British vs. American, Part 2 (2019)

Last time we saw which names were the "most British"; now it's time for the "most American". 

First up: the most common American names that don't appear at all on the full UK lists (meaning they were given to at most 2 babies in England & Wales):

Girls:

1. Raelynn
2. Ximena
3. Londyn
4. Brynlee
5. Journee
6. Mckenna
7. Brynn
8. Madilyn
9. Makenzie
10. Raelyn
11. Daleyza
12. Gracelynn
13. Tatum
14. Lyric
15. Remington
16. Makenna
17. Bristol
18. Ryan
19. Camryn
20. Kinley

Boys:

1. Barrett
2. Brantley
3. Remington
4. Maximiliano
5. Josue
6. Beckham
7. Jayceon
8. Collin
9. Jaxton
10. Ezequiel
11. Kashton
12. Landen
13. Derrick
14. Abdiel
15. Cannon
16. Briggs
17. Brycen
18. Ryland
19. Stetson
20. Case

Really, Londyn isn't used in the UK? I'm shocked. :p

On to the "most American" names that were used in the UK last year.

Girls:

1. Kinsley
2. Emersyn
3. Emery
4. Finley
5. Sawyer
6. Allison
7. Journey
8. Genesis
9. Jordyn
10. Nayeli
11. Gracelyn
12. Haley
13. Braelynn
14. Ainsley
15. Camila
16. Emerson
17. Alondra
18. Kaylani
19. Regina
20. Magnolia

Boys:

1. Waylon
2. Paxton
3. Nash
4. Jesus
5. Landon
6. Easton
7. Emiliano
8. Weston
9. Rhett
10. Legend
11. Graham
12. Princeton
13. Messiah
14. Tucker
15. Bryce
16. Brooks
17. Jamison
18. Angel
19. Esteban
20. Everett

"Cowboy" names, unisex surnames, and Spanish names.  Yep, that sounds about right. I am a bit surprised by Allison, as it's a bit out-of-date in the US right now, but a quick search shows that (when it's used) Alison is the more common spelling in the UK. Interesting. 

Time for some mathematical witchcraft, I'm afraid.  The US Top 1000 accounts for about 2/3 of girls' names and 3/4 of boys' names, so for the next part I'm limiting the UK data by the same amount, due to the population size difference.   

So, if the previous lists were a bit too "out there" for you, here are the most American names from the UK Girls' Top 600 and Boys' Top 675.

Girls:

1. Zoey
2. Avery
3. Brooklyn
4. Addison
5. Samantha
6. Stella
7. Natalie
8. Jade
9. Lillian
10. Charlie
11. Madeline
12. Katherine
13. Riley
14. Audrey
15. Taylor
16. Bailey
17. Everleigh
18. Brianna
19. Morgan
20. Everly

Boys:

1. Maverick
2. Ian
3. Nolan
4. Silas
5. Brayden
6. Emmett
7. Wyatt
8. Mateo
9. Julian
10. Jayce
11. King
12. Santiago
13. Calvin
14. Ryder
15. Justin
16. Miguel
17. Dean
18. Jeremiah
19. Declan
20. Greyson

I'm surprised by quite a few of these, especially Stella, Lillian, Katherine, Audrey, Ian, Julian, as they don't strike me as overly American (I say, as an American).  I suspect it's again a difference in timing--names being popular in the US that are now outdated (or becoming outdated) in the UK. 

Also interesting--Charlie appears as a "most British" name on the US boys' list, but a "most American" name on the UK girls' list. 

And in case you're wondering, the "most American" girls' name, Zoey, is about 13x more common in the US than in the UK; while Maverick is about 14x more common. 

So far I've only looked at differences, but what about names we like equally? Here are the names given to about the same proportion of kids in both the US and the UK (excluding rarer names to avoid weirdness).

Girls:

1. Karina (US#570, UK#469)
2. Dalia (US#1041, UK#864)
3. Louise (US#686, UK#562)
4. Sophia (US#4, UK#7)
5. Saanvi (US#1032, UK#864)
6. Nala (US#677, UK#554)
7. Evelyn (US#10, UK#20)
8. Isabel (US#135, UK#142)
9. Penelope (US#22, UK#41)
10. Anna (US#63, UK#82)
11. Artemis (US#1006, UK#838)
12. Maeve (US#244, UK#218)
13. Amarah (US#1159, UK#980)
14. Meadow (US#496, UK#402)
15. Casey (US#896, UK#770)
16. Mina (US#682, UK#574)
17. Greta (US#635, UK#532)
18. Paige (US#226, UK#206)
19. Aria (US#20, UK#42)
20. Melania (US#1149, UK#1017)

Boys:

1. Logan (US#16, UK#29)
2. Erik (US#384, UK#329)
3. Myles (US#144, UK#123)
4. Sebastian (US#18, UK#34)
5. Lawrence (US#536, UK#443)
6. Ezra (US#49, UK#60)
7. Maximus (US#228, UK#181)
8. Keanu (US#630, UK#518)
9. Solomon (US#415, UK#341)
10. Enzo (US#218, UK#181)
11. Dylan (US#39, UK#54)
12. Keegan (US#429, UK#369)
13. Lucas (US#8, UK#25)
14. James (US#6, UK#22)
15. Samuel (US#22, UK#41)
16. Romeo (US#346, UK#283)
17. Phoenix (US#257, UK#201)
18. Rafael (US#261, UK#203)
19. Bradley (US#254, UK#219)
20. Fabian (US#393, UK#323)

Such a wide variety of styles! And all pretty nice, too. :)

British vs. American, Part 1 (2019)

Both the US and UK datasets are out now; it's time to have some fun comparing data!  Always fascinating to see what trends are the same, and which are completely different. :)

First things first, here are the most popular names in England & Wales that don't appear at all on the US lists (meaning they were given at most to 4 babies in the US last year). 

Girls:

1. Amelia-Rose
2. Isla-Rose
3. Ella-Rose
4. Ivy-Rose
5. Ava-Rose
6. Ffion
7. Bella-Rose
8. Ava-Mae
9. Lily-Rose
10. Oliwia
11. Lily-Mae
12. Olivia-Rose
13. Gracie-Mae
14. Harper-Rose
15. Dolcie
16. Ella-Mae
17. Fearne
18. Isla-Mae
19. Ellie-Mae
20. Wiktoria

Oh, hyphens, how I love you. In the US, those would appear either as first and middle, or as a smash-name (e.g. Ameliarose), so we have to do something about that.  In previous years, I simply removed all hyphenated names entirely, but this year I decided to treat the British data as it would appear in the American data, and list the names accordingly:

	Hyphenated names as smash-names	First names only
1.	Ffion	Dolcie
2.	Oliwia	Ffion
3.	Harper-Rose / Harperrose	Oliwia
4.	Dolcie	Fearne
5.	Fearne	Wiktoria
6.	Wiktoria	Orlaith
7.	Elsie-Mae / Elsiemae	Ferne
8.	Orlaith	Nancie
9.	Evie-Rose / Evierose	Bethan
10.	Sienna-Rose / Siennarose	Esmai
11.	Ferne	Leja
12.	Evie-Mae / Eviemae	Miruna
13.	Nancie	Dotty
14.	Isla-Grace / Islagrace	Xanthe
15.	Lily-May / Lilymay	Lowri
16.	Willow-Rose / Willowrose	Ioana
17.	Gracie-May / Graciemay	Kornelia
18.	Lilly-May / Lillymay	Eleri
19.	Bethan	Bluebell
20.	Ava-May / Avamay	Florrie

So, the first column of names are the most common British girls' names that weren't used in the US, if we treat all hyphenated names as smash-names; the second is if we simply chop off the second name and add all the hyphenated names with the same first element together (so Dolcie, Dolcie-Mae, Dolcie-Rose, etc, are all combined into 'Dolcie'). 

Boys:

1. Bertie
2. Ralphie
3. Teddie
4. Osian
5. Harri
6. Dougie
7. Hughie
8. Oliwier
9. Tomos
10. Rares
11. Ianis
12. Wiktor
13. Ralphy
14. Tommy-Lee
15. Tudor
16. Wilf
17. Frazer
18. Seb
19. Aronas
20. Gethin

Interestingly, I did the same thing with the boys' list, and not much changed: if Tommy-Lee et al. are included in Tommy, the names below it shift up, adding Gruffydd at #20.  I was fairly sure the hyphenated trend was mostly for girls, but this pretty much confirms it. ;)

On to the "most British" names that do appear in the US data.

Girls:

	Hyphenated names as smash-names	First names only
1.	Isla-Rose / Islarose	Darcey
2.	Darcey	Orla
3.	Orla	Darcie
4.	Isla-Mae / Islamae	Ottilie
5.	Darcie	Jorgie
6.	Ottilie	Alicja
7.	Alicja	Kitty
8.	Ivy-Mae / Ivymae	Neave
9.	Neave	Hettie
10.	Kitty	Eadie
11.	Jorgie	Marnie
12.	Hettie	Pola
13.	Amelia-Rose / Ameliarose	Seren
14.	Lilly-Rose / Lillyrose	Arla
15.	Gracie-Mae / Graciemae	Alys
16.	Pola	Andreea
17.	Eadie	Dollie
18.	Seren	Pixie
19.	Ava-Mae / Avamae	Niamh
20.	Alys	Anwen

Boys:

1. Albie
2. Alfie
3. Vinnie
4. Fraser
5. Rupert
6. Freddie
7. Barney
8. Barnaby
9. Rafferty
10. Reggie
11. Woody
12. Olly
13. Wilfred
14. Ioan
15. Teddy
16. Matei
17. Alby
18. Lennie
19. Dawid
20. Franciszek

(for the boys', there's no significant change with the different tallying methods)

We see a lot more Eastern European influence in the UK lists than in the US, that's for sure. I wish Albie/Alby would catch on in the US. So cute. 
And while Welsh names might be favorites among American name nerds, it really doesn't seem to have transferred to the US in general. 

Just because I could, I also did a quick tally of which names appeared most in hyphenated names:

First element: Ivy (22 combinations), Elsie (18), Olivia, Harper (both 17), Ava (16)

Second element: Rose (293 combinations), Mae (152), Rae (133), Grace (99), May (94)

Want that British flair, but with names that are a bit more common in the US? Here are the names proportionally more common in the UK, from the American Top 1000:

Girls:

	Hyphenated names as smash-names	First names only
1.	Florence	Florence
2.	Harriet	Rosie
3.	Rosie	Harriet
4.	Poppy	Poppy
5.	Nancy	Nancy
6.	Matilda	Evie
7.	Evie	Bonnie
8.	Bonnie	Matilda
9.	Amelie	Amelie
10.	Martha	Nellie
11.	Esme	Esme
12.	Phoebe	Martha
13.	Elodie	Jessica
14.	Freya	Elodie
15.	Jessica	Erin
16.	Erin	Lara
17.	Nellie	Holly
18.	Elsie	Zainab
19.	Lara	Beatrix
20.	Maisie	Frankie

Boys:

1. Harry
2. Archie
3. Reuben
4. Tommy
5. Louie
6. Toby
7. Mohammed
8. Ronnie
9. Bobby
10. Muhammad
11. Harley
12. Stanley
13. Alfred
14. Hugo
15. Albert
16. Arthur
17. Charlie
18. Oscar
19. Billy
20. Mohammad

I should point out that there are zero names in the US Top 1000 that are separated into hyphenated names in the UK data. The two girls lists differ because multiple names counted separately in the first list combine into one entry for the second, changing up the rankings. Harriet, for instance, only appears in one double-name: Harriet-Rose, while Rosie is the first element in over a dozen. 

Interesting how several names that are generally considered"outdated" in the US are apparently now common (or still common?) in the UK--Nancy, Jessica, Erin, Stanley, etc. 

Just how more popular are these names in the UK?  Accounting for population size difference, Florence is about 42x more common for new babies in the UK than in the US, while Harry is a whopping 54x more common!

Next time we'll see which names are the most American. :)

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. 

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

Very International Names (boys)

Boys turn!
Again, I decided to try and find out what are currently the most popular name families in the Western world. This data was compiled from the 2014 or 2015 (depending on what was available) Top Names lists from 16 countries (US, England & Wales, Scotland, Ireland, Northern Ireland, New Zealand, Canada, Australia, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Spain, Italy, Hungary, Belgium).
Variants of one name were mostly all grouped together--exceptions were if the names are generally thought of as distinct names (e.g. Jacob and James) or for nicknames that have multiple full forms (so Max was counted alone, not grouped with Maxwell, Maximo, or Maxmilian).
In total there were approximately 386 name 'families', not that far off from the girls' 408.

• William/Liam/Wilhelm/Guillermo/etc--31 instances
  Lists without: Iceland
• Lucas/Luke/Luca/etc--31 instances
  Lists without: Iceland, Hungary
• Alexander/Alex/Alessandro/etc--29 instances
  Lists without: Finland
• John/Sean/Ian/Johannes/Jan/Ivan/Evan/etc--29 instances (easily the most diverse set, BTW!)
  Lists without: Finland
• Matthew/Matteo/Matias/etc--26 instances
  Lists without: none
• Jackson/Jack--22 instances
  Lists without: Finland, Iceland, Norway, Spain, Italy, Hungary
• Oliver/Alvaro/Ollie/etc--22 instances
  Lists without: Italy, Belgium
• Jacob/Jake/Giacomo/etc--21 instances
  Lists without: Finland, Iceland, Hungary
• Thomas/Tom/Tomas/etc--20 instances
  Lists without: Finland, Norway, Sweden, Spain
• Daniel/Dan/etc--19 instances
  Lists without: none
• Leo/Leon/etc--19 instances
  Lists without: Iceland, Italy, Hungary

Benjamin, Samuel, Eli, Louis, Nicholas, Joseph, James, David, Michael, Robert, and Theodore finish out the Top 20. (Okay, 22. There were ties)

And again, the country with the most 'unique' names was Iceland, with 40% of the Top 50 not appearing on any other top names list:
Guðmund, Gunnar, Dagur, Arni/Arnar, Bjarki, Kári, Andri, Jökull, Ásgeir, Baldur, Birkir, Hilmar, Elvar/Elfar, Björn, Haukur, Styrmir, Ari, Eyþor, Frosti, and Sindri. 

Hungary's Top 100 is just under 40% 'unique' names:

Marcell, Balázs, Zalán, Botond, Laszlo, Zsombor, Ákos, Attila, Nimród, Roland, Csaba, Zétény, Hunor, Ábel, Szabolcs, Kornél, Norbert, Bendegúz, Ármin, Tibor, Csongor, Imre, Soma, Brendon, Kende, Dénes, Csanád, Bertalan, Donát, Zente, Szilárd, Zsigmond, Dorián, Flórián, and Zénó.

Sweden's Top 100 is about 1/4 'unique' names--Arvid, Melvin, Edvin, Sixten, Albin, Gustav, Melker, Malte, Ebbe, August, Viggo, Colin, Loke, Wilmer, Vidar, Milton, Elton, Vilgot, Otto, Tage, Hjalmar, Maximilian, Algot, Linus, Ture, and Folke.

Spain's Top 100 is about 1/5 'unique' names--Sergio, Izan, Gonzalo, Bruno, Raul, Jesus, Aitor, Rodrigo, Asier, Unai, Ismael, Alonso, Biel, Gael, Ignacio, Nil, Saul, Aimar, and Yeray.

As expected, the English-speaking countries all share a lot of names. England & Wales has only two 'unique' names (Dexter and Ronnie), N. Ireland, Australia, and Canada each have 3 (Conan, Caolán, and Dáithí; Bailey, Mitchell, and Maxwell; Jeremy, Declan, and Emmett; respectively); and New Zealand has five (Arlo, Nixon, Ezra, Quinn, and Cohen). 

Very International Names (girls)

I'm amazed at how trends can spread across the globe. Yeah, Sophia is popular here in the US, but how is it also popular in like 14 other countries in the western world? Out of 16 countries I found current (2014 or 2015) data for (US, England & Wales, Scotland, Ireland, Northern Ireland, New Zealand, Canada, Australia, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Spain, Italy, Hungary, Belgium), only Iceland did not have a form of Sophia in its Top Names list. Most countries had more than more than one! What is it about Sophia?

Anyway, I set out to find which "name families" are most popular right now, and also see which country has the most unique names. :)
(this is compiled from the Top Names lists only--which are either Top 50 or Top 100, depending on the country--so for instance, if there's a variant of Mary at #51 on the Finnish charts, it wasn't counted)

• Mary/Marie/Maria/Mia/Marion/Molly/etc--45 instances
  Lists without: Finland
• Anna/Ana/Hannah/Nancy/etc--39 instances
  Lists without: none
• Sophia/Sofia/Sophie/etc--35 instances
  Lists without: Iceland
• Elizabeth/Elise/Elsa/Lisa/Eliza/etc--32 instances
  Lists without: none
• Sarah/Sara/Sadie/etc--27 instances
  Lists without: none
• Eva/Eve/Evie--25 instances
  Lists without: Norway, Sweden, Hungary
• Isabella/Isabelle/Isabel/etc--25 instances
  Lists without: Finland, Norway, Belgium
• Lily/Lilly/Lili/Lilja/Lilla/etc--24 instances
  Lists without: Spain, Italy
• Ella/Ellie/etc--21 instances
  Lists without: Iceland, Spain, Italy, Hungary
• Emily/Emilie/Emilia--21 instances
  Lists without: Spain

Julia, Alice, Katherine, Charlotte, Emma, Olivia, Helena, Amelia, Maya, and Rose round out the overall Top 20. 

There were approximately 408 "name families" total, although many are inter-related (Isabella is a form of Elizabeth, for instance, but they're generally treated as distinct names; same with Caroline and Charlotte. Ella/Ellie could be from Elizabeth, but it can also be from Helena/Ellen or Eleanor).

The country with the most unique names ('unique names' in this case being shorthand for "names without any variants appearing on any other top names lists") was by far Iceland, with nearly 1/2 of the Top 50:
Hekla, Birta, Sóley, Helga, Katla, Guðrún, Þórdís, Ingibjörg, Embla, Sigrún, Harpa, Hrafntinna, Steinunn, Unnur, Aþena, Fanney, Iðunn, Arna, Hrafnhildur, Snædís, and Vigdís. 

Spain's Top 100 is about 1/3 'unique' names:
Daniela, Valeria, Alba, Carmen, Ainhoa, Aitana, Marina, Candela, Laia, Ainara, Leire/Leyre, Nerea, Rocio, Vega, Jimena, Abril, Triana, Nuria, Aroa, Manuela, Mar, Mara, Africa, Naia, Noelia, Nahia, Naiara/Nayara, Elia, Arlet, Yanira, Fatima, Erika, and Mireia.

Finland's Top 50 is about 30% 'unique' names:
Venla, Aino, Helmi, Enni, Kerttu, Pihla, Hilla, Minea, Iina, Vilja, Sanni, Lumi, and Seela.

While Hungary, Sweden, and Italy are all around 1/4 'unique' names.
Hungary (Top 100): Boglárka, Csenge, Réka, Petra, Zselyke, Regina, Kinga, Szonja, Emese, Tímea, Tamara, Fruzsina, Eniko, Virág, Hanga, Dorottya, Dalma, Kinsco, Vanda, Kira, Zita, Ramóna, Bíborka, Boróka, Patricia, and Dzsenifer.
Sweden (Top 100): Ebba, Alva, Signe, Nova, Edith, Elvira, Tyra, Juni, Felicia, Meja, Moa, Livia, Stina, Lykke, Svea, Cornelia, Joline, Lo, Tindra, Novalie, Philippa, My, Hilma, and Linn.
Italy (Top 100): Gaia, Ginevra, Ludovica, Gioia, Asia, Serena, Benedetta, Ilaria, Federica, Cecilia, Flavia, Gloria, Diletta, Sveva, Lucrezia, Virginia, Agata, Celeste, Lavinia, Sabrina, Teresa, and Anastasia. 


On the other end, New Zealand has zero unique names. England & Wales has 2 (Aisha and Bethany), Australia has 3 (Indiana, Chelsea, and Eloise), while Scotland and N. Ireland each have 4 (Eilidh, Skye, Iona, and Hope; Eimear, Cora, Cassie, and Farrah; respectively).
Although it's not terribly surprising that the English-speaking countries all have a lot in common. :)

British vs. American, Part 2 (2014)

Time for the next part of my comparison: the "most American" names.
(come on America; don't embarrass me!)

First off: the most popular names in the US that don't appear at all on the full ONS list:

Boys:

1. Brantley
2. Jayceon
3. Collin
4. Garrett
5. Waylon
6. Josue
7. Lane
8. Messiah
9. Trenton
10. Grady
11. Barrett
12. Major
13. Nash
14. Gerardo
15. Brycen
16. Braylen
17. Gannon
18. Landyn
19. Jamison
20. Moises

Girls:

1. Jordyn
2. Kinsley
3. Ximena
4. Londyn
5. Emery
6. Kylee
7. Daleyza
8. Brynlee
9. Brynn
10. Raelynn
11. Makenna
12. Journey
13. Ashlynn
14. Haven
15. Leslie
16. Kyleigh
17. Alondra
18. Yaretzi
19. Addyson
20. Kamryn

Hmm. Yeah, definitely not what you think of when you think "British"! Here are the most "American" names that were used in England & Wales last year:

Boys:

1. Jesus
2. Weston
3. Easton
4. Tucker
5. Iker
6. Paxton
7. Bennett
8. Angel
9. Landon
10. Brooks
11. Grant
12. Remington
13. Gunner
14. Holden
15. Emiliano
16. Gage
17. Braylon
18. Gunnar
19. Gael
20. Kolton

Girls:

1. Allison
2. Brooklynn
3. Adalynn
4. Makenzie
5. Haley
6. Delaney
7. Lyric
8. Kinley
9. Camila
10. Madilyn
11. Adalyn
12. Mckenna
13. Allyson
14. Jaylah
15. Avery
16. London
17. Adelynn
18. Genesis
19. Hailey
20. Allie

Surnames and -lyns! Not terribly shocking. ;)
Still too "weird"? The most American names in the British Top 1000:

Boys:

1. Gavin
2. Colton
3. Nolan
4. Silas
5. Avery
6. Brayden
7. Kenneth
8. Ian
9. Wyatt
10. Giovanni
11. Colin
12. Wesley
13. Emmett
14. Jayce
15. Braxton
16. Maverick
17. Conner
18. Ryder
19. Jace
20. Julian

Girls:

1. Addison
2. Claire
3. Aubrey
4. Kaylee
5. Caroline
6. Serenity
7. Zoey
8. Riley
9. Brooklyn
10. Trinity
11. Aubree
12. Paisley
13. Ashley
14. Kimberly
15. Jocelyn
16. Mariah
17. Melanie
18. Lillian
19. Brianna
20. Audrey

Gavin and Claire surprise me. Perhaps they're rather out-of-date now? It's interesting to see Avery as an "American" boys' name--it's waaaaaaay more popular for girls here!


So far I've been concentrating on differences. For interest's sake, here are the names (from the Top 1500 or so) given to about an equal % of babies in the US & UK. :)

Boys:

1. Kobe
2. Solomon
3. Josef
4. Devon
5. Avi
6. Malaki
7. Bernard
8. Dion
9. Curtis
10. Lawson
11. Terence
12. Kane
13. Malakai
14. Kenny
15. Benjamin
16. Jaydon
17. Quinn
18. Kristian
19. Chace
20. Jamil

Girls:

1. Frances
2. Farrah
3. Faith
4. Mercedes
5. Kara
6. Evelyn
7. Shyla
8. Alana
9. Amaya
10. Sofie
11. Anita
12. Sofia
13. Isabella
14. Elora
15. Heather
16. Nahla
17. Laila
18. Ananya
19. Alissa
20. Charley

Wow--a list where I actually like the girls' side more than the boys! Yay for both sides of the pond. ;)