Geographical Names: Brooklyn, Camden, etc.

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plunderb is not online. Last active: 06-17-2013, 8:30 PM

Geographical Names: Brooklyn, Camden, etc.

I was looking something up for the Camden post below and noticed something funny in the data. Some geographical names are vastly more popular in the states where they are most relevant, while others are substantially less popular in the relevant state.

For example, Brooklyn is #21 in the US and top-10 in nine states, but it ranks lowest in New York (#166) and New Jersey (#119).

Meanwhile, Camden is the #160 name for boys in the US, ranking as high as #59 in some states. But it's not even on the New Jersey list, meaning that out of more than 50,000 baby boys born in NJ in 2011, fewer than 5 were named Camden.

But some geographical names benefit in their home states. Take Acadia, which ranks highest in Maine (#219 vs. #3,755 nationally) and McKinley, which ranks highest in Alaska (#88 vs. #451 nationally).

An interesting pattern. It seems that the local city names don't do well in their states, but natural attractions get a boost.

Do you have a local city, mountain, or park that you've seen used as a name? Post it and I'll check its relative popularity.

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12-31-2012 at 3:48 PM

RiverSong8...

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I keep seeing Waverly posted on this board. It's a town in PA, and I've never heard anyone actually use it in PA.

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12-31-2012 at 3:53 PM

neverblush...

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Interesting!

I generally think that place names are for places, not for people. But I do think it makes sense that natural landmarks would seem more acceptable as names in their own area than cities.

I live 30 miles from the nation's capital, and you just don't hear of many kids named Washington here! It would be SUPER weird. Baltimore would be weird too.

However, I do know of a few Maryland kids IRL with place names representative of area geography:

Bay -- after the Chesapeake Bay

Tilghman -- after Tilghman Island, could also be Tilman, Tillman, or Tillmann

Harper -- Harper's Ferry, WV

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12-31-2012 at 3:59 PM

mrscjmb941...

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I see so many posts/tickers/newspaper birth announcements where the baby is named 'London' (both boy and girl)...and well, I don't get it.

I live just outside London, England...there is also London, Ontario, and quite a few other places called London: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_%28disambiguation%29

London is a destination, not a name of a person. (Except obviously, that there are people named London, which as I mentioned, I do not understand.)

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12-31-2012 at 4:00 PM

megemoney

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I don't like "city" names.

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12-31-2012 at 4:15 PM

plunderb

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Some other regional faves/dislikes:

Canyon is most popular for boys in Utah (#395 vs. #1,557 nationally)

Caroline is most popular for girls in South Carolina (#15 vs. #87)

Virginia is most popular for girls in Virginia (#185 vs, #576 nationally)

Dakota is not on the list (fewer than 5 uses) for both boys and girls in both Dakotas.

Phoenix is notably unpopular in Arizona: (#745 vs. #388 nationally for boys; #1,036 vs. #645 for girls)

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12-31-2012 at 4:48 PM

BlueRidge8

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DD is named after Adare, Ireland

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12-31-2012 at 5:16 PM

GWUAlum

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Charlotte

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12-31-2012 at 5:16 PM

austenread...

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Interesting that McKinley is more popular in Alaska. Must be military transfers because the mountain is known as Denali to the locals. which by the way when I lived there I knew a girl named Denali!

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12-31-2012 at 5:50 PM

plunderb

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GWUAlum:
Charlotte

Looks like Charlotte is disproportionately unpopular in NC (#41 vs. #27 nationally). It's not the lowest ranked, though — that honor goes to South Dakota, where Charlotte is #112. But compared to neighboring Virginia, where Charlotte is #12, it looks like the city may be a factor.

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12-31-2012 at 5:54 PM

brookelynp...

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My dog is Paisley after a town in Scotland. I have a cousin named Caroline, and a friend who named his daughter London. A former boss had Berlin and Brooklyn was on their list for #2.

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12-31-2012 at 5:59 PM

allieshort...

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I've never thought much about this, but I love the name Acadia and I am happy to see it mentioned as a name, not just a place.

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12-31-2012 at 6:00 PM

austenread...

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I looked up Savannah and was surprised that it was 34 in Georgia. Shenandoah is on our long list (place in VA). I don't think it even ranks in VA let alone elsewhere though.

How are you checking popularity by state past 100? I don't know how to do that.

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12-31-2012 at 6:02 PM

CabbageCab...

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Camden the city is sort of a sh*t hole and people who live near it know that. I have a feeling most Camdens are named because of surname sound trends rather than the city.

Acadias or McKinleys seem more likely to be named after the local landmark whether that's for the sound or an association.

Londons and Brooklyns seem very likely to be named for style if they are American kids not on the east coast.

I guess there are lots of different types of place names.

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12-31-2012 at 6:04 PM

FrecklesIn...

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I vote it is because the people who actually live near those places know whether or not they make a good namesake...

I'm not a fan of place names. I'm more accepting of landmark/mountain/forest etc. names than of city/town/country names.

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12-31-2012 at 6:11 PM

cg2307

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CabbageCabbage:
Camden the city is sort of a sh*t hole and people who live near it know that. I have a feeling most Camdens are named because of surname sound trends rather than the city.
Acadias or McKinleys seem more likely to be named after the local landmark whether that's for the sound or an association.
Londons and Brooklyns seem very likely to be named for style if they are American kids not on the east coast.
I guess there are lots of different types of place names.

Yeah, I'd have to say most people from Jersey/Philly would stay away from Camden. I can't imagine anyone would want their child named after a city that just set a record for murders this year.

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12-31-2012 at 6:35 PM

MrsJ723

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plunderb:
GWUAlum:
Charlotte
Looks like Charlotte is disproportionately unpopular in NC (#41 vs. #27 nationally). It's not the lowest ranked, though — that honor goes to South Dakota, where Charlotte is #112. But compared to neighboring Virginia, where Charlotte is #12, it looks like the city may be a factor.

There is a Charlottesville in VA.

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12-31-2012 at 7:03 PM

plunderb

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austenreader85:

How are you checking popularity by state past 100? I don't know how to do that.

If you go to the SSA "Beyond the Top 1,000" page, you can download zip files of the extended data by state. They're sort of beastly, as they include all the data back to 1911 in a single file and aren't formatted very well. But if you take the time, you can paste the years you are interested in into an Excel file.

Or you can just page me on here if you want me to look something up. DH is a software engineer and he made me a handy dandy database as a present.

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12-31-2012 at 7:25 PM

austenread...

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plunderb:
austenreader85:

How are you checking popularity by state past 100? I don't know how to do that.
If you go to the SSA "Beyond the Top 1,000" page, you can download zip files of the extended data by state. They're sort of beastly, as they include all the data back to 1911 in a single file and aren't formatted very well. But if you take the time, you can paste the years you are interested in into an Excel file.
Or you can just page me on here if you want me to look something up. DH is a software engineer and he made me a handy dandy database as a present.

Thanks! Whenever I wanted to see the Beyond 1000 list I would go find a thread where MJ Reilly posted because I know it's in her siggy. Hope that doesn't sound stalkerish!

And wow, so jealous your H would do that for you. I should have married a software engineer, lol!

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12-31-2012 at 7:27 PM

austenread...

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MrsJ723:
plunderb:
GWUAlum:
Charlotte
Looks like Charlotte is disproportionately unpopular in NC (#41 vs. #27 nationally). It's not the lowest ranked, though — that honor goes to South Dakota, where Charlotte is #112. But compared to neighboring Virginia, where Charlotte is #12, it looks like the city may be a factor.
There is a Charlottesville in VA.

Yeah, but it's a lot smaller than Charlotte, NC. When you figure the majority of the VA population live in much more populated parts of the state (NOVA and Tidewater) and the fact that most people I meet from those parts of the state have no clue where Charlottesville is (I give my location in reference to DC and Richmond)- even if they know of UVA then I doubt that people are choosing Charlotte because of Charlottesville.

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12-31-2012 at 7:53 PM

katie6/26/...

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I would say people who live in NJ would not want to name their child that because of what the city represents. Acadia and McKinley are beautiful places (I'm a Mainer so I'm biased on Acadia), so the image would be more favorable for a local. My DH is from a few towns over from Camden, so the name is very negative for him.

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12-31-2012 at 11:05 PM

Oops34

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My oldest DS is Arlington. It's not after a particular city even though there are several in the country. We are a military family, and we think Arlington is a very patriotic name. We had intended to call him Arlie, but it just doesn't fit him so he goes by Arlington all the time. I know it's not a liked name here, but it fits him very well.

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01-01-2013 at 3:05 AM

coopsbaby

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Well I'm in Wisconsin and know quite a few little Madisons (which always gets me since we're just outside of Madison). But at least Madison WI is a beautiful city, lovely place to live, etc.

I don't generally care for place names,my exception being Georgia, which I just adore. But that's more a legit name to me than say London or Brooklyn.

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01-01-2013 at 8:55 AM

Eko14

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I didn't even know Acadia was a place until I suggested it to MH and he looked at me like I was on drugs and responded with "uh... no." Then again, I am from Canada and don't really keep up with place names in the US. I could name the states and capitals for you but that's as far as it goes. Yesterday we were watching How I Met Your Mother and Barney&Ted were flying to Philedelphia from Manhattan so I DH and I got out a map so he could show me where they are. I am geographically challenged for sure. That being said, I genereally am not a fan of place names as first names. Please no more Dallas' pleeease. My son plays soccer with other 3 year olds and they all have their names on their shirts and we have: Brooklyn, Dallas, Boston, and Jaxton (Jackson?)

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01-01-2013 at 9:45 AM

plunderb

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coopsbaby:
Well I'm in Wisconsin and know quite a few little Madisons (which always gets me since we're just outside of Madison). But at least Madison WI is a beautiful city, lovely place to live, etc.

I looked up Madison and it turns out that it is popular in Wisconsin (#15), but it is still disproportionately unpopular. That is, Madison is a top-10 name in most states, including neighboring Michigan (#6), but is comparatively low ranked in Wisconsin. Only 8 states have lower ranks for Madison, including neighboring Minnesota and Iowa.