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
Sailor
Sailor is an Old English occupational name — one who sails — reimagined as a given name for girls, combining the free-spirited imagery of the sea with the surname-name aesthetic t…
- Baby commentary
Samiyah
Samiyah is an Arabic name meaning "exalted" or "elevated" — a variant of Samia or Samiya that adds the -ah ending common in Arabic feminine names. With 5,125 SSA records and a 201…
- Baby commentary
Saniyah
Saniyah is an Arabic-origin name meaning "brilliant," "resplendent," or "exalted" — from the root sana , to be elevated or to shine. With about 7,122 SSA records and a 2009 peak,…
- Baby commentary
Santi
Santi is a Latin-rooted nickname form of Santiago or Santos — the Spanish name meaning "saint" or "holy," from the Latin sanctus (sacred, holy). Ranked #1304 with a peak in 2023 a…
- Baby commentary
Scout
Scout is an Old French-derived English word name — from the verb meaning "to spy out" or "to reconnoiter" — that carries unmistakable American literary resonance: it's the nicknam…
- Baby commentary
Shaya
Shaya is a Hebrew name, a Yiddish diminutive of Isaiah meaning "God is salvation", that has been used in Jewish communities for centuries as the affectionate form of a prophetic n…
- Baby commentary
Shirley
Shirley is an Old English place-name meaning "bright clearing" or "shire meadow" that became one of the most dominant American girls' names of the 20th century, largely through th…
- Baby commentary
Shivansh
Shivansh is a Sanskrit name meaning "part of Shiva" or "born of Shiva" — composed of Shiva (the Hindu deity of destruction and transformation) and ansh (part, portion, share) — an…
- Baby commentary
Sidney
Sidney's origin is genuinely debated — most likely an English surname from the place name Saint-Denis in Normandy, or possibly from the Old English sid (wide) + eg (island). With…
- Baby commentary
Sonia
Sonia is a Russian diminutive of Sophia — itself from the Greek sophía , meaning "wisdom" — that became an independent given name as it spread through Slavic, Scandinavian, and ev…
- Baby commentary
Tariq
Tariq is an Arabic name rooted in the verb tarqa , meaning "to knock" or "to strike". In classical Arabic poetry, the tariq is the night star that knocks on the door of darkness.…
- Baby commentary
Teagan
Teagan is an Irish name derived from the Old Irish taodhgán , a diminutive connected to a root meaning "poet" or "philosopher." With 5,491 SSA records for boys and a 2009 peak, it…
- Baby commentary
Terrance
Terrance is a Latin name derived from the Roman family name Terentius, of uncertain deeper etymology, possibly from an Oscan or Etruscan root — brought into English usage as Teren…
- Baby commentary
Terrell
Terrell is an Old French surname — from the Norman Tirel , which may derive from Germanic elements suggesting "to pull" or from a place name — that became a notable first name in…
- Baby commentary
Terrence
Terrence is the anglicized spelling of Terentius — a Roman family name of uncertain origin, possibly Etruscan — that was introduced to English speakers through the comedic playwri…
- Baby commentary
Tillie
Tillie peaked in 1915 — when it was among the most cheerful of the Edwardian diminutives, a nickname form of Matilda that operated as a standalone name. With over 15,558 SSA recor…
- Baby commentary
Tori
Tori is the diminutive of Victoria — from Latin victoria , meaning "victory" — a nickname that became its own name through the sheer force of the bearers who carried it. With over…
- Baby commentary
Townes
Townes is an Old English surname-turned-given-name meaning "from the town" or simply "of the settlement" — a place-referencing surname that's been used as a first name most famous…
- Baby commentary
Truth
Truth is a contemporary word name — an Old English-derived abstract virtue noun — that began appearing in American birth records in the 2010s and reached its peak in 2021 with 1,3…
- Baby commentary
Tyrone
Tyrone's etymology is uncertain — it's most often traced to an Irish place name (County Tyrone in Northern Ireland, from the Irish Tír Eoghain , meaning "land of Eoghan") — though…
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Editorial policy →
Topic selection, verification, corrections.
How we gather data
Methodology →
Sources, processing pipeline, limitations.