Home > Just for Kids > What's In a Name? > Cool Web Sites

• United States Surname Distribution
  shows you how surnames are distributed throughout the United States, and can also show you how that distribution looked at different periods in time.
• Internet FamilyFinder
  Search the Internet for information about your family name.
• The Roots Surname List
  is a database of persons researching specific surnames.
• The Social Security Administration's Actuarial Page
  is fascinating for its information on naming trends based on the number of social security card applications made for babies in 1998 and 1999 (this is from an update link on the page). It also gives the top names by year of birth for 1880-1919; 1920-1959 and 1960-1997.
• Surnames: What's In a Name
  includes interesting information on surnames and their meanings, with a helpful article on "The History of Last Names."
• Baby Zone: Baby Names
  is a directory of baby name resources on the Web. It includes baby names from around the world, and lists lots of names but doesn't include their meanings. You can search, however, by the meaning of a particular name. The trends of the most popular names for 1998 and 1999 are listed.
• Baby Zone, World of Baby Names
  is a broad database of first names and their meanings. You can search the most popular U.S. baby names; African American names (does not list their meaning); names from Shakespeare's works, and popular Soap Opera names.
• Parent Soup's Baby Name Finder
  A baby name finder and baby name dictionary.
• Parenthood Web
  lists the top boy's and girl's names, with choices by origin (i.e., Irish or Spanish).
• The Jewish Genealogy Links
  offers links to surname and given name dictionaries.

To search for other specific ethnic groups, type into your search box "last names Irish" (or the ethnicity you are looking for).