Author

Ivy Hung
Data Journalist
Based in Arizona, USA
Ivy is a data journalist based in Arizona, United States. A business school graduate now working her way into tech, she spent her early career in product marketing, project management, and marketing strategy — roles where reading a name the same way you read a brand became second nature.
She joined NamesPop because the name datasets sit at exactly the intersection she cares about: consumer behaviour, cultural identity, and what numbers tell us about decisions families make quietly, one at a time. Her writing leans on SSA and municipal pet registries the way a marketer reads a segmentation report — looking for the audiences hiding inside the aggregate.
Cross-cultural naming is her main beat, with a particular interest in how Hispanic, Asian-American, and bicultural families navigate the tension between heritage and assimilation in the American Southwest.
2,409
Total pieces
140
Articles
1,119
Baby commentary
1,150
Pet commentary
Ivy Hung's contributions
- Baby commentary
Yahya
Yahya ranks #706 in the SSA dataset with 4,119 total recorded bearers, and its peak in 2024 places it firmly in the present tense. It's the Arabic form of John, one of the most wi…
- Baby commentary
Yareli
Yareli is a name from the indigenous Huichol (Wixaritari) people of western Mexico, where it is said to mean water lady or woman of the water. Ranked 794 with 10,357 SSA records a…
- Baby commentary
Yousef
Yousef peaked in 2024, sits at rank #766, and has 6,654 SSA records. It's the Arabic form of Joseph — one of the most universal names in human history — and its presence in the SS…
- Baby commentary
Zahir
Zahir peaked in 2023, ranks #755, and has 4,417 SSA bearers. It's an Arabic name with a meaning that functions almost as a philosophical concept, the manifest, the evident, the on…
- Baby commentary
Zamir
Zamir peaked in 2023, ranks #740, and has 3,966 SSA bearers. It's a Hebrew name with a beautiful literal meaning, carried primarily within Sephardic Jewish and Israeli-diaspora co…
- Baby commentary
Zelda
Zelda peaked in 2020 and holds 16,406 SSA records. A Germanic name with a Fitzgerald literary pedigree and a legendary video game franchise attached to it, it sits at rank 748 aft…
- Pet commentary
Aries
Aries registers 74 times at rank 1442 on male pets — a zodiac name applied to dogs born under the ram's sign or simply chosen for the name's strong, assertive sound. Among astrolo…
- Pet commentary
Asia
Asia appears 73 times at rank 1457 on female pets — a continental name that has long been used as a given name in English-speaking contexts, particularly in Black American naming…
- Pet commentary
Babe
Babe at rank 1,471 with 72 records, gender-neutral, is a term of endearment that graduated into official status — written down on a license application exactly as the owner says i…
- Pet commentary
Beauregard
Beauregard appears 65 times at rank 1585 on male pets. It's a name with deep Southern aristocratic associations — P.G.T. Beauregard was a Confederate general, and the name has liv…
- Pet commentary
Beethoven
Beethoven at rank 1,507 with 69 records, male-leaning, has a dual pop-culture weight that no other name in this batch can match: the classical composer and the 1992 family film fe…
- Pet commentary
Bela
Bela appears 68 times at rank 1,527 on female pets — a name that arrives with multiple cultural reference points depending on which direction you're looking. It can be Bella spell…
- Pet commentary
Bennett
Bennett appears 64 times at rank 1603 on male pets. The name is having a genuine moment in American baby naming, top-100 and climbing, which means it's also making its way into pe…
- Pet commentary
Blanco
Blanco appears 66 times at rank 1570 on male pets. The Spanish word for "white" applied to a pet is almost always a direct coat description — this is a white or cream-colored dog…
- Pet commentary
Bonita
Bonita is Spanish for "pretty" or "beautiful" — and 71 dogs at rank 1,486, female-leaning, carry a name that functions as a direct compliment baked into an identity. It's a warm,…
- Pet commentary
Brandon
Brandon appears 65 times at rank 1588 on male pets. This is a generational human name in the pet registry, a top-10 baby name through the 1980s and 1990s, applied by owners naming…
- Pet commentary
Bronson
Bronson at rank 1,495 with 70 records, male-leaning, is a name that carries physical weight before you even meet the dog. It's the kind of name that lands on a large, muscular bre…
- Pet commentary
Chyna
Chyna appears 64 times at rank 1606 on female pets. The name is almost certainly a tribute to Chyna the professional wrestler: Joanie Laurer, the first woman to compete in the men…
- Pet commentary
Corky
Corky is a name with a cheerful, slightly retro bounce — 72 records, rank 1,474, male-leaning — and it belongs to an era of pet naming that favored playful nicknames over dignifie…
- Pet commentary
Dave
Dave sits at rank 1,530 with 68 records — the most aggressively normal name on a pet you can find in the registry. Dave is not a dog name. That's the entire point. Naming a pet Da…
How we work
Editorial policy →
Topic selection, verification, corrections.
How we gather data
Methodology →
Sources, processing pipeline, limitations.