposedly “trashy” American names that were popular in Australia but not the USA (eg Beau) were in fact, not American, but “Southern” names. Did the Civil War not end? I wondered. Is the lower portion of America not part of the United States, but a separate nation? It does raise the issue, what qualifies as an “American” name? Must it be in the Top 100 of every state in the USA to be called American? In which case, I have a feeling that “American” names would end up being those that are popular internationally, like Michael and Emily.

Observations

Immigration made a difference between the Top 100s of England/Wales and Victoria. Mohammed and Abdul have been popular names since the 1930s in the UK, while post-war immigration saw names such as Antonio and Ioannis reach the Top 100 in Victoria during the 1970s.
Although Australia has a history of being very keen on Welsh-inspired names such as Mervyn and Gweneth, I was amused to notice that not only were these not popular in England/Wales, but they had Welsh names, presumably used by actual Welsh people, which we didn’t, such as Ivor and Glynis.
While we all are influenced by each other’s name trends, each country had its names that the others were seemingly oblivious to. The name Gillian seems to be a quintessentially English name, appearing decade after decade on their Top 100, whilst never making the Top 100 in Australia, or the Top 1000 of the US. Meanwhile the US had quite a thing for Melvin – a name which still ranks on their Top 1000. In turn, we had a long-standing fascination with the name Bronwyn.
Each country also had their own favourite names. Adrian was a name we took to early – it was Top 100 by the 1930s and stayed there until quite recently. In England/Wales, it took a bit longer to reach the Top 100 and they tired of it sooner. In the US, Adrian only reached the Top 100 in 1989. England/Wales had an inordinate passion for the name Derek, which continued for decades – a name that has never been Top 100 in Australia, and only reached the Top 100 of the USA in 1970, a good half-century after England/Wales. In the US, Douglas seemed to enjoy favour much longer than elsewhere, being still Top 100 as late as the 1980s.
In other words, we might all be influenced by international trends, but we also have our own tastes in names, and don’t necessarily abandon a favoured name just because everyone else is doing so.
I have noticed that some people, amongst them many Australians I’m sorry to say, assume that a name which becomes popular in England/Wales is somehow more “classy” or “stylish” that one whose popularity originated in the United States or Australia. Granted, whether a name is stylish or not is completely subjective, but I did not feel that this assumption stood up to even casual investigation. From my perusal of popular names from three places across seven decades, it seemed to me that all were capable of being inspired by names that have been considered stylish, and its opposite.
For example, the name Isabella became popular in Australia much earlier than elsewhere, and I think most people would say Isabella is a pretty, stylish name. Yet we were also the first (by many years) to jump aboard the Hayden/Aidan/Jayden/Brayden craze. While I don’t consider this the black hole of name taste that others do, I acknowledge it’s not generally thought of as a stylish trend. While England has some lovely aristocratic names on its Top 100s, such as Constance and Daphne, can a land which adored the name Derek really take the title of Stylemeister? America has brought us no end of cool names, from glamourpuss Marilyn to zippy Jett. There’s a freshness and vigour to American name trends which I love, and a world without their names would be a far less interesting one. However, sometimes they’re a trifle overenthusiastic – and besides, Derek was on their Top 100 for 15 years, so they forfeit the style crown too.
Oh, and Barry and Sheila? Barry was Top 100 in England/Wales for longer than it was here, and Sheila, although popular in both England/Wales and the United States, didn’t show up in the Australian data, because by the 1930s it had already peaked and dropped off our Top 100. Who’d have thunk it?

MYTH: Australian Baby Names are Becoming Increasingly Influenced by American Trends

01 Sunday Jul 2012

Posted by A.O. in Baby Name Mythbusters

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Australian names, Biblical names, classic names, created names, famous namesakes, fictional namesakes, flower names, French names, germanic names, Greek names, Irish names, Italian names, Mer de Noms, name data, name popularity, name trends, nicknames, Old English names, popular names, saints names, Scottish names, Spanish names, surname names, unisex names, US name trends, US popularity, Welsh names

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.

Less Commonly Used Boys Names

10 Sunday Jun 2012

Posted by A.O. in Name Themes and Lists

≈ 9 Comments

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This follows on from Less Commonly Used Girls Names. The names are from the bottom of the popularity charts in New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland and Tasmania, and in each case, the name was used less than ten times in 2011.

There seems to be a lot of musical references in this entry, so I’ve linked relevant names to YouTube videos of the person performing.

Atticus

This Roman name means “man from Attica” – Attica being the area of Greece surrounding the city of Athens. This name wasn’t uncommon in the ancient world; there is a Platonist philosopher called Atticus, and there is also a Saint Atticus, a soldier who died a martyr by being burned at the stake. However, today it is most associated with Atticus Finch, the principled lawyer and loving single father in Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill a Mockingbird. Atticus Finch, who defends a black man on a rape charge in a small Southern town during the 1930s, is considered a folk hero in legal circles. In the 1962 film adaptation, Atticus is played by Gregory Peck, who was a civil rights activist; Peck won an Academy Award for his performance, and in 2003 the American Film Institute voted his character the greatest hero in American film. It is that decent, understated heroism of Atticus Finch that makes him such a beloved character in literature and film. The character has inspired the names of both a clothing line run by musicians and an alternative rock band. It’s a hip choice which has been burning up the US popularity charts since 2004.

Bryn

Bryn is a modern Welsh name which means “hill”; as well as being a man’s name, it is also a common place name in Wales and England. A famous person with this name is Welsh opera star Bryn Terfel, a bass-baritone best known for his roles in the works of Mozart and Wagner. Apparently he applied to study music in Cardiff, but was so annoyed when they assumed he was a woman that he ended up studying in London instead. Bryn Terfel, whose first language is Welsh, is a patron of Welsh language and culture, and hopefully by now everyone in Wales recognises his name as male. Even though Bryn isn’t a common name in Australia, I don’t think it would seem too out of place either, as there are several boy’s name beginning with Br-, such as Brent and Brody. It looks rather like a cooler version of Irish Brian, which may have a similar meaning.

Corbin

Corbin is an English surname which started as a nickname based on the Anglo-Norman word for “raven”. It may have been given to someone who had raven-black hair, although less flattering possibilities also come to mind. Corbinus, the Latinised form, is found as a first name in the Domesday Book, so it has a long history of use. Despite being an old English name, this tends to be thought of as a modern American one, because it’s been solidly Top 500 in the US since the late 1980s. This may be because of television actor Corbin Bernsen, who began playing lawyer Arnold Becker on LA Law in 1986 and remained on the show until it finished in 1994. Another famous namesake is Corbin Harney, an elder and shaman of the West Shoshone people. He devoted his life to spreading a message about the dangers of nuclear energy, and the environmental issues facing the world. You may also know the name from Corbin Bleu, who was in High School Musical. This name is apparently so unusual in Australia that the article the information came from described it as a “bizarre” choice, although it seems a perfectly nice, normal name to me.

Denim

The fabric denim was originally called serge de Nîmes, after the French city where the tough cotton material was originally made by the Andre family. This was eventually shortened to denim. Denim is inextricably linked with jeans, which began life as sturdy clothing for workers, and then became fashion icons which symbolised teen rebellion. Today they are worn by pretty well everybody. Denim is an interesting name choice; it’s not really a “bad boy baby name” like Axe or Vandal, because while denim is worn by rebel icons like rock stars and bikers, it’s also worn by suburban mums and little kids. Also fabrics are usually thought of as girls names, like Velvet and Paisley, but denim is tough and hard-wearing. It’s definitely an ambiguous sort of name – one that, like the fabric, may grow with the person better than you’d expect. It’s also a soundalike with the surname and place name Denham.

Jagger

This English surname originated in Yorkshire, and means “hawker, carrier”, the word jagger being Yorkshire dialect for someone who carries a pack or load. It is claimed that most people with this surname are descended from a single family who came from Staniland, near Halifax. There was a high concentration of people named Jagger in Yorkshire, compared to the rest of England. The most famous person with this surname is undoubtedly Sir Michael “Mick” Jagger from The Rolling Stones, whose mother was born in Australia. I don’t know if this is correct, but Mick Jagger is said to be distantly related to Joseph Jagger, the 19^th century British engineer famous for being “the man who broke the bank at Monte Carlo”. Joseph Jagger was indeed from Halifax in Yorkshire. The name Jagger is almost always given in relation to The Rolling Stones frontman, and may have been given a boost in 2011 from the Maroon 5 song, Moves Like Jagger, which is a tribute to Sir Mick. The number of baby boys named Jagger went from 5 to 8 in Queensland last year.

Naiche

Naiche was the last hereditary chief of the Chiricahua band of Apache Native Americans. He was an ally, protege and relative by marriage of Geronimo, the famous Apache leader and war chief. Naiche and Geronimo successfully went to war together in the 1880s, but Naiche ended up being imprisoned. Although he had resisted the process of being moved onto an “Indian Reservation”, eventually he was forced to give in, and ended his days on an Apache reservation in New Mexico. He lived only six years after moving there, and his descendants are still on the reservation. The name Naiche means “meddlesome one, mischief-maker” and it can apparently be pronounced NAY-chee, but I’m not sure if that’s the correct Apache pronunciation, or even whether it depends on which Apache accent you’re using. Naiche is for sure a very unusual name in Australia, but it has a fascinating namesake, and actually sounds slightly like Nate and Nathan. Pronunciation and spelling seem like they would be an issue.

Occy

Occy is the nickname of Australian surfer Marco “Mark” Occhilupo. Occy is short for his Italian surname, which means “eyes of the wolf”. At the same time, it is a play on the Australian word occy straps, short for octopus straps – those stretchy cords which are used by surfers to tie their surfboards onto their car’s roof rack. Mark Occhilupo was a precocious teenage surf god of the 1980s who lost his way for several years as his life spiralled out of control. In the mid-1990s, he made a comeback, and stunned everyone when he won a world title in 1999 at the age of 33. He considered retiring in 2005, but realised he still had a lot left in him. Now aged 45, he only competes part-time, but this year he made it into the final four of the Telstra Drug Aware Pro semi-finals, defeating top-ranked surfers to do so. Mark, also dubbed The Raging Bull, is an inspirational sporting icon who teaches us that mature experience can be more important than youthful talent, and that things are never over until you give up. Although Occy is a nickname and a slang term, it means so much more.

Pax

Pax is the Latin word for “peace”, and the Romans recognised a goddess of this name who symbolised peace, and was associated with the spring. The word pax also means “treaty, accord”, and the Pax Romana is the name given to the two-century period (approximately 27 BC to 180 AD) of stability and minimal military expansion in the Roman Empire. For the Romans, peace wasn’t about everyone holding hands and singing Imagine together in a field of daisies – it described that period during war when all your opponents had been thoroughly beaten and were no longer able to resist. It denoted ultimate military victory, rather than co-operation and unity. Today we see peace rather differently, and the name is probably given with the modern concept in mind rather than the ancient Roman one. In 2007, Angelina Jolie adopted a son from Vietnam and named him Pax Thien. Pax may be the name of a goddess, but this one has very much gone to the boys, as it fits so well with popular male names such as Max and Jax.

Veer

Veer is an Indian name meaning “bravest of the brave” in Hindi. Veer (“valour”) is one of the nine rasas of ancient Hindu philosophy. These emotional states are repositories of energy drawn from our life force, and by learning to master these energies, we gain emotional balance. The rasa of Veer stops us from running away from our problems, and instead face them head on; it also gives us the courage to not allow adversity to defeat us, but to get up after a fall, and continue on. It also allows us to have the healthy confidence and self-esteem needed to achieve in life. Veer Teja Ji is an Indian folk hero and saint, and the highly successful 2004 Bollywood film Veer-Zaara is about the star-crossed romance between Indian Air Force Squadron Leader, Veer Pratap Singh, and a wealthy Pakistani woman, Zaara Haayat Khan. Veer has a very positive meaning, and looks the same as the English word veer, meaning “to swerve”. It’s also a homonym of the English name Vere, so both sound and spelling are familiar to English-speakers, and it seems a very usable heritage choice.

Ziggy

Ziggy is a nickname for Germanic names such as Sigmund, but in practice is used for a variety of names starting with Z. It is famous as the name of pop star David Bowie’s alter ego, Ziggy Stardust. Bowie based the name on a London tailor’s shop called Ziggy’s that he saw from a train one day. The surname Stardust was taken from American country and western singer Norman Carol Odom, a weird novelty act billed as The Legendary Stardust Cowboy. Norman appealed to Bowie because he had a crazy band of misfits who barely understood music, and was unconsciously hilarious. The character of Ziggy was based on pioneering English rocker Vince Taylor, who modelled himself on Elvis Presley. Like so many after him, drugs proved his downfall, and he ended up believing he was the son of God, and existing solely on eggs. Bowie got to know him, and was impressed by his magnificent repertoire of dottiness. So Ziggy Stardust was a mixture of fashion, madness, outsider art, and rock and roll excess. Ziggy is also the nickname of Bob Marley’s son David, although in his case it was a drug reference. Cute name, with a solid musical background.

(Photo shows David Bowie’s final performance as Ziggy Stardust at the Hammersmith Odeon in London, 1973)

Less Commonly Used Girls Names

03 Sunday Jun 2012

Posted by A.O. in Name Themes and Lists

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Abby Sandel, alphanumeric names, Arabic names, Baby Name Wizard, Bonds Baby Search, celebrity baby names, Celtic names, created names, english names, famous namesakes, fictional namesakes, French names, Greek names, hebrew names, Italian names, locational names, Mer de Noms, modern names, mythological names, name data, name history, name meaning, name popularity, Nameberry, Names from the Dustbin, nicknames, popular culture, pseudonyms, rare names, Scottish names, Semitic names, Shakespearean names, stage names, surname names, The Nameberry Nine, Turkish names, unisex names, vocabulary names

When all the name data for the most popular names was released, there were also several articles which looked at some of the names closer to the bottom of the popularity lists than the top. Dorcas at Names from the Dustbin calls these names Bottom of the Barrel – not meaning that they are necessarily of poor quality, but just low in the rankings.

Most names at the bottom of the lists are just re-spellings of common names, or short forms of names that are usually kept as nicknames rather than a full name. However, if you sift through these, there’s some interesting finds at the “bottom of the barrel”, and even some neglected gems.

These names are from the popularity charts of New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, and Tasmania. Nearly all of them are taken from the very rarest names in their state.

Adeline

This is a pet form of the French name Adele; the French pronunciation is a-de-LEEN, but the English is AD-uh-line. The name is well known from the American ballad Sweet Adeline, which was a standard for Australian folk band, The Seekers. There’s also the piece, Ballade pour Adeline, written for the composer’s baby girl, which I had to thump out tunelessly with my chubby fingers during many a childhood music lesson. However, Adeline has got considerably cooler since then; Kasey Chambers has a song called Adeline, Green Day’s Adeline Records handles indie rock bands, and Elliot Smith released his own darker version of Sweet Adeline. I read at Abby’s Nameberry Nine that Simon Helberg from The Big Bang Theory welcomed a daughter named Adeline last month, making it an up-to-the minute celebrity baby name. Adeline has never been on the Top 100; it was #162 for the 1900s, and then sank until it was out of regular use by the 1940s. Today it fits in well with Adelaide, Addison, Madison and Madeline; however it may be difficult for short form Addie to stand out amongst the sea of Maddies and Abbies.

Allegra

Allegra means “cheerful, lively” in Italian, related to the musical term allegro, and has a long history as a celebrity baby name. Romantic poet Lord Byron re-named his illegitimate daughter Clara Allegra Byron (called by her middle name, and originally named Alba by her mother). Despite poor little Allegras’s life being brief and marked by neglect, the name seems to have been an apt one, because she was described as a vivacious child. Her story didn’t stop American poet Henry Longfellow from using it as his daughter’s middle name; in his poem The Children’s Hour, he describes her as “laughing Allegra”. The American inventor and designer, Buckminster Fuller, also gave this name to his daughter. Allegra Versace is the daughter of Italian designer Donatella Versace, and Allegra Kurer is the daughter of British radio host Vanessa Feltz. In Australia, news presenter Jessica Rowe chose it for her eldest daughter in 2007, and last year it was chosen for the daughter of Emmy Kubainski. Frothy and elegant, with a positive meaning, this fashionable favourite would also make a good Italian heritage choice.

Bonnie

Bonnie is taken from the Scottish word bonnie, meaning “pretty, beautiful”; it’s derived from the French bon, meaning “good”. Bonnie has been used as a personal name since the 19^th century, and was even sometimes given to boys, but received a huge boost when it was used in Margaret Mitchell’s popular romance, Gone with the Wind. Bonnie Blue Butler is the daughter of Scarlett and Rhett, and receives her name because she has eyes the colour of the Bonnie Blue Flag – the banner of the Confederate States in the American Civil War. British rocker Billy Idol, who sang Rebel Yell, named his daughter Bonnie Blue, and we had a Bonnie Blue competing in the Bonds Baby Search. Another famous Bonnie is Bonnie Parker, one half of notorious crime duo Bonnie and Clyde. Bonnie has been on the charts almost continuously, albeit in rare use in the 1950s and ’60s. It had a peak in the 1920s at #172, then peaked again in the 1990s at #157; it’s currently climbing in the mid-100s in New South Wales, but is obviously rarer in other states. It’s a sweet old-fashioned name which is also linked to rebellion, giving it a spunkier image.

Cleopatra

This Greek name means “glory of the father”, and is almost impossible for us to disassociate from the famous Queen of Egypt. From a dangerously inbred family of Macedonian Greek origin, she ruled Egypt alongside her father, and then her brothers (who were also her husbands), but then seized control and reigned alone for many years. She was able to align herself with Rome as both ally and lover to both Julius Caesar and Mark Antony, but after Mark Antony’s death, is said to have poisoned herself before she could be captured and humiliated. According to tradition, she killed herself with an asp. Her story captured the imagination of William Shakespeare, who based his play Antony and Cleopatra on the last part of her life, and her story has been made into several films, including the lavishly dreadful one starring Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. Cleopatra is always depicted as a woman of great beauty, although early traditions suggest her attractiveness was based more on enormous charm and sex appeal. This ancient, glamorous name carries a lot of weight, but with short form Cleo becoming fashionable, some parents may wish for a long form of the name.

Elif

This Turkish name is after Alif, the first letter of the Arabic alphabet, and has connotations of “tall and slender”, as if the person is shaped like the letter, which is a long vertical line. It is pronounced ay-LEEF. You probably recall that Natalie Portman had a son named Aleph last year; Aleph is the Hebrew form of the same letter. The meaning of the letter goes back to the West Semitic word for “ox”, as the cuneiform originally represented the shape of an ox’s head. In Arabic, the word is connected via folk etymology to the word for “coy, tamed”, giving it a subtly demure feeling. It’s a common girl’s name in Turkey, and there are several Turkish celebrities with this name. There’s also a town in Turkey called Elif. I’m not sure a non-Turkish person would ever use it, but it’s certainly an attractive name that is easy enough for an English-speaker to understand and pronounce, once they’ve learned how it’s said.

Harlow

This name is inspired by Jean Harlow, a Hollywood superstar of the 1930s. With her platinum hair and vampish image, she was the forerunner to many blonde bombshells of the movies. Despite her beauty and success, Harlow’s life contained much tragedy, and she died of kidney failure while only in her twenties. Harlow took her mother’s maiden name as her stage name; her birth name was Harlean Carpenter. The surname Harlow is from several places in England. Harlow in Yorkshire means “hill of rocks” in Old English, while the meaning of Harlow in Essex is disputed. One theory is that it means “army hill”, with the idea being that local landmark Mulberry Hill was a meeting place for the local people. Another is that it means “temple mound”, as there is an Iron Age burial mound in the area which later had a Roman temple built on the site. Harlow is a unisex name, but more common for girls; the name came to public attention when Nicole Richie named her daughter Harlow in 2008. There were 20 babies named Harlow in Queensland last year, up from 12 the year before. Although numbers are still low, that’s a significant jump.

Pixie

This name is after the small mythological being of English folklore, tales of which come from Cornwall and Devon. They are usually depicted as small sprites who could be mischievous, but were often helpful to humans. A famous Australian with this name was the prolific illustrator and artist Pixie O’Harris (aunt of singer-artist Rolf Harris). Her real name was Rhona Olive Harris, but when she migrated to Australia from Wales she changed her name to Pixie because she was nicknamed “the Welsh pixie” on the boat over. A printer’s error changed her name from Pixie O. Harris to Pixie O’Harris, and she stuck with it as her pseudonym. Last year, businesswoman Roxy Jacenko named her new baby Pixie-Rose. I think some people will find the name Pixie adorably cute, and others impossibly twee; it’s bound to get some interesting reactions, and does have the fashionable X in it.

Sippie

The only person I know of named Sippie is the blues singer Sippie Wallace, who was born Beulah Thomas. Her career spanned seven decades, and although she found fame as a young woman in the 1920s, she was rediscovered in the 1960s and ’70s and was a big influence on Bonnie Raitt, who went on tour with her. Her album Sippie won the Blues Album of the Year in 1983, so her comeback was a definite success. The name Sippie is one that she gained in childhood because the gap in her teeth meant that she had to “sip” all her food and drink. Coincidentally, there is a place on the Gold Coast called Sippy Downs; its name is a corruption of an Aboriginal word meaning “winged creatures”, and interpreted as meaning “birds”. As Sippie Wallace was billed as “The Texas Nightingale”, I find this juxtaposition very charming. Sippie is an unusual name, but what a wonderful namesake. This would be very suitable for a family who loves music, especially jazz and blues.

Torah

In Australia, this name is well known as belonging to snowboarder Torah Bright, who won gold at the 2010 Winter Olympics. Her parents named her after the Torah, which is the Jewish word for the first five books of the Old Testament. The word is from the Hebrew, meaning “teaching, instruction”, however, Torah Bright’s mother believed that it meant “bearer of a great message”. Torah Bright is a member of the Church of Latter Day Saints (Mormon), and lives in Salt Lake City, Utah. There was slight disbelief at this name on The Baby Name Wizard, with a couple of people feeling that it seemed rather offensive, or at least strange. Torah’s name was reported on in Washington Jewish Week; there was no mention of it being offensive to Jews, but they did appear to find it slightly amusing. Like calling your child Bible or Gospel, many will find this name a head-scratcher. It would be given in honour of our Olympic champion, but the religious ramifications may be lost on some people. The fact that it sounds as if it could be short for Victoria is probably a help.

Zahlia

This name is pronounced ZAH-lee-uh, and as far as I’m aware, it’s a modern invention. It seems to be an elaboration of the name Zali; Zali Steggall is Australia’s most internationally successful alpine skier (now retired). Her name has proven a great success here, and spawned many variants, such as Zarly, Zahlee, Zalie etc. It’s unclear where the Stegalls got the name Zali from, and to the best of my knowledge, it’s made up. Zahlia does well in Australia, because it sounds rather exotic, while also being similar to popular names such as Zara and Tahlia (it even looks like a combination of those names). Despite being listed as a rare name, I have seen some parents dismiss Zahlia as being “too common”; perhaps it’s not rare enough to seem “unique”, or perhaps the many variants and sound-alike names make it appear to be one of the pack.

(Picture is from one of the posters for the 1963 movie Cleopatra)

The Top Ten Boys Names of 2028

27 Sunday May 2012

Posted by A.O. in Your Questions Answered

≈ 16 Comments

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name data, name popularity, name predictions, name trends, nicknames, popular culture, popular names, surname names, UK name popularity, UK name trends, Upswing Baby Names, US name data, US name popularity, vocabulary names

This follows on from The Top Ten Girls Names of 2028, so if you want to know the methods used, and what this is all about, and whether it’s really the Top 10 of 2028, then go read that first. If you’ve read it, you’ll know I ran into a few frustrations doing the girls names, and if anything, the boys names ended up being even more of a headache.

Angie, the discerning blogger behind Upswing Baby Names, was kind enough to leave me a long and thoughtful comment, which in part wondered whether posting predictions itself could change the future.

For example, a parent worried about a name they like gaining popularity may avoid it, even if the name is currently under-used. Therefore, names tipped to become popular are less likely to actually become popular. (Hmm, if this is true, pick a name that is touted as being popular in the future, because that will scare everyone else off!)

Angie herself, in her article Warning: Your Baby’s Name Could Become #1, notes that the number of popular names is shrinking markedly each decade, and that in effect, the popularity of names is virtually meaningless today. Yet somehow, we worry about it more than ever. Pretty crazy, huh?

Now I didn’t fret myself too much over Angie’s concerns, because I didn’t really imagine many people would read my blog entry, and didn’t think those that did would pay any attention. So I was somewhat disconcerted to see that it had been posted on a parenting forum, in part as an alert that the name a woman had chosen for her daughter, Freya, had been pegged for potential eventual #1 status by yours truly.

Fortunately, at least one of my predictions was proved right, because nobody appeared to pay much attention to me, and several flat-out said I was wrong. (These tended to be the type of people who didn’t think Olivia was popular, because they hardly knew anyone of that name, so their views on name popularity may not be particularly au courant).

The overwhelming advice given was exactly what I would have said myself: Don’t worry about whether a name will be popular in the future, that isn’t something you are able to control, and it would be foolish to avoid using a name you love for fear of what may happen later.

Sage, sane and sensible advice. Follow it!

Current Top Ten

William #24 in ’95 and #37 for the 1980s (gradual rise up the Top 50)
Lucas #87 in ’95 and #105 for the 1980s (steady rise into the Top 100)
Lachlan #26 in ’95 and #75 for the 1980s (steady rise up the Top 100)
Ethan #61 in ’95 and #323 for the 1980s (precipitious rise into the Top 100)
Oliver #75 in ’95 and #140 for the 1980s (steep rise into the Top 100)
Jack #7 in ’95 and #91 for the 1980s (steady rise up the Top 100)
Noah #161 for the 1990s and in rare use for the 1980s (new name that skyrockets)
Thomas #6 in ’95 and #27 for the 1980s (gradual rise into the Top 10)
Joshua #1 in ’95 and #11 for the 1980s (gradual rise to #1)
Cooper #125 for the 1990s, in rare use in the 1980s (new name that skyrockets)

1. ISAAC

Isaac is currently #19, and in 2001 he was #40. This is pretty close to William’s stately progress through the Top 50, and as such, I am picking him as the #1 name of the future. It did come as a bit of surprise to me, but it’s the only name that even comes near to matching William’s pattern. When I checked the Top 100 for the US and England/Wales, both of them still have Isaac around where he was for us ten years ago, but making similar progress. The popularity of Isaac may become apparent here earlier due to our smaller population size.

2. KAI

Kai is #83 right now, and he was #105 for the early 2000s. This is an extremely good match with Lucas, almost perfect in fact. Now the question is, will Kai shoot up the Top 100 the way Lucas did? I’m a bit sceptical, because I can’t help feeling that Lucas got quite a big boost from popular culture. I think someone is going to have to produce a TV show with a likeable main character named Kai. Even without such a TV show, it’s clear that Kai is doing very well for himself.

3. LOGAN

Logan is currently #34, and in 2001 he was #78. That’s not quite a good enough match to please me, but it’s the best I could get. Although the two names sound a bit alike, I don’t think Logan is going to be the next Lachlan, because Logan simply doesn’t mean as much in Australia as Lachlan does; it doesn’t have the same history and resonance. As you can see, it hasn’t climbed as high in the same space of time either. However, Logan is a common place name in Australia, and I’m still tipping it to continue rising.

4. CHASE

Chase is currently #85, and he was #407 for the early 2000s. I couldn’t find a name which mimicked Ethan very closely, and Chase was the best I could do. As you can see, he has actually climbed faster than Ethan did, and Ethan was no slouch. If Chase continues at his current rate, he will be Top Ten sooner than 2028. We’ll have to wait and see.

5. HUGO

Hugo is currently #90, and he was #143 for the early 2000s. This is a similar pattern to Oliver, but Hugo hasn’t climbed quite as high as Oliver did in the same space of time. However, you can see that he is still making good progress, and looks set to continue. He also has the fashionable OH sound we saw on the girls’ list – although can anyone really believe in a Top Ten which contains both a Harlow for girls and a Hugo for boys? It boggles the mind.

6. LUCAS

Lucas is currently #2, and ten years ago he was #82. This looks quite similar to Jack’s climb from the bottom of the Top 100 into the Top 10. Jack has of course proved himself a real stayer, and we’ll have to see whether Lucas has similar powers of endurance. I was going to say I doubted it, and then I looked back through the blog and saw I had earlier tipped Lucas to be only just outside the Top 10 in thirty years, based on comparisons with the Top Ten of 1982. So for reasons of consistency, I now feel compelled to say that yes, Lucas will still be in the Top Ten seventeen years later.

7. BENTLEY OR GRAYSON (???)

I knew I was going to hit a horrible snag at some point, and this was the point where that occurred. I needed to find a name that, like Noah in 1995, is around #160 at the moment, but ten years ago, did not even chart. The trouble is, it’s not possible to find that on the present chart, because it’s too new to show up yet. Left struggling in the dark, all I could think of was that since Noah was a name that became popular in the United States before it did here, I would see where Noah was on the US charts in 1995. It had just scraped its way onto the very bottom of the Top 100, after climbing a very brisk 59 places. I had a look at the 2011 US chart to see if there were any names that looked similar to that, which might possibly be around #160 here, and drew a blank. The names on the US Top 100 which climbed the highest last year were Bentley and Grayson, but only 25 places – not even half what Noah managed. Are Bentley and Grayson in the mid-100s here at the moment? I have no idea. If I go down just outside the Top 100, Easton (#102) climbed 43 places, and Jace (#106) climbed 40 places, which comes closer to Noah, but I can’t really see either of them in the mid-100s. I don’t think there is an equivalent to Noah, but without any solid data to draw on, I’m left dangling. Your guess is very much as good (or bad) as mine – and that is all this is, complete guesswork.

8. ETHAN

Ethan is currently #4, and in 2001 he was #17. That isn’t a perfect match with Thomas, but it does show Ethan moving up the Top 50 into the Top 10, like Thomas. I could have chosen either Oliver or Noah, but the idea of having both Olive and Oliver in the Top 10 seemed ludicrous, and I was quite out of patience with poor Noah by this stage. I also saw that I had earlier tipped Ethan to be a real stayer, so once more felt that I had little choice but to choose him again.

9. WILLIAM

William is currently the #1 name, and in 2001 he was #10. This is virtually a perfect match with long-lasting Joshua, who was #1 in 1995, and #11 for the 1980s. Basically if trends in boys’ names continue as they have been, 30% of the Top 10 in seventeen years will consist of names that are in the present Top 10. I feel as if boys’ names are becoming less conservative and there will be greater change coming in the future, but that may just be wishful thinking on my part.

10. ARCHER

With finding an equivalent for Cooper, I was in a similar position to finding an equivalent to Noah (ie there would be no data available at this early stage). However, I felt I had more freedom to choose, because Cooper seems to be a name which is much more popular in Australia than anywhere else. Therefore, there was no need to look through overseas data, or do any number crunching – it was just a matter of thinking of a new name which has grown wildly in popularity over the past few years, yet isn’t in the Top 100 yet. I was also hoping it would be an English surname/vocabulary name like Cooper. It really didn’t take much thought to light upon Archer; after reading birth announcements for months, I can see Archer is a name taking off like wildfire, and anyone can see it will be in the Top 100 within a few years or so. Can I see it reaching the Top 10? Yes, easily. It has better nickname options than Cooper, and a more romantic meaning, so I wouldn’t be surprised if it does better than Cooper.

My Tips for Coming Trends

IE sounds, as in Isaac and Kai
OH sounds, as in Logan and Hugo
Hard K sounds, as in Isaac, Kai and Lucas
S-enders, like Chase and Lucas
The rise and rise of the surname name for boys
Stronger influence from the US than from the UK
The names that are popular now still hanging on and becoming standards

The Top Ten Girls Names of 2028

20 Sunday May 2012

Posted by A.O. in Your Questions Answered

≈ 9 Comments

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classic names, colour names, famous namesakes, French names, future trends, Google, K.M. Sheard, Laura Wattenberg, name data, name popularity, name trends, Nook of Names, place names, popular culture, popular names, retro names, surname names, The Name Wizard, unisex names, US name trends

A couple of weeks ago as I was checking my stats, I saw that the release of all the 2011 name data had influenced someone to Google me a rather interesting question: What names will be popular in the future? Now if someone had asked me that a year ago, I would have been very much perplexed as how to answer. Even Laura Wattenberg from The Name Wizard suggests that guesswork is pretty much all we have to go on.

However, last October Kay from Nook of Names brought out her Top Ten for 2035, based on the US data. Kay’s method was simple, yet inspired – she looked at where the currently popular names were in 1985, and then found a name which is in a similar position today, in order to extrapolate them to their 2035 position. I thought I’d give her method a go, but also see check to see where each name was a decade previously to see if each name was following a similar trajectory. (I think Kay probably did this too).

I went into it very optimistically, but found it brought me a certain degree of angst, because it’s actually pretty difficult to find two names that follow the exact same path to success. However, I persevered, and found the closest possible matches available. In case you’re wondering why I hit on 2028, it’s because the New South Wales Top 100 goes back to 1995, so I went ahead 17 years from last year’s data. Of course, if you’ve just had a baby, 17 years will see it verging on adulthood – another reason it seemed like a good time period to evaluate.

Now, do I really think this is the New South Wales Top Ten for the year 2028? Well no, that’s just a sensationalist headline designed to grab your attention. Frankly I will be staggered (and slightly scared) if all these names simultaneously turn up in the Top Ten of the same year, let alone in this order! However, based on their current performance, I am tipping most of these names to increase in popularity – in some cases, to dramatically increase.

Current Top Ten

Chloe #22 in ’95, and #72 for the 1980s (a steady rise up the Top 100)
Ruby #107 for the 1990s, and #560 for the 1980s (a skyrocket from nowhere)
Olivia #26 in ’95, and #117 for the 1980s (a steady rise into the Top 100)
Isabella #34 in ’95, and #509 for the 1980s (a skyrocket from nowhere)
Mia #138 for the 1990s, and #320 for the 1980s (a steep rise)
Charlotte #87 in ’95, and #180 for the 1980s (a steady rise into the Top 100)
Sophie #25 in ’95, and #74 for the 1980s (a steady rise up the Top 100)
Sienna #402 for the 1990s, and barely in use in the 1980s (a new name, climbing exponentially)
Ava #466 for the 1990s, and barely in use in the 1980s (a new name, climbing exponentially)
Amelia #52 in ’95, and #118 for the 1980s (a steady rise into the Top 100)

FUTURE TOP TEN

1. ABIGAIL

Abigail is currently #27, and ten years ago she was #88. I thought that made her a good match with Chloe. Abigail is already a Top Ten name in the US, and although we’ve been lagging behind, by 2028 I think we’ll be well and truly caught up. I hesitated before nominating Abigail as the #1 name, but it does make sense, because of the rampant popularity of her many short forms.

2. OLIVE

Currently, Olive is probably somewhere in the 120s-130s, and a decade ago she was barely in use. That pattern doesn’t exactly match Ruby’s, but it isn’t too different either. If you’re looking for a meteoric rise to echo that of Ruby, Olive fits the bill better than any other candidate. I also like the idea of Ruby’s replacement being another vintage colour name. Even today, when Ruby is so hugely popular, there are grandparents meeting their new grand-daughter and saying, “But Ruby is an ugly old lady name!”. I predict similar reactions to all the baby Olives who will be born in the future.

3. EVA

Eva is currently #21, and a decade before she was somewhere in the 150s. Her climb has been steeper than Olivia’s, but she’s the best match I could find. That steeper climb may mean she peaks sooner than Olivia, but she’s also a classic name which has never left the charts, which I’m hoping will give her some ballast. She does almost seem like a shorter, snappier form of Olivia.

4. ISLA

Isla is currently #22, and ten years ago she was #445 for the early 2000s. This wasn’t a close enough match to please me, but no matter how I wrestled with the data, Isla was the closest equivalent, and did have a similar zoom up the charts, as well as looking like an updated Isabella. I can’t see any reason why Isla won’t continue to go higher, quite possibly to #1, and both Isabella and Isla have been chosen for royal babies. Of course, a major book and movie series with a main character called Isla wouldn’t hurt either, just for that extra buzz factor.

5. FREYA

Freya is currently around the 130s, and was #269 for the early 2000s. That’s not quite as steep a rise as Mia had, but it’s pretty darn close. Not only do Mia and Freya both have a northern European feel to them, but both are are associated with actresses as well – Mia with Mia Farrow, and Freya with Freya Stafford. I can see Freya doing very well indeed, and can easily picture her going to #1.

6. ELOISE

Eloise is currently #96, and a decade ago she was #140 for the early 2000s. I think that’s a fairly good match with Charlotte, which also went from the 100s into the lower portion of the Top 100 in ten years. Eloise seems a worthy successor to Charlotte, for both are elegant French names which manage to sound both strong and feminine. Eloise isn’t climbing as steeply as Charlotte, so we’ll have to see how far she manages to get in 17 years, but I think she will do well.

7. ZARA

In 2011, Zara was #26, and a decade ago in 2011 she was #83. This seems similar to Sophie’s steady rise from the bottom third of the Top 100 into the Top 20. Both Sophie and Zara have a French origin, with just a touch of the Middle East about them. I’m not sure whether Zara will keep climbing or if she’s peaked already and will begin a gentle decline; however, I have similar doubts about Sophie as well. If you’ve really been paying attention, you will see I could have easily swapped Abigail and Zara around, and after much deliberation, I decided Abigail seemed more likely to go to #1.

8. HAVANA

Now this is the part where my fortune-telling gets really sticky, because in 1995, Sienna was only used about 11 times per year in New South Wales. In other words, she may show up on the data now, but that’s only because of her success – in 1995 she wouldn’t have even been a blip on the radar, and in 1985, she was barely known. That means I had to come up with a name that is still little used, but feels as if it might be going somewhere. I wanted to pick a name similar to Sienna; I wanted a modern name just coming into use, and I hoped to find one that was also a place name. Quite a tall order, but eventually I decided upon Havana. Of course it’s a huge gamble picking a name so far in advance, but Havana seems like a pretty good bet. She’s similar to Heaven, Haven, Ava, Anna, Hannah, Savannah, Vanna and Ivana – in other words, she sound like a whole bunch of familiar words and names while having a very clear identity of her own. She doesn’t look out of place on this hypothetical Top Ten either, as she shares a V sound with Eva and Olive. Sienna only whizzed up the charts after Sienna Miller began her career, but in 17 years, it’s possible that a young model named Havana will be ready to take the world by storm. It could happen.

9. HARLOW

When it came to picking another Ava for the future, although I was looking for a name even rarer than Havana, I really had a much easier time of it. Ava was a name that we gained from America, so I simply went to the US Top 1000 for 1995 and saw where Ava was, then tried to find today’s equivalent. Of course, I was looking for one which was climbing like Ava, and if possible, had a similar feel to it. In 1995, Ava was #737, and ten years earlier, she wasn’t on the Top 1000, but just scraped in the year before. After much internal debate, I decided upon Harlow, which was #621 last year, and not on the Top 1000 in 2001. Although Harlow is climbing far more rapidly than Ava, she seemed the most likely candidate. Like Ava, she is a name redolant of Hollywood glamour, and she has the OH sound found in Eloise, while beginning with H like Havana. She fits on the list. At the moment, Harlow is very little used in Australia, and newspaper articles even discuss the strange unpopularity of Harlow. Like Ava, she may well fly under the radar, until one day we all wake up and suddenly realise Harlow is in the Top 100 and climbing. (Cue parental handwringing).

10. ROSE

Rose is currently #65, and she was #119 for the early 2000s. Not only does this look quite similar to Amelia’s pattern, but both these names are classic, pretty and wholesome. Rose is by no means shooting up the charts, but she is ascending in a calm and ladylike fashion, just like Amelia. Rose doesn’t have all the nickname options that Amelia does, so I’m not sure whether she will be Top 10 by 2028, but I am tipping her to continue rising.

My Tips for Coming Trends

OH sounds, as found in Eloise, Harlow and Rose
V sounds, as found in Olive, Eva and Havana
Short brisk names ending in -A, such as Eva, Isla, Freya and Zara (the new Mias)
Stronger influence from the UK than from the US, but with the US influence being far more spectacular in nature (much like today)
A nice balance between “old-fashioned names” like Olive and Rose, and modern inventions like Havana and Harlow (just like today).
Most popular girl’s names will be definitely feminine, but Harlow may show the potential for unisex names and surname names to break into the Top Ten for girls.

Boys Top Ten for 2028 will be next week!

	waltzingmorethanmati… on Zarah Zaynab and Wolfgang…
	Madelyn on Zarah Zaynab and Wolfgang…
	drperegrine on Can Phoebe Complete This …
	waltzingmorethanmati… on Rua and Rhoa
	redrover23 on Rua and Rhoa

Waltzing More Than Matilda

~ Names with an Australian Bias of Democratic Temper

Tag Archives: name data

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