Received: by alpheratz.cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk id MAA05969 (8.6.9/5.3[ref pg@gmsl.co.uk] for cpm.aca.mmu.ac.uk from fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk); Sun, 3 Jun 2001 12:18:49 +0100 Message-Id: <3.0.1.32.20010603131745.00698250@agner.org> X-Sender: metascience@agner.org X-Mailer: Windows Eudora Light Version 3.0.1 (32) Date: Sun, 03 Jun 2001 13:17:45 +0200 To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk From: Metascience <metascience@agner.org> Subject: Children's names In-Reply-To: <20010603041044.AAA20398@camailp.harvard.edu@[205.240.180.2 9]> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Sender: fmb-majordomo@mmu.ac.uk Precedence: bulk Reply-To: memetics@mmu.ac.uk
The names that parents give their children is strongly influenced by
fashion, at least here in Denmark. A top 20 list of the most popular names
for children born in a specific year is published by the Danish bureau of
statistics (www.dst.dk/dst/37).
The top 20 list for girls born in 2000 has only one name in common with the
top 20 list for the entire female population (Anna). The similar lists for
boys have no names in common. The most common name for the entire male
population (Jens) is number 46 for boys born in 2000, and the most common
woman's name (Kirsten) is not on the top 50 list for girls born in 2000.
Many old-fashioned names from the great-grandparent generation have been
revived.
It is also striking that long names are in fashion, and that girls' names
are longer than boys' names:
Number of syllables in name | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
-----------------------------------------------------
top 20 all men | 9 | 11 | 0 | 0 |
top 20 all women | 0 | 18 | 1 | 1 |
top 20 boys born 2000 | 1 | 12 | 7 | 0 |
top 20 girls born 2000 | 0 | 9 | 7 | 4 |
-----------------------------------------------------
Although Denmark is not a very class-divided society today, there are
well-known class differences in names. Working class parents often choose
American names for their boys, such as Johnny, Ronny, Dennis, Brian, Mike.
This tendency is so obvious, that contemporary folklore consistently
associates names like Brian and Dennis with troubled boys. No class-divided
statistics are available, though.
Doing memetic research on children's names is quite straightforward, when
the statistics are available. But finding the psychological motives behind
the name choises is probably much more difficult.
=============================================
M. Schwartz, Ph.D.
Metascience@agner.org
===============================================================
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