Wednesday, February 14, 2018

Love In Other Languages

So, Valentine's Day. I'm 'meh' to it, but it is an excuse for fun name opportunities. ;)

Here's how you say "love" in different languages; many are already used as names (marked with an asterisk; feminine unless stated otherwise).

  • Agapi (ah-GAH-pee)--Greek*
  • Ahava (ah-hah-VAH)--Hebrew*
  • Ai (eye, ah-ee)--Chinese*, Japanese* [also a common name element in Japanese]
  • Aloha (ah-loh-hah)--Hawaiian*
  • Amor (AH-mor)--Latin [for a more in-depth list of names based on Latin 'amor', look here]
  • Amor (ah-MOHR)--Portuguese, Romanian, Spanish
  • Amore (ah-MOHR-eh)--Italian
  • Amour (ah-MOOR)--French
  • Cariad (CA-ree-ad)--Welsh [related names are fairly common: Carys/Cerys (f), Ceri (f/m), etc]
  • Cinta (CHIN-tah)--Indonesian*
  • Elska (EL-skah)--Icelandic
  • Karantez (kah-RAHN-tez)--Breton
  • Kerenja (keh-REN-jah)--Cornish
  • Kerensa (keh-REN-sah)--Cornish*
  • Láska (LAHS-kah)--Czech
  • Liba (LEE-bah)--Yiddish*
  • Liebe (LEE-beh)--German
  • Mahabba (mah-HAB-bah)--Arabic
  • Meilė (MAY-leh [long 'eh', no English equivalent])--Lithuanian*
  • Mīla (MEE-lah)--Latvian*
  • Minne (MIN-neh)--[archaic] Dutch, [archaic] German 
  • Prem (prem)--Bengali*, Hindi* [masculine; feminine is Prema]

Friday, February 9, 2018

Western Names 2: Cowboy Names

You know, I really meant to get around to this much sooner.
I did a statistical analysis of "southern names" long ago in 2015, followed by a "western names" post a year or so later. It became quickly apparent that "western" was quite wide range, so I split them up, focusing on 'Pacific' Western (AK, CA, HI, OR, WA--aka: "surfer") initially, and intending to follow up with 'Mountain' Western (AZ, CO, ID, MT, NV, NM, UT, WY--aka: "cowboy") shortly after. Oops!

Better late than never, here are the "most Mountain Western" names (by % of babies given that name) in the Mountain states' combined Top 1000:

Boys:
  • Hyrum
  • Mckay
  • Tyrann
  • Bridger
  • Taft
  • Stockton
  • Talmage
  • Kimball
  • Ammon
  • Brigham
  • Colter
  • Dallin
  • Cache
  • Tevita
  • Tayson
  • Mckoy
  • Taysom
  • Taggart
  • Krew
  • Sione
I was expecting all the surnames. I was not expecting Tyrann & Cache. Wonder if there's some sort of local inspiration for Tyrann.

Girls:
  • Ariza
  • Brexlee
  • Annalicia
  • Navy
  • Afton
  • Oakley
  • Oaklee
  • Indie
  • Aspen
  • Bostyn
  • Taylee
  • Quincy
  • Holland
  • Taya
  • Capri
  • Cosette
  • Scout
  • Opal
  • Chevelle
  • Juniper
More surnames! The nature-names are a nice surprise. 

Some of those names are still pretty uncommon, so here are the most Mountain names from the states' Top 500:

Boys:
  • Hyrum
  • Bridger
  • Brigham
  • Colter
  • Ridge
  • Nixon
  • Stetson
  • Crew
  • Brixton
  • Daxton
  • Brecken
  • Boston
  • Benson
  • Porter
  • Cruz
  • Talon
  • Ryker
  • Orion
  • Beckham
  • Adriel
Adriel, how did you get there?

Girls:
  • Navy
  • Oakley
  • Oaklee
  • Indie
  • Aspen
  • Holland
  • Taya
  • Juniper
  • Gwen
  • Penny
  • Jane
  • Tatum
  • Yareli
  • Faye
  • Daleyza
  • Sage
  • Ember
  • Mae
  • Dalary
  • Yaretzi
Surnames, nature, and a bit of Spanish. That sounds about right! Surprised by the short & sweet "old lady" names, though. <3

Phew, finally down to the most common names. Here are the most Mountain names from the states' Top 100:

Boys:
  • Ryker
  • Jesus
  • Santiago
  • Damian
  • Ezra
  • Ezekiel
  • Emmett
  • Lincoln
  • Axel
  • Jose
  • Ryder
  • Luis
  • Elias
  • Weston
  • Cooper
  • Mateo
  • Asher
  • Angel
  • Oliver
  • Dominic

Girls:
  • Ximena
  • Athena
  • Ruby
  • Lyla
  • Hazel
  • Ivy
  • Emery
  • Aurora
  • Lucy
  • Liliana
  • Quinn
  • Luna
  • Cora
  • Rylee
  • Clara
  • Everly
  • Alice
  • Brielle
  • Ellie
  • Brooklyn
I definitely get more a 'cowboy' vibe from the boys' list than from the girls', but both lists are pretty great!

For comparison, here are the Mountain states' Top 10, alongside the National Top 10:


Mountain
National
1.
Liam
Noah
2.
Noah
Liam
3.
Oliver
William
4.
William
Mason
5.
Benjamin
James
6.
James
Benjamin
7.
Mason
Jacob
8.
Alexander
Michael
9.
Daniel
Elijah
10.
Michael
Ethan



Mountain
National
1.
Emma
Emma
2.
Olivia
Olivia
3.
Sophia
Ava
4.
Mia
Sophia
5.
Isabella
Isabella
6.
Ava
Mia
7.
Charlotte
Charlotte
8.
Abigail
Abigail
9.
Harper
Emily
10.
Evelyn
Harper

Wow, there's really not much of a difference, is there, esp. with the girls! If you wish to see the entire Mountain Top 1000, it is here, on Google Sheets.

I then went looking for the most representative names of each state, that is, the names that are disproportionately common in that state compared to the entire country.
(in order to keep rare names from mucking up the stats, I did limit my analysis in this section to the top 2/5 or so of each state's list)

AZ: Rene, Guillermo, Alvaro, Jesus, Ismael (boys); Ariza, Meilani, Tatum, Romina, Scarlette (girls)
CO: Brecken, Augustine, Soren, Orion, Cassius (boys); Aspen, Emmaline, Juniper, Khaleesi, Sloan (girls)
ID: Bridger, Ridge, Stetson, Boston, Hank (boys); Oaklee, Oakley, Kimber, Aspen, Remington (girls)
MT: Bridger, Sterling, Colt, Rory, Arlo (boys); Oakley, Aspen, Ember, Finley, Sage (girls)
NV: Romeo, Royal, Angelo, Orion, Nikolai (boys); Roselyn, Zaniyah, Kenia, Chanel, Haylee (girls)
NM: Luciano, Uriah, Zachariah, Marcos, Emilio (boys); Zia, Estrella, Amaris, Avianna, Julissa (girls)
UT: Mckay, Hyrum, Stockton, Ammon, Dallin (boys); Navy, Afton, Bostyn, Oaklee, Indie (girls)
WY: Bridger, Corbin, Holden, Ryker, Jasper (boys); Oakley, Aspen, Sawyer, Brynlee, Piper (girls)

It's interesting; in the previous regional analyses it was pretty easy to tell what style of names are not fashionable, but here it just seems random! Among the least "Mountain Western" names are Darius, Braylen, Chris, Maurice, Kyleigh, Jaliyah, Lara, Eileen. I guess the Mountain states are just much more eclectic in their tastes than the Southern and Pacific states. :)

Thursday, February 1, 2018

Names of Ghibli (girls)

I'm a massive Studio Ghibli fan, so I have no idea how this post never occurred to me before now. ;)

Miyazaki especially is known for his strong, well-developed female characters, so I thought it'd be fun to go through all the Ghibli films (totally not an excuse for a movie binge night....or week, really) and collect every girls' name mentioned.
[in some cases, the characters are only named in the credits]

Main / important secondary characters:
  • Anna (When Marnie Was There)
  • Arrietty (The Secret World of Arrietty)
  • Chihiro "Sen" (Spirited Away)
  • Dola (Castle in the Sky)
  • Eboshi (Princess Mononoke)
  • Fio (Porco Rosso)
  • Gina (Porco Rosso)
  • Haru (The Cat Returns)
  • Homily (The Secret World of Arrietty)
  • Kaguya (The Tale of Princess Kaguya)
  • Kiki (Kiki's Delivery Service)
  • Kushana (Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind [okay, not strictly Studio Ghibli, made before its formation, but I'm including it anyway])
  • Lin (Spirited Away)
  • Lisa (Ponyo)
  • Lusheeta  "Sheeta" (Castle in the Sky)
  • Marnie (When Marnie Was There)
  • Matsuko (My Neighbors the Yamadas)
  • Mei (My Neighbor Totoro)
  • Nahoko (The Wind Rises)
  • Nausicaä (Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind)
  • Nonoko (My Neighbors the Yamadas)
  • Osono (Kiki's Delivery Service)
  • Ponyo (Ponyo)
  • Rikako (Ocean Waves)
  • San (Princess Mononoke)
  • Satsuki (My Neighbor Totoro)
  • Sayaka (When Marnie Was There)
  • Setsuko (Grave of the Fireflies)
  • Shige (My Neighbors the Yamadas)
  • Shizuku (Whisper of the Heart)
  • Sophie (Howl's Moving Castle)
  • Taeko (Only Yesterday)
  • Tenar (Tales from Earthsea)
  • Therru (Tales from Earthsea)
  • Umi (From Up on Poppy Hill)
  • Yubaba (Spirited Away)
  • Yuki (The Cat Returns)

Minor characters / only mentioned:
  • Aiko, Kiyoko, NaokoRieSuzukiToko, Tsuneko (Only Yesterday)
  • Akiko, Yumi (Ocean Waves)
  • Anna, Constance, Donna, Giliora, Laura, Maria, Marietta, Monica, Sandra, Silvana, Sophia, Tina, Valentina (Porco Rosso)
  • AsakoKinuyoLouiseNaoShihoYuko (Whisper of the Heart)
  • DoraKokiriMakiUrsula (Kiki's Delivery Service)
  • EmilyHisakoNobukoSetsuYoriko (When Marnie Was There)
  • Hana, Miki, Nobuko, Ryoko, Sachiko, Saori, Sora, Yuko (From Up on Poppy Hill)
  • Hara, Jessica (The Secret World of Arrietty)
  • Hiromi, Naoko (The Cat Returns)
  • HoneyLettie, Madge (Howl's Moving Castle)
  • KarenKayo, Kumiko, Noriko, Toki, Yoshie (Ponyo)
  • Kaya, KiyoMoroToki (Princess Mononoke)
  • Kayo, Kinu (The Wind Rises)
  • Kita, Me, Sagami (The Tale of Princess Kaguya)
  • Lastelle, Obaba (Nausicaä of the Valley of the Winds)
  • Madge, Okami (Castle in the Sky)
  • MichikoRyouko, Yasuko (My Neighbor Totoro)
  • YukoZeniba (Spirited Away)