Uncommon names are increasing globally: Reflecting an increase in uniqueness-seeking and individualism

Aoyama Gakuin University

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Figure 1. Summary of results

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Credit: Yuji Ogihara

Highlights

• Associate Professor Yuji Ogihara of Aoyama Gakuin University reviews empirical studies that examined temporal changes in the frequency of (un)common names.
• Accumulated evidence has demonstrated that uncommon names increased over time in many nations: Germany, the U.S., the U.K., France, Japan, China, and Indonesia. All the nations that were examined have shown an increase in uncommon names. Thus, the phenomenon is observed more generally, not locally in some limited nations.
• This increase in uncommon names reflects broader sociocultural changes toward greater emphasis on individuality and distinction from others.

 

 

Abstract of Press Release

 Associate Professor Yuji Ogihara of Aoyama Gakuin University reviews empirical studies examining temporal changes in the frequency of (un)common first names and demonstrates that uncommon names increased over time in many nations: Germany, the U.S., the U.K., France, Japan, China, and Indonesia (Figure 1). He reveals that an increase in uncommon names is observed more generally, not locally in some limited nations.

 Previous research has shown that uncommon names are increasing in some nations. However, these findings have been reported separately by nation, making it unclear whether the phenomenon is observed more globally or more locally in some limited nations.

  Therefore, he reviews empirical studies that examine temporal changes in the frequency of (un)common names. In addition, he summarizes the information of research on (un)common names and naming behaviors for uniqueness, including study periods, indicators, and sample characteristics.

 Accumulated evidence has demonstrated that uncommon names increased over time in Germany, the U.S., the U.K., France, Japan, China, and Indonesia. Moreover, this trend has been found in diverse cultural zones: European, American, and Asian cultures. Therefore, giving uncommon names is a more global trend. This increase in uncommon names reflects broader sociocultural changes toward greater emphasis on individuality and distinction from others, contributing not only to our understanding of naming practices but also to a deeper understanding of society and culture.

 These findings were published on 25th November, 2025 in the international journal Humanities and Social Sciences Communications (https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-025-06156-1).

 

Background

 Previous research has shown that uncommon first names are increasing in some nations. However, these findings have been reported separately by nation, making it unclear whether the phenomenon is observed more globally or more locally in some limited nations. Moreover, one of the reasons the findings had not been summarized is that the previous studies were presented separately in various academic disciplines. For example, the articles were published in journals of psychology, sociology, linguistics, demography (population studies), area studies, behavioral science, and interdisciplinary.

 Therefore, Associate Professor Ogihara reviews empirical studies that examined temporal changes in the frequency of (un)common names, connecting many academic disciplines that investigated names and naming behaviors separately. In addition, he summarizes the information of research on (un)common names and naming behaviors for uniqueness, including study periods, indicators, and sample characteristics.

 

Results

 Accumulated evidence has demonstrated that uncommon names increased over time in many nations: Germany, the U.S., the U.K., France, Japan, China, and Indonesia (Table 1). All the nations that were examined have shown an increase in uncommon names. Thus, the phenomenon is observed more generally, not locally in some limited nations. Moreover, this trend has been found in diverse cultural zones: European, American, and Asian cultures. Therefore, giving uncommon names is a more global trend.

 This increase in uncommon names reflects broader sociocultural changes toward greater emphasis on individuality and distinction from others, contributing not only to our understanding of naming practices but also to a deeper understanding of society and culture.

 

Table 1. Excerpt from “Summary of empirical studies examining historical changes in common/uncommon names”

Nation	Article	Period (years)
Germany	Gerhards & Hackenbroch (2000)	1894–1994 (101)
The United States	Twenge et al. (2010)	1880–2007 (128)
	Twenge et al. (2016)	2004–2015 (12)
The United Kingdom	Bush et al. (2018)	1996–2016 (21)
	Bush (2020)	1838–2014 (177)
France	Mignot (2022)	1800–2019 (220)
Japan	Ogihara et al. (2015)	2004–2013 (10)
	Ogihara (2021a)	2004–2018 (15)
	Ogihara (2022)	2004–2018 (15)
	Ogihara & Ito (2022)	1979–2018 (40)
China	Cai et al. (2018)	1950–2009 (60)
	Bao et al. (2021)	1920–2005 (86)
Indonesia	Kuipers & Askuri (2017)	1911–2010 (100)

 

 This study has two limitations. First, in some studies, the representativeness of the samples was not sufficient. Thus, it is desirable to conduct further investigation to increase the representativeness of the samples. Second, existing literature has investigated historical changes in the rates of uncommon names in many nations. However, future research should examine whether the increase in uncommon names is observed in other nations as well. This is especially true for cultures other than European, American and Asian cultures.

 

***

• This article is open access and freely available to anyone. Tables and figures may be reused, provided that they are used in accordance with the appropriate guidelines.
• The figure and table included in this press release may also be reused, provided that it is used in accordance with the appropriate guidelines.

 

About Aoyama Gakuin University

Aoyama Gakuin, founded on the legacy of three schools established by American Christian missionaries, marked its 150th anniversary in 2024. For a century and a half, we have been committed to developing servant leaders—individuals who act with purpose, humility, and a deep sense of responsibility to others.

Aoyama Gakuin University is a comprehensive institution with 11 faculties and 27 departments. Rooted in a tradition of honoring diversity and encouraging collaboration across disciplines, we continually advance the quality of our research and education. As a community dedicated to serving God and people and contributing to society, we strive to evolve with the demands of our time and to define what a forward‑looking university should be.

 

Aoyama Gakuin University:  https://www.aoyama.ac.jp/en/

Aoyama Gakuin University (Why AGU?):  https://www.aoyama.ac.jp/international/from_overseas/whyagu/?wovn=en

 

About Associate Professor Yuji Ogihara from Aoyama Gakuin University

Yuji Ogihara, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor at the Department of Psychology, College of Education, Psychology and Human Studies at the Aoyama Gakuin University in Japan. He earned his doctorate from Kyoto University in 2015. His research interests include cultural change, interpersonal relationships, names, individualism, and culture. He has over 50 publications to his name. He is a recipient of numerous awards, including the 2024 Young Scientists’ Award (Commendation for Science and Technology by the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Japan), the 2022 Award for Distinguished Early and Middle Career Contributions (Japanese Psychological Association), and the 2015 Student Poster Award (Society for Personality and Social Psychology).

Website: https://sites.google.com/site/yujiogiharaweb/english

Mail: yogihara@ephs.aoyama.ac.jp

 

Funding Information

This research was supported by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) KAKENHI (Grant Number: JP19K14368).

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Journal

Humanities and Social Sciences Communications

DOI

10.1057/s41599-025-06156-1 

Method of Research

Literature review

Subject of Research

Not applicable

Article Title

Uncommon names are increasing globally: A review of empirical evidence on naming trends

 

Forest soils increasingly extract methane from atmosphere

Researchers find increased uptake of methane in changing climate in decades-long study in Germany

University of Göttingen

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The data on methane uptake comes from soils in beech and spruce forests, like the typical Central European beech forest shown here.

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Credit: Martin Maier

Forest soils have an important role in protecting our climate: they remove large quantities of methane – a powerful greenhouse gas – from our atmosphere. Researchers from the University of Göttingen and the Baden-Württemberg Forest Research Institute (FVA) evaluated the world's most comprehensive data set on methane uptake by forest soils. They discovered that under certain climate conditions, which may become more common in the future, their capacity to absorb methane actually increases. The data is based on regular measurements at 13 forest plots in south-western Germany over periods of up to 24 years. The study found forest soils absorb an average of three percent more methane per year. The researchers attribute this to the climate: declining rainfall leads to drier soils which methane penetrates more easily than moist soils. In addition, microorganisms break down methane more quickly as temperatures rise. The results were published in Agricultural and Forest Meteorology.

 

The researchers measured methane uptake by the soil. They measured soil gas profiles which reflect the chemical composition of the air in the soil at various depths. The data set comes from the FVA's soil gas monitoring programme. Over a period of many years, samples of air from the soil were taken every two weeks using thin tubes inserted into the earth and analysed in the laboratory. The researchers verified their calculations with independent measurements which involved placing an airtight measuring chamber on the soil surface. If the concentration of a gas such as methane decreases inside the chamber, it is possible to calculate whether and how much gas is being absorbed by the soil.

 

The data revealed significant differences between the locations studied. Overall, however, it showed that forest soils in south-western Germany absorb large amounts of methane from the atmosphere – especially when annual rainfall decreases and temperatures rise. “Our long-term data shows that climate change does not necessarily have a negative impact on how much methane forest soils absorb. While the largest study to date from the US found a decline in methane uptake of up to 80 per cent due to increasing rainfall, our significantly more comprehensive field study in south-western Germany found the opposite, ” explains Professor Martin Maier at Göttingen University’s Department of Crop Sciences, who led the study and was previously involved in the FVA's soil gas monitoring programme. “We observed a significant long-term increase in methane uptake in the forest areas we studied.” Dry soils contain more air-filled pores than wet soils. This makes it easier for methane to penetrate the soil. At the same time, microorganisms break down methane in the soil slightly faster when it gets warmer.

 

The results contradict current international meta-analyses. These studies, in which researchers summarise the results of many investigations, tend to conclude that methane uptake in forest soils is decreasing. According to the researchers, their recently published study highlights the importance of considering the data at different areas and regions over a long time period. “Our results make it clear that taking a series of measurements over many years and running monitoring programmes are indispensable for assessing the real effects of climate change,” says Maier.

 

Original publication: Lang, V. et al. ”Trend analysis of methane uptake in 13 forest soils based on up to 24 years of field measurements in south-west Germany”. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology (2025). DOI:  10.1016/j.agrformet.2025.110823

Soil Physics Research Group

Grisebachstraße 6, 37077 Göttingen, Germany

Tel: +49 (0)551 39 28257

Email: martin.maier@uni-goettingen.de

www.uni-goettingen.de/en/665736.html

 

Journal

Agricultural and Forest Meteorology

DOI

10.1016/j.agrformet.2025.110823 

Method of Research

Observational study

Subject of Research

Not applicable

Article Title

Trend analysis of methane uptake in 13 forest soils based on up to 24 years of field measurements in south-west Germany

Soil gas monitoring using automatic collectors: soil air samples were taken regularly over a period of several years using pipes permanently inserted into the soil.

 

Weather stations provided the climate data: during the study period, average temperatures rose at the forest sites, while annual rainfall declined in most cases. Both these trends are typical of the local climate change.

Credit

Martin Maier

 

New line of bovine embryonic stem cells shows promise for lab-grown meat, biomedical applications

Among the first labs in the world to develop bovine embryonic stem cells, the UConn team’s work has distinct advantages

University of Connecticut

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Cindy Tian of the Department of Animal Science in the College of Agriculture, Health and Natural Resources works in her lab in the Agricultural Biotechnology Laboratory (ABL). Oct. 19, 2022. 

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Credit: . (Milton Levin/UConn Photo)

Researchers in UConn's College of Agriculture, Health and Natural Resources have developed a novel line of bovine embryonic stem cells, which have significant potential for a variety of new innovations, from lab-grown meat to models for human tissue replacement.

This work, led by Xiuchun “Cindy” Tian, professor of biotechnology in the Department of Animal Science, and her former and current graduate students Yue Su, Jiaxi Liu, and Ruifeng Zhao, was published in Stem Cells.

Understanding the Science

The researchers derived the pluripotent stem cells (PSCs) during the blastocyst stage of embryonic development. The blastocyst is a clump of cells with a fluid-filled center that is ready to implant in the uterus. They then grew the cells using feeder cells from mice and cultured them in a unique medium to keep them in the pluripotent state in the lab.

Few other labs in the world had developed bovine embryonic stem cells before, and UConn team’s work has distinct advantages.

“The advantage of our cells compared with previous publications is that we can generate the formative embryonic stem cells which can directly induce the primordial germ cell-like cells (PGCLC), the precursor to sperm and eggs, for potential in vitro gametogenesis,” Liu says.

The team also developed a unique culture medium to produce higher-quality formative stem cells than previous efforts.

They used a commercially available base medium to which they added a number of supplemental small molecules, producing a unique mixture.

“Every animal species has different requirements to maintain pluripotency because the cells from different animals are all slightly different,” Zhao says. “If you use the medium from another animal species, it will not work. So we added some of the extra factors to make the system work better.”

This is a necessary step, as the cells do not naturally want to remain in their pluripotent stage – they want to continue developing into differentiated cells.

“Our cells, based on our special cocktail of medium, are maintained in such a more pluripotent state than previously reported studies,” Tian says. “This is an advance in the field.”

Tian’s lab had previously developed bovine induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). This method essentially took already differentiated cells and reprogrammed them to act like embryonic stem cells using genetic engineering.

Embryonic stem cells by contrast, do not contain any foreign genes. This is a major advantage for applications like lab-grown, or cultivated meat which is subject to regulatory frameworks regarding genetically modified products.

“That could be a safety issue or a regulatory issue,” Zhao says. “Therefore, we wanted to derive a clean pluripotent cell line just from the embryo.”

Using embryonic stem cells is also faster, easier, and more efficient because there is no reprogramming step. There is also less variation among cell lines.

A World of Possibilities

Cultivated meat is a promising response to concerns about the sustainability and ethics of traditional practices. These embryonic stem cells could be induced into muscle and fat cells to produce meat products like hamburgers.

In addition to cultivated meat, these cells can be used to produce human-relevant models for medical research including drug development and antibody screening.

They also have potential applications for human tissue replacement research. Many standard laboratory animals, like mice and rats, are small. This means that their tissues do not scale accurately to humans. Cows have the advantage of being a much larger animal.

These cells can also help develop disease-resistant cattle through genetic engineering as well as supporting studies of early bovine development.

The team is now working on finding a way to eliminate the need for mouse feeder cells, which pose a potential problem for commercializing lab-grown meat derived from these stem cells. This will mean all the growth and maintenance will be dependent on the medium and special culture dish coating.

They are also trying to develop a medium that will allow the cells to be maintained for more than a day at a time without medium replacement to reduce cost and culture waste, and consequently burden to the environment.

“We’re trying to develop longer-term cultures, basically a weekender medium,” Tian says.

By closely working with UConn Technology Commercialization Services (TCS), the group has filed for patent protection. Tian had also previously worked with TCS on the bovine iPSC cell line.

UConn’s TCS works with innovators, entrepreneurs, investors, and industry partners to transform UConn discoveries into products, companies, and jobs that benefit society and fuel economic development. Through a coordinated approach between tech transfer, licensing, and startup teams, TCS helps advance promising technologies like Tian’s to market.

TCS is currently working with The Good Food Institute (GFI), which promotes available cell lines for cultured meat production, to list this new bovine ESC cell line. UConn’s bovine iPSC cell lines had been previously distributed around the world through the GFI site.

“We hope the bovine ESC cell line now available will further close the gap on this unmet need for bovine culture meat development,” says Ana Fidantsef, UConn industry liaison.

 

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Journal

Stem Cells

DOI

10.1093/stmcls/sxaf068 

Method of Research

Experimental study

Subject of Research

Cells

Article Title

Bovine formative embryonic stem cell plasticity in embryonic and extraembryonic differentiation