Author

Jack Lin
Founder & Editor-in-Chief
Based in Taipei, Taiwan
Jack is a software engineer based in Taipei, Taiwan. He built NamesPop because the naming tools he found online all felt the same: slow, ad-heavy, and better at gathering SEO keywords than answering a parent's actual question.
He spends most of his writing time on trend analysis, data provenance, and the question of how software changes the small family decisions that used to happen in living rooms. Lately he has been thinking about how algorithms shape naming itself — what it means when a top-100 list starts to feel like a recommendation engine.
He lives with a rabbit named Money, which is where most of his pet-naming opinions come from.
2,387
Total pieces
131
Articles
1,085
Baby commentary
1,171
Pet commentary
Jack Lin's contributions
- Baby commentary
Eitan
Eitan is the Israeli Hebrew spelling of a name that English speakers know as Ethan — strong, enduring, long-lived. Ranked #1121 with a peak in 2024 and 2,586 total SSA uses, it re…
- Baby commentary
Elani
Elani is a modern variation of Eleni — the Modern Greek form of Helen — sitting at a 2024 peak with just 2,163 total SSA records. It occupies a stylistic niche between the Ella fa…
- Baby commentary
Elara
Elara is a Greek mythology name — a mortal woman loved by Zeus in myth, and also the name of one of Jupiter's moons — that has found genuine momentum in the United States. With ju…
- Baby commentary
Eleazar
Eleazar is one of the great Hebrew names that never got its turn in the American mainstream. For parents who love names with genuine biblical depth, that obscurity is the whole po…
- Baby commentary
Eliezer
Eliezer is a Hebrew biblical name meaning "my God is help" — from El (God) plus ezer (help) — carried by one of the most important figures in Genesis: Abraham's faithful servant w…
- Baby commentary
Elyas
Elyas is an Arabic form of Elijah, from the Hebrew Eliyahu , meaning "my God is Yahweh." Ranked #1227 with its peak in 2024 and around 1,900 total SSA uses, it's a name that bridg…
- Baby commentary
Emil
Emil is the Scandinavian, German, and Central European form of Aemilius — from the Latin Aemilianus , of the Aemilia gens, possibly derived from the Latin aemulus meaning "rival"…
- Baby commentary
Ernest
Ernest is a Germanic name meaning "serious," "determined," or "vigorous in battle" — from the Old High German Ernust , conveying earnestness in both military and moral senses. Wit…
- Baby commentary
Esperanza
Esperanza is a Spanish virtue name meaning hope, from the Latin sperare (to hope), that has deep roots in Latin American Catholic naming tradition. It peaked in 2000 with 20,654 t…
- Baby commentary
Essence
Essence is a word name with unusual philosophical weight — it literally means the fundamental nature of something, the quality that makes a thing what it is. Used most commonly in…
- Baby commentary
Farrah
Farrah is an Arabic name meaning "joy" or "happiness" — and also, unavoidably, the name of Farrah Fawcett, the actress and cultural icon whose feathered hair became one of the mos…
- Baby commentary
Frankie
Frankie peaked in 1959 and still shows up on birth certificates. SSA records show 42,007 uses across all recorded years. Currently ranked #1112, it carries that specific warmth of…
- Baby commentary
Gadiel
Gadiel is a Hebrew theophoric name meaning "God is my fortune" or "fortunate through God" — from gad (fortune, luck) combined with el (God). With 2,395 SSA records and a 2024 peak…
- Baby commentary
Gaia
Gaia is the ancient Greek name for the goddess of Earth — one of the primordial deities in Greek cosmology — and it's having a genuine American moment. With just over 2,274 SSA re…
- Baby commentary
Gary
Gary peaked in 1952 and was given to 901,938 Americans across all SSA records, one of the great mid-century names, the kind that defined a generation so thoroughly it's still hear…
- Baby commentary
Gordon
Gordon is a Scottish Gaelic surname meaning "great hill" or "spacious fort" — from the Gaelic gor dun or possibly from an Aberdeenshire place name. With 154,697 SSA records and a…
- Baby commentary
Gus
Gus is a nickname name with Latin roots, a short form of Augustus, Angus, or Gustav, carrying meanings that range from "great" or "venerable" (Latin augustus ) to "one strength" (…
- Baby commentary
Harlee
Harlee is a feminine respelling of Harley — an Old English place-name meaning hare's clearing or hare's meadow that evolved into a surname, then a given name, then a gender-bendin…
- Baby commentary
Harlow
Harlow is an Old English surname name meaning "army hill" or "mound of the people," from here (army) + hlaw (hill or burial mound). Ranked #1251 for boys with a peak in 2023 and a…
- Baby commentary
Hasan
Hasan is one of the most significant names in Islamic tradition — carried by the Prophet Muhammad's grandson Hasan ibn Ali, a figure of immense religious importance in both Sunni…
How we work
Editorial policy →
Topic selection, verification, corrections.
How we gather data
Methodology →
Sources, processing pipeline, limitations.