Which boy names increased in usage the most from 2022 to 2023?
Here’s a table of the fastest-rising boy names of 2023. On the left are the top 25 increases in terms of absolute change (numbers of babies). On the right are the top 25 increases in terms of relative change (percentages of babies).
| Rank | Boy name | Absolute rise | Boy name | Relative rise |
| 1 | Thiago | 1,041 | Adael | 619% |
| 2 | Miles | 996 | Jazai | 400% |
| 3 | Mateo | 850 | Demiri | 375% |
| 4 | Enzo | 710 | Endrick | 329% |
| 5 | Stetson | 522 | Holstyn | 329% |
| 6 | Adriel | 497 | Jhaziel | 320% |
| 7 | Theo | 493 | Record | 311% |
| 8 | Adonis | 484 | Hendon | 300% |
| 9 | Milan | 480 | Tobechukwu | 300% |
| 10 | Matteo | 460 | Sameir | 300% |
| 11 | Rowan | 441 | Eylan | 280% |
| 12 | Ezra | 440 | Luxxen | 280% |
| 13 | Tatum | 438 | Murtaza | 271% |
| 14 | Dawson | 394 | Mailo | 267% |
| 15 | Kylian | 382 | Delaney | 260% |
| 16 | Tate | 357 | Imaan | 260% |
| 17 | Elian | 356 | Koast | 260% |
| 18 | Luka | 350 | Yunay | 257% |
| 19 | Ismael | 345 | Amirr | 250% |
| 20 | Dylan | 330 | Cyxx | 250% |
| 21 | Bennett | 313 | Ehitan | 240% |
| 22 | Colter | 311 | Zylon | 240% |
| 23 | Cassian | 309 | Rocker | 238% |
| 24 | Santiago | 295 | Saviour | 238% |
| 25 | Emiliano | 295 | Berish* | 229% |
*Also at 229% was Khayr.
Kylian and Endrick were likely influenced by soccer players Kylian Mbappé (of France) and Endrick (of Brazil).
If you can explain any of the other rises, please leave a comment!
Source: SSA
Image: Adapted from Turkey-2036 by Dennis Jarvis under CC BY-SA 2.0.
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Aaah, what a fun day! Honestly, I’m most intrigued by the revival of some names that I thought were past their prime, like Dylan and Elian. A few names I’ve been able to dig up info on so far:
– Tobechukwu is the name of a super popular Nigerian gospel song released in 2023. The name means ‘praise God’ in Igbo. This YouTube performance has 21 million views: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0N8jWaBQUuA
– The continued rise of Adonis can probably be attributed to the visibility of Drake’s son.
– Oh, and speaking of Kylian, Lionel (Messi) rose substantially as well. Both of them were the star players of their respective World Cup teams in 2022. Thiago is one of Messi’s sons, but I kind of doubt it can be the sole reason the name rose so much. There’s also a Brazilian soccer player named Thiago, who didn’t play in the World Cup, but is still playing in the Premier League. Or maybe it’s the UFC fighter Thiago Santos.
– Tatum is the name of Khloe Kardashian’s son, born in 2022. His name was shared publicly in 2023.
– Ehitan seems like another spelling of Eithan, which has increased rapidly over the past couple of years, and points to these two spellings being popular with Spanish speakers. I wish I knew what was behind the sudden popularity of Eithan.
Tobechukwu means “praise God” in the Igbo language (spoken by 44 million Nigerians), and it was the title of a popular 2023 gospel song by Nathaniel Bassey and Mercy Chinwo.
Thank you, alex and Sharky!