Saturday, January 22, 2011

Baby Names

Baby Names are obviously on our mind these days as we prepare for the arrival of our little son or daughter. Many British co-workers have asked me if I am going to give the baby an American name or a British name? I hadn't really thought about one country's naming habits over the other's, but after it has come to my attention, I have realized there are quite a few names here that we hear quite often and never had heard often in the US.

Some names I have found that are common on both sides of the pond include: Richard, Scott, John, Jack, Thomas, Alex, Ellie, Charlotte, Sarah, Emily, Olivia, Lucy, and Elizabeth are really just a few. To be fair, there are quite a few overlaps in names on a transatlantic level!
Some differences I have noticed are in the nicknames derived from some of these names. For instance, Charlotte is a fairly common name here and often the nicknames for these girls are either "Charlie" or "Lottie." I don't know anyone by the name of Charlotte in the US who goes by either of those shortened names.

Some names that I have found MUCH more common over here in the UK vs. the US include: Iris, Poppy, Finn, Ollie (or Oliver), Oscar, Mohammed, Ruby, Imogen, Fiona, Harriet, Gaynor, and Harry. On the reverse side of the equation, occasionally my co-workers will comment about a name being "so American!" I always chuckle by these comments but the names where these comments have occurred, include in regards to names such as: Brent, Bruce, Riley, and Ashley. When I think about the names I hear over here in England, I have yet to meet anyone with such a name....

For a general comparison, I pulled the top 20 baby names from 2009 for both girls and boys for the US and UK. If I were more tech savvy, I might be able to arrange the tables side-by-side to one another, but unfortunately I couldn't figure it out! So, you can just skim the lists and compare the lists on your own.

Top UK Boy Names:

Rank
Name
Count
Change in rank since 2007

1JACK80070
2OLIVER7413+1
3THOMAS6054-1
4HARRY6006+1
5JOSHUA5713-1
6ALFIE5557+4
7CHARLIE52850
8DANIEL5185-2
9JAMES51680
10WILLIAM5167-2
11SAMUEL46200
12GEORGE42090
13JOSEPH37600
14LEWIS3482+2
15ETHAN34450
16MOHAMMED3423+1
17DYLAN3370+2
18BENJAMIN3274-4
19ALEXANDER3213+3
20JACOB31280



Top US Boy Names:
1-20
1.Jacob
2.Ethan +1
3.Michael -1
4.Alexander +2
5.William +3
6.Joshua -2
7.Daniel -2
8.Jayden +3
9.Noah +6
10.Anthony -3
11.Christopher -2
12.Aiden +4
13.Matthew -3
14.David
15.Andrew -3
16.Joseph -3
17.Logan +2
18.James -1
19.Ryan -1
20.Benjamin +

Top 20 US Girl Names:
1-20
1.Isabella +1
2.Emma -1
3.Olivia +3
4.Sophia +3
5.Ava
6.Emily -3
7.Madison -3
8.Abigail
9.Chloe +1
10.Mia +4
11.Elizabeth -2
12.Addison
13.Alexis +2
14.Ella +5
15.Samantha -4
16.Natalie -3
17.Grace +4
18.Lily +6
19.Alyssa -3
20.Ashley -2


Top 20 UK Girl Names:

Rank
Name
Count
Change in rank since 2007
1OLIVIA5317+2
2RUBY4924-1
3EMILY4874+1
4GRACE4773-2
5JESSICA46670
6CHLOE4601+1
7SOPHIE4378-1
8LILY40090
9AMELIA3437+1
10EVIE3275+5
11MIA3113+2
12ELLA3023-3
13CHARLOTTE2937-1
14LUCY2871-3
15MEGAN2515+2
16ELLIE2482-2
17ISABELLE2459+4
18ISABELLA2421+1
19HANNAH2331-3
20KATIE2318-2

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