How popular is the baby name Alex 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 Alex.

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Popularity of the baby name Alex


Posts that mention the name Alex

Popular baby names in Hungary, 2021

Flag of Hungary
Flag of Hungary

Landlocked Hungary, located in Central Europe, shares a border with seven other countries (including Croatia, Slovenia, and Austria).

Last year, Hungary welcomed over 93,000 babies.

What were the most popular names among these babies? Hanna and Levente (pronounced leh-vehn-teh).

Here are Hungary’s top 50 girl names and top 50 boy names of 2021:

Girl Names

  1. Hanna, 1,355 baby girls
  2. Zoé, 1,138
  3. Anna, 1,133
  4. Léna, 1,019
  5. Luca, 940
  6. Emma, 783
  7. Boglárka, 682 – means “buttercup” in Hungarian.
  8. Lili, 646
  9. Lilien, 601
  10. Lara, 594
  11. Zsófia, 588
  12. Laura, 577
  13. Mira, 553
  14. Sára, 523
  15. Olívia, 518
  16. Nóra, 506
  17. Lilla, 505
  18. Maja, 501
  19. Gréta, 496
  20. Izabella, 484
  21. Flóra, 476
  22. Jázmin, 475
  23. Alíz, 462
  24. Fanni, 430
  25. Adél, 426
  26. Janka, 425
  27. Dorka, 409 – a diminutive of Dorottya (Dorothea).
  28. Szofia, 406
  29. Zselyke, 396
  30. Liza, 393
  31. Csenge, 373
  32. Bella, 363
  33. Panna, 362 – a diminutive of Anna.
  34. Liliána, 361
  35. Kamilla, 352
  36. Linett, 351
  37. Dóra, 340
  38. Natasa, 333
  39. Viktória, 328
  40. Bianka, 321
  41. Szófia, 311
  42. Rebeka, 309
  43. Réka, 305
  44. Blanka, 304
  45. Szofi, 297
  46. Petra, 296
  47. Dorina, 295
  48. Nara, 286
  49. Emília, 285
  50. Noémi, 280

Boy Names

  1. Levente, 1,332 baby boys
  2. Máté, 1,314
  3. Dominik, 1,289
  4. Bence, 1,276
  5. Olivér, 1,199
  6. Noel, 1,122
  7. Marcell, 1,083
  8. Dániel, 1,057
  9. Zalán, 1,026 – popularized (and perhaps invented?) by Hungarian poet Mihály Vörösmarty, who published the epic poem “Zalán Futása” (transl. “The Flight of Zalan”) in 1825.
  10. Ádám, 1,024
  11. Milán, 954
  12. Botond, 934
  13. Benett, 880
  14. Dávid, 870
  15. Zsombor, 813
  16. Áron, 808
  17. Balázs, 681
  18. Benedek, 639
  19. Márk, 620
  20. Nimród, 607
  21. Péter, 590
  22. László, 583
  23. Tamás, 580
  24. Gergo, 530
  25. Zente, 517 – based on the Hungarian word szent, meaning “holy.”
  26. Bálint, 508 – a form of Valentine.
  27. Barnabás, 508
  28. Kristóf, 507
  29. Zétény, 484
  30. András, 453
  31. Kornél, 446
  32. Nolen, 444
  33. Márton, 433
  34. István, 426
  35. Hunor, 420 – a name from Hungarian mythology. Legendary brothers Hunor and Magor were the ancestors of the Huns and the Hungarians (also known as the Magyars), respectively.
  36. Attila, 402
  37. Ákos, 399
  38. Zoltán, 393
  39. Martin, 391
  40. Alex, 388
  41. Vince, 370
  42. Gábor, 365
  43. János, 358 (tie)
  44. Patrik, 358 (tie)
  45. Ábel, 357
  46. Bendegúz, 337
  47. Erik, 328
  48. Zsolt, 323
  49. Krisztián, 315
  50. József, 283

Notably, the girls’ top 50 included three different versions of the name Sophia: Zsófia, Szofia, and Szófia. If the spellings had been combined, the Sophia-group would have ranked 2nd overall.

The girls’ top 100 included Zorka (70th), Fruzsina (72nd), Kinga (86th), and Kincso (96th).

The boys’ top 100 included Csaba (55th), Kende (75th), Imre (76th), and Gellért (92nd).

Finally, here are Hungary’s rankings for 2017 through 2020, in case you’d like to compare.

Sources: Statistics – Hungary’s Deputy State Secretariat for the Administration of the Ministry of the Interior, Number of live births in Hungary from 2010 to 2021 – Statista, Hungary – Wikipedia, Magyar Keresztnevek Tara, Wiktionary

Image: Adapted from Flag of Hungary (public domain)

Popular baby names in Slovakia, 2022

Flag of Slovakia
Flag of Slovakia

Holy early baby name rankings, Batman!

On November 30, the government of Slovakia — thumbing its nose at the entire month of December — went ahead and released the official list of the country’s top baby names of 2022.

The #1 names? Sofia and Jakub.

Here are Slovakia’s top 20 girl names and top 20 boy names of (the first eleven months of) 2022:

Girl Names

  1. Sofia
  2. Eliška
  3. Nina
  4. Ema
  5. Viktória
  6. Natália
  7. Nela
  8. Sára
  9. Mia
  10. Olívia
  11. Diana
  12. Hana
  13. Anna
  14. Tamara
  15. Júlia
  16. Laura
  17. Emma
  18. Karolína
  19. Michaela
  20. Rebeka

Boy Names

  1. Jakub
  2. Samuel
  3. Adam
  4. Michal
  5. Oliver
  6. Filip
  7. Tomáš
  8. Martin
  9. Matej
  10. Richard
  11. Lukáš
  12. Alex
  13. Matúš
  14. Šimon
  15. Tobias
  16. Ján
  17. Peter
  18. Dávid
  19. Dominik
  20. Patrik

The last time I posted rankings for Slovakia, in 2018, the top two names were also Sofia and Jakub.

Sources: Top baby names in Slovakia for 2022 announced, Najoblubenejšími menami detí narodených v roku 2022 sú Sofia a Jakub

Image: Adapted from Flag of Slovakia (public domain)

How did “Money Heist” influence U.S. baby names?

The character Nairobi from the TV series "Money Heist" (2017-2021).
Nairobi from “Money Heist”

Eight thieves — six men and two women — all dressed in red jumpsuits, all donning Salvador Dalí masks — break into the Royal Mint of Spain (in Madrid) with the aim of printing 2.4 billion in Euros over 11 days, then making a clean getaway.

That’s what happens at the start of the Spanish-language crime drama series Money Heist, which became a worldwide hit in 2018, thanks to Netflix.

Upon the success of the first two seasons of the show (which had originally aired on Spanish TV in 2017), Netflix renewed Money Heist — producing and releasing three more seasons over the next three years.

Impressively, Money Heist: Part 3, Money Heist: Part 4, and Money Heist: Part 5 currently rank 5th, 3rd, and 2nd (respectively) on Netflix’s list of most popular non-English TV series of all time.

So…what does this have to do with U.S. baby names?

Characters from the TV series "Money Heist" (2017-2021).
The eight robbers of “Money Heist”

Well, to maintain their anonymity, the eight thieves went by city-inspired code-names: Tokyo, Moscow, Berlin, Nairobi, Rio, Denver, Helsinki, and Oslo.

While Moscow and Helsinki have never appeared in the U.S. baby name data, the six other city names have — and each one saw higher usage after Money Heist premiered on Netflix.

Let’s start with the biggest boosts…

Nairobi

(female character, played by Alba Flores)

Female usage of the baby name Nairobi began accelerating in 2018. (That massive jump in 2020 corresponds to a tragic Part 4 plot-twist.) Right now, the name is sitting just outside the girls’ top 1,000.

  • 2021: 241 baby girls named Nairobi [rank: 1,044th]
  • 2020: 215 baby girls named Nairobi
  • 2019: 65 baby girls named Nairobi
  • 2018: 37 baby girls named Nairobi
  • 2017: 23 baby girls named Nairobi
  • 2016: 21 baby girls named Nairobi
Graph of the usage of the baby name Nairobi in the U.S. since 1880
Usage of the baby name Nairobi

Rio

(male character, played by Miguel Herrán)

Male usage of the baby name Rio has risen significantly since 2018:

  • 2021: 396 baby boys named Rio [rank: 672nd]
  • 2020: 303 baby boys named Rio [rank: 776th]
  • 2019: 193 baby boys named Rio
  • 2018: 171 baby boys named Rio
  • 2017: 132 baby boys named Rio
  • 2016: 134 baby boys named Rio
Graph of the usage of the baby name Rio in the U.S. since 1880
Usage of the baby name Rio

Denver

(male character played by Jaime Lorente)

The baby name Denver, which was already on the rise for boys, began rising even faster in 2018:

  • 2021: 577 baby boys named Denver [rank: 505th]
  • 2020: 540 baby boys named Denver [rank: 526th]
  • 2019: 422 baby boys named Denver [rank: 638th]
  • 2018: 370 baby boys named Denver [rank: 674th]
  • 2017: 273 baby boys named Denver [rank: 821st]
  • 2016: 268 baby boys named Denver [rank: 840th]
Graph of the usage of the baby name Denver in the U.S. since 1880
Usage of the baby name Denver

Oslo

(male character, played by Roberto García Ruiz)

Male usage of the baby name Oslo has been rising steadily since 2018:

  • 2021: 49 baby boys named Olso
  • 2020: 38 baby boys named Olso
  • 2019: 29 baby boys named Olso
  • 2018: 22 baby boys named Olso
  • 2017: 14 baby boys named Olso
  • 2016: 12 baby boys named Olso
Graph of the usage of the baby name Oslo in the U.S. since 1880
Usage of the baby name Oslo

Tokyo

(female character, played by Úrsula Corberó)

The baby name Tokyo, which had appeared in the data as a boy name a couple of times, finally debuted as a girl name in 2019:

  • 2021: 10 baby girls named Tokyo
  • 2020: 15 baby girls named Tokyo [peak usage]
  • 2019: 7 baby girls named Tokyo [gender-specific debut]
  • 2018: unlisted
  • 2017: unlisted
  • 2016: unlisted

Berlin

(male character, played by Pedro Alonso)

Male usage of the baby name Berlin increased slightly in 2019 and 2020:

  • 2021: 26 baby boys named Berlin
  • 2020: 29 baby boys named Berlin
  • 2019: 17 baby boys named Berlin
  • 2018: 11 baby boys named Berlin
  • 2017: 9 baby boys named Berlin
  • 2016: 5 baby boys named Berlin

Which of the above names to you like best? What other city names do you think work well as human names?

Sources:

P.S. Why were city names used as code-names on Money Heist? Álex Pina, the show’s creator, explained during an interview in 2018 that he’d been trying to come up with a theme for the code-names when, “one day, someone turned up with a T-shirt bearing the word Tokyo and that’s how it all began.”

Popular baby names in Armenia, 2021

Flag of Armenia
Flag of Armenia

The landlocked country of Armenia is located in Western Asia and bordered by Turkey, Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Iran.

Last year, Armenia welcomed over 36,600 babies — about 17,600 girls and about 19,000 boys.

What were the most popular names among these babies? Nare and Davit.

Here are Armenia’s top 50 girl names and top 50 boy names of 2021:

Girl Names

  1. Nare, 758 baby girls – a diminutive of Narine (which ranked 49th)
  2. Maria, 635
  3. Arpi, 540
  4. Mane, 493
  5. Angelina, 444
  6. Marie, 402
  7. Yeva, 396
  8. Mariam, 357
  9. Anahit, 338 – an Armenian goddess (related to the Persian goddess Anahita)
  10. Anna, 305
  11. Sofi, 302
  12. Ani, 294
  13. Ellen, 284
  14. Milena, 279
  15. Lyusie, 277
  16. Eva, 263
  17. Ariana, 259
  18. Adriana, 247
  19. Luse, 245
  20. Tatev, 237 – from the name of the Tatev monastery
  21. Yana, 231
  22. Gayane, 226
  23. Nane, 224 – an Armenian goddess
  24. Milla, 202
  25. Arina, 193
  26. Emily, 187
  27. Elina, 186 (tie)
  28. Sona, 186 (tie)
  29. Lilit, 176
  30. Natalie, 170
  31. Sarah, 160
  32. Amelie, 155
  33. Hasmik, 153 – means “jasmine” in Armenian
  34. Lia, 152
  35. Arevik, 148
  36. Mary, 146
  37. Susanna, 136
  38. Viktoria, 134
  39. Monika, 130
  40. Gohar, 123
  41. Karina, 112
  42. Lili, 100
  43. Sofia, 98
  44. Karine, 92
  45. Lusine, 89 (tie) – based on the Armenian word lusin, meaning “moon”
  46. Anush, 89 (tie) – means “sweet” in Armenian
  47. Lucy, 88
  48. Sofya, 83 (tie)
  49. Narine, 83 (tie)
  50. Astghik, 82 – an Armenian goddess whose name is a diminutive of the Old Armenian word for “star”

Boy Names

  1. Davit, 1,275 baby boys
  2. Narek, 859
  3. Monte, 647
  4. Tigran, 584 – a form of Tigranes, the name of several ancient Armenian kings
  5. Areg, 564
  6. Hayk, 550
  7. Mark, 507
  8. Michael, 448
  9. Alex, 385
  10. Aren, 355
  11. Armen, 346
  12. Robert, 339
  13. Daniel, 326
  14. Gor, 323
  15. Arthur, 321
  16. Aram, 318
  17. Leo, 310
  18. Hovhannes, 303
  19. Samvel, 298
  20. Alen, 287
  21. Ashot, 255 (tie)
  22. Arman, 255 (tie)
  23. Levon, 252
  24. Erik, 232
  25. Gevorg, 219
  26. Gagik, 213
  27. Vahe, 209
  28. Arsen, 195
  29. Sargis, 186
  30. Artiom, 176
  31. Vardan, 154
  32. Karen, 152 – In Armenia, Karen is a male name! (Tell that to the manager!) It’s a short form of the Armenian name Garegin/Karekin.
  33. Avet, 150
  34. Albert, 126
  35. Andranik, 118
  36. Van, 116 – possibly from the name of Lake Van…?
  37. Suren, 115
  38. Raphael, 110
  39. Max, 105
  40. Ruben, 100 (tie)
  41. Hakob, 100 (tie)
  42. Alexandr, 97
  43. Mher, 95
  44. Grigor, 94
  45. Harutyun, 90
  46. Vahan, 80 – means “shield” in Armenian
  47. Edgar, 75
  48. Menua, 73 (tie) – the name of an ancient Armenian king
  49. Henry, 73 (tie)
  50. Noy, 67

Here’s a link to Armenia’s 2020 rankings, if you’d like to compare last year to the year before.

Sources: Statistical Committee of the Republic of Armenia (2021 pdf), Behind the Name

Image: Adapted from Flag of Armenia (public domain)