How popular is the baby name Evelyn 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 Evelyn.

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Popularity of the baby name Evelyn


Posts that mention the name Evelyn

Popular girl names in the United States, 2019

Flag of the United States
Flag of the United States

Name nerds rejoice! Finally, four months after Mother’s Day, the U.S. Social Security Administration has decided to release the latest batch (2019) of baby name data!

First off, here’s the link to the SSA’s popular names page and to the SSA’s downloadable data page.

I’m going to summarize the data in just two posts this year — one for girls, one for boys. Let’s start with the ladies…

Here are the most popular girl names overall:

  1. Olivia, 18,451 baby girls
  2. Emma, 17,102
  3. Ava, 14,440
  4. Sophia, 13,714
  5. Isabella, 13,306
  6. Charlotte, 13,138
  7. Amelia, 12,862
  8. Mia, 12,414
  9. Harper, 10,442
  10. Evelyn, 10,392

These same ten names were in the 2018 top ten as well.

The girl names that saw the largest increases in usage in terms of absolute numbers of babies were…

  1. Alaia, increased by 1,072 babies
  2. Everleigh, 1,054
  3. Luna, 838
  4. Emilia, 716
  5. Willow, 653
  6. Isla, 615
  7. Violet, 570
  8. Amelia, 508
  9. Hazel, 493
  10. Arya, 492

The girl names that saw the largest increases in usage in terms of relative numbers of babies were…

  1. Yalitza, increased by 1490%
  2. Alita, 554%
  3. Dayleen, 527%
  4. Jenaiah, 450%
  5. Amiri, 417%
  6. Theo, 343%
  7. Mazikeen, 319%
  8. Kamoura, 317%
  9. Seylah, 317%
  10. Kairo, 283%

Yalitza was influenced by Roma (2018) actress Yalitza Aparicio, and Mazikeen comes from the character Mazikeen Smith in the TV series Lucifer.

Here are the girl names that debuted most impressively in the 2019 data:

  1. Adeya, debuted with 22 baby girls
  2. Kayslin, 20
  3. Malaynah, 18
  4. Chevel, 17
  5. Kulture, 17
  6. Kaavia, 15
  7. Sakani, 15
  8. Ahveya, 14
  9. Akyli, 14
  10. Jhazelle, 14

Some explanations…

  • Adeya, Kulture and Kaavia are all celebrity babies: Adeya is the daughter of Kehlani, Kulture is the daughter of Cardi B and Offset, and Kaavia is the daughter of Gabrielle Union and Dwyane Wade.
  • Kayslin and Chevel come from two contestants (Kayslin Victoria and Chevel Shepherd) on The Voice.
  • Malaynah is a young female rapper (who earned a coveted IG repost from the aforementioned Cardi B in 2018).
  • Sakani was likely inspired by Sekani, the name of a character (a little boy) in the 2018 film The Hate U Give.
  • Akyli must come from Akyli Maze, one of the children of Joe Lee and Alena Maze — YouTube influencers who create content under the name MAZELEE. (The baby name Mazelee debuted last year as well — not surprising at all, given how close it is to the popular Paisley.)

The girl names that saw the largest decreases in usage in terms of absolute numbers of babies were…

  1. Emma, decreased by 1,655 babies
  2. Isabella, -1,211
  3. Alexa, -1,069
  4. Mila, -845
  5. Madison, -794
  6. Avery, -775
  7. Victoria, -767
  8. Addison, -743
  9. Abigail, -742
  10. Elizabeth, -716

The girl name that saw the largest decrease in usage in terms of relative numbers of babies was Anifer (-86%), and the girl name that saw the steepest drop off the list was Marionna (from 21 babies in 2018 to fewer than 5 in 2019).

If you can explain any of the rises (or drops), please leave a comment!

Update, 9/6/2020: Here are the boy names!

Source: SSA

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

What turned Taffy into a baby name in 1943?

The character Taffy Tucker from the comic strip "Terry and the Pirates" (1934-1973)
Taffy Tucker

Taffy isn’t just a type of candy — it’s also a name, and it debuted in the U.S. baby name data in 1943:

  • 1947: 12 baby girls named Taffy
  • 1946: 6 baby girls named Taffy
  • 1945: unlisted
  • 1944: 5 baby girls named Taffy
  • 1943: 6 baby girls named Taffy [debut]
  • 1942: unlisted
  • 1941: unlisted

Why?

Because of Taffy Tucker, a new character introduced in the Terry and the Pirates comic strip during 1942.

Titular character Terry Lee joined the military in 1942, and there he met new people, including Taffy Tucker, an Army nurse, and Flip Corkin, an Army flight instructor (who was also Taffy’s boyfriend).

Taffy Tucker was a “spunky, dedicated nurse, hardworking and tireless, cheerful and caring and always feminine.”

At one point in the storyline, Taffy was kidnapped by a Japanese agent. She was beaten and left for dead in the interior of China. Thankfully, she was eventually rescued by Terry and Flip.

It took cartoonist Milton Caniff about three months to create the character:

[He] spent several days just worrying about a name for Taffy. Since he visualized her as a pert, snub-nosed girl from Georgia, he wanted a name with a typically Old South sound. He finally settled on Guinevere Marianne Tucker, nicknamed Taffy because of her candy-colored hair. She had to be short, because she was scheduled to fall in love with Flip Corkin, who is short, and she had to be blond [sic] for contrast with Flip, who is dark.

Caniff had modeled Taffy after a photo of real-life WWII military nurse Bernice Taylor of Kansas.

What do you think of Taffy as a baby name?

P.S. The name Taffy got a slight boost around 1949 thanks to the film The Doctor and the Girl, in which the young Dr. Corday has a love interest named Evelyn “Taffy” Heldon who operates a taffy machine in a candy store.

P.P.S. Other Terry and the Pirates-inspired baby names include Normandie, Merrily, and Raven.

Sources:

Image: Adapted from the cover of Terry and the Pirates trade paperback #18 (published by Flying Buttress)

Popular baby names in NWT, 2019

According to Cabin Radio, the most popular* baby names in the Canadian territory of Northwest Territories in 2019 were Zoey and Elias/John/Joseph/Michael (4-way tie).

Here are Northwest Territories’ top girl names and top boy names of 2019:

Girl Names

  1. Zoey (4 girls)
  2. Emily, Hazel, Kinsley, Lily (3 girls each)
  3. Adeline, Alexandra, Amelia, Anastasia, Ashley, Aurora, Blair, Edie, Ella, Evelyn, Everly, Helena, Josie, Lexie, Lilah, Madeline, Madison, Miley, Myla, Nevaeh, Neve, Ruby, Ruth, Sadie, Serenity, Sofia, Sophie, Victoria, Willa (2 girls each)

Boy Names

  1. Elias, John, Joseph, Michael (3 boys each)
  2. Aiden, Benjamin, Bodhi, Carter, Charles, David, Dominic, Dylan, Edward, Elliott, Felix, Hudson, Iverson, Jack, Jeremiah, Jimmy, Jonah, Joshua, Lennox, Levi, Mackenzie, Maverick, Nate, Nathan, Nicholas, Noah, Riel, Theo, Timothy, Walker, Wesley (2 boys each)

In 2018, the top names in NWT were Carter, John, Olivia, and Peyton (with 4 babies each). In 2015, the top names were Abigail and Liam. And in 2020, the very first baby born in NWT was named Axel.

Sources: Zoey is the NWT’s most popular baby name of 2019, The NWT’s top baby names of 2018

*These rankings only cover NWT births through early December.

Popular and unique baby names in Idaho, 2018

Flag of Idaho
Flag of Idaho

According to Idaho Vital Statistics, the most popular baby names in the state in 2018 were Olivia and Liam.

Here are Idaho’s top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names of 2018:

Girl Names

  1. Olivia, 107 baby girls
  2. Emma, 92
  3. Harper, 88
  4. Charlotte, 83
  5. Evelyn, 82
  6. Amelia, 77
  7. Hazel, 62
  8. Ava, 60
  9. Abigail, 58
  10. Lily, 56 (tied with #11, Sophia)

Boy Names

  1. Liam, 127 baby boys
  2. Oliver, 114
  3. William, 93
  4. Hudson, 83 (tie)
  5. Henry, 83 (tie)
  6. James, 82
  7. Owen, 79
  8. Jackson, 78
  9. Wyatt, 77
  10. Lincoln, 75

In the girls’ top 10, Hazel and Lily replaced Elizabeth and (technically) Sophia.

In the boys’ top 10, Hudson, Owen, and Wyatt replaced Samuel, Mason, and Logan. Notably, Hudson didn’t even make Idaho’s top 25 in 2017.

Speaking of 2017…the top two names that year were Emma and Oliver.

Stormageddon meme

And now, some of Idaho’s unusual baby names:

Unique Girl NamesUnique Boy Names
Amerikis, Anomaly, Aquamarine, Atlyss, Azkadealliya, Buttercup, Cansas, Ellexy, Gift, Glacier-Dawn, Ingeborg, Jonnacie, Kc, Livingston, Naivee, Netanya, Neverr, Onnicka, Phynixx, Reminatrix, Silentbird, Stormageddon, Sufia, Violetjade, YggdrasilAnarchy, Banx, Bekan, Boss, Combat, Derexx, Geremi, Given, Gnash, Grizzly, Jj, Jrue, Krush, Lighten, Lukasza, Prentiss, Rhun, Skeigh, Thackery, Timber, Trynitee, Tytanium, Ugutz, Wisely

Possible explanations/associations for a couple of the above:

Source: Annual Reports – Idaho Vital Statistics

Image: Adapted from Flag of Idaho (public domain)