Sophia so good — but oh Vienna!

Aclose study of the recently released thousand most popular names for a baby girl born in America in 2015 makes it clear how very different our two countries are.

It all starts perfectly normally. The top five names — emma, olivia, sophia, Ava, Isabella — might easily spring from a similar list of British baby names.

But before long, things begin to go haywire. At number 11 is Madison, which is virtually unknown in the UK. Further down the list, you can find offbeat variations of Madison, such as Maddison at number 310 and Madisyn at 471.

Place names seem popular, among them Paris, chelsea, Aspen, Dallas, Phoenix, Guadalupe, Kenya, Dakota and Vienna. oddly enough, at 961, America is quite low on the list, only just beating Ireland at 983, and trailing well behind Malaya at 726.

British place names are surprisingly well-represented, among them london at 105, and its unusual variation londyn quite high at 160. Bristol is at 447, Harlow at 422 and Henley at 554.

of all the place names, Brooklyn comes first, at 31,though there is also Brooklynn, with two ’n’s, at 170.

This gives rise to another category: names misspelt, or at least spelt oddly. They include Aubree at 78, Jordyn (136), Madilyn, Madalyn and Madalynn (315, 570 and 685 respectively), Paislee (320), Haylee (482), Melany (485), scarlette (779), Harmoni (955), Jayde (861), Abril (979) and both charlee (282) and charleigh (528).

At 328, Kamila ranks higher than the more conventional camilla at 374. one of the most striking aspects of the list is the extraordinary number of popular names beginning with K.

Why this should be is anyone’s guess, but I spotted Kimberly, Kimber, Kayla, Kinsley, Kenzie, Kendall, Kelsey, Kadence (and Kaydence), Kassidy, Kyra, Kara, Kiara, Kiera, Kelly, Kori, Kaya, Kaiya, Karlie and Karlee.

There is also Kamryn, Kora, Karsyn, Kimber, Kylie, Kylee, Kaylee, Kayleigh, Kaylie, Kyleigh, Kaitlyn (alongside its variations Katelynn, Katelyn, Kaitlynn, Kaylin, Kaelyn, Kaylynn, and Kaelynn).

I’ve noticed in the past that a surprising number of Americans pick surnames for their babies’ christian names, hence Mackenzie (and McKenzie) on the list, and also Quinn, Bailey, emery, everly (and everleigh), Marley (and Marleigh), McKinley, lennon, collins, Monroe and Bailey (along with Baylee, unexpectedly high at 406). emerson is the 180th most popular baby girl’s name in America, and even its wacky variation emersyn comes in at 393rd.

In Britain, we rarely name our children after politicians, but in America, Kennedy is the 57th most popular name for a baby girl, and Reagan is the 271st. even carter comes in at 533.

It may come as no surprise that Nixon is not among the thousand most popular girls’ names, but perhaps more surprising is the absence of clinton. In 2015, no baby girl born in America was named Trump by her parents, but it’s still early days, and who knows what the future will bring? Two names better known as luxury brands — chanel and Armani — are represented in the chart, at number 687 and number 662 respectively. Many traditional names crop up very low down in the charts. susan is 929, two down from Judith at 927. Anne is 569, a full eight places below the bizarre Braylee at 561. Jill is absent, and even Diana, which might have been made popular by the late Princess of Wales, sits at a comparatively lowly 295. equally, President obama’s choice of names for his daughters doesn’t seem to have made much impact, with Malia at 313 and sasha at 542.

Denise only just scrapes into the top 1,000, behind Abril with a ‘b’ at 979 and Zaylee at 990. Among the many names unknown in the UK but popular in the U.s. are Daleyza, Teagan and Alondra. Journey is the 274th most popular name for a newborn girl in America, four places above Miranda. even its peculiar variation, Journee, is at 377, just one place above Daphne.

other notable names in the chart include Miracle at 414, three places above Freya; Justice at 452, one above Julie; Meadow at 677, four points above erica; and cadence at 341, along with Kaydence at 348 and Kadence at 575, all of them beating Mabel at 578.

It is, as they say, a strange old world: but even stranger in America.