How popular is the baby name Nova 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 Nova.

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Popularity of the baby name Nova


Posts that mention the name Nova

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

Lengths of baby girl 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 girl names?

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

  • The most common length for girl names in 2023 was 6 letters (used 28.67% of the time), followed by 5 letters (22.02%).
  • The length that increased the most in usage for girl names (from 2022 to 2023) was 5 letters.
  • The length that decreased the most in usage for girl names (from 2022 to 2023) was 7 letters.

Top girl names with 2 letters:

  1. Jo, 46 baby girls
  2. An, 40
  3. Vy, 28
  4. Bo, 22
  5. Zo, 16
  6. Vi, 14
  7. Lu, 11 (tie)
  8. Yi, 11 (tie)
  9. Io, 10
  10. Eh, 9

Top girl names with 3 letters:

  1. Mia, 11,359 baby girls
  2. Ava, 9,682
  3. Zoe, 5,160
  4. Ivy, 5,036
  5. Eva, 2,405
  6. Ada, 1,647
  7. Amy, 1,483
  8. Lia, 1,425
  9. Ana, 1,327
  10. Gia, 1,155

Top girl names with 4 letters:

  1. Emma, 13,527 baby girls
  2. Luna, 7,811
  3. Lily, 6,146
  4. Aria, 5,996
  5. Nora, 5,994
  6. Mila, 5,895
  7. Ella, 5,643
  8. Isla, 5,357
  9. Nova, 5,248
  10. Lucy, 4,858

Top girl names with 5 letters:

  1. Sofia, 7,641 baby girls
  2. Emily, 6,154
  3. Hazel, 6,154
  4. Chloe, 5,960
  5. Ellie, 5,951
  6. Avery, 5,859
  7. Layla, 5,678
  8. Grace, 4,886
  9. Riley, 4,617
  10. Naomi, 4,456

Top girl names with 6 letters:

  1. Olivia, 15,270 baby girls
  2. Amelia, 12,311
  3. Sophia, 11,944
  4. Evelyn, 9,082
  5. Harper, 7,769
  6. Camila, 7,565
  7. Violet, 6,342
  8. Gianna, 6,129
  9. Aurora, 6,054
  10. Eliana, 5,329

Top girl names with 7 letters:

  1. Eleanor, 6,739 baby girls
  2. Abigail, 5,661
  3. Madison, 5,160
  4. Delilah, 4,031
  5. Lillian, 3,927
  6. Paisley, 3,727
  7. Genesis, 3,651
  8. Madelyn, 3,632
  9. Leilani, 3,543
  10. Addison, 3,520

Top girl names with 8 letters:

  1. Isabella, 10,808 baby girls
  2. Scarlett, 6,288
  3. Penelope, 6,041
  4. Victoria, 4,434
  5. Caroline, 2,859
  6. Brooklyn, 2,850
  7. Savannah, 2,739
  8. Madeline, 2,726
  9. Serenity, 2,548
  10. Samantha, 2,363

Top girl names with 9 letters:

  1. Charlotte, 12,596 baby girls
  2. Elizabeth, 6,566
  3. Valentina, 4,075
  4. Josephine, 3,347
  5. Gabriella, 2,782
  6. Everleigh, 1,920
  7. Mackenzie, 1,737
  8. Genevieve, 1,734
  9. Anastasia, 1,725
  10. Katherine, 1,697

Top girl names with 10 letters:

  1. Evangeline, 1,407 baby girls
  2. Alessandra, 788
  3. Alexandria, 755
  4. Jacqueline, 560
  5. Clementine, 554
  6. Persephone, 376
  7. Bernadette, 185
  8. Montserrat, 169
  9. Evangelina, 149
  10. Wilhelmina, 139

Top girl names with 11 letters:

  1. Christianna, 17 baby girls
  2. Anavictoria, 15
  3. Heavenleigh, 13
  4. Alejandrina, 11 (tie)
  5. Oliviagrace, 11 (tie)
  6. Aadhyareddy, 10
  7. Anjolaoluwa, 9 (6-way tie)
  8. Charlierose, 9 (6-way tie)
  9. Mariahelena, 9 (6-way tie)
  10. Mariaisabel, 9 (6-way tie)
  11. Oluwanifemi, 9 (6-way tie)
  12. Stellamarie, 9 (6-way tie)

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

Source: SSA

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

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

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

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

  • The most common first letter for girl names in 2023 was A (used 16.48% of the time), followed by E (9.49%) and M (9.17%).
  • The least common first letter for girl names in 2023 was U (used 0.04% of the time), followed by Q (0.24%) and X (0.32%).
  • The first letter that increased the most in usage for girl names (from 2022 to 2023) was D.
  • The first letter that decreased the most in usage for girl names (from 2022 to 2023) was A.

Top girl names starting with A:

  1. Amelia, 12,311 baby girls
  2. Ava, 9,682
  3. Aurora, 6,054
  4. Aria, 5,996
  5. Avery, 5,859
  6. Abigail, 5,661
  7. Addison, 3,520
  8. Alice, 3,336
  9. Adeline, 3,074
  10. Audrey, 3,032

Top girl names starting with B:

  1. Brooklyn, 2,850 baby girls
  2. Bella, 2,540
  3. Brielle, 2,064
  4. Brianna, 1,875
  5. Blakely, 1,854
  6. Bailey, 1,678
  7. Blake, 1,346
  8. Blair, 1,263
  9. Brynlee, 1,210
  10. Brooke, 1,032

Top girl names starting with C:

  1. Charlotte, 12,596 baby girls
  2. Camila, 7,565
  3. Chloe, 5,960
  4. Claire, 3,195
  5. Caroline, 2,859
  6. Cora, 2,738
  7. Clara, 2,648
  8. Charlie, 2,235
  9. Cecilia, 2,050
  10. Catalina, 1,928

Top girl names starting with D:

  1. Delilah, 4,031 baby girls
  2. Daisy, 2,412
  3. Diana, 1,307
  4. Delaney, 1,283
  5. Daphne, 1,257
  6. Daniela, 1,230
  7. Dahlia, 1,219
  8. Dakota, 1,183
  9. Danna, 1,052
  10. Dream, 920

Top girl names starting with E:

  1. Emma, 13,527 baby girls
  2. Evelyn, 9,082
  3. Eleanor, 6,739
  4. Elizabeth, 6,566
  5. Emily, 6,154
  6. Ellie, 5,951
  7. Ella, 5,643
  8. Eliana, 5,329
  9. Emilia, 4,670
  10. Elena, 4,261

Top girl names starting with F:

  1. Freya, 2,061 baby girls
  2. Faith, 1,256
  3. Finley, 1,106
  4. Fatima, 893
  5. Francesca, 820
  6. Fiona, 764
  7. Frances, 755
  8. Felicity, 676
  9. Fernanda, 653
  10. Faye, 610

Top girl names starting with G:

  1. Gianna, 6,129 baby girls
  2. Grace, 4,886
  3. Genesis, 3,651
  4. Gabriella, 2,782
  5. Georgia, 2,157
  6. Genevieve, 1,734
  7. Gemma, 1,649
  8. Gracie, 1,237
  9. Gia, 1,155
  10. Gabriela, 1,041

Top girl names starting with H:

  1. Harper, 7,769 baby girls
  2. Hazel, 6,154
  3. Hannah, 4,102
  4. Hailey, 2,776
  5. Hadley, 2,304
  6. Hallie, 1,553
  7. Haven, 1,353
  8. Harmony, 1,297
  9. Harlow, 1,266
  10. Hope, 1,011

Top girl names starting with I:

  1. Isabella, 10,808 baby girls
  2. Isla, 5,357
  3. Ivy, 5,036
  4. Iris, 2,921
  5. Isabelle, 1,785
  6. Isabel, 1,743
  7. Itzel, 839
  8. Imani, 645
  9. Izabella, 630
  10. Ivory, 581

Top girl names starting with J:

  1. Josephine, 3,347 baby girls
  2. Jade, 2,908
  3. Josie, 2,504
  4. Juniper, 2,382
  5. Julia, 2,290
  6. Juliette, 1,785
  7. June, 1,694
  8. Jasmine, 1,585
  9. Journee, 1,423
  10. Juliana, 1,240

Top girl names starting with K:

  1. Kinsley, 3,188 baby girls
  2. Kennedy, 3,069
  3. Kehlani, 1,854
  4. Katherine, 1,697
  5. Kaylee, 1,641
  6. Kaia, 1,608
  7. Kylie, 1,439
  8. Khloe, 1,381
  9. Kimberly, 1,329
  10. Kailani, 1,315

Top girl names starting with L:

  1. Luna, 7,811 baby girls
  2. Lily, 6,146
  3. Layla, 5,678
  4. Lucy, 4,858
  5. Leah, 3,953
  6. Lainey, 3,928
  7. Lillian, 3,927
  8. Leilani, 3,543
  9. Liliana, 2,787
  10. Lydia, 2,716

Top girl names starting with M:

  1. Mia, 11,359 baby girls
  2. Mila, 5,895
  3. Madison, 5,160
  4. Maya, 4,067
  5. Madelyn, 3,632
  6. Maeve, 3,046
  7. Maria, 2,893
  8. Madeline, 2,726
  9. Millie, 2,559
  10. Melody, 2,557

Top girl names starting with N:

  1. Nora, 5,994 baby girls
  2. Nova, 5,248
  3. Naomi, 4,456
  4. Natalie, 3,418
  5. Natalia, 2,717
  6. Nevaeh, 2,326
  7. Norah, 1,479
  8. Noelle, 1,451
  9. Nyla, 1,236
  10. Noa, 1,041

Top girl names starting with O:

  1. Olivia, 15,270 baby girls
  2. Oakley, 1,874
  3. Oaklynn, 1,815
  4. Olive, 1,640
  5. Ophelia, 1,166
  6. Octavia, 1,123
  7. Oaklee, 685
  8. Opal, 624
  9. Oakleigh, 596
  10. Oaklyn, 514

Top girl names starting with P:

  1. Penelope, 6,041 baby girls
  2. Paisley, 3,727
  3. Parker, 2,293
  4. Piper, 2,066
  5. Peyton, 1,953
  6. Phoebe, 1,580
  7. Presley, 1,517
  8. Palmer, 1,129
  9. Poppy, 1,072
  10. Payton, 990

Top girl names starting with Q:

  1. Quinn, 2,846 baby girls
  2. Quincy, 263
  3. Queen, 128
  4. Quetzaly, 72
  5. Quinley, 50
  6. Quetzalli, 44
  7. Qamar, 40
  8. Quetzali, 37
  9. Quinnley, 28
  10. Quincey, 27

Top girl names starting with R:

  1. Riley, 4,617 baby girls
  2. Ruby, 3,333
  3. Raelynn, 2,406
  4. Rylee, 2,328
  5. Rose, 2,237
  6. Remi, 2,170
  7. Reagan, 1,721
  8. Reese, 1,663
  9. Rosalie, 1,640
  10. Ruth, 1,594

Top girl names starting with S:

  1. Sophia, 11,944 baby girls
  2. Sofia, 7,641
  3. Scarlett, 6,288
  4. Stella, 4,357
  5. Sadie, 3,586
  6. Sophie, 3,578
  7. Sarah, 2,749
  8. Savannah, 2,739
  9. Serenity, 2,548
  10. Skylar, 2,522

Top girl names starting with T:

  1. Tatum, 1,314 baby girls
  2. Taylor, 1,185
  3. Talia, 1,181
  4. Teagan, 996
  5. Thea, 970
  6. Tessa, 960
  7. Trinity, 866
  8. Thalia, 520
  9. Tiana, 488
  10. Taytum, 430

Top girl names starting with U:

  1. Unique, 103 baby girls
  2. Ulani, 80
  3. Uma, 72
  4. Una, 48
  5. Unity, 46
  6. Unknown, 41
  7. Ursula, 39
  8. Uriyah, 22
  9. Uriah, 21
  10. Urvi, 19

Top girl names starting with V:

  1. Violet, 6,342 baby girls
  2. Victoria, 4,434
  3. Valentina, 4,075
  4. Vivian, 2,801
  5. Valerie, 1,944
  6. Valeria, 1,860
  7. Vera, 1,328
  8. Vivienne, 1,283
  9. Vanessa, 1,010
  10. Viviana, 844

Top girl names starting with W:

  1. Willow, 4,727 baby girls
  2. Wrenley, 1,654
  3. Wren, 1,537
  4. Winter, 826
  5. Wynter, 801
  6. Willa, 717
  7. Wrenlee, 512
  8. Winnie, 485
  9. Whitley, 383
  10. Waverly, 305 (tie)
  11. Winona, 305 (tie)

Top girl names starting with X:

  1. Ximena, 1,809 baby girls
  2. Xiomara, 761
  3. Xyla, 275
  4. Xena, 233
  5. Xochitl, 214
  6. Xolani, 176
  7. Xitlali, 135
  8. Xylah, 96
  9. Xenia, 75
  10. Xareni, 69

Top girl names starting with Y:

  1. Yaretzi, 547 baby girls
  2. Yara, 485
  3. Yareli, 388
  4. Yasmin, 309
  5. Yamileth, 292
  6. Yusra, 201
  7. Yuna, 198
  8. Yaritza, 183
  9. Yaneli, 162
  10. Yasmine, 158

Top girl names starting with Z:

  1. Zoe, 5,160 baby girls
  2. Zoey, 4,040
  3. Zuri, 1,471
  4. Zara, 1,282
  5. Zariah, 740
  6. Zahra, 543
  7. Zariyah, 457
  8. Zelda, 401
  9. Zaniyah, 382
  10. Zaria, 371

Source: SSA

Popular baby names in the United States, 2023

Flag of the United States
Flag of the United States

The new rankings have arrived!

Earlier today, the SSA released the 2023 U.S. baby name data. The top two names in the nation are again Olivia and Liam.

Here are the new top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names:

Girl names

  1. Olivia, 15,270 baby girls
  2. Emma, 13,527
  3. Charlotte, 12,596
  4. Amelia, 12,311
  5. Sophia, 11,944
  6. Mia, 11,359
  7. Isabella, 10,808
  8. Ava, 9,682
  9. Evelyn, 9,082
  10. Luna, 7,811

Boy names

  1. Liam, 20,802 baby boys
  2. Noah, 18,995
  3. Oliver, 14,741
  4. James, 11,670
  5. Elijah, 11,452
  6. Mateo, 11,229
  7. Theodore, 11,041
  8. Henry, 10,941
  9. Lucas, 10,842
  10. William, 10,598

The girls’ top 10 consists of the same ten names, nearly in the same order — only Mia, Isabella, and Ava have switched places.

In the boys’ top 10, Mateo (which jumped from 11th place in 2022 to 6th place last year!) replaced Benjamin.

Here are the rest of the names in the top 50 (for both genders):

RankGirl namesBoy names
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50		Harper
Sofia
Camila
Eleanor
Elizabeth
Violet
Scarlett
Emily
Hazel
Lily
Gianna
Aurora
Penelope
Aria
Nora
Chloe
Ellie
Mila
Avery
Layla
Abigail
Ella
Isla
Eliana
Nova
Madison
Zoe
Ivy
Grace
Lucy
Willow
Emilia
Riley
Naomi
Victoria
Stella
Elena
Hannah
Valentina
Maya		Benjamin
Levi
Sebastian
Jack
Ezra
Michael
Daniel
Leo
Owen
Samuel
Hudson
Alexander
Asher
Luca
Ethan
John
David
Jackson
Joseph
Mason
Luke
Matthew
Julian
Dylan
Elias
Jacob
Maverick
Gabriel
Logan
Aiden
Thomas
Isaac
Miles
Grayson
Santiago
Anthony
Wyatt
Carter
Jayden
Ezekiel

Here’s more from the SSA’s press release:

It’s clear that social media stars had a major influence on new parents in 2023. The fastest rising girl’s name, Kaeli, went viral in 2023, rising a whopping 1,692 spots. Parents must have really smashed the ‘like’ button for YouTube and TikTok star Kaeli McEwen (also known as Kaeli Mae), who routinely promotes a clean, tidy, and neutral-aesthetic lifestyle. On the boy’s side, trending in third place as the boy’s fastest riser, is Eiden – perhaps it was TikTok creator Wyatt Eiden’s 1.6 billion views and over 3 million followers that prompted this name’s meteoric rise.

Powerful names also proved very attractive to parents in 2023. Emryn made her debut in the Top 1000 baby names after moving up 1,287 spots – Ryn translates to “ruler,” so it is no shock to see Emryn becoming a leader amongst the girls. Meanwhile Chozen, the second fastest rising boy’s name, fought up to number 813 in 2023. The character Chozen becomes a hero in the latest season of the hit Netflix show, Cobra Kai – wax on, wax off!

More posts on the new names coming soon!

Sources: Popular Baby Names – SSA, Olivia and Liam Reign Supreme – SSA

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

Popular baby names in Johnston County (North Carolina), 2023 & 2022

Flag of North Carolina
Flag of North Carolina

In 2023, North Carolina’s Johnston County welcomed 1,931 babies — 950 girls and 981 boys.

What were the most popular names among these babies? Charlotte and Liam.

Here are Johnston County’s top 10+ girl names and top 10+ boy names of 2023:

Girl names, 2023

  1. Charlotte
  2. Olivia & Sophia (tie)
  3. Camila, Emma, Isabelle & Scarlett (4-way tie)
  4. Abigail & Amelia (tie)
  5. Delilah
  6. Ava, Eliana, Elizabeth, Layla, Luna & Willow (6-way tie)
  7. Chloe, Ellie, Emily, Harper, Hazel, Mia, Paisley, Sadie & Sofia (9-way tie)
  8. Eliza, Kinsley, Leah, Leilani & Presley (5-way tie)
  9. Evelyn, Genesis, Kailani, Lucy, Madison, Raelynn, Riley, Valentina & Victoria (9-way tie)
  10. Adalyn, Autumn, Isabel, Ivey, Jade, Josie, Kaylani, Lainey, Madeline, Madelyn, Milani, Nova, Penelope, Peyton, Samantha, Violet, Whitley & Zoe (18-way tie)

Boy names, 2023

  1. Liam
  2. Noah
  3. Sebastian
  4. William
  5. Asher & Levi (tie)
  6. Julian & Mateo
  7. Carter, Elijah, Grayson, Lucas, Waylon (5-way tie)
  8. Aiden & Chase (tie)
  9. Benjamin, Carson, Charles, Christopher, Hudson, Jackson, Joseph, Maverick, Oliver, Thomas & Wyatt (11-way tie)
  10. Alexander, Amir, Angel, Elias, Ezra, Gael, Ian, Josiah, Legend, Leonardo, Owen & Samuel (12-way tie)

The county’s 2022 rankings — topped by Charlotte and Noah — included total numbers of babies:

Girl names, 2022

  1. Charlotte, 12 baby girls
  2. Amelia & Scarlett, 11 each (tie)
  3. Ava, Harper & Sophia, 10 each (3-way tie)
  4. Camila & Isabella, 9 each (tie)
  5. Elizabeth, 8
  6. Emma, Olivia, & Paisley, 7 each (3-way tie)
  7. Abigail, Ella, Kinsley, Luna, Mia, Riley & Willow, 6 each (7-way tie)
  8. Angela, Brooklyn, Delilah, Ellie, Emily, Everly, Gianna, Hannah, Kailani, Layla, Leah, Madelyn & Savannah, 5 each (13-way tie)
  9. Addison, Andrea, Ashley, Aurora, Avery, Belen, Bella, Carsyn, Chloe, Eleanor, Julia, Lydia, Magnolia & Violet, 4 each (14-way tie)
  10. Ada, Alora, Alyssa, Aria, Callie, Carolina, Elena, Eliana, Eliza, Elliana, Emely, Evelyn, Genesis, Genevieve, Grace, Gracie, Khloe, Lillian, Lilly, Lily, Lucy, Madilyn, Madison, Naomi, Peyton, Presley, Ryleigh, Sara, Skylar, Sofia, Stephanie & Zara, 3 each (32-way tie)

Boy names, 2022

  1. Noah, 16 baby boys
  2. Liam, 12
  3. Mason, 11
  4. Oliver, 10
  5. William & Wyatt, 9 each (tie)
  6. Carter, Jayden & Sebastian, 8 (3-way tie)
  7. Elijah, Lucas, Mateo & Waylon, 7 each (4-way tie)
  8. Alexander, Angel, Asher, Christopher, Dylan, Elias, Ethan, Henry, Isaac, Lincoln & Nathan, 6 each (11-way tie)
  9. Amir, Eli, Jacob, Jameson, Jaxon, River, Ryan & Thomas, 5 each (8-way tie)
  10. Anthony, Chance, Charles, Hendrix, Hudson, Ivan, Jackson, Jordan, Julian, Leo, Levi, Logan, Luke, Matthew, Maverick & Ryder, 4 each (16-way tie)

If you’d like to go back even further, here are links to earlier sets of baby name rankings for Johnston County:

  • 2021 (top names: Olivia and Liam)
  • 2020 (top names: Olivia and Noah)
  • 2019 (top names: Emma and Liam)
  • 2018 (top names: Olivia and Elijah)
  • 2017 (top names: Ava and Liam)

Sources: Top Baby Names of 2023 – Johnston County Register of Deeds, Top 2023 Baby Names In Johnston County – JoCo Report, 2022 Top Johnston County Baby Names – JoCo Report

Image: Adapted from Flag of North Carolina (public domain)