CHAPTER 3

NAMES, NAMES, NAMES

INTRODUCTION

In class you graphed the names of your classmates. You may have found that two or more students in your class have the same first name. Do you think that some first names are more common than others? Is your first name a common name or is it unusual? Each year, parents tell the government when a baby has been born and the government records the baby's name. This information has been recorded for many years, and people can learn about popular and unusual names from these lists. When you have been out shopping, you might have seen a display of objects, such as nameplates to stick on doors, or hats with names printed on the brim. Do you usually see your name on one of these objects or is it almost never there?

THE TASK

A company is making plastic nameplates and need to know what names will sell the best. They have decided to begin with 20 names and they want to sell the same nameplates in all their stores across Canada. Your job is to find out the 10 most common names for girls and the 10 most common names for boys. You will then present the information in a graph and recommend to the company what nameplates to create.

THE PROCESS

1. Explore the government websites that are listed here. Find out about common names.

   Popular names in Nova Scotia
   Baby's Most Chosen Names in Saskatchewan
   Baby Boy's Names in Alberta
   Baby Girl's Names in Alberta
   Baby's Most Chosen Name in British Columbia
   Most Popular baby names in the last 120 years

2. Use the information from the websites to create charts to compare the information. Use these charts to create several graphs showing the ten most common boy's names and the ten most common girl's names.
   1. What year did you choose to show in your graph? Why?
   2. Did you use a pictograph or a bar graph? Why?
   3. What scale was the best for your graph? Why might it be important to use the same scale for each graph?
   4. Are all your graphs the same? Explain why they are the same or different.
3. Look at the graphs that you have created. Write a report to the company telling them what names they should print on the nameplates. Explain to them why you think these nameplates will sell the best in stores across Canada.

RESOURCES

Websites:

Popular names in Nova Scotia
Baby's Most Chosen Names in Saskatchewan
Baby Boy's Names in Alberta
Baby Girl's Names in Alberta
Baby's Most Chosen Name in British Columbia
Most Popular baby names in the last 120 years

Charts:

Organizational Charts Form
Letter Form

ASSESSMENT

	Level 1	Level 2	Level 3	Level 4
Sort and Organize Data	•  I gathered some data for one province by identifying some popular names.	•  I gathered all data for one province by identifying the 20 most popular names.	•  I organized the correct data for most provinces by identifying the 20 most popular names.	•  I gathered the correct data for all provinces by identifying the 20 most popular names.
Create a Graph	•  I created a graph but had some difficulty finding a good scale.	•  I created one graph using a good scale.	•  I created several graphs using a good scale for each one.	•  I created graphs for each set of data and used the same scale for each one.
Interpret and Describe Data	•  I described my graph. I recommended 20 names that may not be related to the graph.	•  I described the graphs and chose one to find the 20 most popular names.	•  I clearly explained the graphs. I interpreted the graphs correctly to recommend 20 names.	•  I clearly explained the patterns in the graphs and used data from all the graphs to recommend 20 names.