How popular is the baby name Elijah in the United States right now? How popular was it historically? Use the popularity graph and data table below to find out! Plus, see all the blog posts that mention the name Elijah.
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According to the U.S. baby name data, the name Sonji saw a steep rise in usage during the mid-1960s:
1968: 69 baby girls named Sonji
1967: 98 baby girls named Sonji
1966: 225 baby girls named Sonji [rank: 639th]
1965 96 baby girls named Sonji
1964: 35 baby girls named Sonji
1963: 8 baby girls named Sonji
1962: 8 baby girls named Sonji
The name reached peak usage in 1966 — the single year it ranked as one of the top 1,000 girl names in the nation.
Here’s a visual:
What made the name so trendy?
Sonji (pronounced sahn-jee) Clay, the first wife of Muhammad Ali (born Cassius Clay).
She met the legendary boxer as an 18-year-old cocktail waitress named Sonji Roi in July of 1964. (Earlier the same year, Ali had not only become the world heavyweight champion, but also announced that he’d joined the Nation of Islam and changed his name.) They married a month later.
Though Sonji had agreed to follow all the tenets of her husband’s religion, she refused to abide by the Muslim dress code. She told reporters:
Cassius said that Elijah Muhammad told him I was embarrassing the entire Muslim nation by not wearing the long white dresses the Muslim women are supposed to wear. […] I am not accustomed to wearing stuff like that. I’m normal, like other women.
The couple ended up divorcing in January of 1966.
The very next month, Sonji embarked upon a short-lived singing career, ultimately releasing three singles. (The second two were put out on her own label, Songee.)
According to dialogue from the 2001 biopic Ali, Sonji’s first name was inspired by that of figure skater Sonja Henie:
Ali: What kind of name is that? Roi: My father named me after Sonja Henie.
Last year, the Commonwealth of Virginia — which is home to more than 8.7 million people — welcomed roughly 95,000 babies.
What were the most popular names among these babies? Charlotte and Liam, according to the Virginia Department of Health’s Office of Vital Records.
Here are Virginia’s top 15 girl names and top 15 boy names of 2023:
Girl names
Charlotte
Emma
Olivia*
Sophia
Amelia
Evelyn
Ava
Isabella
Elizabeth
Mia
Eleanor
Harper
Sofia
Luna
Abigail
*In the press release, Olivia was spelled “Oliva.” I’m assuming this was a typo.
Boy names
Liam
Noah
James
Oliver
William
Lucas
Henry
Theodore
Benjamin
Levi
Elijah
Luke
John
Michael
Gabriel
The state also revealed the top names among the state’ four largest ethnic groups: White, Black, Hispanic and Asian. (According to the most recent CDC data, from 2021, 54.3% of Virginia’s babies were born to non-Hispanic White mothers, 20.0% to Black mothers, 15.7% to Hispanic mothers, and 7.3% to Asian mothers.)
These were the top 5 girl names and 5 boy names among Virginia’s White babies:
Girl names, White
Boy names, White
1. Charlotte 2. Olivia 3. Emma 4. Amelia 5. Sophia
1. James 2. William 3. Oliver 4. Henry 5. Liam
These were the top 5 girl names and 5 boy names among Virginia’s Black babies:
Girl names, Black
Boy names, Black
1. Ava 2. Naomi 3. Nova 4. Serenity 5. Autumn
1. Noah 2. Amir 3. Josiah 4. Elijah 5. Legend
These were the top 5 girl names and 5 boy names among Virginia’s Hispanic babies:
Girl names, Hispanic
Boy names, Hispanic
1. Mia 2. Camila* 3. Genesis* 4. Isabella 5. Sofia
1. Liam 2. Mateo 3. Dylan 4. Thiago 5. Lucas
*In the press release, Camila and Genesis were spelled “Camilla” and “Genisis.” I’m assuming these were typos as well.
And, finally, these were the top 5 girl names and 5 boy names among Virginia’s Asian babies:
Girl names, Asian
Boy names, Asian
1. Olivia 2. Ava 3. Sophia 4. Sophie 5. Charlotte
1. Noah 2. Lucas 3. Muhammad 4. Ethan 5. Alexander
Here’s a link to Virginia’s 2022 rankings, if you’d like to compare last year to the year before.
The year isn’t over yet, but that hasn’t stopped several regional governments from releasing provisional baby name rankings for 2023.
At least four U.S. states and one U.S. city have put out their top baby names of 2023 already, for instance. Let’s check them out, starting in the east and moving westward…
Rhode Island
According to the Rhode Island Department of Health, these were the state’s top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names of 2023.
Top girl names, Rhode Island
Top boy names, Rhode Island
1. Charlotte 2. Sophia 3. Olivia 4. Amelia 5. Emma 6. Nora 7. Luna 8. Isabella 9. Mia 10. Isla
1. Noah 2. Liam 3. James 4. Theodore 5. Lucas 6. Michael 7. Julian 8. Benjamin 9. Henry 10. Luca
Mississippi
According to the Mississippi State Department of Health, these were the state’s top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names of 2023.
Top girl names, Mississippi
Top boy names, Mississippi
1. Ava 2. Amelia 3. Olivia 4. Charlotte 5. Harper 6. Elizabeth 7. Emma 8. Mary 9. Nova 10. Evelyn
1. John 2. James 3. William 4. Elijah 5. Noah 6. Liam 7. Waylon 8. Mason 9. Grayson 10. Asher
Houston (Texas)
According to the Houston Health Department, these were the city’s top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names of 2023.
Top girl names, City of Houston
Top boy names, City of Houston
1. Emma 2. Mia 3. Camila 4. Olivia 5. Isabella 6. Sofia 7. Sophia 8. Amelia 9. Charlotte 10. Emily
1. Liam 2. Noah 3. Mateo 4. Santiago 5. Sebastian 6. Dylan 7. Elijah 8. Lucas 9. Oliver 10. Daniel
New Mexico
According to the New Mexico Department of Health, these were the state’s top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names of 2023.
Top girl names, New Mexico
Top boy names, New Mexico
1. Olivia 2. Amelia 3. Isabella 4. Emma 5. Sofia 6. Mia 7. Sophia 8. Aria 9. Luna 10. Camila
1. Liam 2. Mateo 3. Noah 4. Santiago 5. Ezekiel 6. Elijah 7. Josiah 8. Sebastian 9. Ezra 10. Julian
Arizona
According to the Arizona Department of Health Services, these were the state’s top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names of 2023.
Top girl names, Arizona
Top boy names, Arizona
1. Olivia 2. Isabella 3. Emma 4. Mia 5. Camila 6. Sophia 7. Amelia 8. Charlotte 9. Evelyn 10. Luna
1. Liam 2. Mateo 3. Noah 4. Oliver 5. Santiago 6. Elijah 7. Sebastian 8. Ezra 9. Levi 10. Benjamin
Several regions outside the U.S. have also released their 2023 baby name rankings already. Here’s what I’ve spotted so far…
In 2022, Australia — which boasts a large number of endemic animals (e.g., koala, kangaroo, wallaby, wombat, dingo) — welcomed 300,684 human babies: 146,403 girls and 154,281 boys.
What were the most popular names among Australia’s newborns last year?
Well…we don’t know for sure. Because Australia doesn’t release baby name rankings that cover the entire country.
So let’s take a look at eight sets of regional Australian rankings — representing Australia’s six states and two most populous territories — and make a guess about the country’s top names overall.
Here are the rankings, ordered by total number of births per region (highest to lowest):
New South Wales
Last year, New South Wales welcomed 95,758 (31.8%) of Australia’s babies. Here are NSW’s top baby names of 2022:
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