Sources and method

What the numbers mean

Rank is the publisher's own. Where counts exist, tied names share a rank and the next rank is skipped (1, 2, 2, 4); otherwise we keep the published order.

Per 100,000 is the number of girls given the name for every 100,000 girls in that region's published list for the year. It is shown only where the publisher lists nearly every name, because a top-100 list has no total to divide by. "1 in N" is the same figure turned around.

Small counts are left out of the "where she's given" lists: a region appears when at least five girls were given the name or it ranks in the top 200. Cities publish counts of one and two that are real but say little.

Trends, generations and styles

A name is rising in a region when her share grew by at least a quarter over the latest five years, or she climbed ten or more places in a top list. Falling is the same rule in reverse.

The generation line uses the two longest records with full counts: France since 1900, and Ontario and British Columbia combined. "Half of the babies were born in or after" a year is the median birth year in that record since 1925.

Styles such as vintage, revival, classic and modern are rules applied to those records. Each style page prints its rule and the evidence for every name on it.

The brightest place ("strongest region") is where she ranks highest among national, provincial and state lists. City lists count only when none of those lists her, and partial lists only when nothing else does; a tie goes to the higher share.

Meanings, origins and sound

Meanings and etymologies come from Wiktionary. Where a name borrows its meaning from a related name, the page says which one. Where the source hedges with "possibly" or "perhaps", so do we. Where the only information is the language a name is used in, we say "used in", never "origin".

Syllable counts and sounds come from the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary and other checked references where they have the name, and from spelling rules otherwise.

Style neighbours are names whose popularity moved together with hers across regions and decades, measured over the published lists.

Germany, Israel and other special cases

Germany publishes no national statistics on first names. The German figures here are official city lists: Berlin, Munich, Cologne, Bonn, Leipzig and Rostock. They are never presented as the country. Munich counts babies under one living in the city at the end of the year rather than births.

Israel publishes names in Hebrew script, by population group. The Latin spelling on this site is a transliteration, shown beside the published form. Moscow publishes in Cyrillic and is handled the same way.

Some publishers release only a top list (for example the Australian states, New Zealand and Spain). Those regions are compared by rank only.