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US vs. UK Baby Names 2025: The Biggest Top Differences Visualized
- Schlagbohrer 2mo agoNot as many Kieliegh or Braieghlinn as I feared
- codeduck 2mo agowhy are you resubmitting something you submitted 78 days ago?
- xoobdev 2mo agoIt's on the same site (I'm the creator of the site), but it's a totally separate blog post that I made this week
- tobylane 2mo agoI'd like to know whether names are popular because of their theme, eg biblical, or a famous namesake. Parents aren't asked, so there's no real data.
- spwa4 2mo agoThe top one in the UK is Muhammad. Do you really have to ask?
- karmakurtisaani 2mo agoThat's just one of the names and doesn't give a very good overall picture.
- WithinReason 2mo agoIt's three of the names
- karmakurtisaani 2mo agoSo you think those three slight variations of the same name have essentially different reasoning behind naming kids like that?
- spwa4 2mo agoIt's the same everywhere: parents trying to force things through that they know kids won't like ... both when it comes to changing their behavior and making a separate group from others.
- tobylane 2mo ago> The US list also favors a newer wave of ancient biblical names that only gained real traction in recent decades, giving them a more modern feel despite their centuries of history. Levi, Asher, Ezra, Josiah, Ezekiel, Silas, Adriel and Micah all rank in the American top 100 for boys. Some of these revivals are shared favorites, including Noah, Elijah, Isaac, Caleb and Ezra, and Delilah and Eden for girls. From the article, plus the two UK biblical names Jude and Reuben. For the UK, I think most of these are second-order, if that is the right way to describe appreciating a name without using it for the same reason as the parents being copied.
- MrSkelter 2mo agoYou seem to be implying that there is a huge demographic shift when the reality is that, just as was common in the UK 100 years ago, in the Muslim population men get one of 5 names and 4 of them are Mohammed. The UK via colonialism has deep connections to India and Pakistan going back hundreds of years. We have a very significant population from the Indian subcontinent plus many other people from all over. London is more diverse than New York. Meanwhile John isn’t in the top 100 male names. Not because of a lack of “white” people, but because people now prioritize “uniqueness” in names and in the UK fashions move much faster than they do in the US. Lyra is popular because of the Phillip Pullman books which most people haven’t read and is a name they know because a pop star used it for their daughter. Noah is popular because of a pop song from the early 2000s. Alfie is tied to a classic Michael Caine movie, a couple of celebrities, and yet another pop song. 40 years ago these names were unheard of. On top of that despite being a Christian country, people in the UK shun most Old Testament biblical names bar those which have been anglicized by time and royalty. No Ezekiel’s or Methuselahs here. Etc.
- jpfromlondon 2mo agowhat surprises and annoys me is Briton's willingness to name their children shortened versions of existing names, it's lazy, so many Archies and Alfies, ugh.
- wdutch 2mo agoI also have an aversion to this. But I'm not sure how you conclude that it's lazy?
- jpfromlondon 2mo agoaren't contractions lazy by nature? Regardless, I'm glad you're averse.
- drcongo 2mo agoThe #23 boys name in the US is John.
- roryirvine 2mo agoAnd #15 is Jack, so the US also does this. (Mind you, the UK is still worse - Jack is #19 but John isn't even on the list)
- jpfromlondon 2mo agoLeo, Freddie, Theo, etc.
- roryirvine 2mo agoYeah, I'm surprised. I'd always assumed that people would use the full form on the birth certificate even if the child was never actually called that in practice. Doesn't really matter, I suppose - names are pretty arbitrary anyway and I can't imagine the sort of pain that would be involved in trying to force-canonicalise Jack->John, Leo->Leonard, Theo->Theodore (or Theobald?). Even the French don't do that any more!
- jedbrooke 2mo agoSorry to be the guy on HN complaining about scrolljacking on the article, but this has to be one of the worst I’ve seen. Text is cut off near the bottom of the description, but if I scroll down to see it, it jumps to the next “slide” and I am unable to read it :( (on a iphone 11)
- xoobdev 2mo agoAh thanks for letting me know, this is the first time I've tried a scrolling UI (I'm not usually a fan) so have some work to do on getting that right