Nameberry’s Unique Baby Name Trends
By Esmeralda Rocha
We know how much the Nameberry community loves stats! So we thought you’d enjoy a bit of analysis as to how the US Top 100 compares with the Nameberry community’s Top 100.
First, a few basics:
In 2017, the US Top 100 and the Nameberry Top 100 shared about half of the names. In general, the less popular a name is in the US the less likely it is to appear in the Nameberry Top 100 (all of the USA Top 10 girls names and most of the USA Top 10 boys names are in the Nameberry lists). However, this is largely where the similarities end…If you compare the two lists, a few interesting trends emerge:
Of the names that appear in both charts, the Nameberry ranking is often the inverse of the Top 100 ranking. Names that were very popular in Nameberry were quite low in the Top 100 list, and vice versa:
Girls’ Name
USA Top 100 rank
Nameberry rank
93
46
83
2
70
25
51
8
48
17
20
58
21
83
10
100
5
78
12
86
Boys’ Name
USA Top 100 rank
Nameberry rank
59
2
61
11
89
14
62
4
23
90
31
82
10
53
19
78
11
70
Different letter preferences – The US penchant for girls’ names beginning with K, L and V is not shared by Nameberry users; but berries love girls’ names beginning with E, I, J and M a lot more than the rest of the US. The same can be seen in boys’ names: America overall loved its C and J names – most of which were not on the Nameberry list – while the NB crowd favored many names beginning with A, G and H that were absent from the US Top 100.
The US preferred word-based girls’ names – names like Autumn, Genesis, Harper, Nevaeh, Nova, and Serenity featured in the US Top 100 but seem to leave Nameberry users underwhelmed.
Meanwhile, the country as a whole preferred surname-based names for boys – Bryson, Carson, Carter, Chase, Colton, Cooper, Easton, Hudson, Hunter, Jameson, Landon, Logan, Lincoln, Mason and Sawyer were among the surname names that the general population parents chose for their boys, but which Nameberry users were much less excited about.
The SSA list has more modern/unisex names for girls: Addison, Aubree and Aubrey, Avery, Brooklyn, Everly, Kennedy, Kinsley, Mackenzie, Madison, Peyton, Piper, Quinn, Reagan, Riley, Skylar were all names that the majority of Americans favored, but did not feature in the Nameberry Top 100.
Meanwhile, Nameberries are fond of more classic names: Names that were on the Nameberry Top 100 for girls but were missing from the SSA equivalent chart include: Ada, Alexandra, Arabella, Aurelia, Beatrice, Celeste, Daisy, Eliza, Eloise, Esme, Evangeline, Genevieve, Imogen, Iris, Isla, Ivy, Jane, Josephine, Juliet, Maisie, Margaret, Ophelia, Rebecca, Rose, Seraphina, Thea and Willa. For boys: Arthur, Atticus, Cassius, Edward, George, Gideon, Hugo, Jasper, Lucian, Simon, Tobias, and Vincent.
Nameberry users are more partial to shortened forms: Elsie, Evie, Maisie, and Molly were all names that featured in the Nameberry charts but weren’t in the US Top 100. This could also be seen in the boys names: Charlie, Harry, Jude, and Xander.
Nameberries are loving Euro-chic names, especially Nordic ones – Axel, Caspian, Louis, Magnus, Milo, and Soren from the boys side were matched by Adelaide, Astrid, Freya, and Matilda for the girls; but mainstream America is loving some Latin names that Nameberries seem to be ignoring – such as Jose, Leonardo, Mateo, and Santiago and Camila, Gabriella, Gianna, Sofia and Valentina.
**************************************************
And here are Katinka‘s juicy findings on the forums this week!
• You’ve been all about nicknames on the Forums this week: from new nicknames for old names, to intriguing ways to get to popular picks like Emmie, Indie and Sunny. Which are your favorites?
• An enlightening, if slightly unsettling, survey of name perceptions across the Nameberry community. What names sound “posh” or “lower class” to you, and is it even OK to categorize names in this way?
• Baby names from pop culture as “subliminal advertising” — some really interesting perspectives in this thread! What do you think: how and why do some pop culture names catch on so fast, while others make barely a ripple?
• Talking of trends: which of today’s popular baby names do you think will feel most dated in 20 or 30 years’ time? Place your bets!
• And have you ever had a “love at first sight” moment… with a name?