What's In a Name?

Databases of information can provide amazing story ideas for trends that may go unnoticed without the proper analysis. That is where the power of data journalism lies. Ex-Miami Herald reporter Steve Doig discussed this fact during his skype visit with our class that I wrote about in an earlier post: "We're living in the golden age of data... the government collects a lot of data and they do a lousy job of analyzing their own data." 

One story from the U.S. Social Security database that seems to come out at least once a year is about the most popular baby names of the past 12 months. Within recent years, I have found it interesting that people have been taking the names of their favorite characters from pop culture TV shows and movies, and naming their children after them. What's interesting is that these names did not appear prior to the TV show's (or movie's) releases according to the U.S. Social Security database. Talk about pop culture influencing the younger generations!

 

Khaleesi, Daenerys Targaryen the Queen of Dragons

HBO’s Game of Thrones first aired in 2011 and inspired the creation of the name Khaleesi based on the show’s character Daenerys Targaryen, played by Emilia Clarke. Khaleesi translates to Queen in the fictional Dothraki barbarian language of the Game of Thrones universe. Although the state of Oregon only claims one Khaleesi, the name has gained a lot of traction nationally as the 755^th ranked most popular name in the United States in 2014 (up from its 1,021 ranking in 2013).  Leonidas is a name inspired by the 2006 big screen hit 300, which stars Gerard Butler as King Leonidas of Sparta. There have been four Oregonian sons named after the battle-hardened king since the movie was released in 2006 and landed as the 566^th most popular boys name in the United States in 2014.  The animated cult classic TV show Archer, which first aired on FX in 2009, sparked the use of the last name of the show's anti-hero protagonist (Sterling Archer) as a first name for boys in Oregon. There has been one Archer born in Oregon every year since the show debuted in 2009 and according to nameberry.com, another name database, Archer ranked the 303rd most popular boy's name in the U.S. of 2014.      

     TV/Movie Inspired Oregon Names

Year	Archer	Khaleesi	Leonidas
2009	1		1
2010	1
2011	1
2012	1		1
2013	1		1
2014	1	1	1

Speaking of famous TV and movie characters there have been many famous actors that play those characters that call Oregon home, but how many other people shared the name of a soon to be famous person in the same year they were born? Modern Family’s Ty Burrell is a noted Oregon native and University of Oregon football super fan. He was born Tyler Gerald Burrell on August 22^nd, 1967 in the small city of Grants Pass, Oregon. He was one of only eight Tylers born in the entire state in 1967. 

How about actress and noted supermodel Sara Jean Underwood? Underwood is a Portlandian who was born March 26, 1984, and is one of 157 Saras born that year. And perhaps the most famous Oregonian of recent memory, Matt Groening the iconic creator of TV’s The Simpsons, who based The Simpsons universe he created off of Springfield, Oregon about an hour south of his native Portland. Groening is 1 of 40 Matthews born in 1954 in Oregon.

A mural of The Simpsons in downtown Springfield, Oregon

There are many more trends not mentioned in this article that can be found in the annals of forgotten massive databases like the U.S. Social Security database. Be it a journalist struggling to find an idea for his or her next big story or just an average citizen that has an overactive sense of curiosity databases can provide a plethora of information to satisfy any of the questions you may have about our society in the U.S.