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Updated example of using baby names to illustrate bimodal distributions.

The thing about my way of teaching stats is that my cool, novel examples get old really fast. Like, pop culture is on a thirty-day cycle. Anyway, YEARS ago, 2014 to be exact, I blogged about illustrating bimodal data distributions  using baby name data from the Social Security Administration. Specifically, when an older name comes back into vogue, it has a bimodal distribution when you plot time on the X axis.  I stand by this example. However, all of the data illustrations come from 2014. When our traditionally aged college students were 6 or 7. Which makes this example feel a little stale. However, here is some data,  courtesy of Redditor  fevaah ,  showing  old names that are back in vogue through 2025 ! And Eleanor, Violet, Nora, and Hazel are here, illustrating bimodal distributions for a new generation. If you used my old baby-name data, this is a quick, easy refresh for your lectures (or a fun new addition if you didn't).  If this idea was help...

PWA data visualizations on YouTube

A clever YouTuber, PWA, built a channel with nearly a million followers based on animated videos that compare nations based on data. Every nation is a sassy sphere. Each grows and shrinks in size, in comparison with other nations, as the data is presented. Like this image, illustrating national debt as a portion of GDP...


I swear, it is funny and engaging without trying too hard. Also, for better or worse, framing data sharing and visualization as a thing that can make you a successful influencer WILL grab your students' attention. I think these videos would make good bell-ringers (TM Janet Peters) for the start of your class.

This influencer makes a ton of videos, and they aren't all related to data, FYI. Here are a few good examples for Stats class: 

National Debt:


In this clip, the countries compare their national debt. This video discusses some of the choices statisticians make with their data. For example, they compare their national debt in USD and then compare their debt based on a percentage of GDP.

Educational Outcomes:


There are a few nation-specific data, as well, such as this one, which looks at US states by population size.






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