Which boy names emerged in the U.S. baby name data in 2023 for the first time ever?
A total of 583 boy names debuted in the data last year, and the most impressive debut was made by Kaiyr. Here are the top debuts overall:
- Kaiyr, 40 baby boys
- Neteyam, 38
- Tulsen, 21
- Aire, 20
- Shubhdeep, 19
- Rhyzen, 18
- Aysun, 17
- Zakyius, 16
- Kalias, 15
- Namor, 14
- Takrim, 14
- Yeider, 14
Aire comes from a celebrity baby name-change. (In February of 2022, Kylie Jenner and Travis Scott had a baby boy initially named Wolf. In January of 2023, Kylie announced via Instagram that the baby was now called Aire — pronounced just like the word air — and his name was legally changed several months later.)
Namor is a character from the 2022 movie Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. (He’s the cousin of Namora, whose name debuted last year as well.)
Here are some more debuts:
| 13 baby boys | Ahsaias, Azaias, Azire, Syxx |
| 12 baby boys | Amiree, Elhan, Emiri, Jacaerys, Mazieon |
| 11 baby boys | Azaylion, Chrome, Deivis, Iceland, Jahani, Jeyler, Kaizir, Kassaius, Khozen, Muhammadyasin, Rizen, Shedeur, Yeiler |
| 10 baby boys | Ethic, Hassiah, Jazaire, Keyder, Masani, Shritik, Yoridan |
College football player Shedeur Sanders drew people’s attention to the obscure biblical name Shedeur last year. I have to imagine a lot of the usage was in Colorado, as Shedeur is the quarterback of the Colorado Buffaloes. (His famous father, Deion Sanders, is the Buffaloes’ head coach.)
Finally, here’s a sampling of the rest of the debuts:
- 9 baby boys: Aemond, Jesser, Kervenson, Rookie, Yefry
- 8 baby boys: Anirved, Bakhari, Forge, Irham, Kazari, Khimir, Noen, Roic, Royalton, Thorfinn
- 7 baby boys: Access, Daecari, Essiel, Izir, Jerze, Kaziel, Mezekiah, Nine, Omavi, Riggsley, Rza, Sullen, Varrick, Viserys, Yoakin
- 6 baby boys: Ahzai, Aider, Bolt, Camoni, Deriam, Divino, Etson, Everyx, Jakoa, Kotah, Leonhart, Maazin, Murillo, Nkai, Olympus, Richarlison, Rifton, Safa, Valens
- 5 baby boys: Alador, Atigun, Bayou, Bregman, Camino, Damazi, Dawensley, Endry, Ezdan, Franciel, Gudiel, Hazer, Islo, Jhonjairo, Kasden, Menua, Mictlan, Nyte, Oviyan, Pine, Remzi, Sviatoslav, Tecuani, Trophy, Widley, Yasani, Zusha
Thorfinn is a character in the Japanese anime Vinland Saga, and Varrick might come from a character in The Legend of Korra.
Rza comes from celebrity baby RZA, the son of Rihanna and ASAP Rocky. He was born in May of 2022, but his name — inspired by Wu-Tang rapper RZA, whose stage name is pronounced RIZ-uh — wasn’t revealed until May of 2023.
Viserys comes from a character in the TV series House of the Dragon.
Murillo and Richarlison are professional soccer players (both originally from Brazil).
Bregman is likely from baseball player Alex Bregman, who helped the Houston Astros win the World Series in late 2022. My guess is that the usage was mostly (perhaps entirely?) in Texas.
(A few extra facts: Atigun is a river in Alaska, Mictlan is the “land of the dead” in Aztec mythology, and Tecuani is a Nahuatl word often translated as “jaguar,” though it can refer to any non-human creature that bites.)
If you can explain any of the other debuts, please leave a comment!
Sources: SSA, Wikipedia, Online Nahuatl Dictionary
Image: Adapted from LotusBud0048a (public domain) by Frank “Fg2” Gualtieri
Neteyam is a character from Avatar 2.
Shubhdeep is the first name of Punjabi rapper Sidhu Moose Wala, who was killed in 2022.
Takrim might be related to Saleh Ahmad Takrim, a 13-year-old from Bangladesh who became a hafez in 2022. Videos of his Quran recitations have millions of views.
Iceland could be linked to Gucci Mane and Keshia Ka’oir’s daughter, Iceland.
Yoridan was a competitor on the athletic competition reality show Exatlón Estados Unidos.
Jacaerys and Aemond are characters from House of the Dragon.
Jesser and Leonhart are both YouTubers. Zakyius is the son of YouTubers The Trench Family.
Omavi is the first name of rapper Mavi, who came out with a popular album in 2022.
Alador is a character in the Disney Channel series The Owl House.
One thing I’ve been puzzled by is how many of these début names seem to be names that have seen some use in Caribbean Latin America for 20+ years (Yeider, Jeyler, Yeiler, Keyder, Yefry, Aider, Jhon Jairo, possibly Deivis), since none of these seem to have a specific impetus for adoption in the past couple of years. Wonder if this might be driven by the larger number of immigrants from Venezuela who arrived in 2022-23 showing up in the data.
A few other names whose origin I traced (no specific impetus noted):
– Yoakin (Amharic)
– Kervenson, Dawensley (Haitian)
– Menua (Armenian)
– Oviyan, Anirved (Indian)
– Aysun, Remzi (Turkish – though Remzi can also be Albanian)
Dawensley — Haitian in origin
Franciel — Brazilian football player Franciel Rodrigo Hengemühle?
Jazaire — College football player Jazaire Reed
Kaziel — character from the Chronicles of Nick book series
Leonhart — YouTuber who makes videos about Pokemon
N-Kai — from Final Fantasy video game
Shubhdeep — Indian rapper who was murdered in 2022
Sviatoslav — Russian and Ukrainian
Thorfinn is also a character on the U.S. version of Ghosts, a popular comedy series on Paramount+ and CBS.
Everyx was coined by TikTok’ers Harleigh Jordan Johnson (27) & Tyler Scott Blazer (24). Harleighjordann has 200k+ followers. They are parents to daughter Oaklyn Veiya, 5, twin daughters Lennyx Naomi & Lextyn Jayde, 3, and son Everyx Storm, 1.5.
In February 2021 Lennyx passed away at two weeks old. The parents call Everyx Storm their ‘rainbow baby’: “After every storm there’s a rainbow” (their words). The x in Everyx’ name is a reference to her sister Lennyx. They call Everyx ‘Evy’.
(Here’s to another 30 minutes of my life I’ll never get back :) :))
Thank you alex, Andrea, Elizabeth, and Emma for researching so many of these names! I really appreciate that you guys are always so helpful. :)