How popular is the baby name Jacob in the United States right now? How popular was it historically? Find out using the graph below! Plus, check out all the blog posts that mention the name Jacob.

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Popularity of the Baby Name Jacob


Posts that Mention the Name Jacob

Popular Baby Names in England and Wales, 2019

According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the most popular baby names in England and Wales last year were, yet again, Olivia and Oliver.

Here are the top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names of 2019:

Girl Names

  1. Olivia, 4,082 baby girls
  2. Amelia, 3,712
  3. Isla, 2,981
  4. Ava, 2,946
  5. Mia, 2,500
  6. Isabella, 2,398
  7. Sophia, 2,332
  8. Grace, 2,330
  9. Lily, 2,285
  10. Freya, 2,264

Boy Names

  1. Oliver, 4,932 baby boys
  2. George, 4,575
  3. Noah, 4,265
  4. Arthur, 4,211
  5. Harry, 3,823
  6. Leo, 3,637
  7. Muhammad, 3,604
  8. Jack, 3,381
  9. Charlie, 3,355
  10. Oscar, 3,334

In the girls’ top 10, Lily and Freya replace Emily and Ella. The boys’ top ten includes the same ten names as in 2018.

In the girls’ top 100, Lara and Mabel replace Aisha and Francesca. In the boys’ top 100, Alfred, Chester, Hudson, Ibrahim and Oakley replace Alex, Dexter, Dominic, Kai, Sonny and Tobias.

The fastest risers within the top 100 were Hallie (on the girls’ list) and Tommy (on the boys’).

Several names that saw increased usage due to pop culture were…

  • The girl name Dua, now at an all-time high thanks to English pop singer Dua Lipa, whose parents were Kosovar refugees.*
  • The boy name Kylo, thanks to the Star Wars sequel trilogy. (Kylo debuted in 2015, the year the first film was released.)
  • The boy name Taron, likely due to actor Taron Egerton, featured in the 2019 Elton John biopic Rocketman.

Here are the top ten lists for England and Wales separately, if you’d like to compare the regions…

England’s top ten…Wales’s top ten…
Girl NamesOlivia, Amelia, Isla, Ava, Mia, Isabella, Grace, Sophia, Lily, EmilyOlivia, Amelia, Isla, Ava, Freya, Willow, Mia, Ella, Rosie, Elsie
Boy NamesOliver, George, Arthur, Noah, Harry, Muhammad, Leo, Jack, Oscar, CharlieOliver, Noah, Charlie, Jacob, Theo, George, Leo, Arthur, Oscar, Alfie

Finally, here are some of the rare baby names from the other end of the rankings. Each one was given to exactly 3 babies in England and Wales last year.

Rare Girl NamesRare Boy Names
Aiste, Bella-Blue, Cosmina, Dolcieanna, Elliw, Floella, Gurveen, Harerta, Iffah, Jainaba, Kalsoom, Lussy, Mallie, Nellie-Beau, Otterly, Primavera, Reevie, Saffanah, Tuppence, Venba, Winter-Lily, Yidis, ZeemalAuburn, Boycie, Cybi, Dawsey, Eason, Folarin, Glyndwr, Hadrian, Isaa, Johnjo, Kaniel, Lazo, Madani, Now, Olgierd, Pijus, Rakai, Smit, Taqi, Veselin, Wilby, Yilmaz, Zarel

Cybi, pronounced “kubby,” is the (Welsh) name of a 6th-century Cornish saint.

Sources: Baby names in England and Wales: 2019, Baby names for boys in England and Wales (dataset), Baby names for girls in England and Wales (dataset)

*Kosovar refugees are also mentioned in the posts on Amerikan and Tonibler.

U.S. Boy Names 2019: Popular, Rising, Falling, Debuts

Yesterday we looked at some of the latest girl name data, so today let’s check in on the 2019 boy names…

Here are the most popular boy names overall:

  1. Liam, 20,502 baby boys
  2. Noah, 19,048
  3. Oliver, 13,891
  4. William, 13,542
  5. Elijah, 13,300
  6. James, 13,087
  7. Benjamin, 12,942
  8. Lucas, 12,412
  9. Mason, 11,408
  10. Ethan, 11,241

Ethan kicked Logan out of the top 10 last year. (Logan is now ranked 16th.)

The boy names that saw the largest increases in usage in terms of absolute numbers of babies were…

  1. Brooks, increased by 1,114 babies
  2. Miles, 860
  3. Legend, 832
  4. Luca, 797
  5. Theodore, 775
  6. Mateo, 757
  7. Leo, 702
  8. Maverick, 701
  9. Noah, 698
  10. Luka, 652

The boy names that saw the largest increases in usage in terms of relative numbers of babies were…

  1. Ermias, increased by 3360%
  2. Sekani, 1992%
  3. Amenadiel, 500%
  4. Kross, 481%
  5. Alexios, 429%
  6. Taz, 340%
  7. Ezran, 333%
  8. Andoni, 309%
  9. Kaleel, 300%
  10. Taysom, 295%

Some explanations…

  • Ermias was the legal first name of rapper Nipsey Hussle (who died on March 31, 2019).
  • Sekani was the name of a young character in the film The Hate U Give (2018).
  • Amenadiel is a character on the TV series Lucifer.
  • Ezran is the name of a character on the Netflix series The Dragon Prince. (Ezran debuted in the data in 2018, the year the show started airing.)
  • Taysom Hill is a professional football player with the New Orleans Saints.

Here are the boy names that debuted most impressively in the 2019 data:

  1. Armias, debuted with 54 baby boys
  2. Izhaan, 50
  3. Jsan, 33
  4. Jaiari, 29
  5. Ripp, 26
  6. Sakani, 21
  7. Jardani, 19
  8. Iskender, 17
  9. Kamiri, 17
  10. Siar, 14
  • Armias and Sakani are spelling variants of Ermias and Sekani (above).
  • Izhaan is a celebrity baby: Izhaan Mirza Malik was born in October of 2018 to Indian tennis player Sania Mirza and Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik.
  • Jardani could be from Jardani Jovonovich, the “real” name of popular movie character John Wick…?

The boy names that saw the largest decreases in usage in terms of absolute numbers of babies were…

  1. Logan, decreased by 1,911 babies
  2. Michael, -1,174
  3. Jacob, -1,159
  4. Dylan, -1,076
  5. Mason, -1,065
  6. William, -1,048
  7. Connor, -932
  8. David, -871
  9. Ryan, -837
  10. Joshua, -836

The boy names that saw the largest decreases in usage in terms of relative numbers of babies were Nomar and Gianlucas (tied at -73%), and the boy name that saw the steepest drop off the list was Stephano (from 21 babies in 2018 to fewer than 5 in 2019).

If you can explain any of these rises (or drops), please leave a comment!

Popular Baby Names in the Philippines, 2018

philippines, mayon, volcano

According to the Philippine Statistics Authority, the most popular baby names in the country in 2018 were Althea and Nathaniel.

Here are the Philippines’ top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names of 2018:

Girl Names

  1. Althea, 2,395 baby girls
  2. Samantha, 2,165
  3. Angel, 2,086
  4. Angela, 1,810
  5. Princess, 1,641
  6. Sophia, 1,537
  7. Sofia, 1,432
  8. Andrea, 1,293
  9. Nathalie, 1,285
  10. Alexa, 1,241

Boy Names

  1. Nathaniel, 2,455 baby boys
  2. James, 2,242
  3. Jacob, 2,028
  4. Gabriel, 2,004
  5. Joshua, 1,980
  6. Angelo, 1,872
  7. Nathan, 1,796
  8. John Mark, 1,611
  9. Christian, 1,537
  10. Daniel, 1,498

New to the girls’ top 10 are Nathalie and Alexa. (Nathalie may have gotten a boost from the character Natalie on the Philippine TV series Wildflower.)

The boys’ top 10 includes the same ten names, but in a different order.

One fast-rising girl name outside the top 10 is Catriona, thanks to Filipino-Australian beauty queen Catriona Gray, who was crowned Miss Universe 2018.

Source: Baby Names 2018 (PDF) – Philippine Statistics Authority

Popular and Unique Baby Names in Quebec, 2019

According to Retraite Québec, the most popular baby names in Quebec in 2019 were Olivia and Liam.

Here are the province’s top 10 girl names and top 10 11 boy names of 2019:

Girl Names

  1. Olivia, 549 baby girls
  2. Emma, 517
  3. Alice, 513
  4. Charlie, 499
  5. Charlotte, 497
  6. Lea, 465
  7. Florence, 418
  8. Livia, 407
  9. Rosalie, 354
  10. Beatrice, 343

Boy Names

  1. Liam, 695 baby boys
  2. William, 659
  3. Thomas, 648
  4. Leo, 596
  5. Noah, 585
  6. Logan, 561
  7. Nathan, 505
  8. Felix, 492
  9. Raphael, 489
  10. Edouard, 482 (tied)
  11. Emile, 482 (tied)

In the girls’ top 10, Rosalie re-enters and ousts Zoe (now ranked 15th).

In the boys’ top 10, Raphael and Emile replace Jacob (now ranked 12th).

Here are some of the baby names that were bestowed just once in Quebec last year:

Unique Girl NamesUnique Boy Names
Allegresse, Berangere, Clarity, Daxia, Elixanne, Fenskerly, Gersia, Hugh-Laury, Izalie, Judicia-Wonder, Klermona, Lyriel, Merope, Nelsy, Ophelia Gipsy, Pleroma, Qetzia, Ryzlene, Sarassie, Tulugaq, Umi, Virgo, Waapikun, Xochitl Lilou, Yrina, ZackaelleAzai, Bonheur, Chalifix, Delson, Espoir, Fesley, Guerby, Heliodore, Inupak, Jeff-Smart, Keawolf, Light-Shine, Miami-Liam Zion, Nendley, Osric, Pelly, Quintus, Ronnoco, Skysun, Tiki Bolt, Ulrick, Vainqueur, Wibnerley, Xayren, Yalas, Zephyr Meteor

Background and/or possible explanations for some of the above:

  • Allegresse (allégresse) means “elation, joy, gladness” in French.
  • Hugh-Laury…a reference to English actor Hugh Laurie?
  • Merope is one of the seven Pleiades.
  • Tulugaq means “raven” in Inupiaq.
  • Bonhuer means “happiness” in French.
  • Espoir means “hope” in French.
  • Vainqueur means “conqueror” or “victor, winner” in French.

(More of Quebec’s unique baby names can be found on my Patreon page!)

In 2018, the top two names in Quebec were Emma and William.

Sources: Retraite Québec – List of Baby Names, Wiktionary

Popular and Unique Baby Names in Alberta, 2019

baby names in Alberta, 2019

According to the government of Alberta, the most popular baby names in the Canadian province in 2019 were Olivia and Noah.

Here are Alberta’s top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names of 2019:

Girl Names

  1. Olivia, 229 baby girls
  2. Charlotte, 188
  3. Sophia, 181
  4. Emma, 178
  5. Ava, 161
  6. Amelia, 159
  7. Emily, 150
  8. Abigail, 141
  9. Hannah, 137
  10. Elizabeth, 124

Boy Names

  1. Noah, 275 baby boys
  2. Liam, 234
  3. Oliver, 225
  4. Ethan, 213
  5. Jack, 198
  6. William, 185
  7. Lucas, 174
  8. Owen, 167
  9. Benjamin, 163
  10. Jacob, 162

In the girls’ top 10, Hannah returns and ousts Harper.

In the boys’ top 10, Owen replaces Logan, Alexander, and James. (It’s uneven because there were two ties in the 2018 top 10.)

Rare baby names that were bestowed just once in Alberta last year include…

Unique Girl NamesUnique Boy Names
Anesidora, Aviendha, Brungus, Castrence, Calluna, Doxa, Eilish, Fitia-Jane, Giannajoe, Historia, Isleigh, Jennathul, Kriscilla, Kipper, Lilith-Luna, Loonskin, Maxeld, Neepin, Ovalah, Phoemella, Ruftael, Starbrit, Tenacious, Timely, Uzuvira, Verily, Waskway, Xanthal, Yuvleen, ZsanelleAbundance, Apollo-July, BlueJay, Couloir, Cousteau, Despot, Ellejon, Felix-Ivan, Gravity, Handsome-Jack, Humbly, Iguttaq, Iskotew, Jenzieland, Kitterick, Luxton, Maxjay, Nomatic, Ozmo, Pétain, Ranxel, Revic, Sprocket, Thundersky, Uael, Varis, Whirlwind, Xiron, Ylan-Maël, Zagger

Explanations and/or potential influences for a few of the above:

  • Aviendha was a character from Wheel of Time book series (1990-2013) by author Robert Jordan.
  • Waskway is the Cree word for “birch” or “birch tree.”
  • Couloir is the word for “a steep gully in alpine terrain” (from the French word for “corridor” or “hallway”).
  • Iguttaq is the Inuktitut word for “bumblebee.”
  • Iskotew is the Cree word for “fire.”
  • Nomatic is a company that creates minimalist travel products.
  • Revic (“revolutionary” + “optics”) is a company that makes rifle scopes.

(More of Alberta’s unique baby names can be found on my Patreon page!)

In 2018, the top two names in Alberta were Olivia and Liam.

Sources: Alberta’s Top Baby Names, Alberta reveals top baby names of 2019, Online Cree Dictionary, Couloir – Avalanche.org