Biggest Changes in Boy Name Popularity, 2015

Which boy names increased and decreased the most in popularity from 2014 to 2015?

Here are two ways to look at it. The SSA’s way looks at ranking differences and covers the top 1,000 boy names (roughly). My way looks at raw number differences and takes all boy names on the SSA’s list into account.

Biggest Increases

Raw Numbers (all boy names) Rankings (top 1,000 boy names)
  1. Oliver, +2,181 babies (9,411 to 11,592)
  2. Matteo, +1,320 babies (835 to 2,155)
  3. Grayson, +1,296 babies (6,556 to 7,852)
  4. Mateo, +1,258 babies (3,729 to 4,987)
  5. Lincoln, +1,150 babies (4,809 to 5,959)
  6. Theodore, +895 babies (3,216 to 4,111)
  7. Ezra, +893 babies (3,406 to 4,299)
  8. Hudson, +779 babies (5,229 to 6,008)
  9. Asher, +754 babies (4,305 to 5,059)
  10. Wyatt, +750 babies (8,847 to 9,597)
  1. Riaan, +1,360 spots (2,286th to 926th)
  2. Huxley, +392 spots (1,354th to 962nd)
  3. Wilder, +360 spots (1,324th to 964th)
  4. Jaziel, +276 spots (1,215th to 939th)
  5. Canaan, +271 spots (1,077th to 806th)
  6. Kaison, +251 spots (981st to 730th)
  7. Brixton, +212 spots (1,197th to 985th)
  8. Ridge, +204 spots (1,136th to 932nd)
  9. Omari, +198 spots (708th to 510th)
  10. Jabari, +194 spots (1,139th to 945th)

Riaan was boosted by a celebrity baby born in late 2014 to Bollywood actors Riteish Deshmukh and Genelia D’Souza.

Jaziel’s rise seems to be due to Jaziel Avilez, a young singer featured in the 2014 song “Padre Ejemplar” [vid] by Mexican group Los Titanes de Durango.

Omari’s rise can be traced back to American actor Omari Hardwick, who has appeared in the TV shows Being Mary Jane and Power lately, and Jabari’s to basketball player Jabari Parker, the second overall pick in the 2014 NBA draft.

Biggest Decreases

Raw Numbers (all boy names) Rankings (top 1,000 boy names)
  1. Jase, -1,459 babies (3,737 to 2,278)
  2. Jayden, -1,448 babies (12,923 to 11,475)
  3. Joshua, -1,123 babies (10,843 to 9,720)
  4. Andrew, -1,097 babies (11,124 to 10,027)
  5. Michael, -1,079 babies (15,400 to 14,321)
  6. Jacob, -996 babies (16,812 to 15,816)
  7. Anthony, -974 babies (11,538 to 10,564)
  8. William, -967 babies (16,776 to 15,809)
  9. Jace, -965 babies (6,276 to 5,311)
  10. Alexander, -902 babies (15,362 to 14,460)
  1. Arnav, -666 spots (888th to 1,554th)
  2. Jayse, -257 spots (910th to 1,167th)
  3. Neymar, -240 spots (550th to 790th)
  4. Rylee, -228 spots (879th to 1,107th)
  5. Johnathon, -213 spots (915th to 1,128th)
  6. Broderick, -195 spots (971st to 1,166th)
  7. Brenden, -187 spots (711th to 898th)
  8. Yael, -178 spots (913th to 1,091st)
  9. Aidyn, -173 spots (925th to 1,098th)
  10. Gavyn, -167 spots (944th to 1,111th)

I can remember Neymar debuting in 2010 under the influence was Brazilian footballer Neymar.

In 2014, the big winners were Oliver and Bode, and the big losers were Jayden and Bently.

Sources: Change in Popularity from 2014 to 2015, Emma and Noah Once Again Social Security’s Most Popular Baby Names for 2015

U.S. Baby Names 2015: Most Popular Baby Names, Top Debuts: Girl Names, Top Debuts: Boy Names, Biggest Changes in Popularity: Girl Names, Biggest Changes in Popularity: Boy Names, First Letter Popularity, Name Length Popularity


8 thoughts on “Biggest Changes in Boy Name Popularity, 2015”

  1. Interesting to see Jase plummet, I guess Duck Dynasty having awful ratings last year has to do with it.
    Although this year there is a character named Jace on Shadowhunters, so that may stop the bleeding of that spelling at least.

  3. Just for fun, here are more of the top raw number increases (#11 to #50):

    11. Henry, +706
    12. Sawyer, +659
    13. Abel, +659
    14. Leo, +609
    15. Adriel, +589
    16. Greyson, +543
    17. August, +528
    18. Nolan, +517
    19. Everett, +497
    20. Dawson, +497
    21. Kyrie, +472
    22. Axel, +436
    23. Killian, +425
    24. Kai, +422
    25. Owen, +414
    26. Cooper, +408
    27. Roman, +408
    28. Jayce, +403
    29. Ezekiel, +395
    30. Emmett, +394
    31. Amir, +388
    32. Amari, +387
    33. Iker, +382
    34. Tobias, +378
    35. Maverick, +376
    36. Leonardo, +364
    37. Rhett, +360
    38. Julian, +355
    39. Weston, +347
    40. Kingston, +347
    41. Jaxon, +340
    42. Beckham, +340
    43. Beau, +336
    44. Graham, +330
    45. Messiah, +327
    46. James, +322
    47. Finn, +301
    48. Elias, +296
    49. Beckett, +295
    50. Luca, +292

  4. Oops, guess I spoke too soon, Jayce did indeed climb.

    Kyrie is because of Kyrie Irving. Iker is because of Iker Casillas. Sport does have its influence.

  6. One influence on Mateo/Matteo is probably TV show Jane the Virgin – the main character’s infant son is Mateo. It’s a show that appreciates the art of baby naming – there’s a reoccurring gag about a character who, totally oblivious to the pop culture connection, named her twins Anna and Elsa.

  8. Pingback: Biggest Changes, Baby Boy Names, 2017 – Nancy's Baby Names

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