Plumbers have lots of nicknames. Pipey is one you hear often. Mario is occasionally thrown about by other tradies. Super Mario, if you’re any good with a spanner. And leaky is another one, although we’re not sure if this one is meant quite as affectionately.

While us tradies often have a variety of nicknames, the discussion about names got us thinking - what is the most common name for a plumber? And how does it compare to the most common name of an electrician? Or what about a doctor or even a judge?

Well, with lockdown offering us a bit of spare time, a few of the data nerds here at Anchor Pumps were determined to find out. Pulling together a list of 5000 plumbers right across the UK, they’ve figured out the most common name for not just a plumber, but a variety of the most popular jobs roles across the UK.

Take a look at the results below, let us know what you think and feel free to browse the full methodology and raw dataset at the bottom of this article.

The Most Common Name for a Plumber

Everyone knows a plumber called John. Or at least that’s what the data tells us. John was the outright winner being twice as popular as the second most common name David. And in third place was Paul, which took another hefty chunk of the results.

1. John
2. Daniel
3. Paul

image showing the most names for a plumber

The Most Common Name for an Electrician

The most common nickname for an electrician is Sparky, but the most common real name is Richard, which sounds like the type of name you would trust with your electrics. In second place was Craig and the third most common name was Mark.

1. Richard
2. Craig
3. Mark

image showing the most common name for an electrician

The Most Common Name for a Builder

Builders are one of the most common professions in the UK. As such, you would expect some really common names to pop up. In this case, David was the outright winner taking up nearly a third of our results. Anthony, which we assume is shortened to Ant on the builder’s yard, took second. And good old Steve took third. Some interesting variation in the results so far.

1. David
2. Anthony
3. Steve

image showing the most common name for a builder

The Most Common Name for a Painter & Decorator

The three most famous painters are Da Vinci, Michelangelo and Laurence Stephen Lowry. Which is strange, because the three most common names for a British painter and decorator are David in first place, Michael in second and Stephen in third. Coincidence? I think not.

1. David
2. Michael
3. Stephen

image showing the most common name for painter and decorator

The Most Common Name for an Engineer

Engineering is an important job. One wrong decision and a whole project, or building, could come crashing down. With that in mind, you would expect some trustworthy names to come out as the most popular. Robert for example, it just has a sense of trust attached to it. It also just happens to be the most common name for an engineer, with Mark taking second and the name Peter taking third.

1. Robert
2. Mark
3. Peter

image showing the most common name for an engineer

The Most Common Name for a Carpenter/Joiner

If you guessed that Sam would be the most common name for a carpenter, then you hit the nail on the head. Bonus points if you guessed that Michael would be the second most common, with the name Joe in third.

1. Sam
2. Michael
3. Joe

image showing the most common name for a carpenter

The Most Common Name for a Journalist

Like plumbers, journalists have lots of nicknames. Reporter is commonly used, Press to define them as a group and Newshound when you feel like being less generous. As for their real names, James was the most common name, taking nearly 9% of the results. Tom was second, closely followed by the name Chris in third. Breaking news, in our opinion.

1. James
2. Tom
3. Chris

image showing the most common name for a journalist

The Most Common Name for a Doctor

Doctor was an interesting one for us. It was the first profession where a female name popped up in the top results. As for the winner, that was Dr. Richard, followed by Dr. Sarah and finally Dr. Andrew. It’s interesting to see how the names change as we move from traditional “blue-collar” jobs to more “white-collar” jobs

1. Richard
2. Sarah
3. Andrew

image showing the most common name for a doctor

The Most Common Name for a Judge

We hope you never have to meet a Judge in person. But if you do, you should probably call him Stephen - as the name was by far the most common in our study. In second place was Andrew, which seems to be popping up in all the “white-collar” jobs so far. Followed closely by Nicholas in third.

1. Stephen
2. Andrew
3. Nicholas

image showing the most common name for a judge

The Most Common Name for a Nurse

Nurses play a critical role in all our lives. They help birth us when we’re born, nurse us when we’re sick and, as we’ve learned during this pandemic, they play a vital role on the frontline of this country - defending and fighting for us, potentially with their own lives. As for their names, Sarah is the most common, followed by Rebecca in second and Helen in third.

1. Sarah
2. Rebecca
3. Helen

image showing the most common name for a nurse

The Most Common Name for a Police Officer

There are currently 17,000 police officers in the UK. That’s one police officer to every 3920 people. Statistically speaking, there is a one in twenty chance that a police officer is called David, with the name being by far the most common. In second was James, followed, again, by Andrew in third.

1. David
2. James
3. Andrew

image showing the most common name for a police officer

The Most Common Name for a Paramedic

Paramedics look like they have a fun job. Racing to emergencies, caring for patients, saving lives. If you fancy becoming a paramedic, your best chance is with the name James, which is by far the most common. The second most common is Andrew, followed closely by Robert.

1. James
2. Adam
3. Robert

image showing the most common name for a paramedic

The Most Common Name for a Chef

Cooking is an art. An art defined by the balance of sugar, salt and fat. As it happens, it also seems to be defined by people called Kevin, which our study shows to be the most common name for a Chef. This was closely followed by Dan in second and Justin in third.

1. Kevin
2. Dan
3. Justin

image showing the most common name for a chef

The Most Common Name for a Teacher

If we learned one thing during this pandemic, it’s that teachers are a key backbone in support of our country. Without them, we would grind to a halt (or go insane). If you’re looking for a teacher, you might want to try the name Mary, which came out as the most common name in our study. This was closely followed by Ruth and finally Amy in third place.

1. Mary
2. Ruth
3. Amy

image showing the most common name for a teacher

The Most Common Name for a Veterinarian

Veterinary is one of the most difficult professions. Treating patients without the ability to communicate takes an incredible amount of skill and intelligence. Fortunately for us pet lovers, it would seem people called Charlotte have the brains to become a vet, with the name taking our top spot. That’s along with people called Alison, followed by people called James in third.

1. Charlotte
2. Alison
3. James

image showing the most common name for a vet

What Percentage of Plumbers are Male or Female?

Now you know the most common name for a plumber, you may be interested to learn what percentage of the results were male or female.

Traditionally, trade jobs, such as plumbers, builders and electricians, have been held by men. But does this still hold true today? And how does the male/female split of the plumbing role compare to that of a doctor? We took the time to find out.

Methodology and Raw Data

To complete this study we first scraped a list of 100,000 people for each job role. We then used an IF formula to count each instance of a name. The raw data can be found here: https://www.dropbox.com/home/Most%20Common%20Names%20for%20Job%20Roles
For more information contact scott.taylor@reckless.agency