British Baby Names: Anglo-American Relations

I think you missed out names like Finlay and Bailey which dont even rank in the US boys top1000 anymore

Also, Rory, Jamie, Finley, Reece, Rhys, Harvey, all rank really low in the US when they’re top100 for boys.

I grew up in the UK but now live in US, check out my list on names frequently heard in UK but not in US: http://nameberry.com/userlist/view/31408

Very interesting reading. Being from New Zealand, and living in Australia I can say that a lot of the names that rank highly in the UK and not in the USA are also very common in this part of the world. Names such as Callum(SO popular), Harry,Oliver, Louis(and it’s various spellings), Matilda and Poppy are all very commonplace. I would also add Hamish, I believe it is not used often in America, but is very common here

I love Ruby and Isobel but it seems it’s little scary to name my baby as those names in US

Loving this British week, being a British expat in the US! Shame I don’t have any more babies to name!

I started comparing the UK and US lists in 2005 when we were expecting our first baby. That’s where I found the name Maisie, which I liked a lot, but my American husband didn’t. I’ve since met a preschooler Maisie locally. Though I did notice that the librarian often calls her Macy instead of Maisie.

British friends I went to secondary school (high school) with, have named their babies names mentioned here: Jenson (my friend is a F1 fan), Freddie, Imogen and Louie.

We have a George – I like that it’s top 10 in England now, but much less popular here in the US. Though it was my American husband who picked the name! Luckily it fit into our (my?) British expat theme.

In 2007 when I browsed the UK lists for a name for our son, I liked Oliver a lot. I didn’t know any Olivers growing up in the UK. (Same with the name Maisie.) So that was a good selling point. I wasn’t as keen on the nickname Ollie – neither was my husband. In the end, when our son was born, my husband picked between my two favourites: Oliver and Henry. He picked Henry. Which is also increasingly popular in the US, but does make me think of all the King Henrys in English history. Plus there is the British nickname option of Harry – if my son likes that one day.

Stanley was one we looked at in 2011. My husband kind of liked it. I prefer it over the more nicknamey Alfie and Freddie etc. I’d definitely go with Alfred or Frederick personally.

It’s so interesting to compare the naming trends of both coutries. It really seems that the English and Welsh keep it traditional (or at least they tend to) but the Americans are more adventurous in their picks. But, I have to say, the cultural references did make me a laugh a little. I don’t think many English people would think of Louis Spencer when they’re considering Louie as a name for their son, and Olly Murs is a somewhat new celebrity so I don’t how much impact he’s had on the popularity of Ollie.

In regards to Hamish…I didn’t even realize it was a name until I came to Nameberry. I teach at an international school (mostly Korean students, where they choose an English name). One of the boys chose Hamish and I didn’t recognize it at all (and I consider myself to be somewhat of a name nerd, at least compared to those around me).

That is so interesting about Hamish. It is the name of one of Australia’s most popular tv personalities – Hamish Blake. And as I said it is a very well known name in this part of the world.

My husband was born in England, and we currently live in Canada. When naming all of our children, he was definitely influenced by British name lists. We have Sebastian, Oliver and Harriet. We hear some Sebastian and Oliver, but Harriet is really rare (or at least we haven’t heard it Canada). I love that it’s on the Top 100 in England:)