name_counts.py

from collections import defaultdict

with open("names") as f:
    names = [name.strip() for name in f]

counts = defaultdict(int)

for name in names:
    counts[name] += 1

final_tally = [(k, v) for k, v in counts.items()]
final_tally = sorted(final_tally, key=lambda x: x[1])
final_tally.reverse()

top = ["%s: %s" % (final_tally[n][0].strip("<> "), final_tally[n][1]) for n in range(10)]
print '; '.join(top)