Enas, Onas, & Unas

I'm always on the lookout for names & name patterns that seem to transcend language barriers. For some reason, girls' names in particular seem to follow particular phonetic constructions (I partially blame Latin, but that can't be the only answer!).
I've already rounded up several lists, including two-syllable -ana names and -ina names, and I got to wondering if perhaps -ena, -ona, and -una names are "a thing" as well. Turns out: yes!
All are feminine, unless otherwise indicated.

[because English is an oddball in our pronunciation of -ena names--the rest of the world generally says "ay-nah" or "eh-nah"--I will be omitting English -ena names from this list, and instead promise to go back and add them into the aforementioned -ina names post ;) ]

• Eena (Finnish)
• Ena (Scandinavian, Bosnian, Croatian, [Anglicized] Irish, Japanese, Indian [Bengali?]) [separate derivations]
• Gena (Russian) [masculine]
• Hena (Yiddish)
• Jena (Scandinavian) [J said like English Y]
• Lena (all over the Western world) [multiple derivations]
• Meena (Finnish)
• Mena (Scandinavian)
• Neena (Finnish)
• Nena (Dutch, Scandinavian, Serbian, Spanish) [separate derivations]
• Rena/Reena (Scandinavian)
• Seena (Finnish)
• Sena (Scandinavian, Japanese, Turkish, Dutch) [separate derivations, unisex in Japanese]
• Stena ([archaic] Swedish)
• Svena ([archaic] Swedish)
• Tena (Croatian)
• Trena (Macedonian)
• Zdena (Czech)
• Zena (Scandinavian, Arabic) [separate derivations]

• Bona ([archaic] Italian, Swedish) [modernly more common as a surname in Italian]
• Chona (Philippine Spanish)
• Dona (Scandinavian)
• Frona (English)
• Giona (Italian) [masculine]
• Gona (Kurdish)
• Jóna (Icelandic) [J said like English Y]
• Jona (Scandinavian) [J said like English Y, unisex]
• Joona (Finnish) [J said like English Y, masculine]
• Kona (Greenlandic, Indian [Telugu?]) [separate derivations, masculine as an Indian name]
• Lona (Danish)
• Mona (English, Scandinavian, Arabic, German, Persian) [multiple derivations]
• Moona (Finnish)
• Nona (English, Latin, Scandinavian)
• Noona (Finnish)
• Ona (Catalan, Lithuanian) [separate derivations]
• Rhona (English, Scottish)
• Rona (English, Scottish, Hebrew, Scandinavian, Albanian) [multiple derivations]
• Shona ([anglicized] Scottish)
• Sona (Hindi, Turkmen, Armenian, Scandinavian) [separate derivations]
• Tona (English, Scandinavian)
• Zona (English)

• Bruna (Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Catalan, Croatian, Scandinavian)
• Djuna (English)
• Dúna (Icelandic)
• Guna (Latvian, Indian [Tamil?]) [masculine as an Indian name]
• Húna (Icelandic)
• Juna (Dutch, Scandinavian) [J said like English Y]
• Juna (Japanese, English) [J said like English J, separate derivations]
• Kruna (Serbian, Croatian)
• Luna (all over the Western world)
• Muna/Mouna (Arabic)
• Rúna (Icelandic)
• Runa (Scandinavian, Bengali, Japanese) [separate derivations]
• Suna (Turkish, Scandinavian) [separate derivations]
• Teuna (Dutch)
• Úna (Irish)
• Una (English, Scandinavian, Bosnian, Croatian, Latvian) [multiple derivations]
• Uuna (Finnish)
• Yuna (Korean, Japanese, Breton) [separate derivations]
• Yuuna (Japanese)

Midwestern Names

Perhaps someday I should redo this entire series, but using the same year's data for all. :p
So far, we have "Southern" names (2014), "Surfer" names (2015), and "Cowboy" names (2016). Today we have Midwestern names (IL, IN, IA, KS, MI, MN, MO, NE, ND, SD, WI), and I promise I will try to get around to New England names sometime this year. ;)

Up first, here are the "most Midwestern" names (by % of babies given that name) in the Midwestern states' combined Top 1000:

Boys:

• Abdirahman
• Abdullahi
• Brecken
• Jakub
• Henrik
• Huxley
• Kolten
• Crosby
• Otto
• Ayub
• Briggs
• Bo
• Sullivan
• Emmitt
• Zakariya
• Dane
• Leighton
• Amarion
• Hussein
• Gus

So, for clarification, Abdirahman, the "most Midwestern" boys' name, is about 3.5x more common in the Midwest than in the US in general.

Girls:

• Letty
• Greta
• Luella
• Jersey
• Maren
• Vada
• Elsie
• Mara
• Bexley
• Vayda
• Berkley
• Monroe
• Emersyn
• Oaklyn
• Tenley
• Brynlee
• Macy
• Lucille
• Brynn
• Nora

I am pretty surprised to see so many Arabic names on the boys' list. Also interesting that there aren't any on the girls' (Safa comes in at #22). The girls' list is also quite a hodgepodge of styles!

Plenty of these names are still pretty uncommon, so here are the "most Midwestern" names from the midwestern Top 500:

Boys:

• Brecken
• Henrik
• Huxley
• Crosby
• Otto
• Briggs
• Bo
• Sullivan
• Emmitt
• Emmett
• Keaton
• Hank
• Mohamed
• Ahmed
• Reid
• Beckett
• Graham
• Griffin
• Ryker
• Nash

Ah, that's more like what I was expecting.

Girls:

• Greta
• Luella
• Maren
• Elsie
• Mara
• Monroe
• Emersyn
• Oaklyn
• Tenley
• Brynlee
• Macy
• Lucille
• Brynn
• Nora
• Evelynn
• Oakley
• Lainey
• Cecelia
• Gracelynn
• Thea

"Old lady names", unisex surnames, lyns, and lees. That's like the current US naming culture, in microcosm. :p

Finally, down to the most popular names. Here are the names most disproportionately common in the Midwestern states, from their combined Top 100:

Boys:

• Emmett
• Ryker
• Bennett
• Lincoln
• Theodore
• Everett
• Bentley
• Maverick
• Owen
• Henry
• Braxton
• Weston
• Sawyer
• Nolan
• Harrison
• Leo
• Easton
• Parker
• Hudson
• Oliver

Girls:

• Nora
• Quinn
• Lydia
• Vivian
• Norah
• Josephine
• Cora
• Hadley
• Eleanor
• Clara
• Willow
• Piper
• Lillian
• Claire
• Everly
• Harper
• Paisley
• Addison
• Lucy
• Violet

Anyone else think these lists read like those "Hottest Baby Names of 2017!!" articles?  :p

For comparison, here are the Midwestern Top 10 and the National Top 10. 

	Midwestern	National
1.	Liam	Liam
2.	Oliver	Noah
3.	Noah	William
4.	William	James
5.	Henry	Logan
6.	Logan	Benjamin
7.	Benjamin	Mason
8.	Mason	Elijah
9.	James	Oliver
10.	Owen	Jacob

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

If you wish to see the entire Midwestern Top 1000, it is up here, on Google Sheets.

And now for the really fun part: the most representative names of each state. These are the names most disproportionately common in that state compared to the US in general (data limited to the top 40% or so of names, since rare names confuse things). 

IL: Jakub, Maddon, Addison, Syed, Dakari (boys); Aleksandra, Nell, Jaylani, Klara, Zaina (girls)

IN: Lyndon, Briar, Crew, Bentlee, Branson (boys); Addelyn, Hadleigh, Haisley, Gracelynn, Jovie (girls)

IA: Kinnick, Huxley, Hank, Bo, Kohen (boys); Bexley, Estella, Tenley, Everlee, Oaklyn (girls)

KS: Bo, Hayes, Wade, Pierce, Brock (boys); Bristol, Kimber, Macy, Lainey, Emberly (girls)

MI: Hussein, Saleh, Hadi, Henrik, Cartier (boys); Zahraa, Layan, Malak, Ellery, Ayah (girls)

MN: Muad, Abdullahi, Abdirahman, Salman, Ayub (boys); Maryama, Sundus, Maida, Siham, Sumaya (girls)

MO: Truman, Gatlin, Kolten, Augustus, Boone (boys); Emberlynn, Kimber, Rosalee, Karlie, Vada (girls)

NE: Brecken, Huxley, Briggs, Hayes, Barrett (boys); Lennon, Sloan, Adley, Emersyn, Willa (girls)

ND: Mohamed, Rhett, Ryker, Lane, Nash (boys); Adley, Elsie, Kinley, Thea, Brynlee (girls)

OH: Marty, Abdirahman, Cartier, Colson, Bentlee (boys); Jersey, Bexley, Denver, Aubrianna, Carmella (girls)

SD: Briggs, Oakley, Hayes, Porter, Kane (boys); Hattie, Oakley, Aspen, Mya, Brynlee (girls)

WI: Cashton, Jordy, Bronson, Brecken, Henrik (boys); Greta, Luella, Marcella, Veda, Sylvia (girls)

Yes, that is Oakley on both the boys' and girls' lists in South Dakota. And it's all about one-syllable names for Kansas boys! Actually single-syllable names are all over the boys' lists; I guess there's more than a little 'cowboy' in the Midwest as well.
Kinnick (IA) and Marty (OH) seem so random! There just has to be a local influence.

But really, the most interesting thing about this data, IMO, is how you can tell where immigration is strongest. Pretty cool!

If you want to see beyond the top 5 for each state, it's also up on Google Sheets (same link as above, different sheet).


So, what names are the "least Midwestern"? Easily, Latinate names for both genders, especially Spanish ones (Pablo, Rodrigo, Roberto, Alessia, Fernanda, Renata, etc), but also softer/unisex boys' names (Morgan, Noel, Alexis, Eden, etc) and, in an oddly specific anti-trend, Jaz-names for girls (Jazmin, Jazlyn, Jazmine, etc).

Spam-a-lot 4: It Never Ends

I swear the amount of junk email I get increases daily. Here are even more names from my spam folder.

• Abby
• Alessia
• Alisa
• Amanda
• Ananda
• Anastasia
• Anastasiya
• Angelina
• Ann
• Anna
• Ashley
• Bianca
• Brad
• Camelia
• Cammie
• Carolee
• Connie
• Cynthia
• Diana
• Ema
• Emily
• Emma
• Faith
• George
• Grayson
• Isabella
• Jack
• James
• Janeth
• Jasmine (tons)
• Jeanette
• Jenn
• Jenna
• Jennifer
• Jessica (x1000)
• Jhon
• Joanna
• Joanne
• Julia
• Katrina
• Katy
• Kristy
• Lauren
• Lewis
• Linda
• Marc
• Marina
• Mark
• Mike
• Natalia
• Natalie
• Nita
• Peter
• Phillip
• Rebica
• Roisin
• Sandra
• Sara (lots)
• Sarah (even more)
• Selena
• Sherra
• Sherye
• Sophia
• Sophie
• Tania
• Taylor
• Veronica
• Veronika
• Vicky
• Victoria
• Violeta

Palindromes and Emordnilaps (again)

I guess it's been 3 years since I did that last post, and I've had a bug in my head to do it again and see if there's anything new.
["Emordnilap" is a modernly-coined term for a word that forms another word when reversed ;)
Also, since I pulled my name data straight from the SSA, there are very likely some obscure and/or international names that belong on these lists as well]

True Palindromes (by most-->least popular):

Boys	Girls
Otto	Ava
Asa	Hannah
Natan	Anna
Nayan	Ana
Nosson	Ada
Renner	Elle
Nivin	Eve
Bob	Aya
Sahas	Emme
Ara	Aviva
Neven	Aja
Efe	Asa
Nalan	Ara
Ava	Maram
Ege	Aziza
Naman	Eevee
Ata	Layal
Aza	Awa
Siris	Hanah
Anna	Anina
Aja	Ala
Ebube	Aza
Hannah	Alyla
Eze	Ama
Nixin	Maham
Nolon	Ahsha
Ramar	Adda
Reinier	Alla
	Itati
	Ece
	Arora
	Eme
	Izzi
	Luul
	Renner

Name/Name Emordnilaps (sorted by the more common of the pair. Most seem to be coincidental):

Boys	Girls
James / Semaj	Aria / Aira
Robert / Trebor	Ariana / Anaira
Kevin / Nivek	Eva / Ave
Miles / Selim	Maria / Airam
Ivan / Navi	Arya / Ayra
Eric / Cire	Ariel / Leira
Leon / Noel	Iris / Siri
Devin / Nived	Alina / Anila
Ari / Ira	Alana / Anala
Ramon / Nomar	Diana / Anaid
Noe / Eon	Ayla / Alya
Amos / Soma	Vera / Arev
Jamal / Lamaj	Haven / Nevah
Lamar / Ramal	Lena / Anel
Nova / Avon	Nadia / Aidan
Leroy / Yorel	Anaya / Ayana
Elon / Nole	Nylah / Halyn
Mac / Cam	Hanna / Annah
Jamar / Ramaj	Anne / Enna
Guy / Yug	Avah / Hava
Dale / Elad	Anika / Akina
Dev / Ved	Anya / Ayna
Jet / Tej	Alena / Anela
Mikah / Hakim	Alia / Aila
Oren / Nero	Alaya / Ayala
Olin / Nilo	Ellen / Nelle
Sire / Eris	Ari / Ira
Amin / Nima	Aliana / Anaila
Omer / Remo	Amia / Aima
Tarik / Kirat	Analia / Ailana
Nile / Elin	Kaya / Ayak
Eliah / Haile	Halle / Ellah
Kam / Mak	Naya / Ayan
Salim / Milas	Asia / Aisa
Mael / Leam	Akira / Arika
Ivar / Ravi	Anais / Siana
Nael / Lean	Ila / Ali
Nahom / Mohan	Ayanna / Annaya
Kroy / York	Ayva / Avya
Nabil / Liban	Elin / Nile
Izak / Kazi	Aryana / Anayra
Kavon / Novak	Taya / Ayat
Zak / Kaz	Ivana / Anavi
Navy / Yvan	Alex / Xela
Oak / Kao	Adela / Aleda
Isak / Kasi	Ida / Adi
Norris / Sirron	Ayah / Haya
Zair / Riaz	Ailyn / Nylia
Esa / Ase	Amal / Lama
Eziah / Haize	Delia / Ailed
Mika / Akim	Aida / Adia
Hari / Irah	Mayra / Aryam
Oz / Zo	Anyla / Alyna
Olen / Nelo	Inaya / Ayani
Kerem / Merek	Nila / Alin
Eryk / Kyre	Arie / Eira
Nadir / Ridan	Iva / Avi
Nam / Man	Lexa / Axel
Alim / Mila	Alyana / Anayla
Jak / Kaj	Aiza / Azia
Nas / San	Iman / Nami
Dez / Zed	Amor / Roma
Ayaz / Zaya	Eila / Alie
Navid / Divan	Nyra / Aryn
Navin / Nivan	Ilana / Anali
Anis / Sina	Neva / Aven
Ramel / Lemar	Avia / Aiva
Reis / Sier	Ileana / Anaeli
Neziah / Haizen	Ayda / Adya
Nilan / Nalin	Arina / Anira
Airam / Maria	Yadira / Ariday
Arad / Dara	Ania / Aina
Lain / Nial	James / Semaj
Vin / Niv	Halima / Amilah
Meba / Abem	Leana / Anael
Isam / Masi	Navi / Ivan
Tad / Dat	Aris / Sira
Kiro / Orik	Ani / Ina
Sinai / Ianis	Irma / Amri
Vinay / Yaniv	Sianna / Annais
Jama / Amaj	Maira / Ariam
Neri / Iren	Xyla / Alyx
Issam / Massi	Anja / Ajna
Nasi / Isan	Alaa / Aala
Nik / Kin	Aleen / Neela
Kedar / Radek	Amila / Alima
Mosi / Isom	Aleina / Aniela
Naz / Zan	Lenna / Annel
Saba / Abas	Anaiya / Ayiana
Vail / Liav	Alyza / Azyla
Layn / Nyal	Amen / Nema
	Anaelle / Elleana
	Asya / Aysa
	Naira / Arian
	Nadya / Aydan
	Alea / Aela
	Muna / Anum
	Nada / Adan
	Ailen / Nelia
	Ahri / Irha
	Hayat / Tayah
	Aili / Ilia
	Alli / Illa
	Alyah / Hayla
	Aiyla / Alyia
	Rima / Amir
	Aayla / Alyaa
	Aeva / Avea
	Allena / Anella
	Hali / Ilah
	Arin / Nira
	Halia / Ailah
	Nayra / Aryan
	Anai / Iana
	Irena / Aneri
	Ilse / Esli
	Sila / Alis
	Akila / Alika
	Amada / Adama
	Hailyn / Nyliah
	Imara / Arami
	Mana / Anam
	Hadia / Aidah
	Inna / Anni
	Neeva / Aveen
	Ramya / Aymar
	Amar / Rama
	Ayza / Azya
	Ziana / Anaiz
	Anilah / Halina
	Ayaana / Anaaya
	Neda / Aden
	Aaron / Noraa
	Airi / Iria
	Haelyn / Nyleah

I also did a search for names that were words reversed, but most were almost certainly coincidental (I doubt people are using Liam because it's 'mail' backward for instance). The only one I could definitely say was on purpose was Nevaeh, which was surprising, since I have seen others such as Legna or Traeh in previous years.
There were quite a few that made me giggle, however, like the fact that Dennis backward is 'sinned', and that the Nevaeh-spinoff Devaeh is 'heaved', so if you want to peruse the list I came up with, I did put it up on Google Sheets. :)