Burning questions must be answered

[beatriceeagle]

Okay, guys. I'm a little embarrassed about this, because it's indicative of a level of obsession I didn't realize I had, but you know what? It amused me, and it may amuse some of you.



For a couple of months, now, I've been slowly rewatching all of Criminal Minds. And when I realized I was going to do that, I thought I might as well make the most of it. So I decided to settle a question which has been plaguing some of us fans for a long time now: do they really use the name Frank as much as we think they do?*

In the interest of answering this question, I decided to make a master list of names used on CM. So as I rewatched the episodes, I kept a notebook out, and whenever a name was mentioned, I wrote it down, and made a note of the context it was used in. (By context, I mean what episode it was in, and whose name it was.) I didn't write down every name used; if you want the specific rules I used, see the footnotes.**

Then, I counted up how many times each name was used***, and tallied the results.

What follows is the Master List of CM Names. To get onto the Master List, a first name must have been used five times; a last name must have been used three. The information on the list is, in order: the name and all variations, the number of times that name was used, and a list of all the specific contexts it was used in. I had a kind of idiosyncratic method of labeling names, which you can read about—you guessed it—in the footnotes.**** If you don't care about that, and just want to know what episode it was used in, that part of the label is kind of self-explanatory.

And without further ado, the winners...

First Names

Robert, Roberto, Rob, Bob, Bobby – 15 – 1x19cs 2x3cp 2x6v 2x6cr 2x15cp 3x4v 3x7o 3x8cf 3x11u 3x10cw 3x17v 4x2o 4x3o 4x9cu 4x10v

James, Jim, Jimmy – 14 – 1x8cpv 2x6cs 2x8o 2x9cj 2x12cv 3x1cp 3x5cp 3x8co 3x8co 3x15o 4x3o 4x3cp 4x13cfw 4x17cw

Michael, Mike – 14 – 1x8cw 1x9cs 1x17p 1x18cv 2x2cu 2x3cws 2x15cv 3x9cpv 3x17cv 3x18cu 4x6cv 4x16v 4x18cpv 4x19

Katherine, Kate, Katie – 13 – 1x6v 2x2cp 2x9cf 2x13v 2x19cv 3x1cw 3x5cv 3x12cv 3x15o 3x20cp 4x13cv 4x13cvu 4x16cw

Thomas, Tom, Tommy – 12 – 1x6cj 1x11o 2x7cp 2x9cf 2x13o 2x19cv 3x4cv 3x7p 4x4v 4x10cpv 4x18cp 4x19

William, Will, Bill, Billy – 12 – 1x8v 1x9u 1x17cs 2x5cu 2x18cp 2x18cp 3x3cp 3x19o 4x7csr 4x8v 4x12cu 4x18o

Jonathon, John, Johnny – 12 – 1x16cp 1x21cv 2x7o 2x18cv 2x21cu 3x10cu 3x11cp 3x15cf 3x16co 4x4v 4x17co 4x19

Charles, Charlie – 11 – 1x1s 1x11co 1x15cp 2x2cv 2x12pc 2x14co 2x22cu 3x11cu 3x15o 3x17v 4x3cu

Frank, Franklin – 10 – 1x4cu 1x7cfw 1x8o 1x9cp 1x14co 1x22vu 2x2s 2x3cf 2x13cu 3x6cp

Sarah – 10 – 1x7co 1x14cou 2x6v 2x12cr 2x18cu 2x23cv 3x13v 3x16cf 3x17cf 3x18cf

Paul – 9 – 1x10cs 1x11v 1x16o 2x19cv 2x21cu 3x1co 3x15v 3x17 4x9cwso

Mary, Marie, Maria – 9 – 1x11cfo 1x19cp 2x3cf 2x17cw 2x23o 3x7cw 3x8v 3x11cw 4x19

Daniel, Dan, Danny – 9 – 1x13cs 3x4cv 3x11co 3x17v 4x3cp 4x6r 4x15cp 4x15co 4x19

Anne, Annie, Anna – 8 – 1x1v 1x11cv 1x15cow 1x19cf 2x13v 3x1cuo 3x15cv 4x2s

Joseph, Joe, Joey – 8 – 1x3cw 1x18cs 2x3cs 2x6o 2x21u 3x1co 3x14cu 3x20cp

Richard, Rick, Dick – 8 – 1x1cu 1x16o 2x13cp 2x16cp 2x19cp 3x3v 3x5cw 3x6v

Henry – 7 – 1x6v 1x10cs 2x3cw 2x6co 3x7cu 4x7cr 4x8cu

Patrick – 7 – 2x2s 2x3f 3x3cv 3x12co 4x14cwo 4x16cp 4x17cv

David, Dave – 6 – 1x1cf 1x3cu 1x11cf 2x8o 3x2co 4x19

Margaret, Maggie, Meg – 6 – 1x11o 1x18cu 2x5cp 2x22cv 4x8v 4x10cf

Jeffrey, Jeff – 6 – 2x4o 2x6cu 2x7cp 3x14o 3x18s 4x13v

Matthew, Matt – 5 – 1x2cv 2x6co 2x19v 3x8f 4x17cv

Amy – 5 – 1x1v 1x16v 3x1cwv 3x15o 4x6cf

Alison, Allie – 5 – 1x7cv 1x20cv 2x16cv 3x8co 3x15f

Stephen, Steve – 5 – 1x11ro 2x22cwu 3x11cs 3x17cu 4x12cu

Susan, Suzanne, Sue – 5 – 1x13cj 2x2o 2x19v 3x1cp 3x5cu

Jack, Jackson – 5 – 1x7cr 1x13cv 1x16cu 2x2o 3x12cf

Laura, Laurie – 5 – 1x14cj 2x3cv 3x12cf 3x15cv 4x3o

Diana, Diane – 5 – 2x1cr 2x9v 3x6v 3x7cw 4x18cv

Mark, Markus – 5 – 1x11s 1x20cu 2x7cu 2x13co 2x18cv


Last Names

Harris, Harrison – 7 – 1x7o 1x18v 1x22v 2x11cs 2x12cs 2x21cv 4x12cu

Davis – 5 – 2x6v 2x13cp 2x16cv 3x5v 4x1a

Evans, Evanson – 4 – 2x21cp 3x18o 4x3o 4x10cp

Morris, Morrison – 4 – 1x3cp 1x16o 3x13cp 3x15cv

Hayes – 4 – 1x2cu 2x15cv 3x17v 4x6v

Hanson, Henson – 4 – 1x10cv 3x18cu,v,f 4x4cu 4x14co

Miller – 4 – 1x6v 1x7v,sc 3x7v 4x19

Frank, Franks, Franklin – 4 – 1x11s, 1x16o 2x14cp 3x5cp

Jones – 4 – 1x12cs 2x6cp 4x4cw 4x15cw

Ryan – 4 – 1x15cpo 1x18cv 2x10cp 4x2cu

Jacobs – 4 – 1x16cp 2x21v 2x23cv 3x5ce

Foster – 3 – 2x22cwu 3x13v 4x9cwv

Jarvis – 3 – 2x19v 3x19cp 4x12o

Giles – 3 – 1x11cv 1x22vu 3x14p

Hill – 3 – 1x13cu 3x10cv 4x11cv

Smith – 3 – 2x8v 2x18cw 3x2cu

Barnes – 3 – 2x11cp 4x4o 4x16cw

Hale – 3 – 2x13v 4x13v 4x18cv

Williams – 3 – 2x16co,v 3x7cp 4x9cv


Analysis (a.k.a. Things I Noticed)

In total, CM has had 794 first names and 621 last names.***** There were 368 unique first names and 523 unique last names. Obviously, first names were reused more than last names—not surprisingly. What is a little surprising, or at least interesting, is that male first names were reused more than female first names. Out of the thirty first names on the Master List, only nine of them are female. (Though I haven't counted through the entire list of 523 unique names, I've spent enough time with the data to feel comfortable saying that yeah, there are a lot more women than men on that list.)

The most common name on CM is Robert and its variations. There are a couple of reasons for that, I think. One, Robert is a really, really common name. Two, it has a lot of variations: Bob, Rob, Bobby. That means that the writers can use it a lot without seeming like they're using it a lot. (Those first two are also the reasons I think James, Michael, Thomas, and William are so prevalent.) Three, it's one of the few names for which I allowed a foreign-language version (the only other ones I can think of are, I treated Mary and Maria as the same name, Andrew and Andrew as the same name, and Gregory and Gregor). There have been two Robertos on CM.

One thing which is not immediately obvious just from looking at the Master List is that, although Frank is only in ninth place now, it was the most common name on CM from early first season to early third season, despite being used only once after 2x13 “No Way Out.” If it had kept being used at the rate it was for the first season and a half, it would have far outstripped Robert. I think it stopped being used so frequently because, after Frank Brightkopf (Gideon's archnemesis), it was harder to use the name Frank innocuously. It's also worth pointing out that there have been four last names based on the name Frank.

Stephen has only been used five times on CM, but I think it deserves a mention here. Why? Well, because four out of those five uses had an actor attached to them (unlike, for instance, Robert, over half of whose appearances were as names without characters attached). The only Stephen who wasn't also a character? Is Gideon's son. Also, again excluding Stephen Gideon, all of CM's Stephens have either been unsubs or suspects. Basically, when CM names a character Stephen, it uses that character.


Other Notable Names

Some names have only been used once or twice, but really just beg to be mentioned. We've had a Caulfield on CM (3x11cp). We've also had a Dr. Norman and a Claire Bates, in the same episode (4x6 “The Instincts”). The name Byron has astoundingly been used twice, once as the cello prodigy Riley Dawes grew up to be (1x14cvo), and once as one of the policemen killed at the beginning of 3x16 “Elephant's Memory”. Floyd has also been used twice, both times as an unsub, in 3x8 “Lucky” and 4x5 “Paradise.” Both Floyd and Byron are down somewhere in the four to five hundreds in popularity, according to the Social Security Administration, and have been for several decades. The names Emily and Jacob are both notable for their absence; despite being some of the most common names in the country (they have been the most popular girl's and boy's names for twelve and nine years, respectively, and both have been in the top forty since the late seventies), Emily was only used once, and Jacob only twice. (This is especially funny considering how much CM likes using Jacobs as a last name.)

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*The answer, it turns out, is no. Alas.

**Basically, to keep myself from going insane, I made a rule that, if there were more than five victims in a case, I wouldn't take down their names—even if we saw them written down—unless they were mentioned out loud. For episodes like 1x19 “Machismo” (all together, I think that one had about twenty victims) and 2x23 “Legacy” (63 total victims), both of which had long lists of victims which showed up on screen, this rule was kind of a lifesaver. Other names I didn't use: dog names, cat names, and names that Did Not Qualify. (I refused to take down Viper. And Playboy.)

***I decided which names counted as the same basically by doing whatever I felt like. Laura, Lara, and Laurie all count as one name; so do Susan, Suzanne, and Sue. This system may have been a bit unfair to some names (Richard got the benefit of all the Ricks that CM has had, even though I realized after I was finished that Rick could just as easily—and more probably—be a shortened form of, say, Patrick, than Richard), but I just don't care all that much.

****There were twelve different labels I used to sort names. “C” means cast; it denotes a name that had an actor attached to it. “V” means victim. “F” means family of a victim. “W” means witness. “U” means unsub. “S” means suspect. “P” means police, but also applies to people (local FBI agents, deans of college campuses where murders have occurred, etc.) who fill the role the police normally would. “J” is journalist, or any member of the press. “R” is a relative of one of the seven main characters (it applies to significant others, as well). “A” is an FBI agent (excluding local agents with the “P” label) other than one of the seven main characters. “O” is other; basically anything that didn't fit the other labels. Its meanings include, but are not limited to: hallucinations, misheard names, and family members of unsubs. (I really should have given that last its own label, but if you see the label “cwo,” it's a pretty good bet that's what you're looking at.) “E” means everything. I only used it once, for the Jacobs family in 3x5 “Seven Seconds.” Because really.

*****For the last names total, I only counted last names of family members once. For instance, in 3x5 “Seven Seconds,” even though the last name Jacobs is used for six characters, it only counts once towards the total.

Comments

[beatriceeagle.livejournal.com]

Thanks!