There's always been some overlap between baby names in Great Britain and the United States-- but also some notable similarities. According to the U.K. National Statistics Office and the U.S. Social Security Baby Name Index, here are the top 20 baby girl names from both sides of the pond in 2007:
Top 20 British Baby Girl Names in 2007
- Grace
- Ruby
- Olivia
- Emily
- Jessica
- Sophie
- Chloe
- Lily
- Ella
- Amelia
- Lucy
- Charlotte
- Ellie
- Mia
- Evie
- Hannah
- Megan
- Katie
- Isabella
- Isabelle
Top 20 U.S. Baby Girl Names in 2007
- Emily
- Isabella
- Emma
- Ava
- Madison
- Sophia
- Olivia
- Abigail
- Hannah
- Elizabeth
- Addison
- Samantha
- Ashley
- Alyssa
- Mia
- Chloe
- Natalie
- Sarah
- Alexis
- Grace
Only seven names are on both of these lists: Grace (the most popular name in the UK), Emily (the most popular name in the US), Olivia, Mia, Hannah, Chloe, and Isabella. Furthermore, only two names were on the top 10 list for both countries: Emily (#1 US, #4 UK) and Olivia (#7 US, #3 UK).
A few names did come close to making both top 20 lists. Lily, a name that's quickly becoming trendy in the US and ranked at #27, ranked at #8 in the UK. Ella, another up-and-comer on the US charts, ranked at #21 in the US and #9 in the UK. Abigail, ranked #8 in the United States, was #22 in the UK. Elizabeth was #10 in the US and #36 in the UK (a puzzling finding, perhaps). Jessica, which used to be an extremely popular American name that is currently ranked at #42, was ranked at #5 in the UK. Emma, #3 in the US, was #26 in the UK. And Madison, an ultra-trendy name in the US that ranked at #5, is catching on in the UK too-- it ranked at #35 (although the spinoff name Addison hasn't caught on in the UK yet).
An interesting point of comparison is Sophie versus Sophia. While Sophie was the #6 name in the UK, Sophia was the #6 US name. Meanwhile, Sophie ranked at #82 in the US, while Sophia ranked at #37 in the UK.
At the same time, some of the names on these charts do not overlap at all. Perhaps most notably is Ruby, an extremely popular UK name that ranked #2 in 2007. In the US, Ruby has been climbing its way out of obscurity, but it's still only ranked at #116. Charlotte, a perennially popular British name that ranked at #12 in the UK, only ranked at #102 in the US. Another UK name that's rarely used in the US is Evie, which ranked at #13 in the UK but only ranked at #806 in the US! Millie, which ranked at #21 on the UK charts, did not even make the top 1000 in the US-- and is a name Americans associate with very old women.
Other British names on the top 100 that Americans rarely use: Freya, Poppy, Imogen, Libby, Amelie, Maisie, Matilda, Niamh, Zara, Isla, Tia, Harriet, and Tilly.
Of course, some of the most popular American names aren't used much on the other side of the pond either. Top 20 US names Addison, Alexis, Ashley, and Samantha were not on the UK top 100. The popular "aylee" trend in the US-- as in Kaylee, Hailey, and Bailey-- hasn't impressed the Brits nearly as much. Nor has Nevaeh, a name that's skyrocketed out of nowhere up the charts in the US charts in recent years (it's "heaven" spelled backwards).
Other common U.S. names you don't see much in the UK: Taylor, Brianna, Destiny, Makayla, Riley, Brooklyn, and Jada.
Baby name trends denote fascinating cultural differences, and also cultural similarities. It's interesting to see how many similarities there are between English and American names, and it's also interesting to see the differences.
See also:
British and American Baby Boy Names
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