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jeffinRTP t1_issy2th wrote

I wonder if it has changed over time? Have some names been popular and then fallen out or have they consistently been used? Also are they more popular in certain areas than others? I think they are more common in the south but I do not know.

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earnest_dad OP t1_issyqyv wrote

These are *excellent* questions. With the data we have, it's much easier to examine the first question you posed. It seems totally doable to create an indicator for whether a name is a combination (like these), and look at the proportion of all names that satisfy this property over time. I'm guessing you're right that there's some regional variation, but unfortunately the babynames library I used doesn't connect names to distinct geographies. Would be very cool to examine that, though!

Thanks for the comment!

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jeffinRTP t1_ist46sn wrote

I've noticed usage changes over time as when someone is famous their names become more common etc. Not sure if census data would help with geography or popularity over time.

Your chart is interesting because I've never thought about compound names and it caused me to think about it and other things.

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Purplekeyboard t1_iswai0z wrote

Names absolutely go in and out of fashion over the years. A name will start to become popular, then become super popular, then everyone will decide it's too popular and stop using it because every grade school class will have 5 girls named Mary/Lisa/Heather/Olivia.

Once a name falls out of fashion, it becomes a middle aged woman's name, then an old woman's name, and nobody wants to name their baby girl an old woman's name so the name vanishes. And then is available once again to become a new trendy name.

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