How popular is the baby name Michael 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 Michael.

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Popularity of the baby name Michael


Posts that mention the name Michael

Popular and unique baby names in Alberta (Canada), 2023

Flag of Alberta
Flag of Alberta

Alberta — Canada’s westernmost prairie province — welcomed 47,263 babies last year.

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

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

Girl names

  1. Olivia, 210 baby girls
  2. Amelia, 145
  3. Sophia, 138
  4. Charlotte, 135
  5. Emma, 133
  6. Isla, 120
  7. Evelyn, 114
  8. Chloe, 101 (tie)
  9. Violet, 101 (tie)
  10. Ava, 99 (tie)
  11. Emily, 99 (tie)
  12. Hannah, 98 (tie)
  13. Hazel, 98 (tie)
  14. Abigail, 95
  15. Lily, 92
  16. Ella, 91 (tie)
  17. Harper, 91 (tie)
  18. Aurora, 90
  19. Grace, 88
  20. Aria, 87
  21. Mia, 86 (tie)
  22. Nora, 86 (tie)
  23. Ivy, 85
  24. Sophie, 84
  25. Mila, 82
  26. Ellie, 81
  27. Isabella, 79
  28. Eleanor, 78 (tie)
  29. Elizabeth, 78 (tie)
  30. Avery, 73
  31. Georgia, 71 (tie)
  32. Sofia, 71 (tie)
  33. Maya, 67
  34. Naomi, 66
  35. Lucy, 65
  36. Scarlett, 64
  37. Maeve, 62 (3-way tie)
  38. Quinn, 62 (3-way tie)
  39. Sadie, 62 (3-way tie)
  40. Luna, 60
  41. Kinsley, 57 (4-way tie)
  42. Layla, 57 (4-way tie)
  43. Stella, 57 (4-way tie)
  44. Zoey, 57 (4-way tie)
  45. Hailey, 56
  46. Zoe, 55
  47. Paisley, 54 (tie)
  48. Penelope, 54 (tie)
  49. Alice, 53 (6-way tie)
  50. Amira, 53 (6-way tie)
  51. Audrey, 53 (6-way tie)
  52. Eliana, 53 (6-way tie)
  53. Eva, 53 (6-way tie)
  54. Wren, 53 (6-way tie)

Boy names

  1. Noah, 276 baby boys
  2. Liam, 181
  3. Oliver, 178
  4. Theodore, 173
  5. Jack, 153
  6. Henry, 146
  7. Lucas, 140
  8. Benjamin, 137
  9. James, 136
  10. William, 133
  11. Ethan, 131
  12. Owen, 129
  13. Adam, 123
  14. Levi, 117
  15. Bennett, 114 (tie)
  16. Leo, 114 (tie)
  17. Daniel, 111
  18. Maverick, 107
  19. Elijah, 106
  20. Muhammad, 100
  21. Asher, 96
  22. Hudson, 95
  23. Alexander, 94 (tie)
  24. Thomas, 94 (tie)
  25. Nathan, 92
  26. Beau, 90
  27. Jackson, 89
  28. Grayson, 87 (3-way tie)
  29. Luke, 87 (3-way tie)
  30. Wyatt, 87 (3-way tie)
  31. Caleb, 83
  32. Elias, 80
  33. Jacob, 79
  34. Ezra, 78 (3-way tie)
  35. Logan, 78 (3-way tie)
  36. Rowan, 78 (3-way tie)
  37. David, 77 (3-way tie)
  38. Myles, 77 (3-way tie)
  39. Theo, 77 (3-way tie)
  40. Lincoln, 76 (tie)
  41. Luca, 76 (tie)
  42. Isaac, 74 (tie)
  43. Wesley, 74 (tie)
  44. Carter, 73
  45. Arthur, 72 (tie)
  46. Gabriel, 72 (tie)
  47. Michael, 71 (tie)
  48. Samuel, 71 (tie)
  49. Aiden, 70 (tie)
  50. Joseph, 70 (tie)

Thousands of other names were given to a single baby each in Alberta last year. Here’s a small selection of those single-use names:

Unique girl namesUnique boy names
Adonica, Birille, Curly-Anne, Dalanda, Eleojo, Flaxee, Garance, Hailstorm-Leone, Ianah, Jina, Kimowan, Liala, Mihkokwaniy, Mulberry, Nîpsîy, Ozya, Parfaite, Pinkbella, Prism-Rose, Quenzy, Rhya, Simdi, Toriola, Uzira, Vhea, Wapakwaniy, Xeya, Yovela, ZhilaAuxter, Baffin, Chancel, Dezio, Edbert, Firekeeper, Graysky, Hashké, Iron, Jandro, Kalahari, Kisâkihitin, Kittiwake, Ludacris, Mardochée, Mîtos, Nightsong, Omâciw, Pelvin, Qudus, Rastko, Stoic, Tazler, Uros, Vyron, Wynn-Fortune, Xyno, York, Zaffarjot

Some possible explanations and/or influences for a few of the above:

  • Baffin is both an island and a bay in Canada. (Both were named after English explorer William Baffin.)
  • Hashké means “warrior” in Navajo.
  • Kalahari is a desert in Southern Africa.
  • Kimowan means “it is raining” in Cree.
    • The related name Kimiwan, meaning “rain,” was given to 2 baby girls.
  • Kisâkihitin means “I love you” (or, “you are loved by me”) in Cree.
  • Kittiwake refers to a type of seagull.
  • Ludacris is the stage name of American rapper Christopher Bridges.
    • I hope this baby’s family caught Ludacris in Usher’s Super Bowl halftime show earlier this year!
  • Mihkokwaniy means “rose” in Cree.
  • Mîtos means “poplar [tree]” in Cree.
  • Nîpsîy means “willow” in Cree.
  • Omâciw means “moose hunter” or “big game hunter” in Cree.
  • Parfaite means “perfect” in French.
  • Wapakwaniy is one letter away from wapikwaniy, the Cree word for “flower.”

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

Sources: Alberta’s top baby names – Alberta.ca, Alberta’s baby name superstar steals the show again – Alberta.ca, Online Cree Dictionary, You always come first with me: kisâkihitin and “Order of Persons” in Cree – Cree Literacy Network

Image: Adapted from Flag of Alberta (public domain)

What popularized the baby name Latoya?

La Toya Jackson's album "Heart Don't Lie" (1984)
La Toya Jackson album

The name Latoya first appeared in the U.S. baby name data in the 1960s. After rising quickly during the ’70s — and seeing upticks in usage in both 1977 and 1981 — the name achieved peak popularity in 1984:

  • 1985: 3,402 baby girls named Latoya [rank: 81st]
  • 1984: 5,051 baby girls named Latoya [rank: 60th] (peak usage)
  • 1983: 3,151 baby girls named Latoya [rank: 90th]
  • 1982: 3,200 baby girls named Latoya [rank: 91st]
  • 1981: 4,267 baby girls named Latoya [rank: 69th]
  • 1980: 2,505 baby girls named Latoya [rank: 123rd]
  • 1979: 1,880 baby girls named Latoya [rank: 148th]
  • 1978: 2,040 baby girls named Latoya [rank: 135th]
  • 1977: 2,321 baby girls named Latoya [rank: 125th]
  • 1976: 2,052 baby girls named Latoya [rank: 135th]

Here’s a visual:

Graph of the usage of the baby name Latoya in the U.S. since 1880
Usage of the baby name Latoya

What fueled the rise of Latoya?

The career of singer La Toya Jackson.

(The SSA removes spaces and ignores internal capitalization, which explains why the name is rendered “Latoya” in the dataset.)

Though she wasn’t a member of The Jackson 5 — the pop-soul vocal group featuring her five brothers Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, Marlon, and Michael — La Toya was often mentioned in write-ups about the Jackson family during the early 1970s.

By 1974, La Toya and the remaining Jackson siblings (Rebbie, Randy, and Janet) were participating in the group’s live performances.

Television audiences were introduced to La Toya in the musical variety series The Jacksons (1976-77), which featured all of the siblings except for Jermaine.

In 1980, she launched her solo career. She didn’t become as commercially successful as either Michael or Janet, but her single “Heart Don’t Lie” [vid] — a reggae duet with Howard Hewett of Shalamar — did reach #56 on Billboard‘s Hot 100 chart in June of 1984.

The singer was born La Toya Yvonne Jackson on May 29, 1956 — the sixth birthday of her eldest sibling, Rebbie, coincidentally. In her autobiography, La Toya said that her mother, who had a “fondness for unusual names,” claimed to have coined “La Toya.”

What are your thoughts on the name La Toya?

Sources:

Most popular baby boy names (length by length) in the U.S. in 2023

Lengths of baby boy names in the U.S. in 2023

Going length by length (e.g., 2 letters long, 3 letters long, 4 letters long…), what were last year’s most popular baby boy names?

Before we get to the lists, a few quick facts:

  • The most common length for boy names in 2023 was 6 letters (used 29.38% of the time), followed by 5 letters (26.33%).
  • The length that increased the most in usage for boy names (from 2022 to 2023) was 13 letters.
  • The length that decreased the most in usage for boy names (from 2022 to 2023) was 7 letters.

Top boy names with 2 letters:

  1. Bo, 630 baby boys
  2. Ty, 331
  3. Cy, 75
  4. Aj, 64 (tie)
  5. Om, 64 (tie)
  6. Oz, 40
  7. Jj, 37
  8. Cj, 35 (tie)
  9. Ky, 35 (tie)
  10. Tj, 34

Top boy names with 3 letters:

  1. Leo, 8,120 baby boys
  2. Kai, 4,946
  3. Ian, 4,538
  4. Eli, 4,081
  5. Ace, 2,314
  6. Max, 2,197
  7. Jax, 1,155
  8. Koa, 1,115
  9. Ali, 1,065
  10. Ari, 964

Top boy names with 4 letters:

  1. Liam, 20,802 baby boys
  2. Noah, 18,995
  3. Levi, 9,347
  4. Jack, 8,683
  5. Ezra, 8,437
  6. Owen, 7,985
  7. Luca, 7,770
  8. John, 7,750
  9. Luke, 7,217
  10. Axel, 4,498

Top boy names with 5 letters:

  1. James, 11,670 baby boys
  2. Mateo, 11,229
  3. Henry, 10,941
  4. Lucas, 10,842
  5. Asher, 7,853
  6. Ethan, 7,763
  7. David, 7,354
  8. Mason, 7,237
  9. Dylan, 7,054
  10. Elias, 6,980

Top boy names with 6 letters:

  1. Oliver, 14,741 baby boys
  2. Elijah, 11,452
  3. Daniel, 8,356
  4. Samuel, 7,973
  5. Hudson, 7,935
  6. Joseph, 7,237
  7. Julian, 7,078
  8. Thomas, 6,598
  9. Carter, 5,847
  10. Jayden, 5,627

Top boy names with 7 letters:

  1. William, 10,598 baby boys
  2. Michael, 8,383
  3. Jackson, 7,284
  4. Matthew, 7,190
  5. Gabriel, 6,745
  6. Grayson, 6,449
  7. Anthony, 6,237
  8. Ezekiel, 5,569
  9. Charles, 5,395
  10. Cameron, 5,069

Top boy names with 8 letters:

  1. Theodore, 11,041 baby boys
  2. Benjamin, 10,172
  3. Maverick, 6,962
  4. Santiago, 6,328
  5. Jonathan, 4,066
  6. Leonardo, 4,012
  7. Jeremiah, 3,750
  8. Nicholas, 3,242
  9. Harrison, 3,060
  10. Giovanni, 2,911

Top boy names with 9 letters:

  1. Sebastian, 8,865 baby boys
  2. Alexander, 7,875
  3. Christian, 4,125
  4. Nathaniel, 2,507
  5. Alejandro, 1,825
  6. Remington, 1,184
  7. Francisco, 1,121
  8. Johnathan, 647
  9. Frederick, 595
  10. Valentino, 575

Top boy names with 10 letters:

  1. Alessandro, 555 baby boys
  2. Maximilian, 511
  3. Montgomery, 210
  4. Kristopher, 209
  5. Aleksander, 125
  6. Cristopher, 123
  7. Alexzander, 109
  8. Fitzgerald, 63 (tie)
  9. Theophilus, 63 (tie)
  10. Abdirahman, 50

Top boy names with 11 letters:

  1. Christopher, 5,171 baby boys
  2. Maximiliano, 1,143
  3. Muhammadali, 108
  4. Constantine, 104
  5. Abdulrahman, 103
  6. Maximillian, 63
  7. Abdurrahman, 42
  8. Miguelangel, 38
  9. Bartholomew, 33
  10. Johnmichael, 30

(I’m excluding the longer names because they’re quite rare overall.)

Source: SSA

Most popular baby boy names (letter by letter) in the U.S. in 2023

First letter usage for baby boy names in the U.S. in 2023

Going letter by letter, what were last year’s most popular baby boy names?

Before we get to the lists, a few quick facts:

  • The most common first letter for boy names in 2023 was J (used 10.98% of the time), followed by A (10.51%) and M (7.60%).
  • The least common first letter for boy names in 2023 was U (used 0.15% of the time), followed by Q (0.16%) and X (0.40%).
  • The first letter that increased the most in usage for boy names (from 2022 to 2023) was T.
  • The first letter that decreased the most in usage for boy names (from 2022 to 2023) was J.

Top boy names starting with A:

  1. Alexander, 7,875 baby boys
  2. Asher, 7,853
  3. Aiden, 6,675
  4. Anthony, 6,237
  5. Angel, 4,865
  6. Andrew, 4,781
  7. Adrian, 4,646
  8. Aaron, 4,551
  9. Axel, 4,498
  10. Amir, 3,620

Top boy names starting with B:

  1. Benjamin, 10,172 baby boys
  2. Brooks, 4,469
  3. Bennett, 4,411
  4. Beau, 4,090
  5. Bryson, 2,434
  6. Brayden, 2,274
  7. Braxton, 2,128
  8. Bentley, 1,906
  9. Beckett, 1,865
  10. Beckham, 1,829

Top boy names starting with C:

  1. Carter, 5,847 baby boys
  2. Caleb, 5,488
  3. Cooper, 5,425
  4. Charles, 5,395
  5. Christopher, 5,171
  6. Cameron, 5,069
  7. Christian, 4,125
  8. Colton, 3,696
  9. Carson, 3,200
  10. Connor, 2,855

Top boy names starting with D:

  1. Daniel, 8,356 baby boys
  2. David, 7,354
  3. Dylan, 7,054
  4. Dominic, 3,395
  5. Damian, 3,281
  6. Declan, 2,799
  7. Diego, 2,734
  8. Dawson, 2,439
  9. Dean, 2,281
  10. Dallas, 1,375

Top boy names starting with E:

  1. Elijah, 11,452 baby boys
  2. Ezra, 8,437
  3. Ethan, 7,763
  4. Elias, 6,980
  5. Ezekiel, 5,569
  6. Eli, 4,081
  7. Everett, 3,808
  8. Enzo, 3,796
  9. Easton, 3,637
  10. Emmett, 3,061

Top boy names starting with F:

  1. Finn, 1,907 baby boys
  2. Felix, 1,894
  3. Finley, 1,171
  4. Francisco, 1,121
  5. Fernando, 967
  6. Franklin, 776
  7. Forrest, 737
  8. Francis, 670
  9. Fabian, 656
  10. Frank, 646

Top boy names starting with G:

  1. Gabriel, 6,745 baby boys
  2. Grayson, 6,449
  3. Gael, 3,616
  4. Greyson, 3,065
  5. Giovanni, 2,911
  6. George, 2,689
  7. Graham, 2,533
  8. Griffin, 1,722
  9. Grant, 1,539
  10. Gavin, 1,512

Top boy names starting with H:

  1. Henry, 10,941 baby boys
  2. Hudson, 7,935
  3. Hunter, 3,110
  4. Harrison, 3,060
  5. Hayden, 2,219
  6. Hayes, 1,746
  7. Holden, 1,171
  8. Hendrix, 1,084
  9. Harvey, 1,022
  10. Hector, 828

Top boy names starting with I:

  1. Isaac, 6,581 baby boys
  2. Isaiah, 5,121
  3. Ian, 4,538
  4. Ivan, 2,384
  5. Israel, 1,530
  6. Ismael, 1,421
  7. Iker, 915
  8. Ibrahim, 774
  9. Isaias, 700
  10. Izaiah, 491

Top boy names starting with J:

  1. James, 11,670 baby boys
  2. Jack, 8,683
  3. John, 7,750
  4. Jackson, 7,284
  5. Joseph, 7,237
  6. Julian, 7,078
  7. Jacob, 6,976
  8. Jayden, 5,627
  9. Josiah, 5,404
  10. Joshua, 5,035

Top boy names starting with K:

  1. Kai, 4,946 baby boys
  2. Kayden, 3,120
  3. Kingston, 2,511
  4. Kaiden, 2,126
  5. Kevin, 1,914
  6. Knox, 1,770
  7. Karter, 1,590
  8. Kairo, 1,484
  9. Kyrie, 1,474
  10. Kash, 1,316

Top boy names starting with L:

  1. Liam, 20,802 baby boys
  2. Lucas, 10,842
  3. Levi, 9,347
  4. Leo, 8,120
  5. Luca, 7,770
  6. Luke, 7,217
  7. Logan, 6,686
  8. Lincoln, 4,842
  9. Leonardo, 4,012
  10. Luka, 3,650

Top boy names starting with M:

  1. Mateo, 11,229 baby boys
  2. Michael, 8,383
  3. Mason, 7,237
  4. Matthew, 7,190
  5. Maverick, 6,962
  6. Miles, 6,558
  7. Micah, 3,875
  8. Myles, 3,399
  9. Milo, 2,950
  10. Matteo, 2,503

Top boy names starting with N:

  1. Noah, 18,995 baby boys
  2. Nolan, 5,112
  3. Nathan, 5,049
  4. Nicholas, 3,242
  5. Nathaniel, 2,507
  6. Nicolas, 1,886
  7. Nico, 1,462
  8. Nash, 1,328
  9. Niko, 1,033
  10. Nasir, 739

Top boy names starting with O:

  1. Oliver, 14,741 baby boys
  2. Owen, 7,985
  3. Oscar, 1,693
  4. Omar, 1,306
  5. Otto, 1,191
  6. Onyx, 1,069
  7. Odin, 897
  8. Orion, 861
  9. Oakley, 799
  10. Ozzy, 526

Top boy names starting with P:

  1. Parker, 3,792 baby boys
  2. Peter, 1,738
  3. Patrick, 1,596
  4. Paul, 1,351 (tie)
  5. Paxton, 1,351 (tie)
  6. Phoenix, 1,243
  7. Preston, 1,228
  8. Prince, 885
  9. Pablo, 850
  10. Pedro, 753

Top boy names starting with Q:

  1. Quinn, 685 baby boys
  2. Quincy, 401
  3. Quentin, 334
  4. Quinton, 301
  5. Quintin, 120
  6. Quinten, 88
  7. Quest, 84
  8. Quadir, 70
  9. Quade, 53
  10. Qasim, 51

Top boy names starting with R:

  1. Roman, 4,777 baby boys
  2. Rowan, 4,195
  3. Ryan, 4,020
  4. Robert, 3,807
  5. River, 3,084
  6. Ryder, 2,822
  7. Rhett, 2,183
  8. Ryker, 1,976
  9. Richard, 1,638
  10. Riley, 1,627

Top boy names starting with S:

  1. Sebastian, 8,865 baby boys
  2. Samuel, 7,973
  3. Santiago, 6,328
  4. Silas, 4,070
  5. Sawyer, 2,833
  6. Stetson, 1,987
  7. Simon, 1,398
  8. Steven, 1,387
  9. Saint, 1,059
  10. Sonny, 924

Top boy names starting with T:

  1. Theodore, 11,041 baby boys
  2. Thomas, 6,598
  3. Thiago, 4,505
  4. Theo, 4,122
  5. Tyler, 2,064
  6. Tate, 1,845
  7. Tucker, 1,802
  8. Timothy, 1,733
  9. Tatum, 1,492
  10. Tristan, 1,373

Top boy names starting with U:

  1. Uriel, 606 baby boys
  2. Uriah, 378
  3. Ulises, 221
  4. Ulysses, 169
  5. Umar, 152
  6. Uziel, 111
  7. Usman, 86
  8. Unknown, 67
  9. Uzziah, 65
  10. Uri, 60

Top boy names starting with V:

  1. Vincent, 2,982 baby boys
  2. Victor, 1,687
  3. Valentino, 575
  4. Vicente, 441
  5. Valentin, 372
  6. Vincenzo, 352
  7. Vihaan, 280
  8. Van, 252
  9. Vance, 236
  10. Veer, 224

Top boy names starting with W:

  1. William, 10,598 baby boys
  2. Wyatt, 6,237
  3. Waylon, 4,881
  4. Wesley, 4,539
  5. Weston, 4,356
  6. Walker, 4,006
  7. Walter, 1,272
  8. Warren, 1,080
  9. Wade, 971
  10. Winston, 797

Top boy names starting with X:

  1. Xavier, 3,413 baby boys
  2. Xander, 1,700
  3. Xzavier, 153
  4. Xavi, 118
  5. Xavion, 111
  6. Xaiden, 101
  7. Xavien, 94
  8. Xavian, 91
  9. Xion, 85
  10. Xayden, 65

Top boy names starting with Y:

  1. Yusuf, 610 baby boys
  2. Yosef, 444
  3. Yael, 328
  4. Yehuda, 318
  5. Yousef, 297
  6. Yahir, 290
  7. Yahya, 263
  8. Yadiel, 242
  9. Yaakov, 231
  10. Yisroel, 228

Top boy names starting with Z:

  1. Zion, 2,867 baby boys
  2. Zachary, 2,112
  3. Zayden, 1,898
  4. Zayn, 1,413
  5. Zane, 1,220
  6. Zyaire, 1,029
  7. Zander, 924
  8. Zayne, 717
  9. Zaire, 654
  10. Zaiden, 567

Source: SSA