Despite the fact that Americans have a much larger "naming pool", there are many names that appear on the British list that don't on the American.
Part of that can be explained by the fact that the British list allows hyphenated names--"Lily-Grace" appears just like that, where on the American list it'd be either "Lilygrace" or "Lily" with "Grace" as a middle.
Surprisingly, Brits also have a much smaller babies/name ratio--with 60 babies/name for boys ('names' separated by spelling, so "Aidan" & "Aiden" are considered different names), and 46 babies/name for girls. Americans average 142 babies/name for boys, and 99 babies/name for girls. Again, this can partially be explained by the hyphenated names, and partially by the fact that the US just has a much, much larger population--about 730,000 babies were born last year in the UK, and 3,900,000 in the US.
I first set out to find the "most British" & "most American" names--that is, names that are infinitely more common in Britain than the US and vice-versa. And so here, are the top 20 names that appear on the British popularity lists, but not the American:
Boys:
- Olly
- Albie
- Fraser
- Osian
- Harri
- Gethin
- Tomos
- Barney
- Tyler-James
- Bertie
- Dougie
- Oliwier
- Frazer
- Georgie
- Tommy-Lee
- Iestyn
- Herbie
- Ieuan
- Teddie
- Rudi
Girls:
- Lily-Rose
- Amelia-Rose
- Lily-Mae
- Ffion
- Ellie-May
- Lily-May
- Ellie-Mae
- Lilly-May
- Bethan
- Jorgie
- Lilly-Mae
- Lilly-Rose
- Ella-Rose
- Tulisa
- Ellie-Mai
- Gracie-Mae
- Ava-Rose
- Evie-Mae
- Lillie-Mae
- Lacey-Mae
Good grief. Those hyphens really confuse things. Removing those....
Boys:
- Olly
- Albie
- Fraser
- Osian
- Harri
- Gethin
- Tomos
- Barney
- Bertie
- Dougie
- Oliwier
- Frazer
- Georgie
- Iestyn
- Herbie
- Ieuan
- Teddie
- Rudi
- Iwan
- Elis
Girls:
- Ffion
- Bethan
- Jeorgie
- Tulisa
- Poppie
- Fearne
- Lowri
- Xanthe
- Orlaith
- Dulcie
- Dolcie
- Kornelia
- Tamzin
- Eleri
- Cadi
- Hettie
- Ottilie
- Neive
- Catrin
- Romilly
I'm guessing that in the US, most of these won't ring 'British' so much as "rare", or to the non-nerdy, "weird". So, how about the most 'British' names that appear on both (full) popularity lists?
Boys:
- Alfie
- Barnaby
- Archie
- Harry
- Finlay
- Rafferty
- Vinnie
- Kenzie
- Freddie
- Mikolaj
- Jac
- Ashley
- Wiktor
- Ollie
- Matas
- Mckenzie
- Rupert
- Franciszek
- Owain
- Jenson
Girls:
- Darcey
- Isobelle
- Cerys
- Darcie
- Poppy
- Orla
- Florence
- Niamh
- Freya
- Kitty
- Oliwia
- Imogen
- Sian
- Zuzanna
- Nikola
- Maisie
- Seren
- Aqsa
- Wiktoria
- Georgie
I have to admit, I really like most of these names!
Apparently the influence of Eastern Europe is much stronger in the UK than the US! Not too surprising, though, given its closer proximity. I imagine we'll see something similar with the US & Spanish names next time...
Still too outlandish? Well, here are the most 'British' names from the American Top 1000:
Boys:
- Harry
- Theo
- Harvey
- Reuben
- Callum
- Finley
- Lewis
- Frankie
- Jamie
- Harley
- Toby
- Charlie
- Bobby
- Tommy
- Sonny
- Stanley
- George
- Ronnie
- Alfred
- Ben
Girls:
- Evie
- Millie
- Esme
- Matilda
- Holly
- Isla
- Amelie
- Martha
- Lacey
- Tia
- Jessica
- Phoebe
- Zara
- Lara
- Libby
- Mollie
- Lola
- Alisha
- Beatrice
- Daisy
Even though I knew going in that the big British trends right now are double-names and diminutives--for both genders--I'm still surprised at many of these names! For the most part, not what the typical American thinks of when we hear "British".
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