Motivation
Earlier this quarter, I was at a training held by the Center of Teaching and Learning (CTL). Among other things, this particular training discussed the importance of names and pronouns in building a personal connection with peers. The opening exercise was, then, to share the story behind our own names.
After listening to the responses of my peers, I grew fascinated with the topic. The outgrowth of that fascination became the piece you are reading now — the names of Stanford. Names, to be clear, are very peculiar objects. In fact, there is an entire flavor of philosophy that attempts to answer questions regarding the meaning and necessity of names, with possible resolutions found in meta-linguistic considerations.
But, setting aside the semantics, names offer a very real social snapshot into a people, a place and an era. Indeed, names, fancifully called eponyms , often bear the influence of transformative world leaders, awe-inspiring places and, as of late, even the occasional Paramount drama . Investigating names at Stanford therefore offers a unique exploration into the rich tapestry of human identity and, moreover, its intersection with academia. In this article, we take a brief look at descriptive statistics and have some fun along the way.
The Michaels of Stanford
During the COVID-19 pandemic, a couple of Stanford students had the idea of connecting every Michael on campus into a single Facebook group. And this wasn’t limited to your average Michael! Indeed, derivatives such as Miguel, Michelle or Michelangelo were also warmly embraced in this burgeoning circle of soon-to-be friends. The “Mike-all campus” was a rather short-lived group that quickly died down following the eventual return to campus. Nevertheless, it does raise at least one question of interest: Just how many Michaels are there at Stanford?
Screenshots of Mike-all campus group chat. (Courtesy of Michael Byun)
Methods
To investigate the names of Stanford, The Daily obtained a list of Stanford students and faculty from Stanford’s Google Contacts directory . We processed the data using the SpaCy Named Entity Recognizer to filter out organizations that crept in. Unfortunately, while the model has a high bar for categorizing named entities as people, it occasionally struggles to disentangle people from other entities such as organizations.
Key visualizations
Now we get to the fun part! First things first, the answer to “How many Michaels are there at Stanford?” is — drum-roll please — a staggering 531. This means that Michael tops the list of most popular names at Stanford.
First name Count Michael 531 David 508 John 385 Daniel 334 Andrew 306
Of course, there are things to look into beyond the raw counts. For one, how long is the average name at Stanford? The answer is, it turns out, between five and six letters. It is also worth pointing out that all of the top five names are typically considered masculine names.
Or, maybe you’re wondering what the most common initials are? Upon plotting the counts, we arrive at the following. Curiously, a lot of people have names starting with A (Andrew), M (Michael), J (John) and S (Sarah). On the flip side, defying personal expectations, first names starting with U (Uma) are the least common, beating out the other obvious choices like X (Xin) and Z (Zach) by a significant margin.
Taking a look at the frequency of first names, we arrive at the following word cloud visually depicting the names of Stanford.
Michael
David
John
Daniel
Andrew
Matthew
Sarah
James
Jennifer
Robert
Elizabeth
William
Emily
Thomas
Michelle
Maria
Jessica
Alex
Ryan
Mark
Eric
Peter
Kevin
Jonathan
Christopher
Laura
Anna
Brian
Lisa
Rachel
Richard
Paul
Lauren
Alexander
Julia
Jason
Joseph
Benjamin
Nicole
Mary
Steven
Andrea
Nicholas
Amy
Susan
Rebecca
Hannah
Karen
Stephanie
Stephen
Joshua
Amanda
Katherine
Chris
Kelly
Aaron
Grace
Justin
Megan
Sara
Christine
Christina
Adam
Emma
Anthony
Jacob
Charles
Melissa
Linda
Samuel
Julie
Ashley
Catherine
Katie
Nancy
Victoria
Natalie
Scott
Jack
Jose
Samantha
Sean
Sophia
Angela
Patrick
Juan
Ben
George
Jeffrey
Olivia
Ethan
Caroline
Alexandra
Ian
Danielle
Sam
Kimberly
Erin
Nathan
Matt
Alan
Ana
Brandon
Anne
Martin
Claire
Kyle
Jordan
Zachary
Maya
Tyler
Evan
Victor
Alice
Kathleen
Kate
Diana
Nick
Patricia
Gabriel
Tiffany
Jeff
Kenneth
Margaret
Max
Sebastian
Dan
Christian
Kathryn
Sharon
Heather
Jeremy
Luis
Tom
Ann
Elena
Mike
Monica
Kim
Timothy
Edward
Taylor
Henry
Noah
Frank
Philip
Steve
Barbara
Allison
Marie
Tim
Marc
Shannon
Alyssa
Helen
Carlos
Jamie
Cynthia
Jane
Chloe
Erica
Jasmine
Melanie
Ali
Josh
Jenny
Alexis
Charlotte
Cindy
Erik
Joe
Lucy
Luke
Sandra
Kristen
Albert
Claudia
Wendy
Jay
Alison
Zoe
Bryan
Isabel
Jesse
Lily
Omar
Sophie
Vanessa
Veronica
Annie
Lawrence
Nicolas
Sofia
Tina
Joel
Jacqueline
Audrey
Diego
Kristin
Janet
Yu
Douglas
Gregory
Ronald
Tony
Adrian
Isabella
Cameron
Carolyn
Donald
Gabriela
Tracy
Vincent
Austin
Carol
Connor
Dylan
Gary
Jun
Julian
Keith
Leslie
Angel
Caitlin
Jon
Robin
Isaac
Morgan
Aditya
Madison
Sabrina
Marco
Jim
Nina
Bruce
Irene
Erika
Grant
Greg
Wei
Antonio
Eva
Jorge
Will
Andy
Renee
Deborah
Eduardo
Jerry
Pamela
Lucas
Ruth
Naomi
Sydney
Vivian
Yi
Abigail
Lynn
Alicia
Teresa
Jean
Mario
Mia
Sonia
Valerie
Sergio
Maggie
Natasha
Ricardo
Daniela
Diane
Tara
Ellen
Jackson
Lindsay
Marina
Yan
Raymond
Sally
Colin
Dana
Esther
Ivan
Miguel
Jared
Joy
Leah
Pablo
Rohan
Simon
Suzanne
Caleb
Casey
Courtney
Jenna
Kathy
Kayla
Yang
Oscar
Paula
Shreya
Zach
Yue
Derek
Serena
Isabelle
Joan
Lori
Molly
Ahmed
Andres
Jan
Roy
Brenda
Brendan
Eli
Rafael
Gina
Mohammad
Harry
Joanna
Leo
Liam
Martha
Meghan
Michele
Natalia
Neha
Spencer
Brittany
Lee
Cole
Crystal
Denise
Kristina
Todd
Elaine
Rodrigo
Javier
Jing
Joanne
Kai
Madeline
Trevor
Aditi
Arjun
Brooke
Ken
Francisco
Heidi
Iris
Jaime
Jocelyn
Joyce
Judy
Marcus
Marissa
Oliver
Riley
Bill
Bo
Cecilia
Debbie
Donna
Rahul
Edwin
Ella
Gabrielle
Jake
Kelsey
Miriam
Neil
Nora
Phillip
Ying
Shawn
Alejandro
Amelia
Ross
Ava
Brett
Brianna
Carrie
Chen
Cheryl
Dennis
Larry
Holly
Raul
Fernando
Gabriella
Liz
Mohammed
Pedro
Amit
Aidan
Chelsea
Allen
Arthur
Beth
Calvin
Clara
Manuel
Xin
Elise
Jill
Judith
Li
Nadia
Roberto
Shirley
Virginia
Amber
Amir
Bradley
Craig
Dominic
Felix
Muhammad
Ellie
Rose
Jesus
Jin
Lara
Mohamed
Walter
Nathaniel
Ron
Rui
Stefan
Tanya
Alana
Bianca
Carl
Connie
Seth
Elisa
Lucia
Gerald
Jen
Jimmy
Karla
Laurel
Terry
Ray
Alberto
Andre
Anita
Carmen
Cassandra
Drew
Elijah
Felipe
Gordon
Han
Lin
Jackie
Janice
Kara
Lindsey
Lydia
Maxwell
Ruben
Stuart
Yash
Adriana
Adrienne
Akshay
Frances
Angelica
Ariel
Bob
Camille
Carolina
Cathy
Xiao
Danny
Elisabeth
Eleanor
Evelyn
Francesca
Glenn
Haley
Hong
Jessie
Karl
Lea
Lu
Mason
Meredith
Mitchell
Sai
Roger
Sylvia
Stacey
Theresa
Yuan
Abby
Kumar
Ariana
Owen
Marisa
Cristina
Dean
Divya
Paige
Eileen
Gloria
Hunter
Kristine
Logan
Madeleine
Monique
Rosa
Sherry
Stanley
Stella
Regina
Ananya
Blake
Bryce
Cesar
Debra
Devin
Francis
Erick
Fiona
Hao
Graham
Hanna
Hui
Ignacio
Julio
Karina
Katelyn
Lance
Qian
Micah
Wesley
Olga
Ralph
Rob
Sandy
Sasha
Theodore
Varun
Alejandra
Bernard
Celeste
Charlie
Cheng
May
Georgia
Howard
Irina
Janelle
Kenny
Laurie
Lei
Leonardo
Louis
Marta
Michaela
Stefanie
Min
Norman
Priya
Santiago
Sheila
Silvia
Sue
Tamara
Tristan
Abhishek
Ajay
Akash
Alexandre
Bruno
Camila
Christy
Colleen
Daisy
Dawn
Randall
Edgar
Eugene
Garrett
Jia
Juliana
Krishna
Lorenzo
Louise
Lukas
Summer
Markus
Maryam
Pooja
Rick
Russell
Wen
Zahra
Abhinav
Alessandra
Anjali
Ashwin
Xavier
Cara
Carla
Darren
Devon
Travis
Fabian
Hans
Harrison
Helena
Johanna
Jonas
Julien
Lina
Marianne
Margarita
Marilyn
Matteo
Mauricio
Melody
Nikhil
Pierre
Randy
Rita
Sierra
Tomas
Wilson
Alissa
Minh
Andreas
Anh
Fatima
Bonnie
Brent
Corey
Dave
Dhruv
J.
Elliot
Emilio
Emmanuel
Enrique
Fred
Gavin
Geoffrey
Gretchen
Hana
Ingrid
Jade
Jae
Jie
Johannes
Josephine
Karthik
Katharine
Katrina
Kendall
Kiran
Kurt
Mai
Mathew
Noelle
Ted
Nate
Parker
Pauline
Phoebe
Tatiana
Tess
Theo
Valeria
Yasmin
Yifan
Alec
Alina
Allan
Singh
Andrei
Angelina
Angie
Annette
Annika
Axel
Beatriz
Chao
Charlene
Chase
Daphne
Dominique
Doug
Matthias
Maurice
Susie
Eunice
Felicia
Giovanni
Griffin
Guadalupe
Jeanette
Justine
Karin
Kay
Kendra
Kirsten
Kylie
Lena
Lorena
Luisa
Marcos
Maximilian
Megha
Peng
Rachael
Rachelle
Ramon
Rene
Sonya
Stephan
Whitney
Tammy
Troy
Yun
Yvonne
Abraham
Adrien
Alma
Aman
Ari
Aya
Barry
Briana
Bridget
Dong
Christie
Chun
Clare
Desiree
Mona
Quinn
Vicky
Elsa
Fang
Federico
Feng
Gail
Gustavo
Hayden
Mariana
Jaclyn
Jaden
Jonah
Kaitlyn
Kari
Ke
Krystal
Leon
Lillian
Ling
Michal
Mira
Miranda
Phil
Ravi
Neal
Nolan
Peggy
Tobias
Priscilla
Raphael
Raquel
Rich
Rishi
Riya
Robyn
Ruby
Sanjay
Savannah
Siddharth
Stacy
Syed
Winnie
Yao
Khalid
Mohan
Alvin
Anand
Anastasia
Anirudh
Annabelle
Arianna
Astrid
Ayesha
Brad
Caitlyn
Leila
Candice
Carina
Carly
Carson
Chi
Chiara
Cody
Conor
Cooper
Ilana
Deepak
Priyanka
Yvette
Elias
Eliza
Esmeralda
Mari
Flora
Gabe
Jeanne
Giselle
Yong
Hugo
Jasmin
Jian
Jiayi
Joao
Joey
Johan
Kaitlin
Karan
Krista
Lakshmi
Liang
Linh
Luca
M.
Maia
Noel
Mandy
Mara
Marcelo
Meng
Miles
Mindy
Ming
Raj
Nikita
Nikki
Noor
Norma
Pam
Pete
Ricky
Rodolfo
Roland
Shane
Shelley
Shelly
Sunil
Vladimir
Trisha
Vivek
Wayne
Xinyu
Xuan
Ada
Alexandria
Arash
Wyatt
Becca
Edith
Wang
Collin
Dale
Davis
Rajesh
Don
Vikram
Giulia
Hayley
Isaiah
Ibrahim
Jess
Ji
Jung
Jillian
Joaquin
Josue
Juliet
June
Kaylee
Kerry
Kristy
Kyra
Livia
Matias
Maureen
Md
Meg
Melinda
Mina
Nadine
Nelson
Paola
Pat
Peyton
Philipp
Philippe
Pranav
Preston
Ramya
Renata
Rhea
Roman
Sahil
Sheena
Shirin
Shivani
Shreyas
Shruti
Sneha
Tamar
Tian
Valentina
Vera
Xi
Xinyi
Yael
Yifei
Ahmad
Aileen
Alessandro
Alfredo
Alisha
Allie
Allyson
Ankit
Antoine
Anton
Anusha
Anya
April
Arlene
Armando
Belinda
Bella
Bernadette
Bethany
Betsy
Bobby
Boris
Camilla
Chad
Forrest
Clayton
Cory
Curtis
Daria
Deepa
Dev
Dian
Jody
Kavita
Kirk
Eliana
Ernesto
Esteban
Fan
Fei
Frederick
Gaurav
Guilherme
Guillaume
Hilary
Hillary
Samir
Jennie
Leticia
Karim
Kieran
Kris
Kristi
Larissa
Leland
Lesley
Liana
Lynne
Mackenzie
Manish
Maxime
Meagan
Mei
Mikaela
Monika
Saurabh
Talia
Murat
Mustafa
Nan
Nichole
Nico
Ning
Paolo
Raghav
Ran
Rayan
Roberta
Rochelle
Shelby
Sidney
Simone
Soren
Stefano
Su
Tania
Tejas
Tessa
Tracey
Xue
Yiming
Yuchen
Zane
Zheng
Cyril
Adi
Agnes
Aimee
Alexandros
Alfred
Alisa
Tricia
Ankita
Archana
Ashish
Athena
Aubrey
Ayush
Becky
Beverly
Jo
Britney
Wu
Carissa
Carlo
Cassie
Clarissa
Claudio
Cristian
Jacquelyn
Dustin
Eddie
Eun
Eve
Fabio
Francesco
Franklin
Frederic
Gerardo
German
Gilbert
Gonzalo
Harold
Hassan
Hector
Hua
Igor
Jana
Johnny
Josef
Katy
Kelley
Kelli
Kelvin
Kent
Kexin
Konstantin
Lana
Lars
Leonard
Lilian
Liza
Long
Magdalena
Makoto
Margot
Mariam
Marion
Marshall
Marvin
Maxim
Mehdi
Mimi
Moises
Nathalie
Neel
Nestor
Vijay
Paulo
Perry
Qi
Rebekah
Renato
Richa
Rocio
Roshan
Roxanne
Sabina
Sabine
Sachin
Salma
Salvador
Sebastien
Shan
Shaun
Sheng
Sung
Sunny
Tanner
Tenzin
Terri
Thu
Tia
Tommy
Tong
Trish
Warren
Xiang
Yiwen
Yixin
Young
Tran
Adolfo
Alain
Alanna
Alexia
Amrita
Ananth
Ani
Anika
Annabel
Anuj
Arman
Arvind
Asha
Asher
Bailey
Betty
Blanca
Brennan
Byron
C.
Carole
Catalina
Cedric
Celia
Celina
Celine
Coco
Corinne
Dante
Darlene
Davide
Deanna
Deniz
Derrick
Di
Dina
Lora
Meera
Sarina
Dwight
Ed
Lianne
Elliott
Ernest
Ezra
Francois
Gene
Gillian
Gowri
Guillermo
Guy
Hailey
Hubert
Ishita
Israel
Jasper
Jeannie
Jenn
Jens
Jerome
Jiawei
Joann
Van
Johnathan
Joon
Jordi
Josiah
Josie
Julius
Katharina
Katya
Khaled
Kira
Kun
Kunal
Le
Leanne
Leilani
Lexi
Libby
Lila
Lourdes
Luc
Luciana
Luz
Lynette
Ting
Maddie
Madhu
Marlene
Martina
Maryann
Mehmet
Mert
Mollie
Ms
Nam
Naveen
Nicola
Nidhi
Nikolas
Paloma
Pei
Piper
Prakash
Praveen
Radhika
Rania
Rashmi
Risa
Rishabh
Rong
Roxana
Rushil
Saloni
Selina
Seung
Shashank
Shawna
Shilpa
Sid
Skylar
Winston
Srikanth
Sriram
Suman
Sun
Susanne
Tanvi
Tao
Thanh
Tianyu
Traci
Trey
Ty
Uma
Valentin
Vinh
Vishal
Wai
Won
Yesenia
Zhen
Zihan
Aarushi
Adnan
Agustin
Tan
Aiden
Alden
Alfonso
Alix
Alvaro
Ami
Anders
Gonzalez
Angelo
Anish
Zhou
Anson
Antonia
Anuradha
Arnav
Arturo
Ashlee
Ashton
Avery
Avi
Beatrice
Benoit
Billy
Bing
Brady
Bruna
Bryant
Caio
Carter
Cassidy
Chandra
Cherie
Mae
Christoph
Ciara
Cj
Clark
Constance
Dakota
Dani
Danica
Daniella
Darryl
Dena
Dmitry
Dominik
Donovan
Dora
Mikael
Niki
Nils
Norah
Duncan
Earl
Elsie
Elyse
Emi
Ping
Eran
Esha
Florence
Gabby
Giovanna
Glen
Gurpreet
Hanan
Hari
Hasan
Hieu
Hiroyuki
Hung
Hye
Irena
Ismael
Jacky
Jakob
Jeffery
Yolanda
Joo
Jules
Kabir
Kaden
Vinay
Kat
Kaushik
Kenji
Kennedy
Kiara
Komal
Les
Lia
Lizzie
Thi
Lorraine
Louisa
Ma
Mahesh
Malcolm
Malia
Mallory
Manu
Marcel
Margo
Marielle
Marin
Marisol
Marjorie
Marty
Meena
Tori
Michel
Mohamad
Mohsen
Myra
Nandita
Ngoc
Nik
Nisha
Nishant
Omer
Penny
Phuong
Qing
Quynh
Rabia
Raghu
Rami
Ria
Rodney
Rohit
Rosemary
Roshni
Rosie
S.
Sadie
Sami
San
Sang
Sawyer
Seamus
Selena
Sergey
Shalini
Shana
Sheri
Sheryl
Shiyu
Shuo
Shweta
Siavash
Sina
Sofie
Soheil
Sonja
Srinivas
Suhas
Surabhi
Surya
Susanna
Swati
Sylvie
Takeshi
Tami
Vinod
Tianyi
Tj
Toni
Tonya
Tyson
Viviana
Vivien
Weston
Xiaowei
Xing
Yihan
Yonatan
Youssef
Yujin
Yuki
Yulia
Yuqi
Yusuke
Yuxin
Zack
Zara
Zhi
Kaur
Abbas
Abdullah
Abel
Adela
Adele
Aishwarya
Aj
Akanksha
Akshat
Alaina
Aldo
Alondra
Alyson
Amalia
Amar
Amelie
America
Amin
Amira
An
Andrey
Aniket
Anil
Anisha
Ankur
Annemarie
Xu
Antoinette
Anushka
Aparna
Aria
Arielle
Arne
Arnold
Artem
Arushi
Aryan
Ashok
Ashwini
Avani
Beverley
Brendon
Brenna
Callie
Cam
Camilo
Chantal
Chelsey
Chetan
Colby
Colton
Conner
Corinna
Cyrus
Dalia
Dane
Danna
Dario
Darius
Darrell
Daryl
Dee
Deepika
Deirdre
Denis
Devan
Dilip
Dinesh
Dirk
Hoang
Doris
Dorothy
Stacie
Lizzy
Maha
Neda
Thiago
Drake
Ekaterina
Eleni
Elina
Elle
Emilia
Erwin
Estelle
Fanny
Fatemeh
Fatma
Faye
Medina
Florian
Franz
G.
Garry
Gautam
Gayle
Jeong
Genevieve
Giancarlo
Gil
Graciela
Greta
Gus
Hallie
Haoran
Hazel
Saul
Henrique
Herman
Rakesh
Hossein
Hugh
Hyun
Ilan
Iliana
Ilya
Imran
Song
Ines
Ioannis
Ipshita
Isha
Ishan
Janie
Jarrod
Jayant
Jazmin
Jeannine
Jiacheng
Jiyun
Joelle
Jong
Jordyn
Juanita
Jude
Juliane
Julianne
Juliette
Junjie
Kaan
Kanika
Kassandra
Katarina
Katja
Katrin
Kavya
Keegan
Keri
Kiana
Kimia
Kirstin
Kyla
Kyung
Lan
Landon
Laurence
Laurent
Lewis
Lian
Lili
Linnea
Lizbeth
Lloyd
Loren
Lorna
Lucie
Lulu
Lupe
Lyn
Maja
Malika
Mallika
Sze
Manisha
Manoj
Manuela
Marcela
Marcia
Marguerite
Mariah
Marianna
Mariko
Massimo
Mateo
Mathias
Mathieu
Maximus
Melina
Merve
Micaela
Mihir
Mikhail
Milad
Milan
Milo
Misha
Mitch
Mo
Moritz
Morteza
Moses
Myles
Rohith
Nathanael
Neta
Nikolaus
Noa
Olivier
Uday
Pallavi
Patrice
Patty
Paulina
Petra
Poonam
Prateek
Preeti
Raina
Quan
Quentin
Rajan
Rajat
Ram
Ramsey
Rana
Rebeca
Reed
Reena
Reese
Regan
Reginald
Reid
Rekha
Rex
Reza
Rhiannon
Rhonda
Ritu
Rona
Roya
Ryann
Saad
Sage
Sridhar
Sanjana
Seema
Selin
Shai
Shay
Sherri
Sherwin
Shiqi
Shu
Shubham
Simran
Siqi
Siyu
Soham
Sonali
Sri
Stefania
Sumana
Xun
Surbhi
Susana
T.
Tai
Tatum
Terrance
Thea
Timmy
Tomasz
Trent
Tri
Trudy
Usha
Varsha
Vicente
Vikas
Viktor
Vinita
Violet
Vy
Wade
Wenhao
Wenjie
Xander
Xiaowen
Ximena
Ye
Yiwei
Yujia
Yulin
Yuri
Yusuf
Yutong
Yuwei
Zac
Zhe
Zijian
Zixuan
M
Solomon
Aadi
Abbey
Abhijeet
Adan
Adelaide
Aida
Itzel
Al
Yin
Aleksandar
Aleksandra
Alexa
Kwang
Alia
Alireza
Aliya
Aliyah
Alka
Aly
Alysson
Amal
Amani
Amara
Amirhossein
Amna
Anais
Angus
Anja
Anmol
Bryson
Antoni
Anu
Apurva
Arabella
Liliana
Maura
Aravind
Aris
Arnaud
Artur
Gupta
Shankar
Asma
Atharva
Atsushi
Aurora
Aviv
Avni
Ayan
Ayla
Babak
Ban
Basil
Bela
Benny
Bettina
Bharat
Krishnan
Bharath
Bhargav
Bhavana
Blaine
Blair
Bowen
Brandi
Britt
Britta
Brook
Brynn
Burcu
Callum
Liu
Cary
Catie
Cayla
Cecelia
Cecile
Chaitanya
Chandler
Chang
Chenyi
Chenyu
Cheuk
Cheyenne
Chinmay
Chong
Christa
Milton
Christiane
Chuck
Chung
Ciera
Mayumi
Clarisse
Claude
Clay
Clifford
Clinton
Colette
Conrad
Constantin
Cordelia
Cornelia
Corrine
Yee
Daiki
Daisuke
Dalton
Damon
Daniele
Dara
Darwin
Dawson
Deana
Deb
Deepti
Deven
Dianne
Dick
Dillon
Dimitri
Dinah
Disha
Guido
Leena
Niraj
Renu
E.
Ece
Eddy
Elana
Elia
Emiliano
Emilie
Eugenia
Everett
Eyal
Fabiana
Fabienne
Faith
Farah
Farnaz
Feifei
Ferdinand
Fernanda
Filip
Franco
Frankie
Freddy
Freya
Gabriele
Galen
Garth
Gautham
Gayathri
Gayatri
Geoff
Georgios
Malgorzata
Gerry
Hamad
Giacomo
Gianna
Ginger
Gita
Gladys
Glenda
Guillem
Ha
Hae
Hai
Hamed
Hamza
Hanson
Haotian
Harvey
Haya
Henrik
Herbert
Hilda
Ho
Huan
Huy
Iain
Ina
Ira
Irma
Irvin
Isa
Isabela
Izzy
J
Jacques
Jad
Jada
Jai
Jamal
Janae
Janani
Janine
Jaqueline
Jayne
Jayson
Jazmine
Jelena
Jeremiah
Jewel
Jiawen
Jinho
Jiwon
Jj
Joachim
Jonathon
Juana
Julianna
Julieta
Kang
Karishma
Kasey
Katelin
Katia
Kaya
Kazuki
Keenan
Keiko
Kerem
Keshav
Kiera
Khanh
Nguyen
Kirsti
Koen
Kristopher
Ksenia
Lacey
Laila
Lauryn
Layla
Leif
Leigh
Leonid
Levi
Leyla
Lincoln
Lior
Liwen
Loretta
Lou
Luigi
Lyle
Mac
Magnus
Maliha
Malte
Manan
Manasi
Manpreet
Mansi
Marcello
Maribel
Maricela
Mariel
Marija
Maritza
Marius
Marlon
Matan
Mathilde
Matilde
Maxine
Mckenna
Meghana
Mehrdad
Melvin
Mengyuan
Mercedes
Mika
Mikayla
Mila
Milena
Mingyu
Mitra
Moira
Sameer
Na
Naama
Nanci
Nandini
Natalya
Neelam
Negar
Nelia
Nia
Nic
Vamsi
Niklas
Nima
Nirali
Olena
Oriana
Paras
Paris
Patti
Phong
Phyllis
Pieter
Polly
Prasad
Ramesh
Prerna
Priscila
Prithvi
Pulkit
Rajiv
Ramona
Randi
Rani
Reina
Remy
Reva
Reyna
Reynaldo
Riccardo
Richie
Rika
Robby
Romain
Rosalind
Rosanne
Rowan
Roxane
Rudy
Ruohan
Ryota
Saachi
Sal
Sallie
Saman
Samira
Sammy
Sana
Sandeep
Sangeeta
Sejal
Sen
Shadi
Shaina
Shari
Shauna
Shayan
Sheetal
Shin
Shira
Sho
Shoshana
Shriya
Shun
Si
Sidd
Siddhartha
Simona
Siobhan
Skye
Sonam
Sonny
Soo
Soumya
Sowmya
Sreya
Srishti
Stephane
Sunita
Sven
Swetha
Tabitha
Tae
Tal
Taryn
Tasha
Tate
Tatyana
Teddy
Teja
Terence
Teri
Terrence
Thalia
Thao
Theodora
Thuy
Tingting
Trang
Tushar
Uri
Vadim
Valery
Vasu
Veena
Veronika
Vicki
Vignesh
Vinicius
Viraj
Vivienne
Walker
Wilder
Wilfred
Willie
Willow
Xiaochen
Xiaolin
Xiaoxia
Xiaoyu
Yair
Yanjun
Yanli
Yasmeen
Yasmine
Yen
Yiran
Yiting
Yoko
Yuhan
Yuhao
Yuqing
Yutian
Zainab
Zeynep
Zhiwei
Zi
Zixin
Ziyue
Holland
Elan
Washington
A.
A.j.
Aakanksha
Aakash
Aaryan
Aayush
Abhay
Abhi
Addie
Addison
Adeline
Adithya
Adrianna
Aisha
Aisling
Akhil
Akhila
Akiko
Ala
Alaa
Alba
Alban
Perez
Aleena
Alessia
Alessio
Alexi
Alistair
Alok
Alp
Alycia
Amari
Amaya
Amer
Amina
Amita
Amr
Anabel
Analisa
Anant
Aneesh
Angeline
Saha
Patel
Anju
Annalisa
Anoushka
Antony
Anudeep
Anuja
Anupama
Anwesha
Ao
Apollo
Apoorva
Ariane
Arianne
Armand
Armin
Aron
Arpita
Art
Mani
Arvin
Ashleigh
Ashutosh
Asia
Atul
Audra
Augustin
Augustine
Aurelia
Avinash
Ayaan
Ayana
Ayelet
Ayodele
Siyi
B.
Bala
Bao
Barton
Bea
Behzad
Belen
Benedikt
Bennett
Berk
Bernardo
Bethel
Bhavika
Bhavya
Bin
Binh
Bita
Bohan
Bojan
Boyang
Braden
Bradford
Brandy
Breanna
Breno
Bret
Brice
Brigitte
Brittney
Bryn
Burak
Campbell
Candace
Candy
Carey
Carlotta
Lima
Catarina
Cate
Catrin
Cem
Chandan
Charbel
Charu
Cheri
Chester
Chih
Ching
Christelle
Christi
Christin
Christophe
Chu
Chuan
Zachariah
Cici
Cierra
Cisco
Clarence
Claudette
Clement
Cleopatra
Cliff
Corrie
Creed
Crista
Cristobal
Joleen
D.
Dahlia
Damian
Dania
Daphna
Dasha
Davina
Deanne
Deena
Derick
Desmond
Destiny
Devansh
Dhruva
Dianna
Dimitrios
Diogo
Yoon
Dolores
Doreen
Dorian
Dorien
Dorsa
Kin
Masoud
Michiko
N.
Namrata
Nikolay
Ozge
Ronit
Duy
Ebru
Edmond
Efrain
Ege
Ehsan
Ela
Eliot
Elli
Ellyn
Elmer
Emerson
Emil
Emilee
Eri
Erich
Eryn
Estefania
Estefany
Estela
Eugenie
Evgeny
Fangfei
Faraz
Farrah
Huang
Finn
Fletcher
Florencia
Ford
Fran
Francisca
Franziska
Gal
Galina
Gang
Garrison
Ge
Gema
Genesis
Georg
Georgi
Georgina
Geraldine
Geri
Ghazal
Gilberto
Ginny
Gisele
Giuseppe
Gokhan
Nana
Grady
Gray
Grayson
Gregg
Guan
Guillermina
Gunnar
Guo
H.
Hadar
Hala
Halima
Hamilton
Trieu
Hang
Hank
Hansen
Haowen
Harper
Harsh
Hau
Rolando
Heena
Helene
Hendrik
Hester
Himanshu
Hind
Hirotaka
Hongtao
Johnson
Ido
Ilaria
Ileana
Iman
Imee
Imogen
Indu
Inigo
Inna
Ioana
Ion
Irmak
Irving
Isadora
Isela
Ishani
Ismail
Isobel
Issac
Itamar
Iva
Ivana
Jacinda
Jackelyn
Jacopo
Jamil
Marte
Janette
Janos
Jayden
Jean-pierre
Jed
Jensen
Jessika
Jessy
Jialu
Jiarui
Jiayu
Jingjing
Jingwei
Jintao
Jinyoung
Jiyeon
Jochen
Jodi
Jodie
Josselyn
Ju
Junyang
Junyoung
Justus
Justyna
Ka
Kaavya
Kaela
Kaia
Kailey
Kalani
Kaleb
Kali
Kalina
Kalkidan
Kalpana
Kamal
Kana
Kanchan
Kannan
Kapil
Karissa
Karol
Karolina
Karthikeyan
Kasper
Kassie
Katerina
Kawin
Kayleigh
Kaylie
Kaylin
Keanu
Keira
Keisuke
Kellen
Kelsea
Kelsi
Kemi
Kenan
Kenzie
Keren
Keyu
Khoa
Khoi
Kian
Michela
Kimberley
Kimi
King
Kingsley
Klaus
Konrad
Korina
Krish
Kristian
Kristoffer
Kwabena
Ky
Kylee
Kyu
Lane
Langston
Laszlo
Latha
Latoya
Lavanya
Teng
Layton
Leandra
Leann
Leanna
Leili
Lekha
Lennart
Leonel
Leroy
Lester
Lexie
Lihua
Lilit
Lingling
Lingyan
Lingyun
Liv
Lois
Lola
Lucien
Lucille
Ludwig
Luiz
Luka
Luna
Luong
Mabel
Maeve
Mahlet
Mahmoud
Maile
Maiya
Makayla
Malinda
Malissa
Marcella
Marci
Marcie
Mareike
Marek
Maren
Marika
Marilou
Marla
Marlen
Marlo
Marsha
Marti
Marwa
Maryanne
Masha
Maurizio
Mayank
Mayra
Meaghan
Meenakshi
Megumi
Mehran
Melis
Merry
Mickey
Midori
Mildred
Millie
Mingming
Minjin
Miri
Mirko
Mirna
Moe
Mohit
Morris
Rainer
Mun
Murray
Nabil
Nada
Nadim
Nadja
Nadya
Naima
Nandi
Naoko
Rao
Naz
Nazanin
Neeraj
Nell
Ngan
Nhi
Nhu
Ni
Nickolas
Nicolai
Nicolo
Nikola
Niles
Satya
Nivedita
Noe
Nona
Nour
Nova
Obinna
Odette
Ofelia
Ofir
Oguz
Oleg
Ophir
Orlando
Oskar
Pankaj
Parisa
Parth
Parul
Pascal
Pavel
Pawan
Payton
Pearl
Pedram
Pema
Penelope
Petr
Pia
Po
Prachi
Pradeep
Pragya
Kushagra
Pranay
Prarthna
Prashanth
Qingqing
Quang
Rachana
Racheal
Radoslaw
Raghad
Ragini
Raja
Ramiro
Raunak
Reshma
Reuben
Rey
Rhoda
Richelle
Rina
Rishab
Ritika
Robbie
Rocky
Rogelio
Romina
Romy
Ronan
Ronda
Ronny
Rosario
Rosemarie
Rosina
Royce
Ru
Rudolf
Ruoxi
Rush
Sadaf
Safa
Sagar
Sajan
Salman
Samara
Samina
Samson
Samy
Sandhya
Sandip
Sania
Santhosh
Santi
Santosh
Sarahi
Sarthak
Saskia
Satish
Saumya
Sayed
Scot
Scotty
Selene
Selma
Senthil
Sergei
Shaden
Shaili
Shang
Shanna
Shanshan
Shaunak
Shayna
Shea
Shefali
Sheldon
Shengjie
Sherif
Shi
Shikha
Khanna
Shree
Shuai
Shwetha
Shyam
Signe
Silas
Silvana
Sindy
Sirui
Siva
Siyuan
Smita
Sohail
Soledad
Soomin
Sourav
Soyeon
Stan
Steph
Sudeep
Sulaiman
Sumeet
Sumer
Sumit
Suraj
Sushant
Sushma
Suzan
Suzette
Svetlana
Swathi
Tadashi
Takahiro
Takao
Takuya
Tam
Tammie
Tanmay
Tarun
Tasnim
Terrell
Themistoklis
Thien
Thom
Tiana
Tiantian
Tito
Toby
Toru
Trina
Tsuyoshi
Tuan
Ulysses
Vaidehi
Val
Valentino
Vance
Vaughn
Venkata
Vidya
Vimal
Vince
Vineet
Virgilio
Viswanath
W.
Wan
Wenchao
Wendi
Wenjia
Wentao
Wenxi
Wes
Wiley
Wojciech
Xiangyu
Xiaohan
Xiaojing
Xiaoyan
Xiaoying
Xiaoyuan
Xinyuan
Xiyuan
Xueying
Yanan
Yancheng
Yannick
Yasaman
Yasser
Yasu
Yawen
Yelena
Yichao
Yichen
Yiheng
Yijun
Yilin
Yiling
Yingfei
Yingjie
Yipeng
Yiqing
Yiqun
Yiren
Yixuan
Yiyang
Yiyi
Yiyun
Yoni
Yoo
Yoshitaka
Yubin
Yuecheng
Yufei
Yujie
Yuko
Yumi
Yunfei
Yunzhi
Yuqian
Yuta
Yuval
Yuxi
Yuyang
Yuzhe
Zhihan
Zhiyuan
Ziang
Zijun
Zitong
Ziyi
Ziyu
Zoey
August
English
Flavia
History
India
Lilly
Mechanical
Nitin
Riki
Roma
Trinity
A human touch
While the summary statistics are a curious novelty, we want to take the space to recognize that names carry deep personal, cultural and historical significance that extends well beyond a particular string of letters. That is to say, every Michael is their own, unique person! For Yvonne Ngo, the assistant director for tutoring and student learning programs, her last name used to be a source of embarrassment and confusion. However, through the years, Yvonne would eventually gain an appreciation for the rich history surrounding her last name.
“Ngo not only signifies my heritage, but also symbolizes the hurdles my parents encountered in their youth,” she said. “It is a testament to their resilience and the complex connection between identity and history in our family story. Today, I take pride in my last name, embracing it and its influences on my identity.”
In this same spirit, the “story of your name” activity has become a key icebreaker among CTL tutors. Yvonne believes that as each person unveils the layers of meaning behind their names, we can create an inclusive space where people appreciate the diverse backgrounds that make up our community.
Beyond connecting members of our community, names also serve as key anchor points for our own identity.
“My name … means ‘the sky,’” said Akash Shah ’26. “To me, this is one of the most important aspects of my identity.”
“Metaphorically, the sky represents a lot of my personal values. As a vast, never-ending expanse of space that encompasses not only the earth, but everything we as humans can see and imagine, the sky symbolizes limitless and never-ending opportunities for growth and expansion as well as an unrestrained freedom to pursue whatever I set my heart to,” Shah said.
In essence, names are not mere labels we use to address each other, but rather symbols that have the power to connect communities and our sense of self.
Future work
In the future, we would like to look into the temporal trends concerning names at Stanford. That is to say, how has the distribution of names at Stanford changed over the past few decades? Another fun direction is to infer demographic information from the first and last names. Upon doing so, we might find that interesting patterns emerge across ethnic lines. At the very least, the United States Census Bureau seems to think this is the case. But, alas, for brevity’s sake we will end our discussion here (for now).