Breaking Bad, Game of Thrones, Harry Potter, The Big Bang Theory... which aspects of media culture have had an impact on baby names in England Wales over the last decade?
Rachel from the Office of National Statistics contacted earlier this week to let me know of some interesting new research they have done looking into the impact tv, film and celebrity has had on baby names in England and Wales between 1996 and 2013 and it makes for interesting reading.
Their Key findings:
- Names are far more varied than they were 10 years ago, especially girls names which seem to keep pulling away from the boys in their variations each year.
- Footballers have an influence on names, especially Ronaldo, Thierry and Cristiano.
- The Beckham's have seen all their children's names rise since their birth, especially Harper, which now ranks #160.
- Game of Thrones has seen a rise in the names Theon and Tyrion.
- Breaking Bad has seen a rise in Walter (#596) and Skyler (#569).
- Britney, Shakira and Rihanna all made their mark when they were new and hip on the music scene.
- Yes! Alfie Moon really did have an impact on Alfie:
Take a look at the ONS's breakdown and pretty graphs here (click the image):
My own observations from the data:
- The biggest Game of Thrones name for me in 2013 are Khaleesi and Arya.
Khaleesi went up from 21 births in 2012 (#1483) to 50 in 2013 (#772). Arya has moved from 104 births (#437) to 187 births (#257). - Mila (thanks to Mila Kunis) was one of this biggest risers of 2012, moving 99 places to 160. Its rise continued in 2013 up to #124.
- Could How I Met Your Mother have had an influence? Teddy moved a whopping 55 places in 2013, making his debut in the top 100 at #86. The actual name of the main character Ted also saw a marked rise from #226 to #179. Robyn moved up 35 places to #119.
- The infamous Oscar Pistorius case which involved the killing of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp has had an impact on 2013's names. From barely ranking at all (only 3 births in both 2010 and 2012), a whopping 40 girls were named Reeva in 2013 (#925). The name Oscar also rose 10 places to #7.
- Saturdays pop starlet Frankie Sandford and footballer Wayne Bridge welcomed their son Parker in October 2013. Could they be one of the reasons Parker went up from #425 to #342 in 2013.
Other Saturdays babies are also seeing a name rise. Una Healy's daughter Aoife was born in 2012 and since the name has risen into the top 200 for the first time at #192 in 2013. Rochelle Hume's daughter Alaia-Mai, born in May 2013, has seen 20 girls named Alaia born in 2013, its highest number to date. - Edith has moved from #221 in 2012 to #164 in 2013. Is it Despicable Me, Downton Abbey or both?
- The "Prince George effect". Yes, George did move up two places overall in 2013, breaking back into the top 10 since 2010, when it ranked #9. However, looking at the breakdown by month, George was most popular from February to July (it peaked at #5 in April) and actually fell out of the top 10 after Prince George's birth.
