Most popular names per country
I had no idea these maps were made by the same guy who created the stereotype maps until I looked them both up to feature here today! Small world we live in. So… these maps are by Yanko Tsvetkov and represent the most popular given names in each European country. The data he used is from Wikipedia.
While this map is far less controversial than his Mapping Stereotypes project, I still have seen many comments arguing with him/these maps stating that they’ve never heard of any so-and-so’s in that country. The only one I can really form an opinion on here is Poland: my grandma’s name is Julia and many of the Polish guys I know are named Jakub (plus one of my cat’s names is Kuba which is the nickname for Jakub). [Note: Polish J’s sound like English Y’s so these names sound like Yulia and Yakoob]
I wish they had a map for other countries because these are so interesting to look at! If your country is listed here, what are the most popular names? And if it’s not listed, what do you think is the most popular name for your country/state? Is your name the most popular anywhere?
I like how Oliver and Olivia are the top names for the Britain – they’re so similar! Overall, I’d have to say these are some pretty great names to have as the most popular in an entire country.
(Images clickable to source: Flickr.com)
15 June 2011 / Misc. or Me
Tags: europe, maps, names, yanko tsvetkov
Comments
15 June 2011 - 3:56 pm
such a pretty poster!
for germany the most popular names (according to this poster) are Mia and Leon, at least for Leon I know this is true. I love Mia, but I was not aware that it was the most popular name… see, something I learned today 🙂
15 June 2011 - 4:19 pm
Colleen – You’re welcome, glad you like it! : )
Kristina – What surprised me was Lara & Luca for Switzerland.. haven’t met anyone named either one of those names here! Markus (or is it Marcus?) on the other hand…
15 June 2011 - 5:12 pm
These are very interesting! Its a shame they don’t have a map of the U.S. That would be very interesting to see what they think are the most popular names here. I noticed that they have Maria as the most popular name in either 5 or 6 countries (I couldn’t tell about the 6th one, it was too small but the color matched with the other Maria’s). I love these names though! They are so much more interesting to read and try to pronounce than American names!
15 June 2011 - 7:53 pm
This concept is great (and a little surprising)! I can definitely see Oliver & Olivia for Britain. This is just a guess, but here in the US I think Madison and Josh would be somewhere near the top. Interesting that Sophie and Emma pop up several times!
15 June 2011 - 8:57 pm
Haha it’s definitely funny how Britain’s favorites are so similar. This is such a cool project!
15 June 2011 - 10:55 pm
huh, that’s so fascinating! we have a lot of kids at work from various european countries, so i actually have seen a lot of these names lately. very interesting.
17 June 2011 - 11:56 am
Sana – Madison, really? I think I only ever knew one Madison in America. It’d be interesting to see how each state differs. I’d probably go with Matt, Chris, Josh or John for male names and Ashley, Katie, or Emily for female names (and I’m sure I’ll realize other obviously popular names for girls, too)!
17 June 2011 - 8:03 pm
If you look at wikipedia it says that it’s the most popular for newborns in the last few years, not the population as a whole. So, we wouldn’t know people with these names because our peers would have different popular names. I am so surprised by Jazmin and Bence for Hungary! So different from the types of names my age group has. Although my youngest cousin, who’s about 11 or so, does have one of the most popular boy names.
It’s also interesting to see the breakdown of names in the US according to ethnicity.
17 June 2011 - 8:09 pm
Vi – The link he refers to is also outdated so who really knows? That’s funny because my dad was actually saying how outdated Julia is in Poland. I saw that and thought Bence was a cool name, ha!
17 June 2011 - 8:20 pm
Exactly! Who knows! Either way, I love reading about names and their meanings. Makes me start brainstorming for when I have a kid. hehe
15 June 2011 - 3:12 pm
Wow, this is awesome! So fascinating! Way more interesting than American names ; ) Thanks for sharing, Eva!