I’m really fascinated by regional differences in name trends (I’m in the U.S., but I imagine this applies everywhere). Are there any names that are really popular in your area but don’t rank that high on the SSA list?
In my area (NYC), the name that first comes to mind is [name_f]Sylvie[/name_f]. I was SHOCKED to find out that it doesn’t rank in the top 1000 nationally; I hear it everywhere!
I hear [name_u]Braylin[/name_u]/[name_u]Braylon[/name_u] a lot for boys where I am, but I don’t think it’s very popular elsewhere.
In my state ([name_f]Missouri[/name_f]), [name_m]Henry[/name_m], [name_m]Wyatt[/name_m], [name_u]Carter[/name_u], [name_u]Harper[/name_u], [name_u]Paisley[/name_u], and [name_f]Lydia[/name_f] are much more popular than they are nationally. [name_m]Matthew[/name_m] and [name_f]Isabella[/name_f] are much less popular.
I know four girls named [name_f]Kiana[/name_f], which is barely hanging on in the US top 1000 (It was 972 is 2015). Two go by [name_f]Kiana[/name_f], one goes by [name_f]Kiki[/name_f], and one goes by [name_f]Kia[/name_f].
Although I live in Norway, some names are more popular in my area than the rest of Norway, particularly [name_m]Ulrik[/name_m] and [name_m]Laurits[/name_m], [name_m]Ludvig[/name_m], [name_m]Jonathan[/name_m], along with [name_m]Jonas[/name_m], [name_m]Johannes[/name_m] and [name_u]Sander[/name_u] for boys and [name_f]Mathilde[/name_f] and [name_f]Lilly[/name_f] for girls, and I think [name_f]Agnes[/name_f], [name_m]Erle[/name_m], [name_f]Pernille[/name_f] and [name_f]Mari[/name_f], as well.
(I temp in daycares, so I meet a LOT of children under 6 years, these are the repeats that chart higher in this area or have low numbers nationally so the fact that I’m meeting so many indicates a higher usage here than elsewhere)
I live in near the Great Lakes, and I know at least 3 girls named [name_f]Siobhan[/name_f], and there are few that I don’t know personally. [name_f]Siobhan[/name_f] isn’t even ranked in the top 1000 here in the US, or in the UK and [name_f]Ireland[/name_f].
In my [name_u]Philadelphia[/name_u] suburb, [name_f]Elena[/name_f] is very popular. I know three or four Elenas in my school alone!
[name_f]Annika[/name_f], in my area. It ranked #572 last year but I know 3 girls all high school aged with the name.
In Minnesota I hear more Scandinavian names like [name_m]Odin[/name_m], [name_m]Lars[/name_m], [name_m]Henrik[/name_m], [name_m]Bjorn[/name_m], Synneva, [name_f]Solveig[/name_f], [name_f]Freya[/name_f], [name_f]Annika[/name_f], [name_f]Liv[/name_f] and [name_f]Sanne[/name_f].
I haven’t seen it ranked in the newest top 100 lists so it’s definitely not ‘common’ nationally; I know 2 babies called [name_f]Maude[/name_f]! Both born in [name_u]London[/name_u], the people further [name_u]North[/name_u] I’ve mentioned the name to seem shocked, so I suspect it might be a [name_u]London[/name_u] thing.
I’m near Toronto, and I know four boys named [name_m]Ewan[/name_m].
I’m also a [name_m]New[/name_m] Yorker and definitely agree about [name_f]Sylvie[/name_f]! Other names I hear often are [name_m]Atticus[/name_m] and [name_f]Maeve[/name_f].