Saturday, September 22, 2018

British vs. American, Part 1 (2017)

Yay, it's that time again! Time to see how the British and American naming trends are the same, and where they differ. :)

First up, here are the most popular names in the UK (specifically England & Wales) that do not appear on the full US lists at all.

Boys:
  1. Teddie
  2. Ralphie
  3. Bertie
  4. Harri
  5. Dougie
  6. Oliwier
  7. Albi
  8. Ioan
  9. Barney
  10. Wiktor
  11. Ralphy
  12. Tomos
  13. Hughie
  14. Georgie
  15. Frazer
  16. Gethin
  17. Rares
  18. Tymoteusz
  19. Matas
  20. Kajus
(off to Google Rares. That's a completely new one for me!)

Girls:
  1. Amelia-Rose
  2. Isla-Rose
  3. Ella-Rose
  4. Lily-Rose
  5. Ava-Rose
  6. Ffion
  7. Jorgie
  8. Olivia-Rose
  9. Ivy-Rose
  10. Lily-Mae
  11. Ava-Grace
  12. Evie-Rose
  13. Mia-Rose
  14. Gracie-Mae
  15. Lilly-Rose
  16. Ellie-Mae
  17. Bella-Rose
  18. Dolcie
  19. Fearne
  20. Wiktoria
Oh, hyphens. Sometimes I wish we could use them in the US; other times I think our current naming culture is complex enough. :p
Removing the hyphenated names (which would either show up as smash-names or first-and-middle in the US):
  1. Ffion
  2. Jorgie
  3. Dolcie
  4. Fearne
  5. Wiktoria
  6. Orlaith
  7. Eadie
  8. Hettie
  9. Bethan
  10. Esmai
  11. Iga
  12. Dotty
  13. Lowri
  14. Harriette
  15. Cadi
  16. Efa
  17. Nancie
  18. Bluebell
  19. Hawwa
  20. Anwen
All of these would definitely stand out here in the US! Just a bit "too British", though? Here are the most British names that did get used in the US last year.

Boys:
  1. Alfie
  2. Albie
  3. Freddie
  4. Vinnie
  5. Reggie
  6. Nikodem
  7. Barnaby
  8. Woody
  9. Olly
  10. Matei
  11. Fraser
  12. Szymon
  13. Rafferty
  14. Archie
  15. Teddy
  16. Rupert
  17. Osian
  18. Wilfred
  19. Ned
  20. Piotr

Girls:
  1. Darcie
  2. Orla
  3. Darcey
  4. Oliwia
  5. Cerys
  6. Poppie
  7. Alicja
  8. Niamh
  9. Zuzanna
  10. Fleur
  11. Marnie
  12. Isobelle
  13. Harriett
  14. Lottie
  15. Blanka
  16. Nikola
  17. Ferne
  18. Kitty
  19. Martyna
  20. Miruna

Such fantastic names! Obviously there's a much bigger Eastern European influence in the UK; in the US we'll see a lot more Spanish. 

If these lists are still just a bit too "out there" for you, here are the names proportionately much more common in the UK, from the US Top 1000.

Boys:
  1. Harry
  2. Louie
  3. Reuben
  4. Toby
  5. Frankie
  6. Mohammed
  7. Muhammad
  8. Ronnie
  9. Bobby
  10. Harley
  11. Tommy
  12. Stanley
  13. Alfred
  14. Theo
  15. Charlie
  16. Arthur
  17. Sonny
  18. Oscar
  19. Jamie
  20. Billy

Girls:
  1. Florence
  2. Poppy
  3. Rosie
  4. Matilda
  5. Nancy
  6. Esme
  7. Evie
  8. Phoebe
  9. Martha
  10. Maisie
  11. Freya
  12. Amelie
  13. Jessica
  14. Holly
  15. Elsie
  16. Millie
  17. Erin
  18. Sienna
  19. Bonnie
  20. Frankie
I'd say that the UK is waaaay more into the -y/ie names than the US, but we've got all those -ley/lee/leigh names right now.  It's interesting how similar phonetic trends can still have such a stylistic difference. 

BTW, as to Rares, the closest I could find is Rareș, a Romanian name said roughly "RAH-resh". I like it!

Next time: the most American names! I'm always a bit scared for those lists. :p

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