The Reading election candidates with the most common names

The most common candidates names at the May 2021 elections across the UK have been revealed and Reading has six of them.

Democracy Club, the creators of wheredoivote.co.uk and whocanivotefor.co.uk, have tallied up all the candidates to find the most popular names.

READ MORE: Elections 2021: Every Reading Borough Council candidate

 

Most Common Candidate Names in the May 2021 Elections:

David: 542
John: 471
Paul: 375
Richard: 293
Peter: 275

Via @democlub

— Election Maps UK (@ElectionMapsUK) May 4, 2021

 

The most common candidate names are:

  • David: 542
  • John: 471
  • Paul: 375
  • Richard: 293
  • Peter: 275

David (meaning: beloved) and John (meaning: God is gracious) are both names of Hebrew origin, while Paul (meaning: small/humble) is of Roman origin.

Richard is a Frankish name which means ‘strong in rule’ and Peter is a name of Greek origin which means stone/rock.

Reading has two Davids and two Richards standing, one John, one Paul and no Petes.

They are:

  • David Cozens, Conservative (Abbey)
  • John Grout, Lib Dem (Battle)
  • Paul Carnell, Conservative (Thames)
  • Richard Walkem, Green (Norcot)
  • Richard Davies, Labour (Caversham)

Democracy Club has also revealed the most common candidate surnames standing on May 6 are:

 

As someone asked, here are the most common candidate surnames on 6 May:

Smith (206)
Jones (174)
Brown (116)
Williams (113)
Taylor (106)
Wilson (95)
Davies (91
Thomas (65)
Johnson (64)

There are four David Smiths up for election on Thursday.

— Democracy Club (@democlub) May 4, 2021

 

  • Smith (206)
  • Jones (174)
  • Brown (116)
  • Williams (113)
  • Taylor (106)
  • Wilson (95)
  • Davies (91
  • Thomas (65)
  • Johnson (64)

Reading has three Smiths (although one is double-barrelled):

  • Brent Smith, Green (Mapledurham)
  • Kathy Smith, Green (Whitley)
  • Andrew Hornsby-Smith, Labour (Redlands)

Reading also has one Davies standing (Richard, as mentioned previously, who has two of the most common names) and one Williams, Rose Williams of Labour, standing in Katesgrove.

As well as those standing, the 29 councillors who are not standing this year include two Pauls (Gittings and Woodward), two Davids (Absolom and Stevens) and one John (Ennis).

READ MORE: Why Reading election results will take longer this year

Cllr Paul Gittings tweeted: “Pretty much underlines the average age of the candidates but obviously you should vote for Labour candidates called Paul.”

 

Pretty much underlines the average age of the candidates but obviously you should vote for Labour candidates called Paul.

— Paul Gittings (@paulgittings) May 4, 2021