What do these names have in common?

Every name has multiple dimensions: language and culture, sound and spelling, usage and history. This puzzle invites you to look at names in different ways.

Each of the groups of names below has something in common. Can you guess the connecting themes? Tip: These are lists of names, not people.

1. Nadiya, Amal, Hope, Asha, Esperanza
2. Mike, Oscar, Romeo, Sierra, Victor
3. Charlie, Blake, Emerson, Finley, Phoenix
4. Victory, LaFrance, Foch, Marne, Armistice
5. Celia, Noel, Nadia, Kaleb, Mila
6. Santiago, Hamish, Jacques, Xaime, Iacopo

Answers below.

ANSWERS

1. Nadiya, Amal, Hope, Asha, Esperanza: All of the names mean “hope” (in Ukrainian, Arabic, English, Hindi and Spanish)
2. Mike, Oscar, Romeo, Sierra, Victor: Each name stands for its initial letter in the NATO phonetic alphabet
3. Charlie, Blake, Emerson, Finley, Phoenix: Top gender-neutral names: these are currently the five most popular names in the US given to both boys and girls at a ratio of no more than 1.5X in either direction.
4. Victory, LaFrance, Foch, Marne, Armistice: The names’ usage was inspired by the end of World War I. All hit their popularity peaks in 1918.
5. Celia, Noel, Nadia, Kaleb, Mila: Each is an anagram of a more common name (Alice, Leon, Aidan, Blake, Liam)
6. Santiago, Hamish, Jacques, Xaime, Iacopo: All are forms of the name James (Spanish, Scottish, French, Galician and Italian)