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Details:
Circles appear at the year in which the name was at its most popular. The circle size represents the total number of babies with that name born in that year.
For legibility, I apply some moderate collision detection and the circles may be pushed a bit away from their actual location on the graph; if you see a circle move when you click it, it's easing back to its actual position.
In case you were wondering...to determine the popularity of each name, I start with the fraction of babies in each year with that name. Then, I sum all of the fractions for each of the years. This results in the numbers along the Popularity slider, which is set up on a logarithmic scale to account for the vast difference between the frequency of Johns and Marys vs. Braylons and Paisleys.
Secrets!
- A number of names have changed sex over the years, like Ashley and Lindsey/Lindsay. This visualization shows only one sex per name per year.
- The bottom tenth or so of the Popularity slider yields only male names. Why are the less popular male names (among the top 1000) so much less popular than their female counterparts?
- Find any other unexpected gems? Tell me about it!
Why?
Well, I had a baby! And a little paternity leave. Inspired by previous experiments like the Baby Name Wizard, Popular Baby Names, and this Bump Plot, I decided to take a pass myself, and pick up some more d3.v4 while I was at it. Took a bit longer than expected...but hey, that's life with two kids.
This is a transmote joint. Feel free to break it yourself here. You can get some baby names yourself with this scraper.