How popular is the baby name John 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 John.

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Popularity of the baby name John


Posts that mention the name John

What gave the baby name Michelle a boost in 1966?

The Beatles' album "Rubber Soul" (1965)
Beatles album

The French name Michelle was already a top-20 girl name in the U.S. when it suddenly saw a massive increase in usage in the mid-1960s:

  • 1968: 33,222 baby girls named Michelle [rank: 2nd]
  • 1967: 30,826 baby girls named Michelle [rank: 3rd]
  • 1966: 27,158 baby girls named Michelle [rank: 4th]
  • 1965: 16,215 baby girls named Michelle [rank: 18th]
  • 1964: 16,182 baby girls named Michelle [rank: 23rd]

Michelle’s jump of nearly 11,000 baby girls from 1965 to 1966 easily qualifies as the steepest girl-name rise of the year. In fact, the jump currently ranks 10th on the list of top girl-name rises of all time.

So, what was drawing extra attention to the name Michelle in 1966?

“Michelle” by the Beatles. The love ballad — and the only Beatles song to feature French lyrics — was a track on the British band’s sixth studio album, Rubber Soul, which came out in December of 1965.

Here’s what “Michelle” sounds like:

“Michelle” was never released as a single in the U.S., so it never ranked on Billboard‘s Hot 100 chart. Despite this, it was played frequently on the radio, and ended up winning the Grammy Award for Song of the Year in March of 1967.

The song started out as a French-sounding ditty that Paul McCartney would play at parties in Liverpool during the late 1950s (when Left Bank bohemian culture was trendy in England). In the mid-1960s, at the suggestion of John Lennon, Paul developed the ditty into a proper song. He wrote the lyrics around the French feminine name Michelle, and came up with the rhyming phrase ma belle (“my beauty”) and the lyrics sont les mots qui vont très bien ensemble (“are the words that go very well together”) with some help from a French-speaking friend.

Thanks largely to the song, the name Michelle was one of the top five girl names in the nation from 1966 to 1974. Though it ranked second a total of four times, it never managed to take the top spot. (It was denied by Lisa during the late 1960s, then Jennifer during the early 1970s.)

What are your thoughts on the name Michelle? (Do you know anyone named after the song “Michelle”?)

P.S. Coincidentally, Paul McCartney was married for nearly three decades to Linda Eastman, whose first name inspired the 1946 song “Linda,” which turned Linda into the fastest-rising girl name of all time from 1946 to 1947.

Sources: Michelle (song) – Wikipedia, Michelle – The Beatles Bible, SSA

Popular baby names in Mississippi, 2024

Flag of Mississippi
Flag of Mississippi

The state of Mississippi likely welcomed more than 34,000* babies last year.

What were the most popular names among these babies? Olivia and William, according to provisional data released in late December, 2024, by the Mississippi State Department of Health’s Office of Vital Records and Public Health Statistics.

Here are Mississippi’s projected top 25+ girl names and top 25+ boy names of 2024:

Girl names

  1. Olivia, 101 baby girls
  2. Ava, 94
  3. Mary, 92
  4. Amelia, 91
  5. Charlotte and Harper (tie), 82 each
  6. Elizabeth, 80
  7. Emma, 67
  8. Nova, 65
  9. Ivy, 63
  10. Hazel, 61
  11. Ella, Evelyn, and Paisley (3-way tie), 58 each
  12. Caroline, 54
  13. Kinsley, 53
  14. Ellie and Lainey (tie), 52 each
  15. Mia, 51
  16. Eleanor and Isabella (tie), 50 each
  17. Riley, 48
  18. Serenity, 47
  19. Autumn, Layla, Millie, and Naomi (4-way tie), 46 each
  20. Journee, 45
  21. Kehlani, Khloe, and Sophia (3-way tie), 44 each
  22. Avery, Chloe, and Oaklynn (3-way tie), 42 each
  23. Londyn, Scarlett, and Skylar (3-way tie), 41 each
  24. Aria, Brooklyn, Emery, Lucy, and Raelynn (5-way tie), 40 each
  25. Aurora, Josie, Nora, and Willow (4-way tie), 39 each

Boy names

  1. William, 167 baby boys
  2. John, 159
  3. James, 148
  4. Noah, 118
  5. Liam, 106
  6. Elijah, 104
  7. Waylon, 91
  8. Asher, 86
  9. Samuel, 84
  10. Levi and Walker (tie), 80 each
  11. Henry, 79
  12. Mason, 78
  13. Carter, Josiah, and Maverick (3-way tie), 75 each
  14. Grayson, 72
  15. Hudson, 71
  16. Beau, Charles, and Oliver (3-way tie), 67 each
  17. Luke, 65
  18. Kayden, 64
  19. Amir, David, Jackson, and Thomas (4-way tie), 63 each
  20. Cooper, 62
  21. Kingston, Legend, and Michael (3-way tie), 61 each
  22. Wyatt, 59
  23. Aiden and Christopher (tie), 57 each
  24. Silas, 55
  25. Lucas and Nolan (tie), 53 each

In the girls’ top 10, Ivy and Hazel replaced Evelyn.

In the boys’ top 10, Samuel, Levi, and Walker replaced Mason and Grayson.

Finally, if you’d like to see Mississippi’s projected rankings for 2023, you can find them in this post.

*The state welcomed about 34,354 babies in 2023.

Sources:

Image: Adapted from Flag of Mississippi

What brought the baby name Aloma back in the early 1940s?

Movie poster for "Aloma of the South Seas" (1941)
“Aloma of the South Seas” poster

In 1941, the name Aloma re-emerged in the U.S. baby name data after a brief absence. It went on to achieve peak usage the very next year:

  • 1944: 40 baby girls named Aloma
  • 1943: 103 baby girls named Aloma [rank: 762nd]
  • 1942: 147 baby girls named Aloma [rank: 616th]
  • 1941: 47 baby girls named Aloma
  • 1940: unlisted
  • 1939: unlisted

It also managed to reach the girls’ top 1,000 twice.

What was drawing attention to the name Aloma around that time?

The movie Aloma of the South Seas, which was released in August of 1941.

The main character was Tanoa (played by Jon Hall), a young man from a tropical island in the Pacific Ocean. After spending many years abroad, Tanoa returned home upon the death of his father, the chief. Soon after, Tanoa fell in love with a fellow islander named Aloma (Dorothy Lamour). But Tanoa also had a villainous cousin named Revo (Philip Reed), who coveted both the lady and the throne…

Plot-wise, the movie didn’t have much in common with the 1926 silent film of the same name, which featured dancer Gilda Gray as Aloma. The original film was based on the Broadway play Aloma of the South Seas (1925) by LeRoy Clemens and John B. Hymer.

The 1941 version did, however, end with a spectacular volcanic eruption. It also earned a pair of Academy Award nominations (for cinematography and special effects). Oh, and one of the screenwriters happened to be former actress Seena Owen.

What are your thoughts on the baby name Aloma?

Sources: Aloma of the South Seas (1941 film) – Wikipedia, Aloma of the South Seas (1941) – TCM, SSA

Image: Movie poster for Aloma of the South Seas

Popular and unique baby names in Austria, 2023

Flag of Austria
Flag of Austria

Last year, the European country of Austria welcomed 77,605 babies — 37,596 girls and 40,009 boys.

What were the most popular names among these babies? Emilia and Paul.

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

Girl names

  1. Emilia, 638 baby girls
  2. Marie, 554
  3. Emma, 517
  4. Anna, 514
  5. Mia, 509
  6. Sophia, 471
  7. Valentina, 446
  8. Lena, 434
  9. Lea, 427
  10. Laura, 420
  11. Johanna, 413
  12. Lina, 412
  13. Leonie, 387
  14. Sophie, 381
  15. Hannah, 363
  16. Luisa, 362
  17. Ella, 345
  18. Olivia, 334
  19. Lara, 332
  20. Elena, 318
  21. Nora, 312
  22. Magdalena, 273
  23. Amelie, 268
  24. Mila, 264
  25. Antonia, 262
  26. Helena, 260
  27. Hanna, 252
  28. Lia, 240
  29. Valerie, 236
  30. Isabella, 223
  31. Katharina, 215 (tie)
  32. Sarah, 215 (tie)
  33. Sara, 209
  34. Klara, 207
  35. Theresa, 199
  36. Ida, 195 (tie)
  37. Miriam, 195 (tie)
  38. Elisa, 193
  39. Rosa, 191 (tie)
  40. Sofia, 191 (tie)
  41. Julia, 190
  42. Alina, 186
  43. Elina, 182
  44. Marlene, 181 (tie)
  45. Paula, 181 (tie)
  46. Paulina, 180
  47. Livia, 179
  48. Emily, 176
  49. Clara, 173
  50. Rosalie, 162

Boy names

  1. Paul, 687 baby boys
  2. Jakob, 660
  3. Elias, 625
  4. Maximilian, 620
  5. Felix, 596
  6. Noah, 577
  7. Leon, 572
  8. David, 535
  9. Tobias, 528
  10. Jonas, 520
  11. Leo, 506
  12. Lukas, 484
  13. Moritz, 447
  14. Matteo, 411
  15. Alexander, 406
  16. Theo, 397
  17. Anton, 389
  18. Fabian, 385
  19. Liam, 374
  20. Julian, 369
  21. Simon, 363
  22. Emil, 350
  23. Valentin, 337
  24. Luca, 320
  25. Florian, 315
  26. Matthias, 313
  27. Samuel, 308
  28. Johannes, 283
  29. Gabriel, 279 (tie)
  30. Raphael, 279 (tie)
  31. Lorenz, 272 (tie)
  32. Luis, 272 (tie)
  33. Theodor, 263
  34. Benjamin, 251
  35. Sebastian, 222
  36. Oskar, 216
  37. Niklas, 215
  38. Levi, 213
  39. Finn, 209
  40. Emilio, 207 (tie)
  41. Jonathan, 207 (tie)
  42. Adam, 206 (tie)
  43. Michael, 206 (tie)
  44. Ben, 201
  45. Oliver, 200
  46. Fabio, 193
  47. Mateo, 191
  48. Konstantin, 189 (tie)
  49. Max, 189 (tie)
  50. Luka, 183

In the boys’ top 100 were Ferdinand (60th), Erik (75th), Clemens (84th), and Muhammed (95th).

In the girls’ top 100 were Aurelia (61st), Frida (78th), Mathea (83rd), and Lotta (92nd).

Lower down in the rankings I spotted…

  • Girl names:
    • Finja (53 babies)
    • Dunja (22) – means “quince” in several South Slavic languages
    • Florentine (10)
    • Pelin (8) – means “wormwood” in Turkish
    • Neele (6)
    • Hannelore (4)
    • Philia (3)
  • Boy names:
    • Fridolin (184 babies)
    • Nepomuk (6) – refers to St. John of Nepomuk
    • Amadeus (4)
    • Thorin (4)
    • Atdhe (3) – means “fatherland” in Albanian
    • Pirmin (3) – refers to St. Pirmin
    • Toprak (2) – means “earth, soil,” “land,” or “country” in Turkish

Thousands of other names were given to a single baby each in Austria last year. Here’s a selection of the names that were bestowed just once:

Unique girl namesUnique boy names
Aristhea, Berivan, Cleophea, Diola, Elfriede, Fancy, Filianore, Galia, Helly, Irmlind, Julita, Katalia, Lysithea, Mitravinda, Nihira, Orbita, Priska, Qunut, Rudolfina, Silke, Thabea, Uresa, Valina, Weiyu, Xena, Ylenia, ZilliAnadin, Bendix, Crown, Dastan, Elino, Frowin, Guntram, Hannan, Itgelt, Jaryl, Kordian, Lambert, Medardus, Metatron, Nainoa, Oswald, Pim, Qibin, Reinhold, Siegfried, Torger, Uriel, Volodymyr, Willibald, Xichen, Yuzuru, Zinar

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

  • Filianore is a character in the video game Dark Souls III (2016) — specifically, in the downloadable content pack Dark Souls III: The Ringed City (2017).
  • St. Frowin of Engelberg was a 12th-century Swiss German abbot.
  • Itgelt is likely based on the Mongolian word itgel, meaning “faith, belief.”
  • Kordian is the main character of the Polish drama Kordian (1834) by Juliusz Slowacki.
  • Lysithea refers to several figures in Greek mythology, as well as to a character in the video game Fire Emblem: Three Houses (2019).
  • Metatron is an archangel mentioned in Jewish folklore.
  • Volodymyr Zelenskyy is the president of Ukraine.
  • St. Willibald was an 8th-century Englishman who became a bishop in Bavaria.

Finally, here’s a link to Austria’s 2022 rankings, if you’d like to compare last year to the year before.

Sources: First names of newborns – Statistics Austria (in German), Atlas der Vornamen – Statistics Austria, Demographic characteristics of newborns – Statistics Austria, Behind the Name, Wiktionary

Image: Adapted from Flag of Austria (public domain)