Name trends

Hello, today I would like to tell you a little bit about the name trends in the UK and US.

When you type 'name trends' in the google search usually something crazy pops out, like 'Top 10 celebrity babies named after their favorite food’, or 'names that will give your child a successful life', but surprisingly, not all babies are named Bacon or Aabis.

Some people name their kid after a dead relative, however, some decide to go with a name of their favorite TV character.

Or a popular politician:

And now to the actual data:

The most common male name, over the last one hundred years in the United States, according to the Department of Social Security, has been James. Names like John, Robert, Micheal, and William are not too far behind. 

The most popular female first name is Mary, followed by Patricia, Jennifer, Elizabeth, and Linda.

 Fun fact: Both James and Mary are New Testament names.

The United States Census Bureau tells us that the most common surname has been and still is Smith. It’s followed by Johnson, Williams, Brown, and Jones. 

While all these names look as they originated in the UK, they also encapsulate other nationalities whose former name was made to sound more English.

Has the UK a similar name trend as it’s former colony? Guess what? Yep, pretty much.

A 2017 report by data intelligence specialists tells us that the most common given name for a male in the UK over the last century is William. It’s  followed by George, Thomas, James, and Charles. Surprisingly, Mohamed is also very common nowadays, although, its spelling has changed. 

According to the same report, only two girl names have stayed popular over the last century, and those names are Elizabeth and Sarah.

 Similarly to the US, the most common surnames in the UK is Smith, it is followed by Jones, Williams, Taylor, and Davies.

This is all for today

Thanks for reading
Monika