Baby Names

Baby Names

Baby Names: How many babies were born last year with your name? Are a wider variety of names used for boys or for girls? What are the most popular names used for both boys and girls? This session will use data from the US Social Security Administration on baby names from the last several years to answer these questions and more!

Setup

Set the Friday setup page and the section on installing projects in the tutorial for informatoin on getting set up.

Handout

• Baby Names handout - something like the Wordplay handout would be nice!

Goals

• Have fun exploring real data on baby names in the US
• Practice manipulating and searching strings
• Practice using dictionaries
• Practice using numbers and doing simple arithmatic

Ideas for exercises

• Search for your own name. Are there both boys and girls that have your name? Is it more popular for one group than for the other?
• Do boys or girls have more names with at least five names?
• Look for names that include the term "john" at some point. What about at the beginning? What about at the end? Which ones have been used given to at least 10 kids last year?