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BTN's Favorite Names 2013
I counted up everyone's top 10s from this past year to put together BTN's favorite name.I count similarly to the SSA: Accents don't count, middle names (when posted) are ignored, hyphenated or obvious double names are counted separately (ex: John Luke is not counted as John), different spellings are separate, and on the occasions when posters could not decide on a name, I counted only the first one (if you posted Luke / Lukas, I counted Luke).This year, girls have a brand new number 1, while the boys are returning to a previous favorite. The number 1 names this year are:Rose & HenryRose was #4 last year and this is the first time it has ever been number 1. Last year's number 1 for girls was Iris.
Henry was #1 in 2008, 2009, and 2011, and it beats Theodore from last year. Here are the top 20 for girls and top 30 for boys in 2013. (BTW, to get an idea of how many people have the name in their top 10, divide the number in parenthesis by 12).1. Rose (51)
2. Alice (45)
3. Lydia (38)
4. Eleanor, Iris, Miriam (36)
5. Sylvie (34)
6. Penelope (32)
7. Freya, Helena (30)
8. Clara, Louisa (29)
9. Cecily, Matilda (28)
10. Ivy (27)
11. Anna, Astrid (26)
12. Beatrice, Juliet, Luna, Lyra, Stella (23)
13. Catherine, Charlotte, Seraphine (22)
14. Edith, Hazel, Margot, Ophelia, Phoebe, Rosemary, Zoe (21)
15. Grace, Lily, Tamsin (20)
16. Ada, Elisabeth, Genevieve, Josephine, Kira (19)
17. Delphine, Eira, Guinevere, Saga, Viola, Xanthe (18)
18. Alba, Alexandra, Ingrid, Susanna, Theodora, Willow (17)
19. Hermione, Isis, Julia, Maeve, Mary, Maude, Mila, Molly, Philippa (16)
20. Amelia, Cordelia, Elodie, Eve, Jane, Liliana, Persephone, Susannah (15)1. Henry (71)
2. Alexander (62)
3. Sebastian (56)
4. Theodore (55)
5. Leo (51)
6. Arthur (49)
7. Samuel (48)
8. Thomas (47)
9. Felix (46)
10. Isaac (45)
11. August (44)
12. Malcolm (42)
13. Frederick, Tobias (39)
14. Ronan (38)
15. Gabriel, Jasper (36)
16. Jack (34)
17. Benjamin (33)
18. Roman (32)
19. George, Nicholas (31)
20. James (30)
21. Ezra (29)
22. Luke, Rowan (28)
23. William (27)
24. Edmund, Julian (26)
25. Oscar (25)
26. Owen, Silas (24)
27. Charles (23)
28. Dominic, Finn, Jude, Oliver (22)
29. Aaron, Malachi (21)
30. Boaz, Jonathan, Luca, Morgan (19)
--The top of the All Time list has changed very little, but in the past 6 years, we've posted 2048 different boys names and 2586 different girls names–we've added about 200 new names to each list in the last year!. For fun, here's the current top ten of all time (I've marked changes since last year):1. Iris (259)
2. Alice (251)
3. Rose (244)
4. Charlotte (205)
5. Helena (195 - was #6 last year)
6. Anna (192 - was #5 last year)
7. Lydia (187 - was #10 last year)
8. Cecily (184)
9. Louisa (178)
10. Elizabeth (173 - was #7 last year)1. Henry (388)
2. William (337)
3. Theodore (322)
4. Alexander (312 - was #5 last year)
5. August (304 - was #4 last year)
6. Arthur (255 - was #8 last year)
7. James (248 - was #6 last year)
8. Leo (243 - was #9 last year)
9. Felix (237 - was #10 last year)
10. Samuel (234 - didn't make the top 10 last year. Replaces Oliver.)
I can post the year's data or search names in the data, just ask me to! Last year I don't think anyone really used what I posted though, so I'll wait. I also have the numbers month by month.
I can send the spreadsheet files to anyone who wants them as well, just PM me.
"than you will go to jail for kidnap."
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Wow! you are a magician! Really interesting. We have nice taste, I must say.
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This is a really good illustration of how totally unrelated the SSA's list of popular names is to the names people say they like in theory but not necessarily in practice.
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I've seen all these names used. Bumped into a little Hazel the other sat. BtN is a great way to see upcoming trends.
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Look at the stats on these -all but a few are rising.
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It's trueHere are the only ones that AREN'T in the top 1000 and rising on the SSA lists:Sylvie (not on the top 1000, but it did rise a little from 2011 to 2012. It's popularity doubled on BTN in 2012).
Freya (ranks in the UK, Ireland, Scotland and we ARE an international board).
Louisa (rising but not ranked. Falling in the UK.)
Cecily (rising but not ranked.)
Astrid (rising but not ranked.)
Lyra (rising in the UK. Holding steady just below the top 1000 in the US)
Catherine (ranks highly but falling.)
Seraphine (rising but not ranked. Everyone predicted Seraphina would get really popular after the Affleck baby, but Seraphine is a little more accessible I think).
Margot (rising not ranked. Will rank for sure next year if it continues at it's current pace!)
Ophelia (rising not ranked)
Grace (ranks highly but falling)
Lily (technically fell a spot last year but it's holding pretty steady in the top 20)
Tamsin (rising not ranked.)
Elisabeth (falling)
Kira (falling)
Delphine (rising not ranked)
Eira (rising not ranked)
Guinevere (rising not ranked)
Saga (falling not ranked. and by "falling" I mean it was used 5 times in 2011 and vanished in 2012. However, if I remember correctly, this is favored more by non-American posters. Very popular in Sweden!)

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Very interesting. So diligent of you!
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Interesting list. It has a very literary feel to it and a very British feel as well.
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Awesome post! I have to say though, I can't stand Alice. Felix rising surprises me too.:0)
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Oh wow, thanks for this. I really like Henry but I can't stand Rose - even though Rosemary is a real favourite.
Others I love (this is such a recognisably BtN list haha):Alice
Lydia
Eleanor
Miriam
Sylvie
Louisa
Cecily
Matilda
Hazel
Margot
Phoebe
Rosemary
Zoe
Grace
Lily
Genevieve
Josephine
Xanthe
Ingrid
Susanna(h)
Willow
MaeveHenry
Theodore
Leo
Samuel
Thomas
Isaac
August
Jack
Benjamin
George
Nicholas
Ezra
William
Owen
Dominic
Finn
Jude
OliverI swear all of the above have been in my Top 10 at one point.
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Thanks for doing this! It's always fun to see stats :)
I really don't care for Henry and Rose. My top 10 names aren't very well represented on these lists (especially the girls), but that's okay.
I like/love these (*is that it was/may have been on my top 10 at some point):Iris*
Helena
Matilda
Juliet
Luna
Seraphine
Josephine
Eira*
Guinevere
Saga*
Willow
Isis*
Philippa (I'm planning to use this as a MN)
Elodie (I'm planning to use this as a MN)
Eve
Jane
Alexander (*with nn Lex)
Sebastian
Leo*
Arthur
Malcolm
Ronan
Gabriel
Jasper
Jack
Roman*
James
Ezra
Luke
Rowan
Oscar*
Silas
Malachi
Boaz*
Luca
MorganI'm PM-ing you about the spreadsheet as well :D
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Awwww, I love Henry, it's the name of my little cousin (he's five). Rose is also very pretty.Somehow, I just don't like Iris at all.
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Iris is #1 over six years!?I really hope this means it's the next Lily. Rose too.
Somehow I doubt it, but it's fun to imagine Iris and Rose in the top twenty.Fearful of Theodore and Felix though. Such marshmallow names. ;-P
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Iris is number 1 over 6 years, but it got an enormous boost last year (67 mentions, no other girl's name has ever gone that high in any year). The gap between Iris and Alice closed a lot in the last year, so unless everyone gets into it again, it'll probably lose the spot soon.
Still rising in real life though.
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