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Help[Facts] The French populariy statistics
I have a question regarding these. Was there a change in the way the names were counted in 2011? Because suddenly names spelled without the accent suddenly rapidly declined in popularity or disappeared completely while the name with the accent rose. One example is Josephine which was at #240 in 2010 and disappeared completely in 2011. Joséphine magically appeared at #251 in 2011, out of nowhere. But what confuses me is that there is still data for Josephine in 2014 at #394.
Thais is another example. Thais was more popular even making the top 100. Then in the next two years it disappears. And Thaïs rises quickly.
I wouldn't be confused if one name would just replace the other because then I would guess that they didn't count accents before. But the version without the accent always still exists or pops up later again.
Did tastes really change so quickly that so many people put an accent where they didn't put it before or is this a mistake/different way of counting them etc? Or do they now differentiate between names with accents and without and didn't before? I guess this must be the case. But it is kind of confusing how it is suddenly split.
Thais is another example. Thais was more popular even making the top 100. Then in the next two years it disappears. And Thaïs rises quickly.
I wouldn't be confused if one name would just replace the other because then I would guess that they didn't count accents before. But the version without the accent always still exists or pops up later again.
Did tastes really change so quickly that so many people put an accent where they didn't put it before or is this a mistake/different way of counting them etc? Or do they now differentiate between names with accents and without and didn't before? I guess this must be the case. But it is kind of confusing how it is suddenly split.
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Replies
Until about 2 or 3 years ago French given name statistics were, frankly spoken, a mess.
As far as I know there aren't many names that are present and actually used in two variants in France, one with accent and one without: Usually it's quite clear and well defined how the name is written. But there were a lot of websites who gave the names without accents.
Furthermore, a lot of the "hitparades" that could be found were inofficial, of uncertain origin, and of uncertain quality.
Now it's better because finally there is an *official* source. For many years back, with data for hundreds of names for each year, and properly written. You find it here: https://www.insee.fr/fr/statistiques/2540004
(Of course this official source exists already for decades, but became public only recently.)
As far as I know there aren't many names that are present and actually used in two variants in France, one with accent and one without: Usually it's quite clear and well defined how the name is written. But there were a lot of websites who gave the names without accents.
Furthermore, a lot of the "hitparades" that could be found were inofficial, of uncertain origin, and of uncertain quality.
Now it's better because finally there is an *official* source. For many years back, with data for hundreds of names for each year, and properly written. You find it here: https://www.insee.fr/fr/statistiques/2540004
(Of course this official source exists already for decades, but became public only recently.)
This message was edited 1/16/2019, 8:50 AM
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My guess is that there must have been some change in 2011.
Still, I've noticed that some names prior to that appear with and without accents.
Still, I've noticed that some names prior to that appear with and without accents.
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