Which boy names increased and decreased the most in popularity from 2013 to 2014?
Below are two versions of each list. My version looks at raw number differences and takes all 13,977 boy names on the 2014 list into account. The SSA’s version looks at ranking differences and covers the top 1,000 boy names (roughly).
Biggest Increases
| Raw Numbers (Nancy’s list) | Rankings (SSA’s list) |
|---|---|
| 1. Oliver, +2,116 babies (7,249 to 9,365) 2. Sebastian, +1,707 (7,530 to 9,237) 3. Logan, +1,256 (12,323 to 13,579) 4. Carter, +1,044 (9,555 to 10,599) 5. Grayson, +996 (5,536 to 6,532) 6. Noah, +965 (18,179 to 19,144) 7. Karter, +929 (1,174 to 2,103) 8. Luke, +885 (9,546 to 10,431) 9. James, +799 (13,502 to 14,301) 10. Theodore, +778 (2,413 to 3,191) | 1. Bode, +645 spots (1,428th to 783rd) 2. Axl, +624 (1,474th to 850th) 3. Gannon, +426 (839th to 413th) 4. Bodie, +333 (1,314th to 981st) 5. Royal, +327 (900th to 573rd) 6. Coen, +290 (1,188th to 898th) 7. Anakin, +281 (1,238th to 957th) 8. Killian, +250 (766th to 516th) 9. Reyansh, +226 (1,221st to 995th) 10. Ronin, +219 (773rd to 554th) |
Here’s what the SSA says about the rise of Bode: “[It] might have had something to do with the Winter Olympics in early 2014, where Bode Miller continued his outstanding alpine skiing career by collecting his sixth Olympic medal.”
And on the rise of Axl: “[It’s] a nod to both rock legend Axl Rose of Guns N’ Roses and Axl Jack Duhamel, son of Stacy Ann “Fergie” Ferguson and Josh Duhamel.”
Biggest Decreases
| Raw Numbers (Nancy’s list) | Rankings (SSA’s list) |
|---|---|
| 1. Jayden, -1,834 babies (14,712 to 12,878) 2. Jacob, -1,360 (18,072 to 16,712) 3. Joshua, -997 (11,761 to 10,764) 4. Christian, -905 (9,293 to 8,388) 5. Brayden, -873 (7,412 to 6,539) 6. Justin, -858 (4,849 to 3,991) 7. Tyler, -833 (6,618 to 5,785) 8. Jase, -826 (4,545 to 3,719) 9. Ryan, -824 (9,850 to 9,026) 10. Gavin, -820 (7,402 to 6,582) | 1. Bently, -289 spots (902nd to 1,191st) 2. Damion, -262 (856th to 1,118th) 3. Amare, -239 (601st to 840th) 4. Isiah, -234 (824th to 1,058th) 5. Xavi, -198 (930th to 1,128th) 6. Sidney, -187 (958th to 1,145th) 7. Deegan, -180 (961st to 1,141st) 8. Jair, -174 (820th to 994th) 9. Juelz, -165 (908th to 1,073rd) 10. Corban, -156 (979th to 1,135th) |
Jase, last year’s biggest raw number increase, is now 8th on the list of decreases. Mason, which topped the list of raw number increases two years in a row (2010 and 2011), is now 18th on the list of decreases. (It was 3rd in 2013.) And Jayden, the trendy name that shot up the charts to become the 4th most popular baby name in the nation in 2010 and 2011, has since fallen to 15th.
Finally, here are the big winners and losers from the last few years:
- 2013: Jase/Jayceon (biggest increases) and Ethan/Austyn (biggest decreases)
- 2012: Liam/Major (biggest increases) and Jacob/Braeden (biggest decreases)
- 2011: Mason (biggest increase) and Jacob (biggest decrease)
- 2010: Mason (biggest increase) and Joshua (biggest decrease)
Sources: Change in Popularity from 2013 to 2014, Noah and Emma Top Social Security’s List of Most Popular Baby Names for 2014
U.S. Baby Names 2014: Most popular names, Top girl-name debuts, Top boy-name debuts, Biggest girl-name changes, Biggest boy-name changes, Top first letters, Top lengths
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