Popularity on Namberry = Names That Will Be Used?

I was just looking at the Nameberry Top 1000, and when I see names like “[name_f]Khaleesi[/name_f]” and “[name_f]Katniss[/name_f]” high up on the chart, which is more from curiosity than people actual interest in naming a child that, I wonder if there are other names like that. Are [name_m]Asher[/name_m] and [name_m]Declan[/name_m] really the most popular names for berries to use for their boys, or are they just “new” names that people are investigating the meaning of? [name_f]Imogen[/name_f] is a gorgeous name that I have fallen in love with along with many of you, but it’s also one that I don’t have the meaning memorized of from years of seeing it in other name books/sites and knowing people with the name. So, I’m wondering what exactly “popularity” on this, or any other name site, means as far as translating to actual use in the real world.

While of course it won’t be true in all cases, if a name ranks higher on Nameberry than it does in the real world that’s a good sign that it’s “ahead of the curve” in fashionability/popularity (or the name isn’t popular in the U.S. but is well-liked by Berries from other countries). On the other hand dated-and-not-ready-for-revival names (used mainly for family/honoring reasons) and names more common among specific non-Anglo ethnic groups (namely Hispanics with the U.S. lists, and if we were looking at the stats from [name_f]Canada[/name_f] the [name_m]French[/name_m]-Canadians) will tend to rank lower on Nameberry’s stats than the official list.

For quite a time, I think name ticker and name cloud show random names mixed with real searches. Not once I had two open tabs on nameberry forum or nameberry database at the same time and names were totally different. (Not saying you can’t see names searched right now, just that there’s something fishy.)

The Nameberry popularity lists show names searched in the database, not necessarily used in real life. For example, I’ve searched hundreds of names in the database, but obviously won’t use them all. Names like [name_f]Khaleesi[/name_f], [name_f]Katniss[/name_f], and [name_f]Renesmee[/name_f] tend to be higher because people search them out of curiosity to know if they’re legit. [name_m]Just[/name_m] because they’re searched a lot doesn’t mean they’re actually being used.

Since Berries on the whole do seem more in tune with what is trending than the average person, the names popular here are likely different than the top of the popularity charts, but some names that spike here are likely headed up in popularity charts for the general population.

I personally feel that looking at NB popularity #’s only tells you one thing - how often people are searching that name. An actual popularity of names being used is better judged by perusing the Birth Announcement forums. (Though we all know that not all of those are actual RL announcements.) Looking at signatures is a fairly good measure of how popular a name on NB is as well as most people put their favorite there - but neither really necessarily corresponds with actual popularity numbers. This is because berries are from all over the world and many tend to try to avoid the top 100’s (in some cases top 1000 or even names used more than 5 times a year etc).