Monday, September 24, 2018

British vs. American, Part 2 (2017)

Last time, we looked at the "most British" names; this time we're looking at the "most American".

Up first, here are the most popular American names that did not appear on the full UK lists at all.
(FTR, the list of names that were used in America but not the UK was approximately 2.5x as long as the names used in both. I'm sure population size contributes to that quite a bit, but still, wow)

Boys:
  1. Waylon
  2. Brantley
  3. Barrett
  4. Legend
  5. Beckham
  6. Jayceon
  7. Garrett
  8. Abram
  9. Jamison
  10. Trenton
  11. Gerardo
  12. Brycen
  13. Landyn
  14. Emmitt
  15. Ryland
  16. Cannon
  17. Sincere
  18. Alfredo
  19. Case
  20. Briggs

Girls:
  1. Ximena
  2. Raelynn
  3. Jordyn
  4. Londyn
  5. Brynlee
  6. Emersyn
  7. Daleyza
  8. Journee
  9. Journey
  10. Brynn
  11. Makenzie
  12. Raelyn
  13. Brinley
  14. Kylee
  15. Gracelynn
  16. Braelynn
  17. Kamryn
  18. Yaretzi
  19. Jimena
  20. Ryan
Yes, these are all very American. :p That's not necessarily bad, of course, but I would certainly be surprised to come across a Brit with any name on this list.
To tone down a bit, here are the most American names that were used in the UK last year.

Boys:
  1. Jesus
  2. Paxton
  3. Emiliano
  4. Weston
  5. Lane
  6. Everett
  7. Walker
  8. Josue
  9. Landon
  10. Tucker
  11. Kingston
  12. Brooks
  13. Easton
  14. Nash
  15. Landen
  16. Collin
  17. Gunner
  18. Rhett
  19. Angel
  20. Sawyer

Girls:
  1. Kinsley
  2. Emery
  3. Allison
  4. London
  5. Kinley
  6. Makenna
  7. Finley
  8. Genesis
  9. Alondra
  10. Emerson
  11. Magnolia
  12. Camryn
  13. Fernanda
  14. Camila
  15. Tatum
  16. Madilyn
  17. Sawyer
  18. Selah
  19. Ainsley
  20. Leighton
Bwahahaha, the surname/unisex trend is creeping its way across the pond. And America's getting the UK's vintage-y nicknames. I definitely think we're getting the better end of that deal, sorry. :p

On to the most "American" names from the British Top 1000!

Boys:
  1. Bryson
  2. Jose
  3. Colton
  4. Jameson
  5. Silas
  6. Ryker
  7. Carlos
  8. Ian
  9. Nolan
  10. Braxton
  11. Alejandro
  12. Wesley
  13. Maverick
  14. Zayden
  15. Brayden
  16. August
  17. Mateo
  18. Jayce
  19. Emmett
  20. Griffin

Girls:
  1. Avery
  2. Claire
  3. Zoey
  4. Madelyn
  5. Serenity
  6. Rylee
  7. Addison
  8. Brooklyn
  9. Ashley
  10. Trinity
  11. Kimberly
  12. Melanie
  13. Bailey
  14. Alaina
  15. Samantha
  16. Mariah
  17. Jocelyn
  18. Natalie
  19. Stella
  20. Fiona
Really, the boys' list doesn't surprise me all that much because the UK seems to have mostly side-stepped the surname-craze we Americans so enthusiastically embraced. The girls' list, however--Claire, Madelyn, Samantha, Jocelyn, Stella, Fiona....perhaps the US is a bit late to the party on those?


Up to now, we've been looking at differences. But what about names we all like? Here are the names given to roughly same % of kids in both the US and the UK (from about the Top 1500 for each).

Boys:
  1. Cory
  2. Enzo
  3. Hakeem
  4. Curtis
  5. Rafael
  6. Denzel
  7. Myles
  8. Oren
  9. Tate
  10. Kenny
  11. Harper
  12. Tyler
  13. Eliot
  14. Anton
  15. Phoenix
  16. Carlo
  17. Peter
  18. Hector
  19. Jarvis
  20. Dylan

Girls:
  1. Dalia
  2. Tegan
  3. Mylah
  4. Siena
  5. Aanya
  6. Noa
  7. Alexandra
  8. Ariella
  9. Isabella
  10. Adela
  11. Elora
  12. Katerina
  13. Sasha
  14. Persephone
  15. Larissa
  16. Saanvi
  17. Everley
  18. Nylah
  19. Scarlet
  20. Lisa
Noa! Harper! Katerina! Myles! Peter! Persephone! I think these are pretty great lists. :) Interesting how Isabella is the only popular name to be used about equally in both the US and the UK. 

Warning: pedantic stats talk! The most popular names in the UK are more common than the most popular names in the US--the #1 girls' name in the UK, Olivia, was given to ≈1.6% of British girls least year; while the #1 name in the US, Emma, was given to ≈1% of American girls. The percentages decrease at roughly the same rate from there, not meeting until #186 on both charts--Lucia in the US, Maggie in the UK--at which point the American name is then more common than its UK counterpart of the same rank. While the same phenomenon also happens on the boys' charts, the switch happens much closer to the top, at #58--Landon, US; Albie, UK.
This is why if you were to look up the rankings of the "equally-liked" names above, they would not likely be very similar. 

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