How popular is the baby name Leah 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 Leah.

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Popularity of the baby name Leah


Posts that mention the name Leah

Popular baby names in Nova Scotia (Canada), 2012

The most popular baby names in Nova Scotia were announced a few days ago.

According to Nova Scotia’s Registry of Vital Statistics, the province’s top names are Jacob for boys and Olivia for girls.

Here are the top 20 girl names and top 20 boy names of 2012:

Baby Girl NamesBaby Boy Names
1. Olivia
2. Emma
3. Lily
4. Sophia
5. Ava
6. Sophie
7. Emily
8. Abigail
9. Chloe
10. Isabella
11. Ella
12. Brooklyn
13. Charlotte
14. Leah
15. Avery
16. Sadie
17. Hannah
18. Addison
19. Alexis
20. Madison		1. Jacob
2. Ethan
3. Benjamin
4. Lucas
5. Owen
6. Noah
7. Liam
8. Mason
9. Carter
10. Hunter
11. William
12. Jack
13. Logan
14. James
15. Alexander
16. Jackson
17. Wyatt
18. Isaac
19. Nathan
20. Samuel

Newbies to the top 20 lists are Leah, Avery, Sadie and Sarah for girls, and Jackson, Wyatt and Isaac for boys.

Sources: Olivia, Jacob top baby-name list for Nova Scotia last year, Olivia, Jacob most popular baby names for 2012

Popular baby names in New York City, 2011

Flag of New York
Flag of New York

Last year — for the third year in a row — New York City’s most popular baby names were Jayden and Isabella.

More than 800 baby boys were named Jayden and more than 600 baby girls were named Isabella in 2011.

Here are more of the top boy names:

RankOVERALLAsian &
Pacific
Islander		BlackHispanicWhite
1JAYDENEthanJaydenJaydenMichael
2JacobJaydenAidenJustinJoseph
3EthanRyanElijahJacobJacob
4DanielJustinJeremiahMatthewDavid
5MichaelLucasJoshuaAngelBenjamin
6MatthewJasonEthanEthanMoshe
7JustinAidenJosiahChristopherDaniel
8DavidKevinIsaiahDanielAlexander
9Aiden*EricTylerAlexanderMatthew
10Alexander*DanielMichaelAnthonyJack

*Aiden and Alexander are new. They replaced Joseph (#13) and Joshua (#14).

And here are the rest of the top girl names:

RankOVERALLAsian &
Pacific
Islander		BlackHispanicWhite
1ISABELLASophiaMadisonIsabellaEsther
2SophiaChloeLondonMiaEmma,
Olivia
3OliviaEmilyKaylaSophiaLeah
4EmmaOliviaChloeAshleySophia
5MiaEmmaAaliyahCamilaChaya
6EmilyIsabellaMakaylaSofiaSarah
7MadisonTiffanyNevaehEmilyRachel
8LeahAshleyGabrielleHaileyAva
9ChloeFionaTaylorLeahIsabella
10Sofia*AngelaJada,
Olivia,
Serenity		MadisonChana

*Sofia is new. It replaced Sarah (#11).

Source: Mayor Bloomberg Announces Isabella and Jayden Are 2011’s Most Popular Baby Names for Third Year in a Row

Image: Adapted from Flag of New York (public domain)

Popular baby names in Ireland, 2011

Flag of Ireland
Flag of Ireland

Jack and Emily were the most popular baby names in Ireland in 2011.

Here are the full top-20 lists for each gender:

Girl Names

  1. Emily (1.6% of all baby girls)
  2. Sophie
  3. Emma
  4. Grace
  5. Lily
  6. Sarah
  7. Lucy
  8. Ava
  9. Chloe
  10. Katie
  11. Ella
  12. Mia
  13. Aoife [EE-fa]
  14. Caoimhe [KEE-va or KWEE-va]
  15. Kate
  16. Leah
  17. Hannah
  18. Anna
  19. Saoirse [SEER-sha or SAIR-sha]
  20. Ruby

Boy Names

  1. Jack (2.4% of all baby boys)
  2. James
  3. Sean [shawn]
  4. Daniel
  5. Connor
  6. Ryan
  7. Adam
  8. Harry
  9. Michael
  10. Alex (tie)
  11. Dylan (tie)
  12. Luke
  13. Cian [KEE-an or KEEN]
  14. Jamie
  15. Oisin [UH-sheen or O-sheen]
  16. Aaron
  17. Liam
  18. Thomas
  19. Darragh
  20. Charlie

(And here are the 2010 rankings, if you’d like to compare.)

The names that increased the most in popularity from 2010 to 2011 were…

 Boy NamesGirl Names
By rank:Tommy – 160th to 88th
Mason – 128th to 70th
Hugh – 126th to 99th
Donnacha – 102nd to 76th
Leo – 94th to 79th		Michaela – 164th to 78th
Muireann – 120th to 87th
Sofia – 80th to 58th
Kayla – 41st to 21st
Eve (tie) – 60th to 45th
Maebh (tie) – 107th to 92nd
By number of babies:Harry – 364 to 499
Adam – 581 to 637
Mason – 59 to 115
Thomas – 347 to 403
Rian – 161 to 213		Lily – 371 to 496
Kayla – 186 to 306
Caoimhe – 323 to 398
Mia – 344 to 400
Ella – 380 to 434

Tommy’s rise can be attributed to Tommy Moon, a fictional baby who was “born” (read: introduced) on the popular BBC soap opera EastEnders at the very end of 2010.

And we already know why Mason is so popular…

Sources: Irish Babies’ Names 2011 [pdf], Jack and Emily top baby names list

Image: Adapted from Flag of Ireland (public domain)

Popular baby names in Malta, 2007

Flag of Malta
Flag of Malta

Malta seems to be having some trouble tallying baby names. According to the island’s National Statistics Office, these were the top boy names of 2007:

  1. Luke/Luca, 98 baby boys
  2. Matthew/Matteo/Matthias, 88
  3. Jake, 56
  4. Julian, 40
  5. John/Gianni/Jean/Juan/Sean, 38
  6. Nicholas/Nikolai & Aiden, 37 (tie)
  7. Kieran, 35
  8. Isaac, 34
  9. Andrew/André/Andrea & Zack, 33 (tie)
  10. Nathan/Nathaniel, 32
  11. Jeremy/Jerome & James/Jamie & Jayden, 31 (tie)
  12. Daniel & Gabriel & Miguel, 29 (tie)
  13. Liam, 28
  14. Alexander/Alessandro/Alejandro & Neil, 26 (tie)
  15. Michael/Mikiel/Mikail/Michele & Carl/Carlo/Karl & Kyle, 24 (3-way tie)
  16. Benjamin & Thomas/Tommaso, 20 (tie)
  17. Christian/Kristian, 18
  18. Mark/Marc/Marco, 17
  19. Dejan & Denzel, 16 (tie)
  20. Kayden, 13

There’s nothing wrong with the list itself. But problems begin when you try to compare this list with the 2006 list.

For instance, in 2006, 49 boys were named Michael or Michele. A year later, there’s no way to tell if either of these names has became more or less popular — all we know is that 24 boys were named Michael, Michele Mikiel or Mikail, and that 29 boys were named Miguel specifically.

And that’s just the beginning. Between 2006 and 2007, Nicholas became Nicholas/Nikolai, Thomas became Thomas/Tommaso, and James became James/Jamie. Alexander became Alexander/Alessandro/Alejandro, while (accent-less) Andre became Andrew/André/Andrea. All of these odd groupings make it impossible to draw conclusions about how the popularity level of a specific name has changed over time.

I am also suspicious about spelling. Aidan (#6) and Jaydon (#19) from the 2006 list seemed to morph into Aiden (#6) and Jayden (#11) in 2007.

Finally — and this may be nit-picky — I dislike how Jeremy and Jerome were lumped together. The names may look alike, but they are unrelated.

I have issues with the girl names as well:

  1. Maria/Mariah, 73 baby girls
  2. Martina, 47
  3. Julia/Giulia, 42
  4. Christina/Kristina/Christine/Christa, 41
  5. Elisa/Eliza/Elizabeth, 39
  6. Sarah, 36
  7. Emma & Maya, 34 (tie)
  8. Nicole/Nicola/Nicolette, 31
  9. Amy & Jasmine/Yasmine, 30 (tie)
  10. Michela/Michelle, 29
  11. Katrina/Katie & Shania, 27 (tie)
  12. Aaliyah & Hayley & Jade, 21 (tie)
  13. Alexandra/Alessandra/Alessia, 20
  14. Francesca & Ylenia, 19 (tie)
  15. Kylie, 18
  16. Kaya, 17
  17. Emily & Kayleigh, 16 (tie)
  18. Kelsey & Leah & Rihanna & Thea, 15 (4-way tie)
  19. Ella & Elena & Kiera & Kyra, 14 (4-way tie)
  20. Hannah, 13

Between 2006 and 2007, Julia became Julia/Giula, Nicole became Nicole/Nicola/Nicolette, Jasmin (sans e) became Jasmine/Yasmine, and Elisa/Eliza became Elisa/Eliza/Elisabeth. Michela went from being grouped with Michaela to being grouped with Michelle.

And, as with the boys, I don’t think spelling stayed consistent. Hailey (#10, 2006) became Hayley (#12, 2007) and Kaylie (#17, 2006) became Kayleigh (#17, 2007).

Malta, you’re driving me crazy! I hope the top names of 2008 are listed more logically, i.e., using name-groupings that have been used before.

Source: Naming Babies: 2007 [pdf]

Image: Adapted from Flag of Malta (public domain)