Stuck in the Middle With Anne and Benedict: A Catholic Junior High School's Class of 2022

Last May 2022, a local Catholic school held completion rites (like graduation, but for junior high school kids) for 107 students, 23 of which were girls and 84 were boys.

The Girls

Among the girls, three (13.04%) had only one given name, 17 (73.91%) had two, and three (13.04%) had three.

First Given Names

J (4, 17.39%) is the most popular initial for first given names, followed by L (3, 13.04%) and M (3, 13.04%).

None of the girls had the same first given name—unless one combines the two spellings of Nina in the sample, in which case it becomes the most popular by default.

Second Given Names

A (5, 25%) was the most popular initial for second given names, while Anne is the most popular second given name with two bearers (three if we count Ann). None of the other names were repeated.

Third Given Names

The third given names in the sample are France, Isabel, and Faith.

The Boys

Among the boys, 17 (20.24%) had only one given name, 57 (67.86%) had two, and 10 (11.90%) had three. Only one of them had a name suffix (Jr).

First Given Names

The most popular initials for the first given name were J (18, 21.43%), K (10, 11.90%), and M (7, 8.33%). These initials account for 41.66% of the sample.

Andrei, Francis, and Prince are all tied for the position of most popular name.

Bearers	Name
3	Andrei, Francis, Prince
2	Benedict, Gabriel, James, John, Mark, Matthew, Paul, Ralph, Sean

Andrei becomes the most common name when the spellings are combined.

Bearers	Name (Alternate Spellings)
4	Andrei (Andrie)
3	Francis, Prince, Sean (Shawn)
2	Benedict, Gabriel, James, John, Mark, Matthew, Paul, Ralph

Second Given Names

The most popular initials for the second given name were B (9, 13.43%), J (8, 11.94%), and M (7, 10.45%). These initials account for 35.82% of the sample.

Benedict is the most popular second given name, followed by Joseph.

Bearers	Name
5	Benedict
3	Joseph
2	Clarence, Francis, Miguel, Vann

Even after combining spellings, Benedict is still the most popular second given name.

Bearers	Name (Alternate Spellings)
6	Benedict (Benidict)
3	Joseph
2	Clarence, Emmanuel (Ymanuel), Francis, John (Jon), Miguel, Vann

Third Given Names

The third given names in the sample are Marcuz, Joshua, Leandri, Daniel, Paul, Liann, Andrei, Nicole, Teofilo, and Shernel.

Context and Commentary

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