![]() This seems surprising at first: nobody would want to name their child after a devastating natural disaster, of course! But when a particularly dangerous hurricane wreaks havoc over a country, the name of the hurricane will be mentioned again and again in the media.” They found that when there are major hurricanes in the US, the next generation of babies will be more likely to feature sounds that occur in the name of the hurricane, such as Katie after Hurricane Katrina. Shih’s research has used data from Facebook account names to show that there is indeed a small tendency for parents to prefer names without ‘s’ when their last name starts with ‘s’.”ĭr Winter continues: “In another recent paper, Berger and colleagues (2012) found a surprising result using more than 100 years of first-names data. “If your family name starts with ‘S’, such as Scott, Smith, Saunders, or Sullivan, it may be advisable not to have a first name that ends in ‘s’, such as Marcus, Charles, or Nicolas – because the two ‘s’ sounds will blend into each other. For example, research by Stephanie Shih shows that parents try to avoid choosing first names that would clash with their family names.” So how can principles of linguistics affect the names we choose for our children?ĭr Bodo Winter explains: “There are a lot of things that affect name choice, and several of these have been explored in research. Hannah, which is not only lovely according to principles of linguistics, but is also a palindrome, and Ellie complete the top ten best sounding girls baby names in the nation. It seems that celebrity children can also act as a reliable source of inspiration, with names including Ivy (similar to that of Beyonce’s child Blue Ivy) and Willow (the same name of Will Smith’s daughter) ranking in our top ten. ![]() Other names ending in the sound ‘ee’, including Sophie, Ivy and Phoebe ranked in positions four to six. When it comes to popular girls’ names, it was Sophia, Zoe and Rosie which topped the list of most beautiful sounding. Harry narrowly misses the top ten, ranking in 17th spot as the most beautiful sounding boys’ name in the UK. Our study also revealed that the names of the country’s male royal family members are considered to be some of the most beautiful sounding in the world, with Louie, William and George all ranking in the top ten, in positions four, five and seven respectively. Following very closely behind to complete the top three were popular boys’ names including Jesse and Charlie. The name was popularised in the UK over a decade ago, thanks to One Direction member Zayn Malik. In the UK it was Zayn which topped the list as the most beautiful sounding boys’ name. The Most Beautiful Sounding Names In The UK, According To Linguistics So which of the world’s most popular baby names sound the most beautiful when spoken aloud? We’ve partnered with Dr Bodo Winter, Associate Professor of Cognitive Linguistics at the University of Birmingham to find out, and have analysed hundreds of popular baby names to reveal the most beautiful sounding names from both here in the UK and in the US. ![]() Though these findings aren’t universal, there is a wealth of research out there to support that meaningful associations with names are shared across languages around the world. ![]() Principles of linguistics such as iconicity (or ‘sound symbolism’) and the research emerging from this field reveals that some words – and therefore names – sound better than others. Here at My 1st Years, we think every name is beautiful – but what does the science say? However, the names which sound best to our ears (and minds) are often the ones which get picked as the chosen name for our new arrivals. There are a number of different ways we can name our newborns, from generations of passed down monikers, to celebrity-inspired trending names.
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