Compare bestowal rules, not just sounds.
A generation character and a saint’s name are different technologies for filling the given slot.
Regions
- United States — SSA given names
Longest popular time series; common-law flexibility on what else you use.
- England & Wales — ONS given names
Civil-registration counts, annual, dated.
- Korea — KOSTAT + 돌림자
Frequencies plus optional generation syllables as kin design.
- China — Generation names
Given names often include a cohort character from a family poem.
- Japan — Kanji given names
Jinmeiyō limits the written form; readings stay social.
- Iceland — List-constrained given names
The personal name is tightly regulated; the “surname” is often not a family name at all.
Laws
- Icelandic given-name list Iceland — High friction on the personal name itself.
- German Namensrecht Germany — Given names must not harm the child; gender marking has been a live legal issue.
- Japanese name-kanji rules Japan — The given name’s characters are legally bounded.
- U.S. state restrictions United States — Numerals, obscenity and length rules vary — generally lower friction than Iceland.
Worldwide, the given name is the part most likely to carry fashion — and the part most likely to be mis-ordered on a form.