# Why do people not have more unique names than they do? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 26, 2018, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-not-have-more-unique-names-than-they-do/818615 "2018-07-26T13:26:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2018, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-not-have-more-unique-names-than-they-do/818615/61 "2018-07-30T13:57:16Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I suspect that both the choice of names on the shirts _and_ the choice of which names to call each other are both due to the greater variety of last names. Even “Smith” is shared by less than 1% of English-speakers, but “John” has been as high as 8% of English-speaking men. It’s declined in time, but was still around 5% for men born in the 1920s (i.e., those who would have been fighting in WWII). A decent-sized group of men is likely to have multiple guys with the same first name, but not likely to have multiple with the same last name unless they’re brothers. In my experience, these things tend to work themselves out. In any decent-sized group of men, eventually some will be referred to by their first name, some will be referred to by their last name, and some will be referred to by a nickname. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2018, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-not-have-more-unique-names-than-they-do/818615/62 "2018-07-30T13:59:36Z")
People are just shit at remembering and spelling names, even common ones. My name is Neil. Every globally famous person with a variant of my name for the last 50 years or so has spelled it the same way. Are there famous Neals? Sure. There’s Katyal, who nobody outside the US has ever heard of, and a few backing musicians. Famous Nialls - well, there’s footballer Quinn and that guy from One Direction. Famous Neils, by contrast, include Armstrong, Kinnock, Sedaka, Diamond, Patrick Harris, deGrasse Tyson, Tennant, Young, etc. And yet the vast majority of Americans - _Americans!_ - assume that it’s spelled Neal when they meet me. Why? ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2018, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-not-have-more-unique-names-than-they-do/818615/63 "2018-07-30T14:18:14Z")
> [@Terminus\_Est](#): > > So you get the utterly bizarre names like Praise-God. Full name, Praise-God Barebone. He called his son If-Christ-had-not-died-for-thee-thou-hadst-been-damned. The son, apparently, wasn’t having any of that, and called himself [Nicholas Barbon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicholas_Barbon). He was a fairly influential economist, among several other roles. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2018, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-not-have-more-unique-names-than-they-do/818615/64 "2018-07-30T14:32:56Z")
> [@Aspidistra](#): > > In 1890, the most popular girls’ name was Mary, and about 5% of girls had it > In 1920, the most popular girls’ name was still Mary, and still about 5% of girls had it > In 1950, the most popular girls’ name was still Mary, and about 3% of girls had it > In 1980, the most popular girls’ name was Jessica, and about 2.5% of girls had it > In 2010, the most popular girls’ name was Isabella, and about 1% of girls had it > > Similar pattern for boys, but less pronounced. So the English speaking tradition had a period of being \*very \*conservative, but has been diversifying for the best part of the last century… Is this that people are choosing more names, or simply that there are more cultures than the old stock moving in to suchy countries? I was born in 1971 and my classes always included epic numbers of Jennifers; there was very little originality in naming convention. But as Canada has filled up with folks from other countries, classes are now full of Mohammeds, Carmelitas, Ravis, and Baos. It’s not that we’re getting more original, we just have more origins for unoriginal names. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2018, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-not-have-more-unique-names-than-they-do/818615/65 "2018-07-30T16:41:27Z")
I taught high school in the U.S. for 26 years. I would not make up a name for a child of mine because he/she’d have to pronounce and spell it whenever meeting a new person. From the attitudes of the kids having to do this for me the first day of school, I gather it’s annoying. I suppose some parents might think that this would be a way to make a kid special, but I think it would be cruel. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2018, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-not-have-more-unique-names-than-they-do/818615/66 "2018-07-30T18:16:15Z")
> [@california\_jobcase](#): > > I suppose some parents might think that this would be a way to make a kid special, but I think it would be cruel. This world is rough. And if a man’s going to make it he’s got to be tough. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2018, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-not-have-more-unique-names-than-they-do/818615/67 "2018-07-30T18:26:29Z")
I have a friend who taught second grade for a while. She saved a list of some of the stranger names she came across. The names parents come up with these days are…interesting. Examples: Dazzilyn, Angeleyez, N’Gage, Klowiie, Trulee All-time grand champion: Aiaia. If I knew this person, every time I had to say that name, I’d say it like [this](https://youtu.be/Jx7SwtqEMyM). ---
**Author:** ![Brayne\_Ded](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Brayne\_Ded](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Brayne_Ded)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2018, 8:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-not-have-more-unique-names-than-they-do/818615/68 "2018-07-31T08:32:09Z")
> [@Northern\_Piper](#): > > Getting back to the OP, I disagree that people don’t have unique names, because in the anglo world, there’s the combination of the last and first name. Sure, that produces some generic names, like “John Smith”, but generally, the combination is unique or uncommon. > > I’ve never met anyone with my combination of firstname-lastname, and neither has Mrs Piper. The combinations are seldom unique. I have heard of (but never actually met face to face) my namesakes within the relatively small expatriate communities I lived in, and while the combination is not extremely common, it is certainly not unusual. Google for your own name and you will find many matches unless you have some really weird name or combination. Names can go up and down in popularity very quickly. In Germany after 1945 there have been very few babies named Adolf. For that matter, old names like Fritz and Hermann have become rare. ---
**Author:** ![Urbanredneck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ea5d25/32.png) [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2018, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-not-have-more-unique-names-than-they-do/818615/69 "2018-07-31T11:51:56Z")
I’ve known people with odd names and one thing that bugs them, whenever you see one of those displays selling say bracelets or hats or whatever with peoples names (like John or Mary) they are always frustrated that they NEVER see their name and cant or wont buy one. This is why I always say, if you give your kid an odd name, please give them a common middle name. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2018, 12:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-not-have-more-unique-names-than-they-do/818615/70 "2018-07-31T12:14:12Z")
When so many parents strive to make their kids’ names unique, it sort of dilutes the meaning of uniqueness. Regardless of names, we wind up with the same assemblage of automaton cellphone zombies. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2018, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-not-have-more-unique-names-than-they-do/818615/71 "2018-07-31T12:53:49Z")
> [@Brayne\_Ded](#): > > The combinations are seldom unique. I have heard of (but never actually met face to face) my namesakes within the relatively small expatriate communities I lived in, and while the combination is not extremely common, it is certainly not unusual. Google for your own name and you will find many matches unless you have some really weird name or combination. Unless there is one in the family branch that split in the 17th century, I’m the only person in history to have my combination of first+lastname. Family tradition: girls always get a unique combo. ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2018, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-not-have-more-unique-names-than-they-do/818615/72 "2018-07-31T22:54:12Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > This world is rough. And if a man’s going to make it he’s got to be tough. No one is going to queried constantly about how to pronounce or spell Sue, however. ---
**Author:** ![Licentious\_Ectomorph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/5e9695/32.png) [@Licentious\_Ectomorph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Licentious_Ectomorph)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2018, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-not-have-more-unique-names-than-they-do/818615/73 "2018-08-01T02:22:25Z")
My parents gave me an old Irish name. Not sure why, as I have no Irish heritage that I know of; I guess they just liked it. It was unusual, to say the least, in 1970. For most of my childhood and adolescence, I _hated_ it. I didn’t know anyone else with that name until I was well into my 20s. Nowadays, thanks in part to popular culture, it seems to be more common - I encounter it with some regularity. Now, at the age of 47, I’m proud of my name. It’s unusual enough to be…well, unusual…without being so “out there” that no one’s ever heard of it. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2018, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-not-have-more-unique-names-than-they-do/818615/74 "2018-08-01T02:22:31Z")
In Italy, going by Elena Ferrante’s novel _My Brilliant Friend_, even young girls are addressed by their last names by the teachers and other pupils, starting with 1st grade. The two protagonists Elena Greco and Lila Cerullo are always called just “Greco” and “Cerullo” at school. ---
**Author:** ![robardin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/43a26b/32.png) [@robardin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robardin)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2018, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-not-have-more-unique-names-than-they-do/818615/75 "2018-08-01T11:58:41Z")
> [@california\_jobcase](#): > > No one is going to queried constantly about how to pronounce or spell Sue, however. Though if actually named “Sue” people may likely assume it’s a diminutive of “Susan”. I know people formally named Nate (not Nathan), Pat (not Patrick), and Bill (not William). I feel kind of bad for Nate; I’ve never met an adult man who wanted to be called that, as opposed to the other two which are commonly used. Maybe other than pro athletes who retain nicknames from their youth. It’s not as bad as naming a child Precious or Babygirl, of course. ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2018, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-not-have-more-unique-names-than-they-do/818615/76 "2018-08-01T13:41:28Z")
> [@robardin](#): > > Though if actually named “Sue” people may likely assume it’s a diminutive of “Susan”. > … **DPRK** and I were referencing the Johnny Cash song, “A Boy Named Sue.” ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2018, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-not-have-more-unique-names-than-they-do/818615/77 "2018-08-01T14:10:14Z")
> [@robardin](#): > > It’s not as bad as naming a child Precious or Babygirl, of course. When I worked in a high school, there was a girl there named “Princess.” You could see the teachers squirm every time they said her name. There’s not even really a good way to abbreviate it. She was kind of stuck going by “Princess.” Made me feel better about my name. At least when my parents named me Rivkah, we were living in the middle of a big Jewish community, where it was a perfectly normal name. They had no way of knowing I’d end up living most of my life in Indiana. Something I never understood was why they named me Rivkah, not Rebecca, but named my brother Joshua, not Yehoshua. My mother said it was because they planned to call him “Josh,” not “Yeshua,” or anything that was close to whatever Jesus’ actual name was, so they went with “Joshua.” She also didn’t like the association of “Rebecca” with the villain in the Daphne du Maurier novel. I dunno. I wonder if they just went with their gut, and it was after-the-fact rationalizing. ---
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2018, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-not-have-more-unique-names-than-they-do/818615/78 "2018-08-01T14:35:15Z")
Names don’t have to be novel to be tricky to pronounce, I know two guys called Ieuan. It’s a traditional, if somewhat uncommon, Welsh name. Wales ain’t far away from here, but they’re still both going through life being called ‘Uhh, Ian?’ or ‘Ewan?’ every time they go somewhere new. I met one of them last year, he spent at least a week patiently correcting everyone. I was the only one who read his ID badge correctly, 'cos I already knew a Ieuan. ---
**Author:** ![Sicks\_Ate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2018, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-not-have-more-unique-names-than-they-do/818615/79 "2018-08-01T14:37:35Z")
So how is it pronounced? In case I ever run in to one. ---
**Author:** ![senoy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dbc845/32.png) [@senoy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/senoy)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2018, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-not-have-more-unique-names-than-they-do/818615/80 "2018-08-01T15:10:45Z")
> [@Sicks\_Ate](#): > > So how is it pronounced? In case I ever run in to one. Rhymes with Ryan, but drop the R and add a Y at the beginning, so Yi -yan. So the Y sound in the word ‘you’ or ‘yelp’. followed by a long i and then the ‘yen’ sound. Some Welsh accents replace the long i with a long a. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-not-have-more-unique-names-than-they-do/818615.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-people-not-have-more-unique-names-than-they-do/818615.md?page=5)