How popular is the baby name David 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 David.

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Popularity of the baby name David


Posts that mention the name David

Popular baby names in the United States, 2023

Flag of the United States
Flag of the United States

The new rankings have arrived!

Earlier today, the SSA released the 2023 U.S. baby name data. The top two names in the nation are again Olivia and Liam.

Here are the new top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names:

Girl names

  1. Olivia, 15,270 baby girls
  2. Emma, 13,527
  3. Charlotte, 12,596
  4. Amelia, 12,311
  5. Sophia, 11,944
  6. Mia, 11,359
  7. Isabella, 10,808
  8. Ava, 9,682
  9. Evelyn, 9,082
  10. Luna, 7,811

Boy names

  1. Liam, 20,802 baby boys
  2. Noah, 18,995
  3. Oliver, 14,741
  4. James, 11,670
  5. Elijah, 11,452
  6. Mateo, 11,229
  7. Theodore, 11,041
  8. Henry, 10,941
  9. Lucas, 10,842
  10. William, 10,598

The girls’ top 10 consists of the same ten names, nearly in the same order — only Mia, Isabella, and Ava have switched places.

In the boys’ top 10, Mateo (which jumped from 11th place in 2022 to 6th place last year!) replaced Benjamin.

Here are the rest of the names in the top 50 (for both genders):

RankGirl namesBoy names
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50		Harper
Sofia
Camila
Eleanor
Elizabeth
Violet
Scarlett
Emily
Hazel
Lily
Gianna
Aurora
Penelope
Aria
Nora
Chloe
Ellie
Mila
Avery
Layla
Abigail
Ella
Isla
Eliana
Nova
Madison
Zoe
Ivy
Grace
Lucy
Willow
Emilia
Riley
Naomi
Victoria
Stella
Elena
Hannah
Valentina
Maya		Benjamin
Levi
Sebastian
Jack
Ezra
Michael
Daniel
Leo
Owen
Samuel
Hudson
Alexander
Asher
Luca
Ethan
John
David
Jackson
Joseph
Mason
Luke
Matthew
Julian
Dylan
Elias
Jacob
Maverick
Gabriel
Logan
Aiden
Thomas
Isaac
Miles
Grayson
Santiago
Anthony
Wyatt
Carter
Jayden
Ezekiel

Here’s more from the SSA’s news release:

It’s clear that social media stars had a major influence on new parents in 2023. The fastest rising girl’s name, Kaeli, went viral in 2023, rising a whopping 1,692 spots. Parents must have really smashed the ‘like’ button for YouTube and TikTok star Kaeli McEwen (also known as Kaeli Mae), who routinely promotes a clean, tidy, and neutral-aesthetic lifestyle. On the boy’s side, trending in third place as the boy’s fastest riser, is Eiden – perhaps it was TikTok creator Wyatt Eiden’s 1.6 billion views and over 3 million followers that prompted this name’s meteoric rise.

Powerful names also proved very attractive to parents in 2023. Emryn made her debut in the Top 1000 baby names after moving up 1,287 spots – Ryn translates to “ruler,” so it is no shock to see Emryn becoming a leader amongst the girls. Meanwhile Chozen, the second fastest rising boy’s name, fought up to number 813 in 2023. The character Chozen becomes a hero in the latest season of the hit Netflix show, Cobra Kai – wax on, wax off!

More posts on the new names coming soon!

Sources: Popular Baby Names – SSA, Olivia and Liam Reign Supreme – SSA

Image: Adapted from Flag of the United States (public domain)

Popular and unique baby names in Sonoma County (California), 2023

Flag of California
Flag of California

Sonoma County is the northernmost county in the San Francisco Bay Area region.

Last year, Sonoma welcomed 4,463 babies. What were the most popular names among these babies? Olivia and Mateo.

Here are Sonoma’s top 50 girl names and top 50+ boy names of 2023:

Girl names

  1. Olivia, 20 baby girls
  2. Camila, 19 (tie)
  3. Mia, 19 (tie)
  4. Emily, 16 (3-way tie)
  5. Mila, 16 (3-way tie)
  6. Sophia, 16 (3-way tie)
  7. Aurora, 15 (4-way tie)
  8. Isabella, 15 (4-way tie)
  9. Sofia, 15 (4-way tie)
  10. Violet, 15 (4-way tie)
  11. Ava, 14 (3-way tie)
  12. Gianna, 14 (3-way tie)
  13. Isla, 14 (3-way tie)
  14. Charlotte, 13 (4-way tie)
  15. Emma, 13 (4-way tie)
  16. Lily, 13 (4-way tie)
  17. Luna, 13 (4-way tie)
  18. Avery, 12 (3-way tie)
  19. Harper, 12 (3-way tie)
  20. Maya, 12 (3-way tie)
  21. Leilani, 11 (tie)
  22. Scarlett, 11 (tie)
  23. Amelia, 10 (11-way tie)
  24. Daniela, 10 (11-way tie)
  25. Elena, 10 (11-way tie)
  26. Eliana, 10 (11-way tie)
  27. Josephine, 10 (11-way tie)
  28. Kennedy, 10 (11-way tie)
  29. Logan, 10 (11-way tie)
  30. Quinn, 10 (11-way tie)
  31. Ryan, 10 (11-way tie)
  32. Valentina, 10 (11-way tie)
  33. Victoria, 10 (11-way tie)
  34. Eleanor, 9 (6-way tie)
  35. Grace, 9 (6-way tie)
  36. Madison, 9 (6-way tie)
  37. Nora, 9 (6-way tie)
  38. Riley, 9 (6-way tie)
  39. Stella, 9 (6-way tie)
  40. Charlie, 8 (11-way tie)
  41. Emilia, 8 (11-way tie)
  42. Evelyn, 8 (11-way tie)
  43. Jade, 8 (11-way tie)
  44. Lainey, 8 (11-way tie)
  45. Natalie, 8 (11-way tie)
  46. Penelope, 8 (11-way tie)
  47. Poppy, 8 (11-way tie)
  48. Samantha, 8 (11-way tie)
  49. Sawyer, 8 (11-way tie)
  50. Valeria, 8 (11-way tie)

Boy names

  1. Mateo, 29 baby boys
  2. Noah, 27
  3. Liam, 22 (tie)
  4. Luca, 22 (tie)
  5. Oliver, 21 (tie)
  6. Sebastian, 21 (tie)
  7. Dylan, 20
  8. Leonardo, 19 (tie)
  9. Levi, 19 (tie)
  10. Anthony, 17 (3-way tie)
  11. Henry, 17 (3-way tie)
  12. Lucas, 17 (3-way tie)
  13. Benjamin, 16 (tie)
  14. Julian, 16 (tie)
  15. Emiliano, 15
  16. Ethan, 14
  17. Santiago, 13 (tie)
  18. Wyatt, 13 (tie)
  19. Angel, 12 (5-way tie)
  20. Cooper, 12 (5-way tie)
  21. Daniel, 12 (5-way tie)
  22. Matteo, 12 (5-way tie)
  23. Miles, 12 (5-way tie)
  24. Alexander, 11 (8-way tie)
  25. Christopher, 11 (8-way tie)
  26. Elias, 11 (8-way tie)
  27. Hudson, 11 (8-way tie)
  28. Jack, 11 (8-way tie)
  29. Leo, 11 (8-way tie)
  30. Matias, 11 (8-way tie)
  31. Thomas, 11 (8-way tie)
  32. Bennett, 10 (9-way tie)
  33. Damian, 10 (9-way tie)
  34. Elijah, 10 (9-way tie)
  35. Emilio, 10 (9-way tie)
  36. Ezra, 10 (9-way tie)
  37. Ian, 10 (9-way tie)
  38. Luka, 10 (9-way tie)
  39. Luke, 10 (9-way tie)
  40. William, 10 (9-way tie)
  41. Caleb, 9 (5-way tie)
  42. James, 9 (5-way tie)
  43. Jose, 9 (5-way tie)
  44. Luis, 9 (5-way tie)
  45. Parker, 9 (5-way tie)
  46. Adriel, 8 (16-way tie)
  47. Cameron, 8 (16-way tie)
  48. Colton, 8 (16-way tie)
  49. Connor, 8 (16-way tie)
  50. David, 8 (16-way tie)
  51. Dean, 8 (16-way tie)
  52. Diego, 8 (16-way tie)
  53. Gabriel, 8 (16-way tie)
  54. Isaac, 8 (16-way tie)
  55. Jesus, 8 (16-way tie)
  56. Lorenzo, 8 (16-way tie)
  57. Milo, 8 (16-way tie)
  58. River, 8 (16-way tie)
  59. Samuel, 8 (16-way tie)
  60. Theo, 8 (16-way tie)
  61. Thiago, 8 (16-way tie)

And here’s a sampling of the many names that were bestowed just once in Sonoma last year:

Unique girl namesUnique boy names
Ameyalli, Beliana, Colette, Delphie, Ellora, Fiadh, Gwendolyn, Honorae, Ilisapeci, Jessune, Khilana, Lucibell, Merari, Norma, Oriah, Pixel, Riyana, Soluna, Teteoinnan, Ume, Velexia, Wrenlee, Xochitl, Yetzi, ZantedechiaAriodante, Bruce, Canaan, Dovydas, Endrick, Favian, Gedaliah, Hewitt, Itztli, Jessiah, Kidder, Ledson, Miro, Nash, Orbelin, Paz, Rapha, Sigaserau, Tovius, Uniquo, Ventura, Wicahpi, Xolotl, Yoali, Zianni

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

  • Ameyalli means “spring, fountain” in Nahuatl.
  • Ariodante is the name of an opera (first performed in 1735) by George Frideric Handel.
  • Itztli refers to an “obsidian blade” in Nahuatl.
  • Teteoinnan is the name of a Nahua deity. (The name means “mother of the gods” in Nahuatl.)
  • Wicahpi means “star” in Lakota.
  • Xolotl refers to the “divine force of lightning and death” (among other things) in Nahuatl.
  • Zantedechia is one letter away from Zantedeschia, the name of a genus of flowering plants. (The calla lily is a member of this genus.) The genus was named after Italian physician/botanist Giovanni Zantedeschi (1773-1846).

Finally, here are Sonoma’s 2022 rankings, if you’d like to compare last year to the year before.

Sources: Sonoma County Baby Names – Open Data, Sonoma County, Sonoma County Births by Year – Open Data, Sonoma County, Online Nahuatl Dictionary, Zantedeschia – Wikipedia

Image: Adapted from Flag of California (public domain)

Babies named for the concept of states’ rights

American general States Rights Gist (1831-1864)
States Rights Gist

In U.S. politics, the idea of states’ rights emerged soon after the creation of the federal government in the 1780s. The first two political parties, in fact, were the Federalists, who advocated for a strong central government, and the Anti-Federalists, who advocated for states’ rights.

The first person to be named after the concept was States Rights Gist, who was born in South Carolina in September of 1831.

His name was no doubt inspired by the Nullification Crisis (1832-33), which ensued “when South Carolina nullified a federal tariff that favored Northern manufacturing over Southern agriculture.” (Note that many babies born during this time period were not named immediately after birth.)

Map of the United States in 1861
The United States in 1861

Several dozen other babies have been named “States Rights” (or something very similar) since then. Most of these babies were born in the southern U.S. during the mid-to-late 19th century. Some examples…

The baptism of States Rights Gist Finley — whose grandfather’s brother was the original States Rights Gist, and whose father was South Carolina politician David E. Finley — was mentioned in a local newspaper:

States Rights Gist Finley (baptism)

So…what became of the original States Rights Gist?

He served as a brigadier general in the Confederate Army during the Civil War, and was killed at the Battle of Franklin in late 1864.

Intriguingly, one of his distant relatives (his father’s second cousin) happened to be named States Gist (b. 1787) — no middle name. Was he named for states’ rights? Was he named for the young United States? We’ll never know. But we do know that he had a half-brother named Independent (b. 1779) and a cousin named Federal Ann Bonaparte (b. 1797).

Sources:

Images: Adapted from States Rights Gist; clipping from the Yorkville Enquirer (1 Apr. 1899)
Map: Adapted from The United States in 1861 (LOC)

The baby name Laniakea

Laniakea Supercluster

The Laniakea Supercluster — the galaxy supercluster that contains the Milky Way — was first described in the science journal Nature in September of 2014.

A couple of weeks ago, one of the co-discoverers of the Laniakea Supercluster, cosmographer Daniel Pomarède, sent out the following tweet:

It’s true — at least 35 U.S. baby girls have been named Laniakea (pronounced lah-nee-uh-KAY-uh) since 2014.

The name didn’t emerge in the U.S. baby name data right away (so I probably won’t add it to the baby name timeline), but I don’t think there’s any doubt that it was influenced by the discovery of the Laniakea Supercluster.

  • 2018: 12 baby girls named Laniakea
  • 2017: unlisted
  • 2016: 6 baby girls named Laniakea [debut]
  • 2015: unlisted
  • 2014: unlisted

The Hawaiian word laniakea comprises two shorter Hawaiian words: lani, meaning “heaven” or “sky,” and akea, meaning “spacious” or “wide.” Definitions of laniakea include “wide heavens,” “open skies,” “broad horizons,” and — the one preferred by the astronomers — “immeasurable heaven.”

The supercluster’s name was chosen by Hawaiian language professor Nawa’a Napoleon (whose full name, incidentally, is David John Nawa’akauluaokamehameha Napoleon).

What are your thoughts on Laniakea as a baby name?

Sources:

Image: Adapted from 07-Laniakea (LofE07240) by Andrew Z. Colvin under CC BY-SA 4.0.