What’s happening with the choice of baby names in England & Wales?
September 24th, 2019 by Roger Darlington
Earlier this month, there Office of National Statistics (ONS) published its annual list for the choice of baby names last year. There are some interesting trends.
First of all, astonishingly the most popular boys’ name and the most popular girls’ name are essentially the same (Oliver and Olivia) – what is technically known as cognates – and these names have been in the top two for their gender for the last 10 years. Is this the case in any other nation?
Second, it is striking how traditional most of the names are for both boys and girls, although for the boys it is interesting that the familiar form of names rather than the original version is often preferred – Harry instead of Harold, Jack instead of John, Charlie instead of Charles. Third, in the case of girls, eight of the top 10 names end with the letter ‘a’ and six contain the letter ‘l’.
On the other hand, the name John (my father’s name), which was the most popular boys’ name until the end of the Second World War and is still the most common male name in Britain for the poulation as a whole, is nowhere in the top 100 names in the 2018 listings, while David – which is the second most common name in Britain – slipped out of the top 50 of names chosen for baby boys born in 2004 and has only recently come back (it is currently 49th).
Similarly Margaret – the most common female name in the population as a whole – does not even appear in the top 100 names chosen for girls these days, while Susan – the second most common name in Britain – is not even in the top 100 either.
These observations underline how much fashion shapes the popularity of different names. Fashion is a stronger influence with girls’ names than those of boys. So, for example, in the last decade or so, Ivy has soared to number 14 while Elsie has jumped to 22. Arthur has surged into the top 10 boys’ names for the first time since the 1920s, and Ada has jumped into the girls’ top 100 for the first time in a century too, both perhaps inspired by characters in the BBC television drama “Peaky Blinders”.
It should be noted that the ONS produces its ranking of the popularity of names using the exact spelling of the name given at birth registration. If one combines the numbers for names with very similar spellings, a very different picture is revealed.
For boys, combining the occurrence of Mohammed, Muhammad, Mohammad & Muhammed plus eight other spellings of the names would put it in first place – a reflection of the changing ethnicity of the British population and the powerful trend for Muslim families to name their son after the Prophet. Similarly, if one combines the occurrence of Isabella, Isabelle, Isabel and Isobel, one would find the name top of the girls’ list and, if one took Lily and Lilly together, the name would come fifth, while Darcie, Darcey and Darcy would boost that name’s ranking.
Also it is interesting to note that names are becoming more diverse: less than half (45%) of babies had a name within the top 100 lists in 2018, down from two thirds (67%) in 1996.
I’m fascinated by the choice of names and amazed at the variety of naming practices around the world. You can read my comprehensive study of this subject here.
Posted in Cultural issues | Comments (2)
Greta Thunberg at the UN: What an incredible young woman. What a stunning speech. What a clear message.
September 23rd, 2019 by Roger Darlington
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What now for Israel: a new coalition government or yet another general election?
September 23rd, 2019 by Roger Darlington
The final results are now in for the second general election in Israel in 2019 – the first time in the history of the country that two polls have been held in the same year.
Incumbent Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – the longest-serving premier in the history of the nation – failed to lead his Likud party to the largest number of seats and so his main opponents Blue and White will now try to form a coalition with majority support in the Knesset. If coalition talks fail again, yet another general election is not out of the question.
For a guide to the Israeli political system and the results of this month’s election, click here.
Posted in World current affairs | Comments (0)
Discussion at the Labour Party Annual Conference in Brighton this week
September 23rd, 2019 by Roger Darlington
Posted in British current affairs | Comments (0)
A review of the new science fiction movie “Ad Astra”
September 20th, 2019 by Roger Darlington
The technology of film-making is now so advanced that a good space movie can really put the viewer into the cosmos – think of “Gravity” for instance – and, if you can, you should should see “Ad Astra” in IMAX, as I did, because the visuals are simple stunning. An opening sequence on board an International Space Antenna is breathtaking and from then on, even in the stiller moments, your attention is never lost.
That is more that we can say for The Lima Project – a mission to near Neptune to look for extra-terrestrial life – which was launced 26 years ago but has been missing for the last 16 years. The vessel was commanded by the revered Dr Clifford McBride (Tommy Lee Jones) and now his son, veteran astronaut Major Roy McBride (Brad Pitt), is asked if he will attempt to make contact with his father.
This is James Gray’s film since he co-wrote, produced and directed it. But, more so that usual with an actor, it is also Brad Pitt’s film. He is in almost every scene and gives a compelling, understated performance, plus he had a producer role.
There are many echoes of “Apocalypse Now”: a hazardous, sometimes surreal, journey to chase down a father figure who has gone rogue and eliminate the problem. But there are even more reminders of “2001: A Space Odyssey”: spectacular visuals, atmospheric music, and a series of space trips to the outer solar system where there is a challenge to humankind of existential proportions. Although what “Ad Astra” and “2001” have to say about extra-terrestrial life are very different.
As so often in sci-fi movies, some of the science is dubious. At its nearest, Neptune is 2.9 billion years from Earth and yet the younger McBride manages the journey in short order and solo at that. Also the huge power surges that puntuate the plot are never explained except by a brief reference to the anti-matter power source utilised by The Lima Project.
But this is quibbling. It is such a joy to have a space movie that is both intelligent and intelligible – a combination that eluded such otherwise fine work as “Arrival” ansd Interstellar”.
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‘1944: Should we bomb Auschwitz?’ – BBC2 at 9pm
September 19th, 2019 by Roger Darlington
In April 1944, two Jewish prisoners miraculously escaped from Auschwitz. When they recounted what they had left behind, their harrowing testimony revealed the true horror of the Holocaust to the outside world for the first time. They described in forensic detail the gas chambers and the full extent of the extermination programme. The news they brought presented the Allies with one of the greatest moral questions of the 20th century: Should we bomb Auschwitz?
While the Allies deliberated in London and Washington, the killing machine ground on in southern Poland. One month after the men’s escape, almost 800,000 Hungarian Jews had been rounded up awaiting transport to Auschwitz. By early July 1944, the majority had been transported. Most of them were murdered on arrival.
As the killing at Auschwitz reached its frenzied climax, the outcome of the Second World War hung in the balance. Millions of troops were fighting on both fronts and battling for supremacy in the air. Should the Allies use their resources to push on and win the war or to stop the industrial slaughter at Auschwitz? The request to bomb the camp, with 30,000 captive prisoners, was remarkable and came from a place of utter desperation. But it was a direct response to the destruction of an entire people.
There were operational challenges – was it possible to reach the camp to bomb it? How many heavy bombers would it take? What would the Nazi propaganda machine say about such an attack? – as well as complex moral ones. How many prisoners would likely die in such a raid? Can you kill friendly civilians in order to save the lives of those being transported towards the death camp? These were the hard questions faced by Churchill, Allied Air Command and the Jewish Agency.
For the first time on television, we tell the whole of this incredible story.
Meanwhile you can read the amazing story of the escape from Auschwitz and the report which resulted here.
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How does the UK Supreme Court operate and what is it going to decide on prorogation?
September 18th, 2019 by Roger Darlington
The Supreme Court is a relatively new institution in the British constitutional system and few people know much about it. In my short guide to the British political system, I have provided a brief explanation of the Supreme Court here.
The court really has two decisions to make.
First, is the issue of prorogation “justiciable”? That is, is prorogation simply a political matter, in which case it would not be proper for the court to opine. Or is it a legal matter, in which case the court is entitled to take a view.
Second, if the matter is “justiciable”, has the Government – really the Prime Minister – used its prorogative powers improperly or unreasonably, that is in a matter intended to prevent Parliament from doing its constitutional duty of holding the Government to account.
An English court has ruled that the matter is not “justiciable” and so it declined to judge the Government’s action. However, a Scottish court found the matter “justiciable” and ruled that Government had behaved illegally. The Supreme Court is considering an appeal against both decisions from the parties who lost the original cases.
The Supreme Court is due to sit for three days, hearing the arguments and considering the evidence, and it is unlikely to reach a decision before Thursday or even later.
In a sense, the decision is academic because the Government has already failed in what its opponents judge was the intention of the extended propagation – that is, to stop Parliament blocking a no-deal Brexit. In the short time that it had before prorogation, Parliament rushed through an Act that technically should prevent a no-deal Brexit unless the Government can find some obscure way round this blockage.
In another sense, the decision is fundamental. In the short term, if the Goverment loses the case, then it might have to recall Parliament. On the other hand, if the Government wins the case, it might be emboldened to prorogate Parliament again before trying to push through Brexit. In the medium and long term, the decision of the Court will be a vital precedent on the scope of the power of prorogation.
I’m no lawyer, but I’m going to take a guess that the Supreme Court will decide that prorogation is a political and not a legal matter and will decline to express a view on the Government’s action. I wish it were otherwise, but we shall soon see.
Posted in British current affairs | Comments (0)
Can the positions of the political parties on Brexit get any weirder?
September 18th, 2019 by Roger Darlington
For three years, Brexit has been a moving picture with surprise after surprise. It’s a political soap opera that never ceases to amaze. So now we have three established political parties facing in very different directions but each with major doubts over their capacity to deliver their current position.
The official Conservative view is that the UK will leave the European Union on 31 October 2019 with or without a deal but that a deal is preferable and possible. The trouble is that there is no evidence that a deal is likely and, since Boris Johnson became Prime Minister two months ago, no firm proposals for a deal have been submitted to the other Member States of the EU. Meanwhile Parliament has passed an Act which declares that, if there is no deal, then we must seek a further extension of Article 50 to 31 January 2020. So how can we get a deal in the next month and a half and, if we don’t, how can the Government ignore the will of Parliament?
Then we have the Liberal Democrats who have just decided at their Annual Conference that the party’s position is now that we should withdraw the UK application under Article 50 to leave the EU. Apparently this will be the position of a Lib Dem Government elected at the forthcoming General Election. Except that there is no question of such a government and even the talk of up to 200 seats in the new Parliament is utterly fanciful. And, in any event, ignoring the decision of the referendum and staying in the EU without the mandate of a further referendum, can be seen as profoundly anti-democratic and will certainly infuriate Leave supporters.
So that brings us to the position of the Labour Party which has evolved this week – at least far as the view of its leader Jeremy Corbyn is concerned. He wants to win a General Election, renegotiate the terms of leaving under four pillars, and then put the new deal and remain to a second referendum, But astonishingly he states that, as Prime Minister, be would not publicly back or campaign for either option. So the British head of government would have no view on the most importance political decision since we declared war in 1939 – what an abrogation of leadership. But this ambiguous decision might just play well at the ballot box in an election since it would allow both Leave and Remain voters to back Labour if they are happy with Corbyn’s leadership and the rest of the Labour manifesto.
Of course, it is by no means certain that Labour can win a General Election in the next few months or even form a minority or coalition government. But, if it does manage to take office, can it really negotiate a better deal with the EU when the other Member States know that Corbyn as Prime Minister has no intention of supporting such a deal? And, if Corbyn himself is going to stay neutral in a further referendum, will he – as Harold Wilson did in 1975 – allow his Ministers and MPs to campaign on whichever side they support personally?
In short: can the positions of the political parties on Brexit get any weirder or more diverse? Well, let’s see what the Labout Party Conference has to say in less than a week’s time and what the Labour manifesto actually states once an election is called.
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Can anyone really understand Israeli politics?
September 16th, 2019 by Roger Darlington
Tomorrow Israelis go to the polls in a second general election in a mere five months. What’s going on?
As the latest report in the “Guardian” newspaper explains:
“Israel is due to hold its second election in five months after Netanyahu, the country’s longest-serving prime minister, was unable to form a coalition government. Facing political defeat, he forced a repeat election.
Final opinion polls released on Friday suggest razor-thin margins between his ruling Likud party and the centrist Blue and White alliance led by the former military chief Benny Gantz. It is possible there will be no clear winner, which could kick off weeks of political deal-making with smaller parties to decide Israel’s next government.:
There could be a new deciding factor in this election:
“Israel’s Arab parties are expected to win significant seats after reunifying into a single alliance, similar to 2015 when they became the third-largest force in the Knesset. It is possible they could gather enough seats to block Netanyahu from continuing as prime minister.”
But the Israeli political system is unique in the world and you might like to know how it works in order to make sense of the election. Also you might like to know how the various political parties did at the last election so that you can see how much things change tomorrow. In which case, I recommend my short guide to the Israeli political system,
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Today is the Mid-Autumn Festival: ‘zhongqiujie kuaile’
September 13th, 2019 by Roger Darlington
A significant proportion of the global population – including the people of China – will today celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival. You can learn more about this tradition here.
There are many ways to wish friends and family good fortune and a happy Mid-Autumn Festival, but one of the most simple and commonly used ones is ‘zhongqiujie kuaile’.
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