Common in England, Rare in US

Girl Names
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So I love a good UK vs USA debate as the Teenberries will know :joy: I find the differences in name style really interesting so i’ve made a list of names that are in the England/Wales top 100 (i hear many of these frequently) and pretty popular but really rare or uncommon in the US and i’ve included their rankings.

[name_f]Poppy[/name_f] 11 vs 592

[name_f]Florence[/name_f] 15 vs 971

[name_f]Evie[/name_f] 16 vs 322

[name_f]Freya[/name_f] 18 vs 226

[name_f]Phoebe[/name_f] 21 vs 320

[name_f]Elsie[/name_f] 22 vs 280

[name_f]Jessica[/name_f] 25 vs 312

[name_f]Rosie[/name_f] 26 vs 619

[name_f]Matilda[/name_f] 31 vs 489

[name_f]Esme[/name_f] 38 vs 556

[name_f]Millie[/name_f] 40 vs 304

[name_f]Imogen[/name_f] 41 vs not in US top 1000

[name_f]Harriet[/name_f] 45 vs not in US top 1000

[name_f]Maisie[/name_f] 46 vs 498

[name_f]Thea[/name_f] 59 vs 273

[name_f]Lottie[/name_f] 63 vs not in US top 1000

[name_f]Nancy[/name_f] 64 vs 839

[name_f]Ada[/name_f] 65 vs 251

[name_f]Zara[/name_f] 68 vs 253

[name_f]Amber[/name_f] 70 vs 471

[name_f]Robyn[/name_f] 72 vs not in US top 1000

[name_f]Amelie[/name_f] 80 vs 721

[name_f]Bonnie[/name_f] 81 vs 691

[name_f]Beatrice[/name_f] 84 vs 573

[name_f]Heidi[/name_f] 86 vs 351

[name_f]Orla[/name_f] 87 vs not in US top 1000

[name_f]Edith[/name_f] 91 vs 518

[name_f]Aisha[/name_f] 92 vs 523

[name_f]Francesca[/name_f] 93 vs 467

[name_f]Martha[/name_f] 94 vs 797

[name_f]Margot[/name_f] 99 vs 358

[name_f]Felicity[/name_f] 100 vs 354

which of these surprises you?? xxx

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I don’t think a lot of US readers realise how common some of these names are (which makes sense, I have no idea how popular names are over there) but it can lead to funny recommendations for less common names - ‘have you thought of [name_f]Edith[/name_f]’ etc.

I love the UK top 100 in general so I think if I do have kids, they’re likely to have more common names.

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Jessica was hugely popular when I was growing up and has now more or less fallen away. I am surprised it’s still in the top 100 in the UK. To a less extent [name_f]Amber[/name_f] which was in the top 30 when I was born. I do like both though.

The thing that shocks me most is just how different they are. Not all the names are my style but I love the variety.

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yes! i get that impression too. I often hear suggestions for uncommon names that end up being [name_f]Matilda[/name_f], [name_f]Phoebe[/name_f], [name_f]Florence[/name_f] etc and I’m like ummm i know at least 3 of all of those :joy:

I think my kids will have popular names too because i love so many of these!!

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you’re right! [name_f]Jessica[/name_f] and [name_f]Amber[/name_f] do have a more 90s feel to them. I’m 17 and know a lot of [name_f]Jessica[/name_f]’s and [name_f]Amber[/name_f]’s but I haven’t heard as many on babies.

The style thing is definitely true, we love more nicknamey names over here :))

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i’m going to upload a boys list too :))

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This is quite interesting! None of them surprise me, but that’s because I’m as familiar with the UK popularity data as I am with that of the US.

Here are just some thoughts I had while reading the list, if you’re interested. :slight_smile:

  • I hear [name_f]Jessica[/name_f] all the time, but always on girls my age or older.
  • I’ve actually known two little Phoebes, though, so that one’s not as rare where I live as some of the others, like [name_f]Imogen[/name_f] or [name_f]Matilda[/name_f].
  • I know one little [name_f]Millie[/name_f], and I wish it were more common because it’s adorable! I know one little [name_f]Edith[/name_f] “[name_f]Edie[/name_f]”, too, and it’s equally adorable.
  • Ambers, Robyns, and Heidis are not rare at all here, but they are usually at least my age, if not my mom’s age!
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I love the suggestions people come up with, mind you, they’re just very on-trend for [name_f]England[/name_f].

I’ve been a teacher for 2 years and of this list have taught 6 girls with these uniquely [name_f]English[/name_f] names, and that’s before the current generation of babies make it to primary school. Most common of all these names in my personal life is [name_f]Florence[/name_f], every other baby seems to be called [name_f]Florence[/name_f] (usually shortened to [name_f]Flo[/name_f] but sometimes to [name_f]Flossy[/name_f])

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I’m always amused by [name_f]Elodie[/name_f] as well.
149 vs out of the 1000

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Yes, the names are really beautiful and definitely my style. All of the vintage names have really come back in recently so I think there will be a lot of [name_u]Stanley[/name_u]’s, [name_f]Nora[/name_f]’s, [name_f]Ada[/name_f]’s, [name_f]Betty[/name_f]’s etc.

Oh and the [name_f]Florence[/name_f] thing is so relatable, my cousin just had a baby [name_f]Florence[/name_f] a few months ago :joy:

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that’s super super interesting! thank you xx
Interesting about [name_f]Phoebe[/name_f], possibly the Friends connection? [name_f]Millie[/name_f] is very very common here, I know probably 12 of various ages.

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yes!! that always surprises me too!

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Poppy sounds so [name_f]English[/name_f] to me.
[name_f]Phoebe[/name_f] sounds more Friends or All about [name_f]Eve[/name_f].
[name_f]Millie[/name_f] sounds [name_f]English[/name_f] too.
And [name_f]Beatrix[/name_f] ([name_m]Potter[/name_m]) more so than [name_f]Beatrice[/name_f].
I also think of [name_f]Lucy[/name_f] ([name_f]Narnia[/name_f]) although I know that is becoming more popular in the US again now.

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Phoebe could very well be influenced by the popularity of Friends. Although, I like the show, and that’s the very reason I wouldn’t use one of the characters’ names! I personally just wouldn’t want a name that closely tied to something so popular, even though it’s a great name. But that may just be me. :woman_shrugging:t3:

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Some of these are surprising. I had no idea that [name_f]Robyn[/name_f] & [name_f]Bonnie[/name_f] were so popular anywhere. And [name_f]Jessica[/name_f]? That seems so weird, since it’s a name for people in the mid 30s/40s in the U.S. I wonder where [name_f]Orla[/name_f] came from & why it’s not used in the U.S. at all.

As for [name_f]Evie[/name_f], it is super popular in my area (midwest U.S.). Basically every kid is an [name_f]Evie[/name_f] or an [name_f]Addie[/name_f]. They’re just all mostly [name_u]Evelyn[/name_u] or [name_u]Everly[/name_u] nn [name_f]Evie[/name_f]. Also, I’m surprised that [name_f]Margot[/name_f] isn’t higher over here. I obviously see it a ton on these boards, but I hear it fairly often in real life too. If the 2019 SSA list ever comes out, I predict that one making a jump forward.

Thanks fo sharing. :slight_smile:

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i agree, i’m not a massive friends fan (i know shoot me now) so i would probably use [name_f]Phoebe[/name_f]. But there are definitely other names that i associate too closely with a character to use them as actual names.

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I’m not sure about [name_f]Robyn[/name_f], but [name_f]Bonnie[/name_f] is most likely a Scottish influence (like [name_f]Isla[/name_f]), similarly to [name_f]Orla[/name_f] being an Irish influence, The Irish form of [name_f]Orla[/name_f] is [name_f]Orlaith[/name_f] (pronounced the same way) and meaning ‘golden princess’ which i think is beautiful. I know about 3 or 4 [name_f]Orla[/name_f]’s!! [name_f]Lot[/name_f]’s of Irish and Scottish names are dotted throughout our list. [name_f]Niamh[/name_f], [name_f]Aoife[/name_f], [name_f]Eilidh[/name_f], etc.

Yes, the [name_f]Evie[/name_f] and [name_f]Addie[/name_f] thing doesn’t surprise me, I hear those a lot on American media but as you said those are usually nicknames. I think that’s the main difference in style, we seem to like nn names as full firsts a lot more. It’s very clear in the boy’s list aswell!!

thanks so much for your input it was really interesting.

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I love this type of name - we went for [name_f]Beatrix[/name_f] and it doesn’t even rank in the US. It definitely makes it more difficult to suggest names to UK berries when they are looking for something rare - since names like [name_f]Harriet[/name_f] and [name_f]Florence[/name_f] are rare to me. :slight_smile:

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I started a subscription to a British TV streaming service called Britbox and there is a show on there about [name_f]Florence[/name_f] [name_u]Nightingale[/name_u]. I don’t know how popular that show was in the UK but she is a great role model. What I never knew about her and discovered is that she (cut from Wikipedia to save time) exhibited a gift for mathematics from an early age and excelled in the subject under the tutelage of her father. She became a pioneer in the visual presentation of information and statistical graphics and used methods such as the pie chart, which although taken for granted now, was at the time a relatively novel method of presenting data.

That was a diversion :slight_smile: But just to say that [name_f]Florence[/name_f] is a name that should be popular in [name_f]England[/name_f]. If a Disney movie can drive [name_u]Ariel[/name_u] then why not a famous figure like [name_f]Florence[/name_f] [name_u]Nightingale[/name_u].

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I love this list!!! Was all I was thinking about when I was looking at the UK top 100 the other day!

The fact that they’re so different is wild to me! I told my mom that [name_f]Florence[/name_f] was a name and she barely believed me, and here it is in the UK top 20! You can see such a strong European influence on your names, lots of Germanic, [name_u]French[/name_u], & Norse influence since you guys aren’t too far from each other! I simultaneously hope that some come to the US so I can hear more of them and don’t want them to come so I can name my kids these names! [name_u]Love[/name_u] the list and can’t wait for the boy’s version!

My faves from this list are:
[name_f]Florence[/name_f]
[name_f]Rosie[/name_f]
[name_f]Matilda[/name_f]
[name_f]Millie[/name_f]
[name_f]Harriet[/name_f]
[name_f]Maisie[/name_f]
[name_f]Robyn[/name_f]
[name_f]Francesca[/name_f]

Oh to be a kindergarten teacher in the UK, I would just be fawning over all their beautiful names!

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