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
Howard
Howard is an Old English surname-turned-given-name with roots in the medieval compound hug (heart, mind) and weard (guard) — a guardian of the spirit. With 346,444 SSA records and…
- Baby commentary
Imogen
Imogen is the kind of name that literary parents quietly pass around — Shakespearean in origin, Celtic in feel, and genuinely uncommon in the United States despite a current rank…
- Baby commentary
Ingrid
Ingrid is one of those names that reads as both unmistakably foreign and completely at home in the American context. An Old Norse name with over 27,000 SSA records in America, it…
- Baby commentary
Isis
Isis is one of the most consequential names in human history — carried by the most revered goddess in the ancient Egyptian pantheon for over three thousand years. Its American use…
- Baby commentary
Ivaan
Ivaan is a double-A variant of Ivan, the Slavic form of John — itself from Hebrew Yohanan , meaning "God is gracious." With 1,377 SSA records and a 2022 peak, Ivaan adds visual em…
- Baby commentary
Ivana
Ivana is the Slavic feminine form of Ivan — itself the Eastern European equivalent of John — giving this name a lineage that runs from Hebrew through Greek to Czech, Slovak, and C…
- Baby commentary
Jada
Jada is a Hebrew-origin name meaning "wise" or "knowing" — from the Hebrew yada , to know — though its American use has been heavily shaped by Jada Pinkett Smith, one of Hollywood…
- Baby commentary
Jalani
Jalani is a Swahili name meaning "mighty" or "powerful" — a name of genuine weight in East African linguistic tradition. With only about 1,441 SSA records and a 2023 peak, it's on…
- Baby commentary
Jamal
Jamal means beauty in Arabic — a direct, generous meaning that has made it one of the most used Arabic-origin names in African American communities. Ranked #1183, it peaked in 199…
- Baby commentary
Jayleen
Jayleen is a constructed American name built on the popular Jay- prefix and the -leen/-line suffix that swept through girl naming in the 1990s and 2000s. It peaked in 2011 alongsi…
- Baby commentary
Jaylene
Jaylene is a compound construction — Jay- (from the bird, or the name Jay, or simply as a euphonious opener) plus -lene (a suffix with Germanic and Greek roots meaning "torch" or…
- Baby commentary
Jean
Jean for a boy is a name that most Americans have forgotten was ever masculine. That forgetting is precisely what makes it interesting again. Ranked #1139 with a peak in 1993 and…
- Baby commentary
Jillian
Jillian is the American elaboration of Jill — a name with Latin roots through Julian and Julius, meaning "youthful" — given extra syllables and a more formal shape. It peaked in 1…
- Baby commentary
Jordy
Jordy peaked in 2006 and carries the easy confidence of a name that never took itself too seriously. Ranked #1162, it's a Hebrew-rooted name that reached American parents largely…
- Baby commentary
Jovani
Jovani is the Spanish-influenced variant of Giovanni — "God is gracious" dressed in a rhythm that moves differently than its Italian and Hebrew cousins. Ranked #1171 with its peak…
- Baby commentary
Joyce
Joyce is a name with an enormous footprint — 509,102 SSA records make it one of the most-used girl names in American history — yet at rank 1042 today, it's nearly invisible. That…
- Baby commentary
Jream
Jream is an American invented name — a phonetic respelling of "dream" with a J opening — that sits at the outer edge of creative naming, with only 497 SSA records and a 2024 peak.…
- Baby commentary
Julissa
Julissa is a Spanish-language elaboration of Julia — fusing the Latin Julian lineage with a -issa ending that gives it an almost Italianate lushness. With 25,678 SSA records and a…
- Baby commentary
Kacey
Kacey is a spelling variant of Casey — the Irish-origin name that has spent decades being used for both boys and girls with easy confidence. This particular spelling, with the K a…
- Baby commentary
Kairi
Kairi has 6,015 SSA records with a peak in 2019 — and nearly all of that usage traces directly to a video game. The name belongs to Kingdom Hearts' beloved protagonist, a girl fro…
How we work
Editorial policy →
Topic selection, verification, corrections.
How we gather data
Methodology →
Sources, processing pipeline, limitations.