2y ago

What is the most universal name?

Ofc Mohammed is the most common name but thats a name common within the muslim community. I have noticed the name Sarah in every country, regardless of race or religion. Or it might be an abrahamic religion thing but thats most of the world atleast.

I suspect other Abrahamic names might make the cut.

66 comments

Lee.
- Doesn't really exist in the Slavic countries, so I wouldn't say it's universal.
- Nonexistent in neither Scandinavian nor middle-eastern countries.
- Nonexistent in South Asia.

There are also a few names that independently exist in different languages; i.e. one is not a translation of the other, such as "Yuri" in Russian and Japanese, or "Naomi" in Hebrew and Japanese. Similarly, the surname "Lee" in English is not related to "Lee" in East Asian languages like Chinese or Korean.
(A sillier puzzle: Find names for which you get a different name by spelling it backwards, like "Ari" and "Ira" or "Linus" and "Sunil". No, Utah Mormon names like "Nevaeh" don't count, they do that sort of thing on purpose.)
- Oh thats a cool game.
  Misa/ Asim. Alsi/ Isla. Otto/ Otto. Amias/ Saima.
  
  Otto/Otto
  Wait a minute...
- I know a couple of Yoshi's (Japanese) and the first time I met a German Joshi (pronounced "Yoshi"), I thought he had a Japanese name for some reason until I realised it's short for Joshua. Also, I thought Naomi was an exclusively Japanese name, today I learned, thanks!
- My mum's name is Ira and she thought it would be cute to name me Ari. Most people I meet agree.
  
  Definetely cute. But the real question is, are you the exact opposite of your mom too. The yin to the yang.

Hard to say. Like, do "Ivan", "Giovanni" and "John" count as the same, or different names? What about Latin "Amanda" (to be loved) vs. Japanese 愛/Ai (love)? How do we even count this?
- Ivan, Giovanni, John, Jean, Shaun, Sean, Shane, Zane, Ian, Jan, Yves, Juan, Johannes, Yohan, and more...
  The name means "gift". Pretty universal.
  
  Everyone is saying it means "gift" but Wikipedia (as well as an embroidery my grandma gave me when I was young!) says it comes from Yohanan/Johanan יוֹחָנָן‎ (Yôḥānān), which means "YHWH (Yahweh/God) is gracious", with gracious being used in the form of "merciful" or "forgiving".
  Which can kind of mean the same thing but is also different enough. Johnathan, however, does mean "God has given".
  TIL that John and Johnathan are not different versions of the same name!
  
  Ironically, all the variations you mentioned do not have the gift part, except for the letter 'n' :)
  They all originate from Johnathan, which in Hebrew means, literally "God gave", the "Joh" part meaning "God", and "Nathan" meaning "gave".
  
  Despite how many forms it takes, it isn't very common in the muslim world or asia which make up for a vast proportion of the world. So many of the names variations are within Europe.
  
  Also yahya in arabic
  يحيى
  
  [X] Shaaauuuuuun!
- Names with the same meaning is an interesting one. Id say that counts, I hadnt even thought about that!
  I'd also allow variations of the name, John is Yuhanna in arabic.
  
  I don't know the answer, but at least this gives us some way to actually count this:
  check which languages encompass 90% (or more) of the native speakers of Earth
  check the most names that fit 90% (or more) of the native speakers of each language
  sum up names across languages that you deemed to be "the same", like John and Yuhanna
  There'll be a tiny bit of error there, but given that you're focusing only on the most common name, I guess that it's fine.
  I wonder if there's some previous research on that. Digging further yielded nothing for me. (You got me curious, too.)

Probably any form of Maria, which is for both male/female. There are many documented usages of the name BCE.

The most common first name in the world is Maria, and the most common last name in the world is Wang. Erfo the most common name in the world is Maria Wang.

Joseph/ Yousuf, Daniel/ Danyal. Again anything universal is Abrahamic just bc of what high proportion of the world is Christian/ Muslim/ Jew.
- I’d assume Mary/Mariam/Maria is more common because there are fewer options for women
  
  I find that Ana beats out Maria only because only the english spell it/pronounce it different (Hanna). Everyone else does Ana.
  But Mary has an absurd higher usage.
  
  Yep thats absolutely right. Elena too, behind Maria ofc.

India and China each have around 1.4 billion people (source). The next nearest country is the US with ~340 million. Which is a pretty major drop off. So, I would start by looking at common names in either China or India.
- Or even common names in both India and China if there's one
  
  and then try to find one there that is somewhat common in the US too... good luck.
- The most common Indian names are Hindu names which are isolated in India. Similarly the most common names in China are isolated there. Hence my argument for Abrahamic religions.

Anna

Probably Universal.
- "My name is Universal Soldier. "
- Technically correct

I don't know about first names, but as for middle names, I've noticed a 75% chance your middle name will be James if you're a guy and Marie if you're a woman. I also attended school somewhere where, I kid you not, every shop owner and public service manager was named either John or Julie.
- On the other hand, if your parents give you the middle name of Wayne, an FBI file is opened immediately.
  
  I'm surprised you don't see more FBI agents in Gotham. It's a cesspool of crime, you'd think at least one person would at least be raided by a swat team.
- I wonder what's up with that. At least for Marie it could be a catholic thing
- If you're Catholic it's either Joseph or Mary by baptism around here.

Mary

I haven't met a single woman named this

You.

Steve

Mohamed and Mike is like at least 1% of dudes.
- Since Mohammed in various variants accounts for almost 2% of all humans (4% of males), this seems plausible, regardless of how many Mikes there are.

I would say Astro.
Okay fine, real answer. According to this, the most common female name in the world is Maria and the most common male name is Mohammed. You can also find a breakdown by continent and country, here.
- I think you straight up ignored OP's explanation of their question. OP explicitly addressed why Mohammad is not "the most universal name" by his meaning.
  
  Then I guess I don't understand the question? Was it not what the most common name in the world is? I don't have many sources to go off of, but according to the site I posted, Mohammed is the most common male name in Africa, Asia and the most common in the world. If it's the most common name in the world, it would make sense that it also happens to be the most common in the muslim community and possibly other communities as well.
  If this was not the question, then what was?

66 comments