What Baby Names Say about the United States

 

What is in a name?

For many people, a name can provide important information about the person and the times we live in.

Recently, the United States Social Security Administration released a list of the most popular U.S. baby names in 2018.

“Emma” was the most popular name in states on the U.S. West Coast, while “Liam” was the top choice in the Midwest. But in the southeastern part of the country, parents were more likely to name a boy “William,” while “Ava” was a popular name for girls.

The Social Security Administration said that “Liam” has been at the top of the list for boys nationwide in each of the past two years. “Emma” was the most popular name for girls for the fifth year.

Naming a child might feel like one of the most personal decisions a parent can make. However, outside forces often heavily influence that choice.

Jonah Berger is a marketing¹ professor at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School. He told VOA in an email that “names say more about the parents than the kids. How unique parents want to be, where in the country they were when the child was born, and what influences around them shape their lives.”

Thanks to technology, new parents have more baby names to choose from than ever before. That might be influenced by television (TV) personalities² or characters from movies.

For example, the name “Arya,” a character on the TV show "Game of Thrones," was the 119th most popular girls’ name on the new list. That is higher than more traditional names, like “Angela” (264) or “Jennifer” (345).

“Khaleesi,” another character from “Game of Thrones,” was the 549th most popular name for girls. It appeared higher on the list than names like “Anne” (599), “Lisa” (891) and “Christine” (926).

Jane Pilcher is a sociologist³ at Nottingham Trent University in England.

Pilcher told VOA in an email that she likens names to “workhorses” because they can help identify important information about a person. But she adds that names can also lead to discrimination and inequality.

A 2012 study found that when scientists were given identical applications for a laboratory manager position, they rated job candidates named “John” more highly than those named “Jennifer.”

A person’s name often points toward their culture. It is a marker of when and where they lived, and of things that are popular at the time of their birth.

Berger found that names starting with “K” became more popular after Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans, Louisiana in 2005. Americans heard the name of the storm in the news so often that its sound became more familiar and appealing.

Berger says “names are more likely to become popular when other, similar names have been popular recently.”

He adds that, “hearing a name more often makes people like it more, but if something is too popular, people avoid it.”

American-born Meghan Markle and her husband, Britain’s Prince Harry⁴, recently named their son Archie. That name was the 992nd most popular boy’s name in the United States last year. It remains⁵ to be seen if the name Archie will increase in popularity in 2019.

I’m Jonathan Evans.

Words in This Story

applications – n. formal and usually written requests for something such as a job, admission to a school, a loan, etc.

characters – n. persons who appear in a story, book, play, movie, or television show

kids – n. children

unique – adj. used to say that something or someone is unlike anything or anyone else

1 marketing   

n.行销，在市场的买卖，买东西

参考例句：

• They are developing marketing network.他们正在发展销售网络。
• He often goes marketing.他经常去市场做生意。

2 personalities   

n. 诽谤，（对某人容貌、性格等所进行的）人身攻击； 人身攻击；人格, 个性, 名人( personality的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There seemed to be a degree of personalities in her remarks.她话里有些人身攻击的成分。
• Personalities are not in good taste in general conversation.在一般的谈话中诽谤他人是不高尚的。

3 sociologist   

n.研究社会学的人，社会学家

参考例句：

• His mother was a sociologist,researching socialism.他的母亲是个社会学家，研究社会主义。
• Max Weber is a great and outstanding sociologist.马克斯·韦伯是一位伟大的、杰出的社会学家。

4 harry   

vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼

参考例句：

• Today,people feel more hurried and harried.今天，人们感到更加忙碌和苦恼。
• Obama harried business by Healthcare Reform plan.奥巴马用医改掠夺了商界。

5 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。