Nametrix: Doctor or Dancer? v1.4 is now out, and I think it’s pretty slick and more fascinating than ever. Since its initial release, I’ve added several new features including native iPad support, political party analysis, a much larger professions data set, and sharing via e-mail. It’s also snappier due to major performance improvements.
The original idea for the app occurred to me when my wife and I were coming up with a name for our (then future) daughter, and I realized that there’s so much more to a name than the basic popularity info and “name meanings” text that all the baby name apps and websites I found centered around. Nothing out there provided much in the way of real data. What do people named Julia tend to be like? Turns out that Julias tend toward filmmaking, professional snowsports, and tennis. They’re also usually Democrats.
I got started on the app during our daughter’s naps while I was on paternity leave, and the first version of the app was ready for launch 6 months later.
When I showed a pre-release version to some friends one night at happy hour, and they crowded around wanting to find out about their own names and their friends’ names, I knew that I had something special and that it’s an app for everyone, not just expecting parents. Hence the name, “Nametrix,” which you could view as “Name + Metrics” or perhaps more as a feminine (“-trix”) version of the word “Namer.”
Here’s the latest description in the app store:
Description
Name research taken to another level — eye-opening features you’ll find in no other app!
• “Mason” – More common among scientists… or strippers?
• “Julian” – Republican or Democrat?
• “Ava” – Southern name or Northeastern?
• “Taylor” – More popular as a boy’s name or a girl’s?
Explore the answers to these kinds of questions and more via the user-friendly interface.
Our software has analyzed millions of real people and their professions via Wikipedia and data provided by the US government. View the results right here in unprecedented detail.
A sampling:
Isabella
• Top occupations: Poet, Model, Actress
• Top party: Democrat
• Popularity peaked in 2010
• Most popular in the Northeast
• #2 in popularity last year
Alexander
• Top occupations: Aerospace Engineer, Librettist, Skeleton Racer
• Top party: Democrat
• Popularity peaked in 1993
• Most popular in the Midwest
• #8 in popularity last year
Top names for football players:
#1 Terrell
#2 Darius
#3 Dexter
#4 Donovan
#5 Isaiah
Top names for writers:
#1 Jeannette
#2 Winifred
#3 Sterling
#4 Khalil
#5 Bertha
Archaeologist? Farmer? Soldier? Inventor? What are the top names for those? Check them out in the app.
Altogether, you’ll get to explore thousands of first names, all with detailed popularity info and many with occupation rankings. Real data from real people; no gimmicks, no nonsense.
