How popular is the baby name Jack 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 Jack.

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Popularity of the baby name Jack


Posts that mention the name Jack

Popular baby names in the Channel Islands, 2023

Flag of Jersey
Flag of Jersey

The Channel Islands, located in the English Channel, are divided into two territories: Jersey and Guernsey (both of which are British Crown Dependencies).

The territory of Jersey consists of the archipelago’s largest and most populous island, Jersey. The territory of Guernsey consists of the next-largest and next-most-populous island, Guernsey, along with several smaller islands.

Jersey

Last year, Jersey welcomed a total of 795 babies — 370 girls and 425 boys. Here are Jersey’s top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names of 2023:

Girl names

  1. Olivia
  2. Isla
  3. Mia
  4. Emilia
  5. Emily
  6. Isabella
  7. Luna
  8. Florence
  9. Phoebe
  10. Amelia

Boy names

  1. Oliver
  2. Oscar
  3. Jack
  4. Leo
  5. Alfie
  6. Archie
  7. George
  8. Gabriel
  9. Lucas
  10. Luca

A year earlier, the top names in Jersey were Willow and Arthur.

Guernsey

Last year, Guernsey welcomed a total of 456 babies — 218 girls and 238 boys. Here are Guernsey’s top girl names and top boy names of 2023:

Girl names

  1. Mia, 5 baby girls
  2. Millie, 4
  3. Ada, 3 (6-way tie)
  4. Charlotte, 3 (6-way tie)
  5. Florence, 3 (6-way tie)
  6. Isla, 3 (6-way tie)
  7. Sophia, 3 (6-way tie)
  8. Willow, 3 (6-way tie)

Boy names

  1. Harry, 7 baby boys
  2. Oliver, 6
  3. Finley, 5 (tie)
  4. Jack, 5 (tie)
  5. Hugo, 4 (5-way tie)
  6. Lando, 4 (5-way tie)
  7. Leo, 4 (5-way tie)
  8. Luca, 4 (5-way tie)
  9. Rupert, 4 (5-way tie)

Given the number of articles I see about British race-car driver Lando Norris on the Guernsey Press website, I have to assume that the usage of Lando was influenced by Norris. (Interestingly, Norris’ first name wasn’t inspired by the Star Wars character — it was simply a name that his mother, who comes from Belgium, happened to like.)

My source also noted that traditional names like James, George, Thomas, and David are commonly used as middle names (but rarely as first names) in Guernsey these days.

A year earlier, the top names in Guernsey were Ava and Freddie/Jack.

Finally, here’s a link to the Channel Islands’ 2022 rankings, if you’d like to compare.

Sources:

Image: Adapted from Flag of Jersey (public domain)

What gave the baby name Jodell a boost in 1952?

Jodell Stirmlinger (1931-2018), top 10 at Miss USA 1952
Jodell Stirmlinger

According to the U.S. baby name data, the uncommon name Jodell more than doubled in usage in 1952:

  • 1954: 31 baby girls named Jodell (8 born in Minnesota)
  • 1953: 24 baby girls named Jodell (7 born in Minnesota)
  • 1952: 37 baby girls named Jodell (16 born in Minnesota)
  • 1951: 16 baby girls named Jodell (5 born in Minnesota)
  • 1950: 19 baby girls named Jodell

Over half of the usage that year was in Minnesota. (The name seems to have been relatively popular in Minnesota to begin with, though.)

What caused the spike?

Beauty queen Jodell Stirmlinger, who represented Minnesota at the very first Miss USA pageant, held in June of 1952.

She wasn’t crowned Miss USA 1952, but she did place inside the top 10.

Interestingly, the Miss USA pageant — which does not require delegates to demonstrate a talent (e.g., singing, dancing, performing a monologue) — was founded by the Catalina swimsuit company, a former sponsor of the Miss America pageant. When Miss America 1951, Yolande Fox, refused to pose in Catalina swimsuits during the year of her reign, the company pulled its funding and launched a rival pageant.

What are your thoughts on the baby name Jodell?

P.S. The winner of Miss USA 1952, Jackie Loughery of New York, was married for several years to Jack Webb, the creator of shows like Dragnet, Adam-12, and Emergency! (which drew attention to the baby name Gage in the 1970s).

Sources:

Image: Clipping from the Jackson Sun (25 Jun. 1952)

What popularized the baby name Vonda in the mid-1960s?

Vonda Kay Van Dyke, Miss America 1965
Vonda Kay Van Dyke

According to the U.S. baby name data, Vonda saw a big spike in usage in mid-1960s:

  • 1967: 321 baby girls named Vonda [rank: 529th]
  • 1966: 664 baby girls named Vonda [rank: 349th]
  • 1965: 1,093 baby girls named Vonda [rank: 261st]
  • 1964: 602 baby girls named Vonda [rank: 399th]
  • 1963: 180 baby girls named Vonda [rank: 772nd]

Why?

Because of Vonda Kay Van Dyke, who was crowned Miss America 1965 at the conclusion of the televised pageant held in Atlantic City in September of 1964.

Van Dyke — who represented the state of Arizona — was the very first Miss America contestant to perform ventriloquism during the talent portion of the competition.

Van Dyke taught herself ventriloquism as a child and soon after found herself sharing billing with Wayne Newton. “Wayne and I did quite a few shows before he hit it big and moved on to Vegas,” she recalls.

Notably, Vonda Van Dyke is also the only Miss America to have been voted Miss Congeniality by the other delegates.

After her reign ended, Vonda enjoyed “an 18-year showbiz career, appearing with Jack Benny and Victor Borge.” She also married and had one child, a girl named Vandy.

Over the years, Vonda has met a several of her namesakes:

I ask them, “Where did you get your name?” One said, “Oh, it’s so embarrassing. I got it from a Miss America.” I stuck out my hand and said, “How do you do?”

What are your thoughts on the name Vonda?

Sources:

Image: Adapted from Miss America of 1965 Vonda Kay Van Dyke at a fabric store in Los Angeles, Calif. by Los Angeles Times under CC BY 4.0.

Popular baby names in England and Wales (UK), 2022

Flag of the United Kingdom
Flag of the United Kingdom

The 2022 rankings for England and Wales are finally here!

Two years ago, England and Wales welcomed over 605,000 babies.

What were the most popular names among these babies? Olivia and Noah.

Here are England and Wales’ top 50 girl names and top 50 boy names of 2022:

Girl names

  1. Olivia, 3,289 baby girls
  2. Amelia, 2,884
  3. Isla, 2,613
  4. Ava, 2,293
  5. Lily, 2,281
  6. Ivy, 2,195
  7. Freya, 2,162
  8. Florence, 1,971
  9. Isabella, 1,927
  10. Mia, 1,868
  11. Willow, 1,867
  12. Sienna, 1,859
  13. Poppy, 1,848
  14. Sophia, 1,813
  15. Elsie, 1,763
  16. Rosie, 1,686
  17. Grace, 1,675
  18. Millie, 1,670
  19. Emily, 1,609
  20. Sofia, 1,576
  21. Daisy, 1,563
  22. Evelyn, 1,560
  23. Evie, 1,534
  24. Phoebe, 1,531
  25. Ella, 1,522
  26. Charlotte, 1,496
  27. Harper, 1,449
  28. Maya, 1,406
  29. Matilda, 1,363
  30. Ruby, 1,271
  31. Aria, 1,229
  32. Penelope, 1,206
  33. Hallie, 1,202
  34. Luna, 1,174
  35. Bonnie, 1,148
  36. Ada, 1,138
  37. Emilia, 1,128
  38. Alice, 1,119
  39. Sophie, 1,115
  40. Esme, 1,101
  41. Isabelle, 1,089
  42. Maisie, 1,072
  43. Violet, 1,057
  44. Delilah, 1,054
  45. Mila, 1,042
  46. Eva, 1,029
  47. Arabella, 1,019
  48. Maeve, 990
  49. Aurora, 972
  50. Mabel, 964

Boy names

  1. Noah, 4,586 baby boys
  2. Muhammad, 4,177
  3. George, 3,699
  4. Oliver, 3,691
  5. Leo, 3,610
  6. Arthur, 3,603
  7. Oscar, 2,883
  8. Theodore, 2,835
  9. Theo, 2,808
  10. Freddie, 2,760
  11. Archie, 2,684
  12. Luca, 2,625
  13. Henry, 2,624
  14. Jack, 2,431
  15. Harry, 2,403
  16. Charlie, 2,391
  17. Alfie, 2,304
  18. Arlo, 2,176
  19. Thomas, 2,101
  20. Teddy, 2,030
  21. Finley, 2,025
  22. Jacob, 1,892
  23. Tommy, 1,824
  24. William, 1,806
  25. Lucas, 1,771
  26. Isaac, 1,733
  27. Mohammed, 1,694
  28. Alexander, 1,651
  29. Albie, 1,641
  30. Roman, 1,640
  31. Edward, 1,612
  32. Jude, 1,601
  33. Elijah, 1,549
  34. James, 1,534
  35. Joshua, 1,478
  36. Reuben, 1,475
  37. Max, 1,459
  38. Rory, 1,435
  39. Sebastian, 1,409
  40. Louie, 1,396
  41. Adam, 1,374
  42. Mason, 1,369
  43. Ethan, 1,268 (tie)
  44. Hudson, 1,268 (tie)
  45. Harrison, 1,236
  46. Ezra, 1,217
  47. Hugo, 1,193
  48. Louis, 1,184
  49. Reggie, 1,159
  50. Joseph, 1,158

According to the news release from the Office of National Statistics…

  • In the girls’ top 10, Isabella replaced Willow.
  • In the boys’ top 10, Theodore, Theo, and Freddie replaced Harry, Henry, and Archie.
  • In the girls’ top 100, Ophelia, Ottilie, Eloise, Nova, and Fatima replaced Holly, Heidi, Anna, Amber, and Beatrice.
  • In the boys’ top 100, Leon, Elias, Musa, Axel, and Ibrahim replaced Charles, Harvey, Ollie, and Nathan.

England and Wales are two separate countries within the United Kingdom. (The rest of the UK is made up of Scotland and Northern Ireland.) In terms of population, England has about 56.5 million residents, whereas Wales has around 3.1 million.

Here are the top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names in each of the two countries individually:

EnglandWales
Top girl names1. Olivia, 3,144 baby girls
2. Amelia, 2,755
3. Isla, 2,476
4. Ava, 2,179
5. Lily, 2,158
6. Ivy, 2,081
7. Freya, 2,051
8. Florence, 1,878
9. Isabella, 1,847
10. Sienna, 1,788		1. Olivia, 145 baby girls
2. Isla, 137
3. Amelia 129
4. Lily, 122
5. Elsie, 120
6. Ava, 114 (tie)
7. Ivy, 114 (tie)
8. Millie, 111
9. Freya, 110
10. Ella, 104
Top boy names1. Noah, 4,320 baby boys
2. Muhammad, 4,136
3. George, 3,548
4. Oliver, 3,502
5. Leo, 3,470
6. Arthur, 3,423
7. Oscar, 2,729
8. Theodore, 2,720
9. Freddie, 2,620
10. Theo, 2,611		1. Noah, 264 baby boys
2. Theo, 196
3. Oliver, 188
4. Arthur, 180
5. Luca, 166
6. Oscar, 154
7. George, 149
8. Archie, 144
9. Freddie, 140
10. Leo, 139

And now let’s check out a selection of names from the other end of the spectrum.

Each of the rare names below was given to just 3 babies in England and Wales (combined) in 2022:

Rare girl namesRare boy names
Accalia, Briseis, Casiana, Diellza, Ettalie, Farishta, Gwenna, Hestia, Irida, Iseult, Jun, Kanika, Larsa, Myfanwy, Nehizena, Ovelia, Prunella, Quinne, Renaelia, Siella, Tamima, Urte, Varnika, Wafaa, Xiana, Yuet, ZartashaAurion, Boyan, Cary, Daxson, Eifion, Flavian, Granth, Henrick, Ilai, Jasser, Klaidi, Llyr, Mordy, Naoise, Oax, Petrit, Quillon, Ransford, Sanchez, Torrin, Usaid, Volodymyr, Wolfy, Xand, Yudhveer, Zaamin

Renaelia’s usage was no doubt inspired by British influencer Imogen Horton, who welcomed a baby girl named Renaelia in September of 2022. Several weeks after the birth, Imogen posted a video in which she and her husband Spencer revealed the baby’s name and explained how it was coined.

Volodymyr’s usage may have been influenced by Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Finally, here’s a link to England and Wales’ 2021 rankings, if you’d like to check them out.

Sources:

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