Naming trends in countries outside the US.

[Devinter]

The redhead has a theory that all women called Nicky/Nikki are sluts. I've called one 'self-assured' female character Nicky in honour of that theory.

I know it's really unhealthy to have pre-conceived ideas about people, but there might be some truth to her theory, depending on how many people in Nicky/Nikki's presence that shares the same belief. Many studies have suggested that if enough people believe that people of a certain name is meant to behave a certain way, then that influences the person's actions in many cases. In other words, your wife might push Nicky/Nikki towards a sluttier lifestyle.

 

[StillStunned]

I know it's really unhealthy to have pre-conceived ideas about people, but there might be some truth to her theory, depending on how many people in Nicky/Nikki's presence that shares the same belief. Many studies have suggested that if enough people believe that people of a certain name is meant to behave a certain way, then that influences the person's actions in many cases. In other words, your wife might push Nicky/Nikki towards a sluttier lifestyle.

Nonono, you're not going to trick me into telling her that it's *her* fault!

 

[Kumquatqueen]

Top 10 names in England and Wales 2021.

Girls
1 Olivia 3,649 (–)
2 Amelia 3,164 (–)
3 Isla 2,683 (–)
4 Ava 2,576 (–)
5 Ivy 2,245 (+1)
6 Freya 2,187 (+6)
7 Lily 2,182 (–)
8 Florence 2,180 (+6)
9 Mia 2,168 (-4)
10 Willow 2,067 (+2)

Boys

1 Noah 4,525 (+3)
2 Oliver 4,167 (-1)
3 George 4,141 (-1)
4 Arthur 3,766 (-1)
5 Muhammad 3,722 (–)
6 Leo 3,465 (–)
7 Harry 3,089 (+1)
8 Oscar 3,071 (-1)
9 Archie 2,928 (–)
10 Henry 2,912 (+1)

Parentheses is change from last year.

Lots of those names would strike an American as "old fashioned". I don't think I've ever met a Florence who wasn't collecting social security.

Naming babies after recently-deceased (or even living!) grandparents and great-grandparents is a thing, but only certain names. So now there's loads of Archies and Alfies and Arthurs and Freddie's and May, Millie, Daisy, Lily and Ava in primary school. Harry was always popular and grandparents and royal ginger and Potter all boosted that, ditto Lily. Jamie Oliver led to Oliver's popularity 15 years ago, Jack and Chloe were boosted by morning TV presenters, Ruby was

Top 10 names in England and Wales 2021.

Girls
1 Olivia 3,649 (–)
2 Amelia 3,164 (–)
3 Isla 2,683 (–)
4 Ava 2,576 (–)
5 Ivy 2,245 (+1)
6 Freya 2,187 (+6)
7 Lily 2,182 (–)
8 Florence 2,180 (+6)
9 Mia 2,168 (-4)
10 Willow 2,067 (+2)

Boys

1 Noah 4,525 (+3)
2 Oliver 4,167 (-1)
3 George 4,141 (-1)
4 Arthur 3,766 (-1)
5 Muhammad 3,722 (–)
6 Leo 3,465 (–)
7 Harry 3,089 (+1)
8 Oscar 3,071 (-1)
9 Archie 2,928 (–)
10 Henry 2,912 (+1)

Parentheses is change from last year.

Lots of those names would strike an American as "old fashioned". I don't think I've ever met a Florence who wasn't collecting social security.

Naming babies after recently-deceased (or even living!) grandparents and great-grandparents is a thing (especially in the UK?) but only certain names. So now there's loads of Archies and Alfies and Arthurs and Freddie's and May, Millie, Daisy, Lily and Ava in primary school. Harry was always popular and grandparents and royal ginger and Potter all boosted that, ditto Lily. Jamie Oliver led to Oliver's popularity 15 years ago, Jack and Chloe were boosted by morning TV presenters, Ruby was virtually unknown until EastEnders had a baby Ruby, plus the grandma effect...

Baby Kenneth's and Simon and Barbara's and Belinda are now beginning to make a comeback. But not Nigel or Keith or Brenda.

The top 200 boy and girl names will cover a much larger percentage of babies in the UK than in the US - and some American names never became popular here - Paige, Audra, Allison with two Ls. Conversely various common Brit names like Malcolm/Callum or Siobhan are rare stateside.

 

[N_Gauge]

I know it's really unhealthy to have pre-conceived ideas about people, but there might be some truth to her theory, depending on how many people in Nicky/Nikki's presence that shares the same belief. Many studies have suggested that if enough people believe that people of a certain name is meant to behave a certain way, then that influences the person's actions in many cases. In other words, your wife might push Nicky/Nikki towards a sluttier lifestyle.

I'm the only Nikki/Nicolette I know, and I'm 100% a slut. She might be onto something.

 

[EmilyMiller]

I know it's really unhealthy to have pre-conceived ideas about people, but there might be some truth to her theory, depending on how many people in Nicky/Nikki's presence that shares the same belief. Many studies have suggested that if enough people believe that people of a certain name is meant to behave a certain way, then that influences the person's actions in many cases. In other words, your wife might push Nicky/Nikki towards a sluttier lifestyle.

Barbie for example…

Em

 

[EmilyMiller]

I'm the only Nikki/Nicolette I know, and I'm 100% a slut. She might be onto something.

Sister

Em

 

[Devinter]

Barbie for example…

Em

Name your kid Barbie and her odds of one day having plastic surgery might increase dramatically.

 

[EmilyMiller]

Name your kid Barbie and her odds of one day having plastic surgery might increase dramatically.

Go with Lexi (as opposed to Alexandra) and a whole career beckons you…

Em

 

[Bramblethorn]

I notice a good number of names of women in many stores where the character seems to be born say 1975 to 1995 are names which have long ago nearly disappeared for anyone born after 1950. Many of the stories I read are set in modern types yet Betty, Phyllis, June, Hetty, Hester, Pearl, Ruth have largely disappeared from the for anyone under age 65... But the females in the stories have those names.

Are these names still popular in UK, Australia, NZ... etc? Three countries I see many authors are from.

This is not a complaint, I just wonder if they are still common in other countries outside the US. ???

This article has a tool to show popularity of Australian baby names by year: https://www.theguardian.com/news/da...alian-baby-names-of-the-past-century-revealed

For the names you mention, I think you're mostly right in guessing they're unusual for under-70s:

- AFAIK Hetty and Hester have always been very rare here.
- Pearl has become more common from about 2010, but before that was very rare.
- Phyllis and June are very rare after the 1950s (but see below).
- Most "Betty"s would be abbreviations of Elizabeth. Elizabeth has been declining but it's still quite common, about one in three hundred births. I suspect people are less likely to abbreviate it to Betty than they used to be, though.

But that site only tells us what's being put on birth certificates for children born here. People often end up going by a first name that's not on their birth certificate, particularly when cultures mix: Yeoh Choo Kheng is better known in the West as "Michelle Yeoh", Rafael Cruz as Ted, and so on. The use-name might be something that sounds like the birth-certificate name or it might be something completely different.

"June" in particular is something that I'd find plausible for a younger woman from, say, a Chinese-Australian family, but not so much for an Anglo-Australian background.

 

[M_K_Babalon]

Well, y'all should do names like us black folk. We just string random syllables together.

LaQuintra, JMoygra, MarFapRa, etc

No, no, no. I'd rather we use some old ass names like Gertrude, than continue such depravity. I'll take Clemintine over Laquandeshaeniqua.

 

[M_K_Babalon]

A lot of names are pretty old, actually. They just sound better than others and remain popular. By comparison these old names, or their modern equivilants are probably more popular than a number of actual modern names concieved in the last fifty years. There's more Tylers than Skylers, I'd think, and the Nevaeh's seem to have died down, but there's always a Brittany somewhere.

 

[Trionyx]

I don’t have the data but my sense is that Emma has had a similar experience to Florence. I’ve known quite a few old,old Emma’s and the name is now popular again. Not many between the ages of twenty and fifty, I suspect.

 

[Bamagan]

I don’t have the data but my sense is that Emma has had a similar experience to Florence. I’ve known quite a few old,old Emma’s and the name is now popular again. Not many between the ages of twenty and fifty, I suspect.

I'm not going to screenshot the data, but in the US, Emma was a top-200 name from 1940 to the mid-50s, then gradually dipped into the 201-400 range until 1967, then went through a period in the low-400s through the 1970s and into the early 80s, bottoming out at 463rd in 1976. It climbed steadily through the 80s until it cracked top-100 again in 1993 and hasn't looked back, becoming #1 in 2008, then again in 2014-2018, then slid to #2 through 2022, the last year for which the data is currently available. So there should be a fair few entering their 30s, but yeah, a bit of a gap for Emmas currently in their 40s or 50s.

 

[nice90sguy]

Mel B! Scary Spice! Arguably the hottest Mel of all times

The hottest mel (after Gibson ofc) I ever saw was Griffith. Mel B is sexy in a skanky way (that's just her image, she's a lovely, kindly lass in real life, I'm sure).

 

[Kumquatqueen]

The hottest mel (after Gibson ofc) I ever saw was Griffith. Mel B is sexy in a skanky way (that's just her image, she's a lovely, kindly lass in real life, I'm sure).

Mel Giedroyc (aka half of Mel & Sue, best known abroad from the British Baking Show/ Bake Off) is also an honourable contender. Shame about being irredeemably straight and monogamous.

Emma was a top-5 name in the UK during the 70s and early 80s. I know dozens of them. Just behind Sarah and Clare, probably ahead of Lucy and Nicola (while most girls had Jane or Louise as a middle name). Emily rose in popularity from the 90s onwards, helped by parents who remembered Bagpuss.

Sarah was like the ubiquitous American Jennifer.

There's a huge class divide with names in the UK. I'd be surprised to find a Tyler, Skyler, Nevaeh or Britney in a private school, for example. Conversely I worked at a local school event (75% of kids entitled to free school meals) and chatted to a proud dad who had named his kid Nevaeh-Mae 'so she would be unique'. I didn't have the heart to tell him there were two others in the same school.

There's a trickle-down effect, so you get posh parents digging up old traditional unusual names to use (Dylan, Oscar, Matilda, Isla, Isabella 20 years ago), some of which then become more popular among the masses and stop being used by the smart set. Some of Jago, Jonty, Arabella, Rupert, Venetia, Harriet will probably become the next trendy names.

 

[ronde]

I always want to call my female characters Mel. No idea why. No, the redhead's name isn't Mel. I don't know a single Mel, never have.

The redhead has a theory that all women called Nicky/Nikki are sluts. I've called one 'self-assured' female character Nicky in honour of that theory.

My theory, unencumbered by any formal research, is that people tend to "grow" into their given names, or shorten/slightly modify their names to reflect their personality. I name my characters based on that belief, i.e., Margaret is probably everybody's mom who bakes cookies and keeps a spotless house. Margie is playful but still pretty reserved. Meg is up for anything and might just be a lesbian. Randy is, well, the old definition of randy.

I name male characters the same way. Harold is short, pudgy, and wears thick glasses. He might have sex with a woman, but it will be pretty tentative and his partner might have to tell him what to do. William goes by Bill, and is tall, strong, played football in high school, and loves sex, sports, beer, and hot wings, in that order, but the sex is all about him, not her. Tod works out all the time, and might be gay because he's a hairdresser.

When writing historical fiction, I always choose names common to the era. There were no Rod's or Mandy's in 1600 like you might read in some work, but there were Roderick's and Amanda's back then and they didn't abbreviate names unless the relationship was intimate. Using names proper to the era makes the story more believable.

 

[M_K_Babalon]

U spelled it wrong

My point still stands. Black folks make stupid names.

Your name, I mean. It's BabbleOn.

Laquandra whatever is right, I think.

It's Babalon. As in the Thelemic Goddess who represents sex, lust, chaos, desire. Babalon; the whore of Babylon. M and K are also the names of two Gods that represent similar themes, the African God, Min, and the Indian God, Kamadeva. Nice try, though, newb.

 

[AlexBailey]

Of course, names can cause all kinds of problems. The Tiffany Problem is my favorite.

https://dmnes.wordpress.com/2020/08/05/the-tiffany-problem/

I have a friend named Tiffany, Tiff for short, a mechanic and a self proclaimed diesel dyke. It seems somehow ironic, kind of like when a huge person has the nickname 'Tiny'.

 

[TheRedChamber]

I'm going to drop this article I did on female names on Lit stories right here.

It's weird how names come and go. When I came to naming my daughter I was tossing around possible ideas and, as a Terry Pratchett fan, the name Esme (short for Esmerelda) crossed my mind for about a millisecond before I dismissed it as about 100 years out of date. I was amazed later when I found a list of the most popular names in the UK and it was suprisingly high (Googling now has it at 74th most popular, I swear it was higher).

As it was I chose a name which I though was uncommon but not too uncommon. Only once we'd signed the birth certificates did I remember that it was the name of Doctor Who's then current companion. Hopefully it won't turn out to be too saturated.

 

[RachelWalsh]

Just name all those babies Wilbur. Lol

 

[Blueskiessmiling]

Ok, so far we got Babble On calling black people "depraved" and "stupid." Nice90s weighed in with "skanky."

Anybody else? C'mon, y'all are on a roll.

There is a blue one who can't accept
The green one for living with
A fat one tryin' to be a skinny one
Different strokes for different folks
And so on and so on and scooby-dooby-dooby
We got to live together.

Sly and the Family Stone.

 

[Blueskiessmiling]

That's a nice sentiment, and I appreciate it, whether or not it's intended to be supportive of me.

If it's intended to be critical of me, I would simply point out that I haven't made comments directed toward anyone else's ethnicity, I've only responded to those who have commented on mine.

Of course it’s supportive of you.
Martin Luther King said, “We all came on different ships, but we’re all in the same boat now.”
Words we should live by.

 

[nice90sguy]

Yeah...most of us black girls are sexy in a skanky way, right?

Wow

I wish

 

[M_K_Babalon]

Like I said...Babble On. Or from now on, I'll just call you Gertrude.

When I poke gentle fun at my own people for being creative about names, it can pass for an attempt at humor. When you come back that hard, not once but twice, it just shows a hatred for black people.

Nice try though, racist.

My initial reply was mostly in jest... Evul-Jazmynn. My second was not that "hard". I felt the response was appropriate for what I took was unneccessary ridicule. I'm not racist against anybody, that's quite a leap because I think our naming ideology is dumb, regardless of how creative it is. I prefer Gertie, by the way.

 

[M_K_Babalon]

Still trying to figure out where I said black folk are depraved and stupid. It's easy to be offended when your looking to be offended. Most of the shit in AH shouldn't even be taken seriously, nobody here seeks to offend anybody.