We just looked at last year’s girl names, so now it’s time for the boy names!
Here are the most popular boy names overall:
- Liam, 19,659 baby boys
- Noah, 18,252
- Oliver, 14,147
- Elijah, 13,034
- William, 12,541
- James, 12,250
- Benjamin, 12,136
- Lucas, 11,281
- Henry, 10,705
- Alexander, 10,151
Henry and Alexander replaced Mason (now ranked 11th) and Ethan (13th).
The boy names that saw the largest increases in usage in terms of absolute numbers of babies were…
- Kobe, increased by 998 babies
- Theodore, 685
- Luka, 618
- Asher, 592
- Enzo, 490
- Adriel, 471
- Archer, 451
- Kylo, 424
- River, 410
- Beau, 398
Kobe was influenced by the untimely death of basketball great Kobe Bryant (whose daughter, Gianna, had an equally strong influence on girl names.)
Theodore and Luka were also among the fastest risers of 2019.
The boy names that saw the largest increases in usage in terms of relative numbers of babies were…
- Omere, increased by 460%
- Ripp, 342%
- Hardin, 300%
- Vardaan, 280%
- Rip, 260%
- Alekai, 260%
- Sharvil, 255%
- Evian, 253%
- Neizan, 243%
- Barkon, 240%
Omere could be from Omere Harris, son of YouTubers (and former Love & Hip Hop-ers) Mendeecees Harris and Yandy Smith.
Ripp was a debut name just one year earlier. Speaking of debuts…
Here are the boy names that debuted most impressively in the 2020 data:
- Aarnik, debuted with 14 baby boys
- Itzan, 14
- Azhir, 13
- Carin, 13
- Jahkor, 13
- Krown, 13
- Amavi, 12 (a double-debut with 30 girls as well)
- Deluka, 12
- Ezrin, 12
- Hardyn, 12
Some explanations…
- Itzan is probably from Spanish actor Itzan Escamilla, who stars in the Netflix series Élite.
- Carin could be from Mexican singer Carin Leon (whose real name is Oscar; “Carin” is a shortening of his nickname, Oscarin.)
- Jahkor was the name of a character in the Netflix movie All Day and a Night (2020).
The boy names that saw the largest decreases in usage in terms of absolute numbers of babies were…
- Ethan, decreased by 1,801 babies
- Jacob, -1,525
- Logan, -1,434
- Mason, -1,407
- Matthew, -1,170
- Lucas, -1,164
- Carter, -1,141
- Jaxon, -1,132
- Isaac, -1,121
- Alexander, -1,113
The boy name that saw the largest decrease in usage in terms of relative numbers of babies was Daer (-80%), and the boy name that saw the steepest drop off the list was Montae (from 20 babies in 2019 to fewer than 5 in 2020).
If you can explain any of these rises (or drops), please leave a comment!
Sources: SSA, Olivia and Liam are Social Security’s Top Baby Names for 2020 – SSA
Image: Adapted from Flag of the United States (public domain)
[Latest update: 5/11/2021]
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