Me and my wife are contemplating names for our first baby we’re expecting in a couple of months! We don’t know yet if it’s going to be a girl or a boy, and our shortlist of names is very short right now with just one name. Needless to say, we’re scrambling to come up with options.
I turned to data and this how it went.
I downloaded baby names data from Social Security Administration and fired up Power BI Designer (preview). The data is from 1910 through 2014. I’ve to remind you that Power BI Designer is in preview. There’re some limitations with the type of visualizations you can create, and Power BI team is working hard and fast to make it fully functional. Since this is still a preview, I created basic charts instead of comprehensive visuals.
Count of babies born each year
I was immediately curious to see the count of babies born over time.
“2010s” isn’t full 10 years yet, but babies have been on the rise for the past 4 decades from 1970. Taking a closer by year for the last 30 years, there are noticeable slumps from 2008 to 2010, 2001 to 2002, 1991 to 1993, and in 1983. All these four occasions have one thing in common: recession. It’s hard to come to conclusions based on just one factor, but it does appear that welcoming babies isn’t on peoples minds when times are tough.
How many distinct names are used
Then I wanted to know the number of distinct names.
This is interesting because until 1950s, about only 20,000 names were used each decade. But the distinct names have been increasing since then. From 2000 to 2009 (2000s), as many as about 58,000 names are used. This means there are less chances of multiple people having the same name.
Again, a closer look for the last 30 years confirms this trend. Are people being creative when naming their babies!?
All-time favorite names
Next is top 25 all-time favorite names.
Girls:
Mary is the clear winner, however see how it’s hugely popular until 1960s and not so popular since then.
Boys:
Unlike for girls, there is no clear winner. James, John, and Robert are all up there. The top name James has been popular until the 80’s.
Favorite names in recent times
Girls:
Last 15 years…
Last 10 years…
Last 5 years…
Boys:
Last 15 years…
Last 10 years…
Last 5 years…
Favorites in 2014
A lot of babies are named either Emma or Noah in 2014.
This means only one thing. 20 years from now, a whole lot cups at Starbucks will be labelled Emma and Noah.
By no means this is a comprehensive dashboard. I did this for fun, and that mission stays accomplished.
