How we favour brawn over brains when choosing baby names

Given the choice, most parents would rather their offspring be strong than clever, beautiful, or even benevolent — or so a sweeping new analysis of baby-naming trends suggests.

The report, by The Economist, scrutinised the names of nearly 400 million infants born in Britain and the United States over the last 143 years. It found that monikers people associate with the idea of “strength” — such as Noah and George — have topped the rankings in the US since the late 19th century.

On this side of the Atlantic, parents have now followed suit. In recent years more than half of British boys — 55 per cent — have been given names associated with powerfulness.

To uncover these patterns, the researchers fed a large language