Changes in the given name popularity distribution in medieval England occurred rapidly across all social classes. … Read the post given name distribution similar across social classes in medieval England
The most popular given names have become much less popular over the past two centuries. In the U.K. about 1800, about 85% of males and 82% of females had names that were among the ten most popular given names for males and females, respectively. Apart from temporary effects of the Norman Conquest in 1066 and … Continue reading describing name frequency distributions
Given names are an important but under-appreciated type of data. Given names represent significant symbolic choices. Large populations of persons have been making this well-defined symbolic choice for millennia. Given names are thus useful data for studying symbolic choice, effects of communication technologies, and information economics. Given name frequency data are now also important to … Continue reading value of given name data
Parents usually consider carefully and at length what name to give to their new new-born children. Recent research shows that given names that increase faster in popularity also decrease faster in popularity. According to survey evidence, parents reason that names that are rapidly increasing in popularity are less likely to have enduring appeal. Hence parents … Continue reading reasoning about symbolic choices
Discussion of tails and popularity seems to be maturing into more comprehensive considerations. Folks aiming for uber-geek status might chat about the difference between power laws and log-normal distributions. This difference has similar consequences to the difference between non-stationary and stationary macroeconomic time series. If those terms are obscure to you, you might just chat … Continue reading lack of power laws and other popularity problems