Internet Baby Naming Update
Friends, family, my co-workers at Google, and random strangers on the internet have contributed more than 500 votes for our kid’s name. At this point we have some clear favorites, with Dylan leading the boys chart and Olivia and Ada pulling ahead on the girls chart.
I’ve decided to move all the charts to this post, I’ll try to add updates with more detail as time goes on.
First, the graph of the most popular Girls’ names:
EDIT: Well, it turns out I made some pretty crazy formulas and broke my own charts. I’ll have an update soon to tell you how to make cool charts and how not to break them. The voting form works, though, so don’t be afraid to contribute.
DOUBLE EDIT: I’ve put in static versions of the charts while I work on fixing my spreadsheet.
Here’s the graph of the most popular Boys’ names:
Here’s a familiar, if not cognitively optimum, pie chart showing who has been voting:
Just for fun, here are graphs of some of the leading names’ popularity since the 1880s from the wonderful Baby Name Wizard website.
The only problem with these graphs is that they don’t give an identifiable scale. So, you can’t easily compare the different name graphs below – note that the darker the hue, the more babies had that name.
Olivia:
Popularity of names starting with OLIVIA
Ada:
Popularity of names starting with ADA
Athena:
Popularity of names starting with ATHENA
Erin:
Popularity of names starting with ERIN
Cassia:
Popularity of names starting with CASSIA
Alexis:
Popularity of names starting with ALEXIS
Alexandria:
Popularity of names starting with ALEXANDRIA
Althea:
Popularity of names starting with ALTHEA
Ozma:
Popularity of names starting with OZMA
Dylan:
Popularity of names starting with DYLAN
Nikolas:
Popularity of names starting with NIKOLAS
Aaron:
Popularity of names starting with AARON
Alexander
Popularity of names starting with ALEXANDER
Levi:
Popularity of names starting with LEVI
Isaac:
Popularity of names starting with ISAAC
Eric:
Popularity of names starting with ERIC
Sydney:
Popularity of names starting with SYDNEY
Next up I’ll write a post about the write-in suggestions we’ve gotten.
Sphere: Related ContentTags: baby names, Google, Google Spreadsheets, information graphics, internet, poll
October 8th, 2008 at 8:45 pm
Why not Austin for a boy and Jayna for a girl.
October 9th, 2008 at 7:49 am
well, i have 2 new names…
it could be MAX (boy or girl).i love this name; or AURORA (girl).like a sleeping beauty; or JENSEN (boy)….
this 3 names i think are great…
if i was up 2 you I’d choose JENSEN (boy) ’cause it’s very rare name and it’s beautiful, and 4 girl AURORA the same reason and if she’d be a fan of fairy tales she’d be happy to have name like sleeping beauty…
enjoy…
btw- please inform when you choose (:
October 9th, 2008 at 8:43 am
I suggest:
Ella for a girl
Eric for a boy
October 9th, 2008 at 9:38 am
I suggest:
Juna for both boy or girl
October 9th, 2008 at 10:36 am
How about Sam or Megan?
October 9th, 2008 at 1:39 pm
why dont you name it by it”s father Chris
October 9th, 2008 at 1:39 pm
lyonesse for a girl. Lyonesse was the place where King Arthurs Guinnever came from.
Aaron for a boy
October 9th, 2008 at 4:02 pm
girl-EMMILY
boy-NICK
October 9th, 2008 at 4:04 pm
BOY-BRIAN
October 9th, 2008 at 4:05 pm
Neo for a boy
Mina for a girl
I was born on November 16 :))
October 9th, 2008 at 4:59 pm
I think you should name your child Seherzada if it’s a girl, and if it’s a boy he should be named Svetislav or Vukashin
October 9th, 2008 at 5:17 pm
hm…name is…LORENA…because this name is so beautiful…P.S.my girlfriend is LORENA=)
October 10th, 2008 at 4:30 am
What a fun, wonderful (& perhaps overwhelming?) idea!
Unique idea, perhaps a more unique name … “Cassia” is a great one for that!
Zemaya Helene for a girl… “Shimmering Light”. Zimaia is another spelling, they are part onomatopoeia (words that sound like their meaning) and Sanskrit (where so much of our language originates). “Maya” is Sanskrit for “illusion”, and easy to see it’s relation.
I am really hoping that you don’t go for Dylan (I hear gangster) or Ada (she already sounds old).
Of the names you have Cassia Alexandria is a beautiful combination. Olivia, having 4 syllables, should really have a 1 or 2 syllable middle name… such as “Olivia Erin”?
When naming my children, they were each selected for their meaning, as their particular blessing. A person tends to live up to their name, or become the opposite of it. I’ve named 7 boys and 7 girls, but will spare you from my listing them ALL here! My faves being: Veronica Macrina, Bianca Sophia, Isaac Nicholas, Isaiah John Menas and Jerusalem Rose.
October 10th, 2008 at 4:57 am
My name is Ronan and it’s the better name for a boy!! It’s nice, not comun..
October 10th, 2008 at 6:42 am
Here are my suggestions:
for a boy: Jan, Franco, Leonard
for a girl: Mia, Aline, Chiara
October 10th, 2008 at 6:59 am
Milo =)
October 10th, 2008 at 7:05 am
Why not Ligeia for a girl ?
October 10th, 2008 at 7:11 am
Grls name Sun?ica :o)
Boy Borna
October 10th, 2008 at 8:42 am
girl: Diana boy:Christian
October 10th, 2008 at 10:51 am
girl: Ares
boy: Nero
October 10th, 2008 at 2:56 pm
I thin Janna for a girl and Janson for a boy…it uses pieces of each of the parent’s names, plus they are unique without sounding odd.
October 10th, 2008 at 9:11 pm
Check out the graph at http://nameberry.com/name/girl/olivia
It’s much easier to read and shows Olivia’s popularity rank in the US since 1950. A very popular name these days!
October 11th, 2008 at 12:56 pm
anna-marie or cooper
October 13th, 2008 at 9:58 pm
Good luck! You have some good ideas already. I’m sure you’re choose well.
October 14th, 2008 at 1:09 am
I like all your choices but beware Olivia; soooooo boringly popular although a lovely name. How about Imogen for a girl?
October 14th, 2008 at 5:56 am
These are my kids’ names:
Frazer – boy
Finley – girl
Rani – girl
I think they’re great names and they’re in their 20’s!
October 14th, 2008 at 6:30 am
yeah – olivia has been done to death!!! My little boy is Flynn. (a very irish name, which is where i think your headed)
other boys names on our list are:: Blaise, Tadhg (pronounced Ty), Hamish and Lawson.
I also like Ava, rather than Ada; but other girls names were:: Leila, Misha, Lottie, Sybella and Clementine.
Hope this helps – Good luck.
October 14th, 2008 at 7:48 am
Congratulations on your pregnancy. Naming a child is so difficult and such a huge responsibility. I wish you all the best. My only suggestion would be to choose a name that is easy to spell and not a name so common that your child is known as, for example, Olivia M.!
October 14th, 2008 at 9:58 am
Girl – Kaitlyn
Boy – Timothy
October 14th, 2008 at 12:47 pm
Hi!
Good luck on choosing a beautiful name for your little baby-wonder!
I would suggest Elise, Laure, Louise for a girl or maybe Pauline (my sisters name and her birthday is the 16th november) this version is written the French way you can also write it like Paulien (more Dutch written like this)
Nathan, Louis, Tibo, Mylo, Eppo, Zeger, Pablo,…
As you can see I’m into rather shorter names, feel free to contact me if you want other ideas ;)
Good luck with naming the baby and the baby itself offcourse!
xx Elise
October 14th, 2008 at 1:49 pm
Hi, What about Arlo for a boy or Pierre. Olivier is lovely for a girls name.
October 14th, 2008 at 2:41 pm
Girl- Karis
Boy- Daecus
October 14th, 2008 at 3:47 pm
I have an “Olivia”, but only problem is that it is too common and there is 3 Olivia’s in her class.
I also have a Chelsea Hannah, Henry Jonathan, and Olivia georgia.
Good Luck!
October 15th, 2008 at 12:29 am
Girls – Isla, Xanthe (pronounced Zanthee), Karon, Trisha (my granddaughters and daughter. I think all four are gorgeous names
Boy – Ruan (our son loves his name)
October 15th, 2008 at 2:03 am
I love Helen Claire for a girl because it’s feminine and calm but not frilly – you have to remember she wont be a cute dimple-kneed tot forever
And for a boy I think Rory – its masculine but not blokey, it has history (google for it *tee hee*) and it can go with a middle name or stand alone.
Whatever you choose, I hope the pregnancy goes well !!!
October 15th, 2008 at 4:45 am
I don’t know if you remember I left a comment yesterday about my children’s names – Frazer, Finley, Rani – but today Lisa Marie Presley named her twins Finley (!) and Harper. You could have had that name!
October 15th, 2008 at 5:16 am
What about Yvaine for a girl (pronounced Evain – its from the movie Stardust) and Eowyn for a boy (pronounced Youen eg like Ewan McGregor, the actor). I love these names and wish I was having twins. I don’t think asking strangers to come up with names is silly and causing so much controversy, I’m sure you’ll think long and hard over the name before you choose it. Good Luck!
October 15th, 2008 at 5:18 am
oops I forgot to say that Eowyn is from the JRR Tolkin (Lord of the Rings)
October 15th, 2008 at 12:29 pm
Hmmm…Sara is a beautiful name i think…
Its your choice! ;D
October 15th, 2008 at 7:24 pm
I voted for Ada because it is simple and symmetrical and because it isn’t overused. I think Olivia is overused. I can tell you that I hate sharing a name with so many others women (all of whom are within 5 years of my age).
None of the boy’s names really excited me. Alexander strikes me as being overused. Aaron is actually very popular in certain demographic groups in the Bay Area. There are 3 in my daughter’s kindergarten class.
October 15th, 2008 at 9:00 pm
I didn’t vote for any of your names – they are much too bland for my tastes. I wrote in Isla and Macsen as suggestions. Isla is a beautiful name, musical in sound and simple to remember. It is also rather rare still here in the US, but not so “out there” that a child would have trouble with spelling it or correcting others very often.
Macsen I chose for Macsen Wledig, aka Emperor Magnus Maximus. Macsen is the Welsh variant of Maxim. It is nearly unheard of, yet retains a bit of a modern sound while still being a legitimate name with a history of usage.
October 16th, 2008 at 7:47 am
Tajana, Luca
October 16th, 2008 at 8:37 am
Amalia for girl , Iztok for boy. Best wishes
October 17th, 2008 at 4:50 am
well, what about
benjamin for a boy
or david…
and for a girl
sarah paula
October 17th, 2008 at 4:51 am
XXXXXX
best wishes from croatia
October 17th, 2008 at 4:48 pm
Man, this has got to be the worst way to name the baby! Something like this is best decided between you and the mom-to-be.
October 20th, 2008 at 6:17 am
Dorotea for girl , Ivan for boy. Best wishes
October 20th, 2008 at 6:20 am
Emily, Ema, Tea, Petra, Lana girl
Nikolas, Sven, Luka boy
October 20th, 2008 at 7:29 am
Cora for a girl (it means maiden, in greek)
October 25th, 2008 at 6:48 am
NARAYAN – boy
SHIVA – girl and boy
October 30th, 2008 at 6:43 am
GOOGLE – boy and girl!!
November 2nd, 2008 at 1:33 pm
boy-Dante, girl-Eveline…nice names
November 4th, 2008 at 10:29 pm
i think a cute girls name is either
Sadie IsaBella Morrison (which means princess, consecrated, or something special, to god)
thanks =D
November 4th, 2008 at 10:42 pm
cool names (off twilight)
=D hope it helps
girls
Esme
Rosalie
Alice
IsaBella Marie (bella)*
Renesmee Carlie *
boys
Edward
Carlisle
Jasper
Charlie
November 11th, 2008 at 5:41 pm
boys-
harrison
baker
maison/mason
hunter (girl or boy)
van
bam
girls-
indy/indie
jannana
merrin
charlie
frankie
November 11th, 2008 at 6:35 pm
Hayley for girl
Ryan for boy
November 11th, 2008 at 10:28 pm
I think that Alexander is a name I hear a lot walking around high school. Olivia, I just plain don’t like that name. Plus Alexis is my name and I think it is too preppy for my personality; thus shortening it to Lex.
Cassia is cute and I adore the name Levi!
Some other names: Jasper, Riley, Jessie, Rory, Jamie, Alice, Demitri, Kai, Owen, Wyatt…
February 27th, 2009 at 4:23 am
DO NOT NAME “ADA” if its a GIRL, she will be made fun of her whole life because of the Resident Evil character “Ada Wong”, they will forever be saying “she ada wong”….”ADA WAIT”….seriously think about it, do you want your daughter, if she is a girl, being called mean names that have to do with a mans nether regions?.
It would just be cruel to name her that, school kids will tear her apart emotionally.