First Names Only Used in the USA

[Hot Pepsi]

Not at all uniquely US, but Owen seems to be doing really well in the US at the moment.

[Hot Pepsi]

No record of anyone called Brick. Decades ago there was a story doing the rounds that a registrar had stopped parents with the surname Wall from naming their twin boys Brick and Stone, but I can't find any evidence of this now.

We also have a number of "Brocks." Brock Holt - the most baseball name conceivable - played for the Red Sox and is now with the Nationals, I think.

At one point, the NFL had not one, but TWO quarterbacks (maybe more) named "Colt." In addition, of course, to a team named the Colts. Neither of the Colts played for the Colts, as far as I can remember.

[Balderdasha]

Actors often change their stage names if somebody else in SAG is already using it or, perhaps, they just want to change it. Apparently Vin Diesel's real name is Mark Sinclair.


What about all of the "western" names?

Are there any people named Wyatt outside of the US?

Wyatt is more popular than I thought. 203 baby boys named Wyatt in 2017.

[Hot Pepsi]

How about Dakota? That's used for boys and girls here, but mostly girls, I think. It seems very 80s now.

[Balderdasha]

How about Dakota? That's used for boys and girls here, but mostly girls, I think. It seems very 80s now.

Mostly used for girls here, 105 baby girls called Dakota in 2018, but there were also eight boys given the name that year.

[Balderdasha]

The trend of naming children after American place names is interesting. No-one's going around naming their children Manchester or Liverpool (at least I don't think they are... Off to check...)

[Balderdasha]

Yep, no Manchester's or Liverpool's, but there were 33 babies named London in 2012, fairly evenly split between boys and girls.

[Balderdasha]

And I've found 37 baby boys named Camden in 2013! That one's a surprise.

[Balderdasha]

Four baby boys named York in 2007. This could get a bit addictive.

[Fussbudget]

Stealing sw2boro's thunder here, but he used to have an American flatmate known as Brad, which it turns out was short for Bradford.

[Hot Pepsi]

My brother's name is Bradford. It's unusual. Most Brads are Bradley, I think.

[ale]

Charles is sometimes shortened to Chaz. That's probably unique to the US.

Family tree has such an abbreviation for an uncle in 1881 UK census .

[Walt Flanagans Dog]

Nine baby boys called Anson in 2019. Not a name I'd heard of.

Not a fan of Happy Days then? (Potsie was played by Anson Williams)

[Hot Pepsi]

Family tree has such an abbreviation for an uncle in 1881 UK census .

With a Z?

[Hot Pepsi]

Not a fan of Happy Days then? (Potsie was played by Anson Williams)

Anson Carter played hockey for Michigan State and about 12 years in the NHL Those are the only two Ansons I've heard of.

[ursus arctos]

Robert Heinlein's middle name was Anson

[Walt Flanagans Dog]

Willow and Piper are quite popular. 1,995 baby girls called Willow in 2019, the 19th most popular girl's name. 323 baby girls called Piper in 2018.

I tried in vain to call our daughter Willow, in 2003. Now that she has grown up and watched a fair bit of Buffy alongside me she quite likes the idea.

We did however saddle her with a first name which remains quite unusual here, and which has now led to a running joke of what baristas will write on her cup at Starbucks (whether here or abroad). It has saved me a few quid on souvenirs with names on, as they never have her name (nor do they have her brother's, which is equally rare), the exception being that she found a keyring with her name on in Montreal which she still has many years later.

[elguapo4]

Watching the Bohemians v Sligo game tonight. Bohs have an 18 year old Dawson, who was born when Dawson's Creek was at it's height. Sligo have a Regan, I don't know what his parents excuse is.

[Nocturnal Submission]

Not a fan of Happy Days then? (Potsie was played by Anson Williams)

Nephew of the man who developed the Heimlich manoeuvre.

[Amor de Cosmos]

Yep, no Manchester's or Liverpool's, but there were 33 babies named London in 2012, fairly evenly split between boys and girls.

Chelsea for girls was, of course, massive especially when our son was born, I kind of wanted to call him Hammersmith in response but his Mum wouldn't have it.

[Balderdasha]

Chelsea for girls was, of course, massive especially when our son was born, I kind of wanted to call him Hammersmith in response but his Mum wouldn't have it.

I'd almost forgotten about Chelsea as a name. It's dive bombed from 1,735 baby girls in 1996 to only 41 in 2019.

[Balderdasha]

My brother's name is Bradford. It's unusual. Most Brads are Bradley, I think.

Definitely unusual. I can't find any record of any baby Bradford's in the last 24 years (in England and Wales at least).

[Balderdasha]

Not a fan of Happy Days then? (Potsie was played by Anson Williams)

I used to watch it occasionally, but certainly not often enough to know the names of the actors. I was a bit too young; the final episode was originally broadcast when I was two.

[jwdd27]

Myra is apparently enjoying a slight resurgence in the US, I wonder if the negative connotations in the UK will start to wear off.
I did go to school with a Myra who would have been born around 1973 so it was still in occasional use after the murders.

Tori Amos' real first name is Myra, although she was born in 1963.

Browsing the rest of the thread, I know 2 females called Dale who are mother and daughter, some sort of family tradition. Happily the younger Dale had two boys so was able to skip it.

[Walt Flanagans Dog]

Myra is apparently enjoying a slight resurgence in the US, I wonder if the negative connotations in the UK will start to wear off.
I did go to school with a Myra who would have been born around 1973 so it was still in occasional use after the murders.

I worked with one - I wouldn't know her exact age but definitely well after that.