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ArchivesRe: My column on the top USA names of 2021 (#1's are Liam and Sophia)
in reply to a message by Perrine
There is no way to eliminate subjectivity in combining spellings. This is especially true in the girls' list, where there are many examples of spellings which are pronounced in more than one way and popular names which differ only by one vowel sound. And of course there are differences in common pronunciations between countries. In English speaking countries with rhotic accents (USA and Canada), it would not be appropriate to combine Taylor and Tayla. In Australia and most of England, which are non-rhotic, most people will pronounce those the same and will see them as two different spellings of the same name. And of course when one is looking at countries with other languages you are going to have even more different ideas on what spellings are pronounced the same. It would be extremely inappropriate to make exactly the same decisions on what to combine in Germany, France, and the USA.
Maya and Mia are normally pronounced differently in the USA. There are quite a few girls out there named Miya and Miyah. I am sure that some of the parents who use these spellings are pronouncing them like Maya and some like Mia. There's no way to know what the %'s are. Personally I put Miya with Mia and Miyah with Maya and hope it all evens out.
By the way, I personally do NOT combine Mya and Mia or Myla and Mila. Mya goes with Maya, not Mia, in my combined lists.
I think both kinds of lists are needed. I think a great many expectant parents do not agree with you and see Allison and Alison and Lilly and Lily as just two different spellings of names that are really the same. And of course in everyday life people are always interacting with others who have no idea how their names are spelled, so there is no way Lily and Lilly could then give them "different vibes." I think expectant parents need the information that Jackson is actually #2 when you combine it with Jaxon, Jaxson, etc. in order to make decisions based on their own values as to giving common vs. uncommon names.
Maya and Mia are normally pronounced differently in the USA. There are quite a few girls out there named Miya and Miyah. I am sure that some of the parents who use these spellings are pronouncing them like Maya and some like Mia. There's no way to know what the %'s are. Personally I put Miya with Mia and Miyah with Maya and hope it all evens out.
By the way, I personally do NOT combine Mya and Mia or Myla and Mila. Mya goes with Maya, not Mia, in my combined lists.
I think both kinds of lists are needed. I think a great many expectant parents do not agree with you and see Allison and Alison and Lilly and Lily as just two different spellings of names that are really the same. And of course in everyday life people are always interacting with others who have no idea how their names are spelled, so there is no way Lily and Lilly could then give them "different vibes." I think expectant parents need the information that Jackson is actually #2 when you combine it with Jaxon, Jaxson, etc. in order to make decisions based on their own values as to giving common vs. uncommon names.
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