How popular is the baby name Gavin 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 Gavin.

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Popularity of the baby name Gavin


Posts that mention the name Gavin

Biggest changes in boy name popularity, 2012

Which boy names rose the most from 2011 to 2012?

And which ones fell?

We just looked at the girl names, so now let’s check out the boy names.

Here are the differences between the two “increases” and “decreases” lists–

My list, on the left, looks at the raw number differences between the 2011 names and the 2012 names. My analysis covers all 14,162 boy names on the 2012 list.

The SSA’s list, on the right, looks at the ranking differences between the 2011 names and the 2012 names. Their analysis covers approximately the top 500 boy names on the 2012 list.

Biggest Increases

The baby boy names that saw the biggest popularity increases from 2011 to 2012 were…

Nancy’s list (raw numbers)SSA’s list (rankings)
  1. Liam, +3,286 babies [rank: 15th to 6th]
  2. Gael, +2,044 babies [rank: 408th to 146th]
  3. Brantley, +1,583 babies [rank: 321st to 158th]
  4. Jaxon, +1,539 babies [rank: 86th to 66th]
  5. Jace, +962 babies [rank: 106th to 86th]
  6. Ethan, +911 babies [rank: 7th to 3rd]
  7. Damian, +844 babies [rank: 138th to 97th]
  8. Eli, +814 babies [rank: 58th to 44th]
  9. Henry, +795 babies [rank: 57th to 43rd]
  10. Iker, +763 babies [rank: 379th to 230th]
  11. Hudson, +761 babies [rank: 112th to 93rd]
  12. Grayson, +744 babies [rank: 97th to 85th]
  13. Colton, +739 babies [rank: 74th to 65th]
  14. Lincoln, +726 babies [rank: 178th to 132nd]
  15. Dominic, +725 babies [rank: 76th to 70th]
  16. King, +699 babies [rank: 389th to 256th]
  17. Jaxson, +684 babies [rank: 140th to 106th]
  18. Jase, +667 babies [rank: 562nd to 304th]
  19. Hunter, +633 babies [rank: 55th to 45th]
  20. Mateo, +626 babies [rank: 171st to 138th]
  1. Major, +505 (988th to 483rd)
  2. Gael, +262 (408th to 146th)
  3. Jase, +258 (562nd to 304th)
  4. Messiah, +246 (633rd to 387th)
  5. Brantley, +163 (321st to 158th)
  6. Iker, +149 (379th to 230th)
  7. King, +133 (389th to 256th)
  8. Rory, +118 (599th to 481st)
  9. Ari, +73 (508th to 435th)
  10. Maverick, +72 (428th to 356th)
  11. Armani, +70 (502nd to 432nd)
  12. Knox, +66 (434th to 368th)
  13. Gianni, +66 (515th to 449th)
  14. Zayden, +63 (292nd to 229th)
  15. August, +62 (395th to 333rd)
  16. Barrett, +61 (436th to 375th)
  17. Remington, +58 (479th to 421st)
  18. Kasen, +58 (526th to 468th)
  19. Zaiden, +56 (489th to 433rd)
  20. Orion, +52 (471st to 419th)

Looks like the movie Lincoln influenced a lot of parents last year.

Here are last year’s raw number jumps and last year’s ranking jumps.

Biggest Decreases

The baby boy names that saw the biggest popularity decreases from 2011 to 2012 were…

Nancy’s list (raw numbers)SSA’s list (rankings)
  1. Jacob, -1,370 babies [rank: 1st to 1st]
  2. Justin, -1,238 babies [rank: 59th to 74th]
  3. Tyler, -1,178 babies [rank: 38th to 50th]
  4. Christopher, -1,168 babies [rank: 21st to 23rd]
  5. Joshua, -1,162 babies [rank: 14th to 17th]
  6. Anthony, -1,117 babies [rank: 11th to 15th]
  7. Hayden, -1,068 babies [rank: 90th to 109th]
  8. Daniel, -1,063 babies [rank: 10th to 11th]
  9. Jaden, -994 babies [rank: 100th to 140th]
  10. Jonathan, -925 babies [rank: 31st to 35th]
  11. Jayden, -913 babies [rank: 4th to 7th]
  12. Nicholas, -908 babies [rank: 42nd to 49th]
  13. Gabriel, -850 babies [rank: 24th to 24th]
  14. Brandon, -795 babies [rank: 47th to 56th]
  15. Gavin, -789 babies [rank: 36th to 40th]
  16. Evan, -776 babies [rank: 40th to 47th]
  17. Jose, -762 babies [rank: 65th to 72nd]
  18. Christian, -747 babies [rank: 30th to 33rd]
  19. David, -743 babies [rank: 18th to 19th]
  20. Ashton, -735 babies [rank: 109th to 141st]
  1. Braeden, -105 (476th to 581st)
  2. Yahir, -85 (429th to 514th)
  3. Kieran, -82 (474th to 556th)
  4. Cullen, -79 (472nd to 551st)
  5. Brayan, -73 (426th to 499th)
  6. Jalen, -70 (400th to 470th)
  7. Amare, -70 (425th to 495th)
  8. Trey, -69 (324th to 393rd)
  9. Casey, -62 (424th to 486th)
  10. Payton, -60 (398th to 458th)
  11. Jakob, -60 (335th to 395th)
  12. Randy, -57 (356th to 413th)
  13. Zackary, -56 (451st to 507th)
  14. Eddie, -56 (488th to 544th)
  15. Jerry, -53 (394th to 447th)
  16. Jaylen, -51 (206th to 257th)
  17. Ernesto, -50 (491st to 541st)
  18. Devon, -46 (351st to 397th)
  19. Braylon, -46 (233rd to 279th)
  20. Braden, -45 (258th to 303rd)

Here are last year’s raw number drops and last year’s ranking drops.

Source: SSA’s Change In Popularity From 2011 To 2012

Popular baby names in the United States, 2012

Flag of the United States
Flag of the United States

The #1 names in the nation are still Jacob and Sophia!

Here are the full top 50 lists:

Boy NamesGirl Names
1. Jacob, 18899
2. Mason, 18856
3. Ethan, 17547
4. Noah, 17201
5. William, 16726
6. Liam, 16687
7. Jayden, 16013
8. Michael, 15996
9. Alexander, 15105
10. Aiden, 14779
11. Daniel, 14143
12. Matthew, 13834
13. Elijah, 13719
14. James, 13271
15. Anthony, 13105
16. Benjamin, 12695
17. Joshua, 12522
18. Andrew, 12501
19. David, 12422
20. Joseph, 12404
21. Logan, 12390
22. Jackson, 12388
23. Christopher, 11777
24. Gabriel, 11442
25. Samuel, 11290
26. Ryan, 10863
27. Lucas, 10616
28. John, 10505
29. Nathan, 10357
30. Isaac, 9928
31. Dylan, 9920
32. Caleb, 9867
33. Christian, 9530
34. Landon, 9296
35. Jonathan, 9253
36. Carter, 9202
37. Luke, 8922
38. Owen, 8630
39. Brayden, 8451
40. Gavin, 8203
41. Wyatt, 8159
42. Isaiah, 8044
43. Henry, 8006
44. Eli, 7998
45. Hunter, 7967
46. Jack, 7877
47. Evan, 7851
48. Jordan, 7734
49. Nicholas, 7653
50. Tyler, 7628
1. Sophia, 22158
2. Emma, 20791
3. Isabella, 18931
4. Olivia, 17147
5. Ava, 15418
6. Emily, 13550
7. Abigail, 12583
8. Mia, 11940
9. Madison, 11319
10. Elizabeth, 9596
11. Chloe, 9595
12. Ella, 9115
13. Avery, 8272
14. Addison, 8122
15. Aubrey, 8006
16. Lily, 7889
17. Natalie, 7852
18. Sofia, 7767
19. Charlotte, 7418
20. Zoey, 7411
21. Grace, 7304
22. Hannah, 7202
23. Amelia, 7191
24. Harper, 7154
25. Lillian, 7100
26. Samantha, 6874
27. Evelyn, 6837
28. Victoria, 6814
29. Brooklyn, 6728
30. Zoe, 6383
31. Layla, 6227
32. Hailey, 5878
33. Leah, 5724
34. Kaylee, 5571
35. Anna, 5552
36. Aaliyah, 5471
37. Gabriella, 5461
38. Allison, 5387
39. Nevaeh, 5317
40. Alexis, 5306
41. Audrey, 5266
42. Savannah, 5143
43. Sarah, 5107
44. Alyssa, 5054
45. Claire, 4915
46. Taylor, 4825
47. Riley, 4786
48. Camila, 4776
49. Arianna, 4685
50. Ashley, 4678

Liam enters the top 10! 15th last year, 6th this year.

Michael just keeps getting lower and lower.

Avery, on the other hand, keeps rising on the girls’ side — 18th last year, 13th this year.

See any other interesting rises/drops so far?

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

Many pop-culture naming trends appear in a popular feature of Social Security’s baby names website–the “change in popularity” page. This year’s winners for biggest jump in popularity in the Top 500 are Major and Arya.

The fastest riser on the girls’ list may have been influenced by the popular cable TV series “Game of Thrones.” Arya is the daughter of a leader of one of the Seven Kingdoms. She also is an expert sword fighter, so doubt her influence on the popular names list at your own risk.

For the boys, parents may associate Major with the military title. Acting Commissioner Colvin added “I have no doubt Major’s rising popularity as a boy’s name is in tribute to the brave members of the U.S. military, and maybe we’ll see more boys named General in the future.” You also might trace Major’s increase in popularity to a cable TV show. “Home by Novogratz” is a popular home design show featuring Major Novogratz, the youngest son of designers Robert and Cortney.

The second fastest riser for boys was Gael, and for girls, Perla. Both names most likely are on the rise due to the increase in the Spanish-speaking population in the United States. Perla is the Latinized version of Pearl and is popular among Hispanic-Americans. Gael’s popularity could be tied to Mexican actor Gael Garcia Bernal.

Here is last year’s list.

Sources: SSA, Jacob and Sophia Repeat atop Social Security’s Most Popular Baby Names List – SSA

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

Baby born outside of pub, named after pub

English pub
English pub

Two months ago, Lisa Barnaby of Hertfordshire, England, gave birth to a baby girl outside of a pub.

She and her husband Gavin had been trying to reach to the hospital, but got stuck in traffic. So they pulled off the road, parked at a pub called The Bell, and called an ambulance instead.

The baby didn’t want to wait for a ride to the hospital, though — she ended up being delivered by paramedics in the back seat of Lisa and Gavin’s Vauxhall Zafira, still parked outside the pub.

What did the couple name their new baby girl? Bella, after The Bell.

Mr Barnaby said naming their new baby after the pub was a good way of capturing Bella’s birth.

He said: “It will always be a reminder of that magical night.”

I wonder if the name Zafira was ever a contender…

Source: “Parents name baby girl after The Bell pub in Benington.” BBC News 30 Nov. 2012

Image: Adapted from The Old Nags Head, Grindsbrook Booth, Edale by Barrie Price under CC BY-SA 4.0.

[Latest update: Apr. 2025]

Popular baby names in Northern Ireland (UK), 2012

Flag of the United Kingdom
Flag of the United Kingdom

The most popular baby names in Northern Ireland were announced a little while ago.

According to the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency, the #1 names were Jack for boys and Sophie for girls.

Here are Northern Ireland’s provisional top 20 girl names and top 20 boy names of 2012:

Baby Girl NamesBaby Boy Names
1. Sophie
2. Emily
3. Grace
4. Amelia
5. Jessica
6. Lucy
7. Sophia
8. Katie
9. Eva
10. Aoife
11. Chloe
12. Lily
13. Ella
14. Mia
15. Ellie
16. Anna [tie]
16. Emma [tie]
16. Olivia [tie]
19. Erin
20. Sarah
1. Jack
2. James
3. Daniel
4. Harry
5. Charlie
6. Ethan
7. Matthew
8. Ryan
9. Riley
10. Noah
11. Adam
12. Joshua
13. Jacob
14. Thomas
15. Conor
16. Jake [tie]
16. Oliver [tie]
18. Dylan
19. Alfie
20. Mason

The highest climbers within the top 20 lists were Aoife (15th to 10th) and Riley (18th to 9th).

Other high climbers were Bobby (124th to 59th), Blake (111th to 71st) and Olly (131st to 93rd) for boy names, and Miley (135th to 79th) and Layla (135th to 83rd) for girl names.

[Very curious about Bobby! Can anybody explain that one?]

Names that decreased in popularity include Calum (down 93 spots), Padraig (-49) and Conan (-28) on the boys’ list, and Ciara (-53), Victoria (-49) and Julia (-48) on the girls’ list.

Finally, here are some of the more unusual names registered in 2012:

Girl NamesBoy Names
Aibhailia, Anna-bell, Blathnait, Cait-erin, Caollaidhe, Clodagh-rose, Clover-leoni, Connemara, Haianabragadiska, Iretenevesho, Napsugar, Poppyanna, Scarlett-imogen, Shammahwisdom, TuleighzaBoen-rua, Caelum, Conghaile, Connlaodh, Everley-eric, Gavin-og, Iarfhlaith, Iggi, Kekeli, Kyzler, McCoist, Naoise, Rolex, Sean-og, Setanta, Shea-pearse, Somhairle, Steven-og, Uate, Ugnius

Those “og” endings on some of the boy names are the Irish word Óg, which means “young” or “junior.” It can be used after girl names, too.

Here are Northern Ireland’s top baby names of 2007, if you’d like to compare.

Source: NISRA

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