Names are a mainstay of song titles. Just think of The Beatles - the enormously famous band were very fond of writing numbers about named individuals, from Michelle, Julia and Polythene Pam to Lovely Rita, Dear Prudence and Doctor Robert.
But some names have been used in more song titles than others. A study by Music Industry How To, a website that offers advice on how to develop a career in music, has identified the most common male and female names used in the titles of tracks across the decades.
The research involving analysing 2,262,292 unique track titles from one million Spotify playlists to discover which first names appeared the most frequently. They then found the most streamed songs on Spotify with the names in the titles.
The study revealed that John is the most common male name in song titles, while Mary is the most common female name. The variations Johnny and Maria were the second most used names in song titles.
A spokesperson from Music Industry How To said: “Music has been a means of communicating stories for thousands of years, lyrics allow artists to speak to an audience. They are the embodiment of a musician's experience and allow for others to relate and feel the emotion that they felt. People are often at the heart of these stories, lovers, family and friends. Therefore, it's understandable why names have been featured in the titles of many tracks over the decades.”
Female names – Mentions in song titles
- Mary – Featured in 1,803 song titles
Most popular songs the name is featured on:
Mary On A Cross – Ghost: 286,170,234 streams
Proud Mary – Tina Turner: 135,614,411 streams
- Maria – Featured in 1,714 song titles
Most popular songs the name is featured on:
Maria Maria – Santana: 217,654,785 streams
Maria – Blondie: 94,427,125 streams
- Georgia – Featured in 698 song titles
Most popular songs the name is featured on:
Georgia – Vance Joy: 421,856,204 streams
Georgia on My Mind – Ray Charles: 86,514,721 streams
- Jane – Featured in 659 song titles
Most popular songs the name is featured on:
Plaine Jane – A$AP Ferg: 648,171,944 streams
Jane – Jefferson Starship: 61,410,581 streams
- Bella – Featured in 580 song titles
Most popular songs the name is featured on:
Bella Ciao – Manu Pilas: 183,552,399 streams
Bella – Red Hot Chili Peppers: 5,929,737 streams
- Linda – Featured in 579 song titles
Most popular songs the name is featured on:
Linda – Tokischa: 117,256,646 streams
Linda – Projota: 96,346,234 streams
- Juliet – Featured in 459 song titles
Most popular songs the name is featured on:
Check Yes, Juliet – We The Kings: 234,979,068 streams
Romeo and Juliet – Dire Straits: 230,039,431 streams
- Carmen – Featured in 440 song titles
Most popular songs the name is featured on:
Carmen – Lana Del Rey: 137,697,825 streams
Carmen – Stromae: 57,302,993 streams
- Carolina – Featured in 439 song titles
Most popular songs the name is featured on:
Carolina – Harry Styles: 181,229,423 streams
Carolina – Taylor Swift: 40,055,359 streams
- Paloma – Featured in 419 song titles
Most popular songs the name is featured on:
Paloma – Mr. P: 6,269,473 streams
Paloma – We Are Wolves: 2,624,626 streams
Male names – Mentions in song titles
- John – Featured in 2,040 song titles
Most popular songs the name is featured on:
John – Lil Wayne, Rick Ross: 66,025,138 streams
John Hughes Movie – Maisie Peters: 18,334,747 streams
- Johnny – Featured in 1,071 song titles
Most popular songs the name is featured on:
Johnny B. Goode – Chuck Berry: 370,896,823 streams
Johnny Run Away – Tones And I: 80,119,916 streams
- David – Featured in 876 song titles
Most popular songs the name is featured on:
David – Cody Jinks: 19,131,943 streams
David – BLANCO: 13,828,498 streams
- James – Featured in 863 song titles
Most popular songs the name is featured on:
James – Sam Brookes: 24,034,002 streams
James – MGMT – 9,789,389 streams
- Peter – Featured in 611 song titles
Most popular songs the name is featured on:
Peter Pan – Kelsea Ballerini: 132,876,638 streams
Peter Pan Was Right – Anson Seabra: 40,510,187 streams
- Michael – Featured in 609 song titles
Most popular songs the name is featured on:
Big Michael – Stormzy: 26,093,870 streams
Michael – Franz Ferdinand: 11,455,153 streams
- Paul – Featured in 608 song titles
Most popular song the name is featured on:
Paul – Big Thief: 65,916,492 streams
Paul – Cavetown: 11,464,564 streams
- Emmanuel – Featured in 565 song titles
Most popular songs the name is featured on:
O Come, O Come, Emmanuel – Enya: 9,821,096 streams
Emmanuel – Ameer Vann: 4,234,412 streams
- Alex – Featured in 551 song titles
Most popular songs the name is featured on:
Alex – Roy Blair: 4,345,538 streams
Alex – Wild Child: 3,799,620 streams
- Mike – Featured in 533 song titles
Most popular songs the name is featured on:
Mike – Elvana Gjata: 10,450,366 streams
Mike – Fred Again: 2,250,328 streams
