How popular are English first names in non-English speaking countries? (movies, celebrities)

[MalaMan]

In many non-English speaking countries, we can find people with first names that comes from the English language.

Many of those names became popular because of the Hollywood movies, and famous American and British singers.

What are the most popular first names from English language in each country?

[MalaMan]

Here in Brazil, the most popular first names with English origin are:


Male

- Wellington
- Washington
- Michael
- Anderson
- Edson


Female

- Jennifer
- Emilly



All those names are very popular...

The first name "Edson" is extremely popular in Brazil. There are millions of "Edsons" in the country. I believe that this first name originated from the name of Thomas Alva Edison, the American inventor.

"Michael" wasn't very popular until the 80's. But after the success of Michael Jackson, this name has spread as wild fire across Brazil!



There are other names that are not so popular, but also are not that rare. "Peter", for example. It's not a popular name in Brazil, but it's not very difficult to find some Peters.


"Charles" is also a very popular name in Brazil, but I'm not sure if it came to Brazil from the English language, or from the French language. I believe that Charles Chaplin helped to popularize this name in Brazil.

[Davy-040]

Male:
Michael
Thomas
Jesse
Max
Julian
Jayden
Ruben
Dave
Nick
Noah


Female:
Julia
Eva
Emma
Lisa
Anna
Lynn
Amber
Tess
Sara
Priscilla

Don't know if all names are English.

[MalaMan]

Is Priscilla (or Priscila) an English name?

I thought it was Russian!

There are MILLIONS of Priscilas in Brazil.

[ben86]

What's an English first name though? Ben is a common name in England, but it isn't originally English - it originates from the Hebrew word for 'son'. I can't think of many of any first names which ultimately originated here. A large proportion of common first names in this country originate in the Bible or classical languages somewhere and so have direct equivalents in most European or European-descended societies.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by ben86

What's an English first name though? Ben is a common name in England, but it isn't originally English - it originates from the Hebrew word for 'son'. I can't think of many of any first names which ultimately originated here. A large proportion of common first names in this country originate in the Bible or classical languages somewhere and so have direct equivalents in most European or European-descended societies.

You are correct, although I think what is meant are given names that sound non-native and that are (might be?) influenced by global popular culture such as movies, celebrities, etc.

[intelfan11315]

I teach ESL , and I see a lot of people with the name David and Daniel

[ben86]

Originally Posted by MalaMan

Here in Brazil, the most popular first names with English origin are:


Male

- Wellington
- Washington
- Michael
- Anderson
- Edson

Those are surnames in the English-speaking world, is there any reason why they have been adopted as Brazilian first names?

[Geggo]

Originally Posted by burgler09

I teach ESL , and I see a lot of people with the name David and Daniel

Do you really perceive these names as being English?

[Acajack]

In Quebec traditional given names are classically French and many of the modern ones mirror those popular in France like Noémie, Olivier, Amélie, Océane, Guillaume, etc.

Regarding "pop culture" anglo-sounding (though not necessarily always anglo in origin) names...

There is a classic joke in Quebec which says that if a boy's name is Steve or Kevin, you can be 100% sure his parents don't speak any English! There are also jokes about how if you name your boy something like Steve De La Durantaye or Kevin Laframboise, he has a much greater chance of being a juvenile delinquent!

But it's true that these names are out there and fairly common. You even have boys named "Keven" (which is basically I guess the Québécois equivalent of African-Americans named Antwahn...)

For boys in Quebec:

Steve
Kevin
Jason
Jesse
Dave
Danny/Dany


For girls in Quebec:

Emma
Jessica
Olivia
Ashley (pronounced "ash-lay")
Audrey (sometimes spelled "Audrée" and always pronounced that way)
Jesse
Mackenzie

There is also a trend for girl's names to end them with an A instead of the traditional French ending which is IE or E. So you have lots of Angélina, for example, when the traditional form would be Angéline.