Another toy to play with
https://www.behindthename.com/top/meta.php
Here you can find some "alternative" popularity lists based on the SSA's "beyond the top 1000" data. These lists rank features of the names instead of the names themselves. For example, you can list and/or graph the most common initial letter in US baby names or the most common length.
(I thought it interesting how the initial letter often trends similarly for male and female names eg:
https://www.behindthename.com/top/metagraph.php?value=e&dimension=letter)
There are also listings that group the names by similar sound. For example, Jackson and Jaxon both reduce to "jaxon", so they are grouped together. When looking at these rankings, you can hover your mouse cursor over the row to see which names were grouped together.
I've put a link to this on the main popularity page, but it's hard to spot so I thought I'd post it here too.
Here you can find some "alternative" popularity lists based on the SSA's "beyond the top 1000" data. These lists rank features of the names instead of the names themselves. For example, you can list and/or graph the most common initial letter in US baby names or the most common length.
(I thought it interesting how the initial letter often trends similarly for male and female names eg:
https://www.behindthename.com/top/metagraph.php?value=e&dimension=letter)
There are also listings that group the names by similar sound. For example, Jackson and Jaxon both reduce to "jaxon", so they are grouped together. When looking at these rankings, you can hover your mouse cursor over the row to see which names were grouped together.
I've put a link to this on the main popularity page, but it's hard to spot so I thought I'd post it here too.
Replies
Super interesting! Thanks!
I love the initial letter graph! I like stats to begin with, but I especially enjoy seeing things like the male/female graph for the O is virtually the same, while for example M seem to be mirror images of each other.
I love new toys! The 'grouped to sound' list took me a while to realize what I was looking at. I realized only after viewing the 'more loosely' one. I clicked to quickly and didn't read the part about hoovering.
When you search for a particular name, for example James, it only shows the sound 'james' / 'gamas', but you can't see here which names were used. Would hoovering to see the list be an option here as well. Otherwise this image: https://www.behindthename.com/top/metagraph.php?dimension=sound-loose&value=james&dimension=sound&gender=&type=sample
Might be difficult to interpret. To me at least :)
I love new toys! The 'grouped to sound' list took me a while to realize what I was looking at. I realized only after viewing the 'more loosely' one. I clicked to quickly and didn't read the part about hoovering.
When you search for a particular name, for example James, it only shows the sound 'james' / 'gamas', but you can't see here which names were used. Would hoovering to see the list be an option here as well. Otherwise this image: https://www.behindthename.com/top/metagraph.php?dimension=sound-loose&value=james&dimension=sound&gender=&type=sample
Might be difficult to interpret. To me at least :)
Thanks for trying it out! You're correct that the "grouped by sound" graph should be clearer. I'll see if I can put the grouped spellings into the key.
The graph key now shows a few examples of the most popular names for each group. Hopefully that makes things clearer.
Yes, much clearer this way.
Also, it's amazing to me that the popularity by letter length are nearly the same for the male and female list. Somehow I always thought girls got longer names on average.
The graphs look good! The length graphs are also clear now. Well done! :D I'm always happy with new stat toys.
I really only have one remark after browsing around a bit. 'Sample' was a confusing word to use for me (in the drop down list with 'rank' and 'percent'). I'd expect a word like 'births' or maybe even 'quantity'.
Also, it's amazing to me that the popularity by letter length are nearly the same for the male and female list. Somehow I always thought girls got longer names on average.
The graphs look good! The length graphs are also clear now. Well done! :D I'm always happy with new stat toys.
I really only have one remark after browsing around a bit. 'Sample' was a confusing word to use for me (in the drop down list with 'rank' and 'percent'). I'd expect a word like 'births' or maybe even 'quantity'.