How popular is the baby name Andrew 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 Andrew.

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Popularity of the baby name Andrew


Posts that mention the name Andrew

Popular baby names in Austin (Texas), 2008-2016

Flag of Texas
Flag of Texas

A couple of months ago, we looked at Austin’s top baby names of 2017. When I found the data for that post, I also found nine other top-10 lists for Austin (2008-2016). Because they’re out of date, I’ll go ahead and consolidate these earlier rankings into a single blog post (like I did for New York City a while back).

2016

The most popular baby names in Austin in 2016.

Top Girl Names (Austin, 2016)Top Boy Names (Austin, 2016)
1. Olivia
2. Mia
3. Isabella
4. Sophia
5. Elizabeth
6. Ava
7. Emma
8. Charlotte
9. Sofia
10. Camila & Emily (tie)		1. William
2. Alexander
3. Ethan
4. Noah
5. Oliver
6. Benjamin
7. Liam
8. Jacob
9. James
10. Mathew

(“Mathew” could be a typo…?)

2015

The most popular baby names in Austin in 2015.

Top Girl Names (Austin, 2015)Top Boy Names (Austin, 2015)
1. Olivia
2. Sophia
3. Emma
4. Sofia
5. Ava
6. Evelyn
7. Emily
8. Abigail
9. Isabella
10. Mia		1. Liam
2. Noah
3. William
4. James
5. Alexander
6. Jacob
7. Luke
8. David
9. Dylan
10. Henry

2014

The most popular baby names in Austin in 2014.

Top Girl Names (Austin, 2014)Top Boy Names (Austin, 2014)
1. Olivia
2. Emma
3. Isabella
4. Sofia
5. Mia
6. Sophia
7. Ava
8. Charlotte
9. Emily
10. Abigail		1. Noah
2. William
3. Michael
4. Alexander
5. Benjamin
6. James
7. Anthony
8. Jacob
9. Liam
10. Daniel & Ethan (tie)

2013

The most popular baby names in Austin in 2013.

Top Girl Names (Austin, 2013)Top Boy Names (Austin, 2013)
1. Olivia
2. Sophia
3. Emily
4. Isabella
5. Emma
6. Mia
7. Abigail
8. Avery
9. Ava
10. Sofia		1. Alexander
2. William
3. Noah
4. Jacob
5. Benjamin
6. Ethan
7. David
8. Liam
9. Andrew
10. Christopher, James, John & Luke (4-way tie)

2012

The most popular baby names in Austin in 2012.

Top Girl Names (Austin, 2012)Top Boy Names (Austin, 2012)
1. Sophia
2. Isabella
3. Emma
4. Olivia
5. Ava
6. Abigail
7. Mia
8. Emily
9. Sofia
10. Harper		1. William
2. Alexander
3. Ethan
4. Noah
5. Christopher
6. Jacob
7. David
8. James
9. Benjamin
10. Matthew

2011

The most popular baby names in Austin in 2011.

Top Girl Names (Austin, 2011)Top Boy Names (Austin, 2011)
1. Sophia
2. Isabella
3. Olivia
4. Emma
5. Abigail
6. Ava
7. Emily
8. Addison
9. Elizabeth
10. Sofia		1. Jacob
2. William
3. Alexander
4. Daniel
5. Noah
6. David
7. Mason
8. John
9. Benjamin
10. Ethan

2010

The most popular baby names in Austin in 2010.

Top Girl Names (Austin, 2010)Top Boy Names (Austin, 2010)
1. Sophia
2. Isabella
3. Ava
4. Abigail
5. Emma
6. Olivia
7. Emily
8. Avery
9. Chloe
10. Elizabeth		1. William
2. Jacob
3. Alexander
4. Noah
5. Christopher
6. Daniel
7. John
8. Andrew
9. Michael
10. Angel

2009

The most popular baby names in Austin in 2009.

Top Girl Names (Austin, 2009)Top Boy Names (Austin, 2009)
1. Isabella
2. Mia
3. Sophia
4. Emily
5. Ava
6. Emma
7. Olivia
8. Elizabeth
9. Natalie
10. Ashley		1. William
2. Jose
3. Daniel
4. Alexander
5. Christopher
6. Andrew
7. Jacob
8. Angel
9. Michael
10. Joshua

2008

The most popular baby names in Austin in 2008.

Top Girl Names (Austin, 2008)Top Boy Names (Austin, 2008)
1. Isabella
2. Sophia
3. Emily
4. Abigail
5. Emma
6. Ava
7. Olivia
8. Ashley
9. Elizabeth
10. Madison & Natalie (tie)		1. Alexander
2. Daniel
3. David
4. Angel
5. Jacob
6. Michael
7. John
8. Joshua
9. William
10. Christopher & Noah (tie)

Did any of these names (or rankings) stand out to you?

Source: Most Popular Baby Names 2008-2017 City Of Austin | Open Data | City of Austin Texas

Image: Adapted from Flag of Texas (public domain)

Popular baby names in Austin (Texas), 2017

Flag of Texas
Flag of Texas

A few days ago, I stumbled upon a set of baby name data for Austin, Texas, for the year 2017. While it isn’t current, it does seem to be complete — so it includes hundreds of rare and single-use names (which are always fascinating!).

The data accounts for nearly 19,900 births (9,733 girls and 10,163 boys), and features nearly 6,100 names (3,431 given to girls, 2,656 given to boys).

According to this data, which comes from the City of Austin’s Open Data Portal, the top baby names in the capital of Texas five years ago were Emma and James.

Here are Austin’s top 50 girl names and top 50 boy names of 2017:

Girl Names

  1. Emma, 98 baby girls
  2. Isabella, 88
  3. Olivia, 84
  4. Mia, 81
  5. Evelyn, 77
  6. Sophia, 75
  7. Ava, 73
  8. Abigail, 59 (tie)
  9. Charlotte, 59 (tie)
  10. Emily, 58
  11. Camila, 56 (tie)
  12. Elizabeth, 56 (tie)
  13. Harper, 53
  14. Amelia, 52
  15. Penelope, 51 (tie)
  16. Sofia, 51 (tie)
  17. Scarlett, 46
  18. Ella, 45
  19. Avery, 43 (tie)
  20. Zoe, 43 (tie)
  21. Lillian, 41
  22. Layla, 40 (tie)
  23. Madison, 40 (tie)
  24. Eleanor, 39
  25. Victoria, 38
  26. Allison, 37
  27. Claire, 36 (3-way tie)
  28. Elena, 36 (3-way tie)
  29. Luna, 36 (3-way tie)
  30. Aria, 35 (tie)
  31. Chloe, 35 (tie)
  32. Ellie, 34 (tie)
  33. Katherine, 34 (tie)
  34. Samantha, 33
  35. Hannah, 30 (4-way tie)
  36. Hazel, 30 (4-way tie)
  37. Mila, 30 (4-way tie)
  38. Stella, 30 (4-way tie)
  39. Leah, 29
  40. Cora, 28 (5-way tie)
  41. Genesis, 28 (5-way tie)
  42. Grace, 28 (5-way tie)
  43. Natalie, 28 (5-way tie)
  44. Ximena, 28 (5-way tie)
  45. Clara, 27 (3-way tie)
  46. Eliana, 27 (3-way tie)
  47. Ruby, 27 (3-way tie)
  48. Audrey, 26 (tie)
  49. Sarah, 26 (tie)
  50. Alexa, 25 (3-way tie)
  51. Everly, 25 (3-way tie)
  52. Lily, 25 (3-way tie)

Boy Names

  1. James, 104 baby boys
  2. Noah, 85
  3. Daniel, 83
  4. Benjamin, 82
  5. William, 80
  6. Oliver, 75
  7. Liam, 74
  8. Alexander, 73
  9. Sebastian, 70
  10. Henry, 67
  11. Elijah, 66 (tie)
  12. Mateo, 66 (tie)
  13. Ethan, 65
  14. Jackson, 63
  15. Anthony, 61
  16. Jacob, 60
  17. Aiden, 59 (tie)
  18. Luke, 59 (tie)
  19. David, 58 (tie)
  20. Samuel, 58 (tie)
  21. John, 56
  22. Isaac, 55 (tie)
  23. Julian, 55 (tie)
  24. Michael, 54
  25. Charles, 53 (3-way tie)
  26. Jack, 53 (3-way tie)
  27. Matthew, 53 (3-way tie)
  28. Jose, 52 (tie)
  29. Joshua, 52 (tie)
  30. Wyatt, 50
  31. Aaron, 49 (4-way tie)
  32. Grayson, 49 (4-way tie)
  33. Joseph, 49 (4-way tie)
  34. Levi, 49 (4-way tie)
  35. Dylan, 48
  36. Hudson, 47
  37. Josiah, 46 (3-way tie)
  38. Logan, 46 (3-way tie)
  39. Santiago, 46 (3-way tie)
  40. Jayden, 45
  41. Nathan, 44
  42. Christopher, 43 (tie)
  43. Thomas, 43 (tie)
  44. Andrew, 42 (4-way tie)
  45. Gabriel, 42 (4-way tie)
  46. Luis, 42 (4-way tie)
  47. Owen, 42 (4-way tie)
  48. Lucas, 41
  49. Adrian, 40 (3-way tie)
  50. Axel, 40 (3-way tie)
  51. Christian, 40 (3-way tie)

On the girls’ list, Allison caught my eye. It ranked 26th in Austin in 2017, but 61st nationally the same year. Interesting.

Farther down on the boys’ list was Austin itself, in 95th place — vs. 75th nationally — with 21 baby boys. Much farther down was Texas, with 2 baby boys.

And now it’s time for the unique names!

One-of-a-kind names were given to 24% of the baby girls and 17% of the baby boys born in Austin in 2017. Here’s a sampling of the names that were bestowed just once:

Unique Girl NamesUnique Boy Names
Aubrion, Autry, Blue Jay, Cadeau, Ceiba, Dulceluna, Eeriemoon, Fiza, Gilana, Holleen, Itzigueri, Jill, Kasleen, Lillabee, L’Oreal, Mauzie, Millioni, Nincye, Nobelina, Orchid, Princess Plethora, Qiwei, Roshnee, Scepter, Shanze, Thais, Tsumugi, Umutoni, Vyga, Wengiel, Xyzla, Ynafets, ZieglindAshton Alchimist, Bruges, Cayenne, Dalbus, Eames, Fenghua, Ganesh, Getsai, Hackett, Itzae, Jizael, Kavelli Kaine, Linnaeus, Linux, Mazoree, Mistral, Naranna, Nimbus, Olince, Penn, Qhing, Rigveda, Shooter, Syphax, Tavoric, Templar, Urfan, Vetri, Wajahat, Xavi, Yoonbin, Zaxton

Some possible explanations/associations for a few of the above:

  • Cadeau is the French word for “present, gift.”
  • Ceiba is a type of tree.
  • Tsumugi Shirogane is a character from the 2017 video game Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony.
  • Ynafets is “Stefany” spelled backwards.
  • Bruges is the capital of West Flanders (a province of Belgium).
  • Mistral is a strong late-winter wind in southern France.
  • The Rigveda is a sacred Hindu text.

I’ve never posted rankings for Austin before, but I have posted rankings recently for two nearby Texas cities: Houston (which is more than twice the size of Austin, population-wise) and College Station (which is about an eighth of the size of Austin).

Sources: From Aadhav to Zyva: 6,087 Names of Babies Born in Austin in 2017 | Open Data | City of Austin Texas, Wiktionary

Image: Adapted from Flag of Texas (public domain)

Baby born to American activists, named “america”

Abbie Hoffman, Anita Kushner, and baby america Hoffman (early 1970s)
The Hoffman family

Media-savvy political activist Abbott “Abbie” Hoffman (1936-1989) and his second wife, Anita Kushner, welcomed a baby boy in mid-1971.

Abbie’s first two children (Andrew and Amy) didn’t have politicized names, but his third got the name america — deliberately spelled with a small a in order “to distinguish the child’s name from a jingoistic sentiment.”

[T]he birth of his and Anita’s son, “america,” was treated as a political statement, as an affirmation of their optimism about the future and their roots in American culture.

Anita added (years later) that they’d gone with a lower-case a “because [they] didn’t want to be pretentious.”

Another name they’d considered for their son? Tupac.

In the Hoffmans’ book To America with Love, one of the letters Anita wrote (in July of 1974) began:

I met Affeni [sic] Shakur today. What an up. She is vibrant, beautiful, wise with experience. We talked about our children a lot and the heavy history behind each. Did you know she named her son Tupac Amaru, after the last Inca prince who rebelled against the Spaniards? We had considered naming america that. Tupac’s the same age.

(Tupac’s mother’s name was actually spelled Afeni.)

Abbie Hoffman went underground in 1974 (in order to evade arrest). He remained in hiding, using the alias “Barry Freed,” for six years. During that period, Anita and america were under constant FBI surveillance. So Anita and Abbie began to call their son “Alan” as an added layer of protection.

Alan reverted back to his real name at the start of high school (in the mid-1980s), hoping that “america” would impress a “cute punk rock girl” in his class.

Sources:

Image: Adapted from Anita Hoffman with son by Leah Kushner under CC-BY-SA-4.0.

What made the name Napoleon popular in the Faroe Islands?

Nólsoyar Páll (1766-1808/9) on a Faroese 50 krónur banknote
Nólsoyar Páll (on a Faroese banknote)

Did you know that “Napoleon has been a common given name in the Faroe Islands since the 1800s”?

Neither did I, until I began researching Napoleon’s influence on names.

Apparently, it all has to do with Faroese national hero Nólsoyar Páll (“Paul from Nólsoy”).

Nólsoyar Páll — born as Poul Poulsen on the island of Nólsoy in 1766 — was a seaman/trader/farmer/poet who helped improve his country in various ways:

One of his most impressive achievements was his attempt to develop direct trade between the Faroe islands and the rest of Europe. To develop this trade, he bought and rebuilt a wrecked schooner. The ship was named Royndin Fríða (The Free Enterprise), and was the first seagoing ship built in the Faroe Islands and the first Faroese-owned vessel since the early Middle Ages.

Nólsoyar Páll had a strong admiration for Napoleon — who, at that time, was in the middle of trying to conquer Europe — and he wanted to name a son after the French leader.

His second child turned out to be a girl (his first child was also a girl), but that did not deter Nólsoyar Páll. He asked to name his daughter Napolonia, but the priest disapproved. Instead, she was named Apolonia after the Greek god Apollo.

Soon after, Nólsoyar Páll convinced his brother, Jákup Nolsøe, to name his son Napoleon. His brother agreed, calling him Napoleon Nolsøe. This is most probably the first Faroe Islander to be named Napoleon. Napoleon Nolsøe went on to become the first native certified doctor in the Faroe Islands.

Nólsoyar Páll’s nephew was born in 1809 — around the time Nólsoyar Páll himself was lost at sea.

I’m not sure how many Faroese Napoleons have been born since then, but my source noted that the Faroe Islands had 29 Napoleons and several Apolonias as of early 2018.

“Napoleon” didn’t pop up in the Faroe Islands baby name rankings for 2020, but if I comb through recent Faroese baby name data (2001-2020) for Napoleon and Apolonia specifically, I find…

  • Napoleon, b. 2002
  • Bárður Napoleon, b. 2004
  • Hanus Napoleon, b. 2006
  • William Napoleon, b. 2006
  • Sofus Napoleon, b. 2007
  • Ella Apollonia, b. 2008
  • Apolonia Ró, b. 2012
  • Napolion, b. 2013
  • Reimar Napoleon, b. 2019
  • Andrew Napoleon, b. 2020

It’s a short list, but the Faroe Islands only welcomes about 600-700 babies per year, so — proportionally speaking — these numbers are actually pretty impressive.

Sources: National hero inspired to name son after Napoleon Bonaparte, Nólsoyar Páll – Wikipedia, Statistics Faroe Islands, Births – Hagstove Foroya, FamilySearch.org