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US vs UK Baby Names 2016

US vs UK Baby Names 2016

With the 2016 British names data fresh off the press, it’s always interesting to have a look at how this data compares to that of our American cousins.

Though we share many many names in common thanks to our common language and celebrity/media influences, it’s the names that divide us that offer the most fascinating insight.

When first glancing at the two lists, some differences are immediately apparent:

Gender-divide

Ashley, Avery, Brooklyn, Charlie, Emerson, Finley, Frankie, Harley, Jamie, Mackenzie/Mckenzie, Marley, Morgan, Quinn, Reagan, Riley and Taylor are all more popular for girls than boys in the US, but in England and Wales all are more commonly used for boys than girls.

Cultural influences

Many Spanish names are happily seated in the American rankings, while the England & Wales ranks showcase Muslim and Polish names.

Name endings

One thing that stands out in the England & Wales ranks is the number of names (for either gender) that end in ie/y.

There are 112 names in the British girl names Top 500 compared with 86 in the US. For boys, 75 end in ie/y in the British boy names Top 500 compared with 29 in the US top 500.

For popular names in the US ranks, it’s the names that end in -yn/-ynn for girls (32 in the US top 500 compared with 5 in E&W top 500) and to a lesser extent –on for boys (57 in the US top 500 and 32 in E&W)

Names in the 2016 US Top 100 only:

Boys

16

AIDEN*

57

CAMERON

79

COOPER

23

OWEN*

58

JEREMIAH

80

GAVIN

28

JOHN

59

MATEO

81

CARSON

30

ANTHONY

59

ADRIAN

82

JAXSON*

33

WYATT

61

HUDSON

84

JASON

34

ANDREW

62

ROBERT

86

CHASE

36

CHRISTOPHER

63

NICHOLAS

87

PARKER

37

GRAYSON

64

BRAYDEN

88

XAVIER

39

JULIAN

65

NOLAN

89

KEVIN

42

LEVI

66

EASTON

92

AYDEN

45

HUNTER

67

JORDAN

92

ELIAS

46

CHRISTIAN

68

COLTON

94

BRYSON

47

ISAIAH

69

EVAN*

95

LEONARDO

50

LINCOLN

70

ANGEL

96

GREYSON

52

ELI*

71

ASHER

97

SAWYER

53

LANDON

72

DOMINIC

99

BRANDON

54

CONNOR*

76

JACE

100

BENTLEY

55

JOSIAH

77

JOSE

55

JONATHAN

78

IAN

15

MADISON

50

ALEXA

75

NEVAEH

16

AVERY

52

HAZEL

79

QUINN

22

RILEY

53

AALIYAH

81

PEYTON

25

AUBREY

54

ARIANA

82

MELANIE

26

ZOEY

55

CAROLINE

83

KYLIE

28

LILLIAN

58

GENESIS

84

AUBREE

29

ADDISON

59

KENNEDY

85

MACKENZIE

31

NATALIE

59

SADIE

86

KINSLEY

32

CAMILA

61

GABRIELLA

87

CORA

34

BROOKLYN

62

MADELYN

89

TAYLOR

36

NORA

63

ADELINE

90

KATHERINE

38

SAVANNAH

65

AUTUMN

91

MADELINE

39

AUDREY

66

AURORA*

92

GIANNA

40

CLAIRE

67

PIPER

92

ELIANA

42

SKYLAR

68

HAILEY

94

ELENA

44

SAMANTHA

69

ARIANNA

95

VIVIAN

45

STELLA

70

KAYLEE

97

REAGAN

46

PAISLEY

72

SERENITY

98

BRIANNA

49

ALLISON

74

NAOMI

100

FAITH*

* Aiden, Owen, Eli, Connor, Evan, Jaxson, Aurora and Faith rank in the individual top 100 for Wales, which suggests that Welsh parents are more attuned to American tastes than English parents.

Names in the 2016 E&W Top 100 only:

Boy Names

2

HARRY

47

LOUIE

73

BLAKE

3

GEORGE

48

REUBEN

74

ELLIOTT

7

CHARLIE

49

ARLO

75

LEWIS

8

MUHAMMAD

50

HUGO

76

FREDERICK

10

OSCAR

52

LUCA

80

RORY

14

ALFIE

54

HARVEY

83

DEXTER

17

FREDDIE

55

HARLEY

84

ALEX

18

ARCHIE

55

REGGIE

87

KAI

23

EDWARD

57

TOMMY

88

ALBIE

25

MAX

58

JENSON

89

ELLIS

29

THEO

62

JUDE

90

BOBBY

30

ARTHUR

63

FRANKIE

92

LEON

31

MOHAMMED

64

ALBERT

94

JESSE

32

HARRISON

65

STANLEY

96

IBRAHIM

35

FINLEY

66

ELLIOT

98

JASPER

40

RILEY

68

MOHAMMAD

99

FELIX

41

TEDDY

69

OLLIE

100

FINN

45

JAKE

70

RONNIE

46

TOBY

71

LOUIS

Girl Names

4

ISLA

42

LOLA

72

LOTTIE

8

JESSICA

45

ELIZA

74

SUMMER

13

POPPY

46

ERIN

75

MARTHA

14

SOPHIE

49

HARRIET

76

HEIDI

16

EVIE

50

THEA

77

GRACIE

19

FREYA

51

MAISIE

79

MARYAM

20

FLORENCE

52

HOLLY

80

BEATRICE

21

ISABELLE

54

GEORGIA

82

DARCEY

22

DAISY

55

AMBER

83

MEGAN

24

PHOEBE

55

MOLLY

84

IRIS

25

MATILDA

59

JASMINE

85

LEXI

28

SIENNA

59

LILLY

86

ROBYN

31

ELSIE

61

ANNABELLE

87

AISHA

33

IVY

62

ROSE

89

FRANCESCA

34

MILLIE

64

AMELIE

90

SARA

35

ESME

68

ZARA

94

ARABELLA

36

ROSIE

69

MARIA

95

MADDISON

37

IMOGEN

70

NANCY

97

FELICITY

41

EMILIA

71

DARCIE

98

DARCY

It is interesting to note that 8 names in the Top 20 for boys in England and Wales do not feature at all in the US Top 100, but for the US, only one name in the top 20 (Aiden) does not appear at all in the E&W top 100. For girls, there are 6 names in the E&W top 20 compared with 2 in the US top 20. I’m not sure what conclusions we can draw from this, but it is a striking contrast.

Looking at just the Top 100 is illuminating, but it doesn’t paint a full picture. Leonardo, for example, is #95 in the US and #132 in E&W while Annabel is #61 in E&W and #105 in the US, which is hardly disparate use.

For a starker contrast, the following is a list of names which appear in the top 200 in the US but are outside of the top 500 in E&W – and vice versa.

Names in the 2016 US Top 200 / outside E&W top 500:

Boy Names

53

LANDON

132

KINGSTON

188

BRYAN

64

BRAYDEN

134

JESUS

191

AVERY

65

NOLAN

136

EMMETT

193

AUGUST

66

EASTON

138

JAYCE

196

COLIN

68

COLTON

139

MAVERICK

197

WAYLON

70

ANGEL

140

BENNETT

200

KADEN

77

JOSE

141

GIOVANNI

78

IAN

143

MADDOX

80

GAVIN

146

BRYCE

94

BRYSON

149

RYKER

96

GREYSON

152

KING

97

SAWYER

155

BRANTLEY

114

EVERETT

162

MIGUEL

117

WESLEY

171

GRANT

119

SILAS

173

TUCKER

120

WESTON

178

GAEL

122

JUAN

179

GRAHAM

124

CAMDEN

181

ALEJANDRO

126

BRAXTON

184

JEREMY

128

JAMESON

185

ZAYDEN

130

CARLOS

186

KARTER

Girl Names

16

AVERY

105

RYLEE

160

VALERIE

26

ZOEY

108

HADLEY

161

EMERSON

29

ADDISON

116

BAILEY

162

JULIANA

32

CAMILA

118

XIMENA

165

MAKAYLA

40

CLAIRE

121

BRIELLE

167

MARIAH

49

ALLISON

124

ADALYNN

170

RYLEIGH

55

CAROLINE

128

ANDREA

171

ADALINE

58

GENESIS

130

EMERY

175

ANGELINA

59

KENNEDY

131

LONDON

177

REESE

62

MADELYN

132

KIMBERLY

180

LONDYN

63

ADELINE

133

MORGAN

182

PAYTON

68

HAILEY

137

TRINITY

184

ALAINA

70

KAYLEE

140

ARIEL

185

CHARLIE

72

SERENITY

141

ADALYN

189

FINLEY

85

MACKENZIE

146

JORDYN

193

KENDALL

86

KINSLEY

147

JOCELYN

194

DANIELA

92

GIANNA

150

TEAGAN

196

ADELYN

95

VIVIAN

151

VALERIA

198

BROOKLYNN

97

REAGAN

156

MCKENZIE

199

JULIETTE

98

BRIANNA

158

RAELYNN

200

JULIANNA

101

ASHLEY

159

LEILANI

Names in bold are outside of the top 2000 in E&W.

Names in the 2016 E&W Top 200 / outside US top 500:

Boy Names

2

HARRY

88

ALBIE

162

ABDULLAH

14

ALFIE

90

BOBBY

165

ZAC

17

FREDDIE

102

JAMIE

168

FLYNN

18

ARCHIE

108

YUSUF

171

AHMED

31

MOHAMMED

110

CALLUM

172

YAHYA

41

TEDDY

111

ALFRED

173

REX

46

TOBY

112

RALPH

175

RAYAN

47

LOUIE

116

SONNY

183

WILFRED

48

REUBEN

122

AYAAN

184

VINNIE

55

HARLEY

127

BILLY

186

EESA

55

REGGIE

130

FINLAY

186

SAM

57

TOMMY

131

JOEY

188

MARLEY

58

JENSON

134

OAKLEY

191

OLLY

63

FRANKIE

136

RUPERT

191

SYED

65

STANLEY

137

MUSA

193

HAMZA

69

OLLIE

143

BAILEY

198

ROBIN

70

RONNIE

155

FILIP

75

LEWIS

158

JAKUB

76

FREDERICK

160

TED

Girl Names

13

POPPY

109

NIAMH

154

BETSY

20

FLORENCE

114

BONNIE

154

ZAHRA

35

ESME

115

ESMAE

158

ANNABEL

36

ROSIE

115

HOLLIE

159

INAAYA

37

IMOGEN

118

LARA

166

ELODIE

49

HARRIET

125

MOLLIE

168

BEATRIX

51

MAISIE

127

PIPPA

171

ZUZANNA

52

HOLLY

132

FRANKIE

178

KHADIJA

64

AMELIE

135

EDIE

178

PENNY

70

NANCY

136

ISOBEL

183

MAJA

71

DARCIE

137

ZAINAB

185

ALISHA

72

LOTTIE

140

TILLY

186

AOIFE

75

MARTHA

141

HANNA

188

GEORGINA

79

MARYAM

143

CONNIE

189

ROSA

80

BEATRICE

144

HALLIE

192

LOIS

86

ROBYN

145

SEREN

195

ALIZA

87

AISHA

147

MARNIE

198

ALEENA

98

DARCY

148

LILLIE

198

LIBBY

107

ORLA

152

SKYLA

Names in bold are outside of the Top 2000 in the US.

So a boy called Jenson is more likely to be British; a boy called Jameson is probably American. But we can always rely on Jackson to unite us.

About the Author

Eleanor Nickerson

Eleanor Nickerson

Eleanor Nickerson, better known to Nameberry message board visitors as Elea, is a primary school teacher living in Coventry, England and author of the blog British Baby Names.