History sneeks up on you from all sides, doesn't it ... streetnames, holidays (on the 11th of november "why don't we have to work today ... wow, there were TWO world wars???" ... I've actually witnessed this), monuments and ... given names.
Given Names?
Sure, most given names look like this (given name per year of birth)
This is the graph for a commonly appearing Flemish name 'Koen'
A name gains popularity, has a peak and then disappears again.
This also happens often (for the name 'Jan'), a name having several peaks.
So, the thing to do, is look for oddities.
This, fe, is for the name 'Britt'. Britt is not a traditional Flemish name, yet, we see a massive surge in popularity in the late 90s, early 2000s.
Reason, in 1998 a new show premiered staring a popular singer/actress in the role of 'Britt'.
By 2000, the show had attained cult status. Hence the peak in popularity.
Next, I tried sports(wo)men ... I expected to see peaks for Kim and Justine (these are Belgian names, after all) but they weren't there.
I tried several footballers, but none of them produced a peak, except maybe 'Eli', though it's dubious
There's a bit of a peak in 88-89, when Eli Ohana, as first Israeli ever, won 2 european cups with his club KV Mechelen.
But, Like I said, this could be a random peak. After all, the largest Jewish community in Belgium is in Antwerp. And those who are interrested in footy tend to be fans of FC Antwerp.
Still, staying with the theme of sportsmen.
Eddy Merckx seems to have caused a bit of a (re)surge in the 70s:
Having astablished a patern ... Enough with the sportsmen, let's have a look at historical events.
First of all, the most obvious one ... ADOLF
BINGO! A massive surge in 1933, and the name remains popular until ... who would have thought ... 1942.
Now, will we see the opposite for 'Winston' a thoroughly un-Belgian name
BINGO-ish ... we never see douzens of Winstons being born, but there is a surge-ette starting in 1944, when Belgium was liberated.
How about periferal evidence of WWII?
the name John:
We have an odd surge in 44-45-46.
Liberation-Babies perhaps?
And for my final graph ... let's skip back a WW
We suddenly have 300 Alberts being born in 1916 ... 1916!!! when just about all of Belgium was occupied. An act of defiance against the Hun?
I've also checked more 'exotic' names, but Lenin, Stalin, Che and Fidel didn't produce a peak.
Neither Neil, nor Lance Armstrong had any effect.
Leon (Degrelle, leader of the Walloon fascists) has a noticable dip in the worst of the war years (41-42), but recovers afterwards.
Anyone know any other names I can check?
Given Names?
Sure, most given names look like this (given name per year of birth)
This is the graph for a commonly appearing Flemish name 'Koen'
A name gains popularity, has a peak and then disappears again.
This also happens often (for the name 'Jan'), a name having several peaks.
So, the thing to do, is look for oddities.
This, fe, is for the name 'Britt'. Britt is not a traditional Flemish name, yet, we see a massive surge in popularity in the late 90s, early 2000s.
Reason, in 1998 a new show premiered staring a popular singer/actress in the role of 'Britt'.
By 2000, the show had attained cult status. Hence the peak in popularity.
Next, I tried sports(wo)men ... I expected to see peaks for Kim and Justine (these are Belgian names, after all) but they weren't there.
I tried several footballers, but none of them produced a peak, except maybe 'Eli', though it's dubious
There's a bit of a peak in 88-89, when Eli Ohana, as first Israeli ever, won 2 european cups with his club KV Mechelen.
But, Like I said, this could be a random peak. After all, the largest Jewish community in Belgium is in Antwerp. And those who are interrested in footy tend to be fans of FC Antwerp.
Still, staying with the theme of sportsmen.
Eddy Merckx seems to have caused a bit of a (re)surge in the 70s:
Having astablished a patern ... Enough with the sportsmen, let's have a look at historical events.
First of all, the most obvious one ... ADOLF
BINGO! A massive surge in 1933, and the name remains popular until ... who would have thought ... 1942.
Now, will we see the opposite for 'Winston' a thoroughly un-Belgian name
BINGO-ish ... we never see douzens of Winstons being born, but there is a surge-ette starting in 1944, when Belgium was liberated.
How about periferal evidence of WWII?
the name John:
We have an odd surge in 44-45-46.
Liberation-Babies perhaps?
And for my final graph ... let's skip back a WW
We suddenly have 300 Alberts being born in 1916 ... 1916!!! when just about all of Belgium was occupied. An act of defiance against the Hun?
I've also checked more 'exotic' names, but Lenin, Stalin, Che and Fidel didn't produce a peak.
Neither Neil, nor Lance Armstrong had any effect.
Leon (Degrelle, leader of the Walloon fascists) has a noticable dip in the worst of the war years (41-42), but recovers afterwards.
Anyone know any other names I can check?