Recently, while writing our guide to 50 sites every name nerd needs, I revisited a lot of name sites I’d bookmarked over the years. Among them were several graphics and animations that make name data beautiful.

　　Interested? Here are eight we think you'll enjoy.

　　Some are a little out of date now — I'd love to hear if you know of more recent ones — but they’re still fascinating ways to visualize, for example, the top names in each US state, or the most popular letters in names, over 100+ years.

　　

1. The Popularity of Baby Names by US State

Watch each state’s favorites change over time, from 1910-2014. Then — my favorite part — a more nuanced graphic where names bounce about all over the country as their popularity changes.

　　

2. Most Popular Gender Neutral Baby Name in Each State

Sure you know about gender neutral names like Riley and Charlie. But who’d have thought Johnnie, Gail, Shawn and Baby were once the most popular unisex names in a state or two? This map by Barabara Davidson is a bit (a lot) addictive.

　　

3. Gender-Neutral Names Over Time

On the more sciency side, here’s a chart by Georgios Karamanis plotting all the names given to both genders from 1880 to 2017. The thick dark patch on the right shows that, in recent years, more unisex names have been truly gender-balanced in use.

　　

4. The Evolution of US Baby Names: Bubbled

A mesmerizingly gentle way to watch names grow and fade from 1880-2014. Just sit back and enjoy the bubbles!

　　The Evolution of US Boy Names: Bubbled

　　The Evolution of US Girl Names: Bubbled

　　

5. Last Letters of Baby Names Over Time

Ever wondered how the final letters of boy and girl names compare? And how they’ve changed over time? Sociology professor Kieran Healy has the answer. One of the biggest trends is the rise of boy names ending in N in recent years (like a giant middle finger).

　　

6. Popular Letters in Baby Names

In similar vein, this gently-moving chart by Garrick Aden-Buie shows the changing popularity of letters anywhere in baby names over time — and highlights how unusual it really is to have a name containing, say, F or P.

　　

7. Trendiest Names of All Time

Is it a mountain range? Nope, it’s a chart of the names with the biggest rises and falls each year since 1930, analyzed by Nathan Yau.

　　

8. The Most Gender-Switched Names in US History

Which names have flipped most dramatically from boy to girl, or vice versa? Read the full article. also by Nathan Yau, for some fascinating graphs and explanations.

　　This post is adapted from a Nameberry newsletter. To get more cool things like this delivered to your inbox, subscribe for free.

　　

About the Author

　　

Clare Green

　　Clare Green has been writing for Nameberry since 2015, covering everything from names peaking right now to feminist baby names, and keeping up-to-date with international baby name rankings. Her work has featured in publications such as The Independent and HuffPost. Clare has a background in linguistics and librarianship, and recently completed an MA dissertation researching names in multilingual families. She lives in England with her husband and son. You can reach her at [email protected]

　　View all of Clare Green's articlesChevron - Right