Site shows interesting clusters of baby names

One of the reasons I built the Baby Name Map was that most baby name sites were just a boring table with the only the US-wide popularity number. However, there are a few web sites that actually provide useful insight and analysis into baby names.

A new web site, Baby Name Clusters, released by Brian from Seattle uses the US popularity data as well, but it groups names based on similarity. This lets you see combined name trends for popular groups of names such as Aidan and all its derivatives.


If I had to guess, it looks like he used a combination of PHP, YUI, and Flash to generate a nicely responsive and interactive site. Good work Brian!

Visitor Question: Why can't I find my baby's name in my state's statistics?

I received an excellent question from Catherine in California about the Baby Name Map. Her daughter, Eloise, was born in 2006 and she was wondering why her name wasn't in the list of statistics for that year in her state.

Unfortunately, the statistics released by the Social Security Administration only include the top 100 baby names for any given US state. Eloise does appear on the map in New York City which publishes all names used 10 times or more in a year. As well, places like Alberta in Canada and Scotland in the UK record all baby names given, even those only given to a single baby.

So, each region has a different level of detail in the statistics that are released, which explains why a name appears in some places and not in others. I'm always on the lookout for better sources of baby name popularity statistics, so don't hesitate to contact me if you know of another source of official statistics for your area.

Top baby names in the United States for 2007

The US Social Security Administration office has released the top baby names given in the USA during 2007.  Jacob and Emily maintained the top spots, though both dropped from last year in the number of babies with those names.  I've updated the Baby Name Map with the 2007 data so you can search the most recent statistics for your favorite names and compare their popularity.

My Favorite Baby Name: Gavin!

My wife Alison and I are happy to announce the birth of our first child, Gavin Thomas Davis. Born on March 5th and weighing 3.5 kgs, he already has more hair on his head than dear old dad. :)

Don't worry, I'll keep updating the Baby Name Map even though it may be a couple of years before I'm in the market for a new baby name again.

Popular baby names in Ireland

I've added the 100 popular baby names in Ireland to the Baby Name Map covering 2001 through 2006. The list contains some interesting names like Cian, Darragh, Aoife, and Caoimhe which are popular in Ireland, but hardly used in the rest of the world.

Popular baby names in Australia (2007)

Many of the states in Australia have now released their lists of popular baby names in 2007. South Australia produces the best stats as they include all names given, so even rare ones are included. Victoria, Western Australia, and New South Wales also are now updated on the Baby Name Map. Overall, Jack maintained its dominance at the top of the boy's charts. The top names for girls were more diverse with Isabella, Sophie, Ella, and Olivia all holding a top spot.

Popular baby names in England (2007)

I've updated the Baby Name Map with the most popular baby names in England for 2007. Grace edged out Ruby for the top spot among the girls, while the top 5 boys remained Jack, Thomas, Oliver, Joshua, and Harry. However, when you combine all the various spellings of Mohammed, it moves into second spot behind Jack. This fact made a bit of a stir in the press. Like Wales, England also does not publish actual name counts, just rankings so I am not able to show popularity charts for English names unfortunately.