# Historical changes in baby names in China

## TL;DR

The paper questions the conclusions of a study on historical changes in Chinese baby names from 1920 to 2005.

## Contribution

The paper raises three unresolved questions about the representativeness of data and trends in name uniqueness and length.

## Key findings

- The representativeness of older birth cohorts in the study is questionable.
- The increase in unique names may have started after the 1970s.
- The historical changes in average name length remain unexplained.

## Abstract

Based on previous research on names and naming practices, I propose three suggestions to Bao et al. (2021), which investigated historical changes in given names of Han Chinese in China between 1920 and 2005. Their study analyzed a one-shot cross-sectional survey conducted in 2005 and reported that unique names increased from 1920 to 2005. The authors concluded that China became more individualistic over time for the period. However, three questions have remained unanswered in Bao et al. (2021). First, were the samples of older birth cohorts truly representative? Second, did unique names increase only after the 1970s? Third, how are the historical changes in average name length interpreted? Answering these three questions would contribute to a further understanding of the historical changes in given names and their underlying psychological/cultural shifts in China.