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

Preliminary 2023 baby name rankings for four U.S. states

peeking nun

Want to take a peek into the future?

The year isn’t over yet, but that hasn’t stopped several regional governments from releasing provisional baby name rankings for 2023.

At least four U.S. states have put out their top baby names of 2023 already, for instance. Let’s check them out, starting in the east and moving westward…

Rhode Island

According to the Rhode Island Department of Health, these were the state’s top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names of 2023.

Top girl names, RITop boy names, RI
1. Charlotte
2. Sophia
3. Olivia
4. Amelia
5. Emma
6. Nora
7. Luna
8. Isabella
9. Mia
10. Isla		1. Noah
2. Liam
3. James
4. Theodore
5. Lucas
6. Michael
7. Julian
8. Benjamin
9. Henry
10. Luca

Mississippi

According to the Mississippi State Department of Health, these were the state’s top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names of 2023.

Top girl names, MSTop boy names, MS
1. Ava
2. Amelia
3. Olivia
4. Charlotte
5. Harper
6. Elizabeth
7. Emma
8. Mary
9. Nova
10. Evelyn		1. John
2. James
3. William
4. Elijah
5. Noah
6. Liam
7. Waylon
8. Mason
9. Grayson
10. Asher

New Mexico

According to the New Mexico Department of Health, these were the state’s top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names of 2023.

Top girl names, NMTop boy names, NM
1. Olivia
2. Amelia
3. Isabella
4. Emma
5. Sofia
6. Mia
7. Sophia
8. Aria
9. Luna
10. Camila		1. Liam
2. Mateo
3. Noah
4. Santiago
5. Ezekiel
6. Elijah
7. Josiah
8. Sebastian
9. Ezra
10. Julian

Arizona

According to the Arizona Department of Health Services, these were the state’s top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names of 2023.

Top girl names, AZTop boy names, AZ
1. Olivia
2. Isabella
3. Emma
4. Mia
5. Camila
6. Sophia
7. Amelia
8. Charlotte
9. Evelyn
10. Luna		1. Liam
2. Mateo
3. Noah
4. Oliver
5. Santiago
6. Elijah
7. Sebastian
8. Ezra
9. Levi
10. Benjamin

Several regions outside the U.S. have also released their 2023 baby name rankings already. Here’s what I’ve spotted so far…

RegionTop names
British Columbia (Canada)Olivia & Noah
New Brunswick (Canada)Olivia & Liam
Nova Scotia (Canada)Olivia & Henry
P.E.I. (Canada)Sadie/Sophie & Jack
ACT/Canberra (Australia)Amelia/Charlotte & Henry
South Australia (Australia)Isla & Oliver
Western Australia (Australia)Isla & Oliver

Have you seen any others?

Sources:

Image: Adapted from A trompe l’œil with a young nun peeking out through a shutter (public domain)

Which girl names are the most Canadian?

Maligne Lake, Canada

A couple of weeks ago, Rachel asked a great question: “I wonder which names are the most Canadian? That is, which have the greatest popularity differentials between Canada and the US?”

In this post and the next, we’ll try to come up with lists of both the “most Canadian” and the “most American” baby names using two different methods.

First, we’ll look at the most popular names that appeared in only one set of data (either Canada or the U.S.) in 2022.

Second, we’ll look at the names that appeared in both sets of data, focusing on how proportionally popular each name was in each place. For the girl names below, I calculated the proportions by dividing each name’s U.S. usage by the total number of girls born in the U.S. last year (1,784,437) and each name’s Canadian usage by the total number of girls born Canada last year (170,916).

Top Canada-only girl names

The 2022 Canadian data included 270 girl names that were not in the U.S. data. Below are the 10+ most popular Canada-only girl names.

Number of girls (Can.)Rank (Can.)
1. Flavie184141st
2. Ophelie169153rd
3. Romane114254th
4. Lea-Rose59484th
5. Lauralie57493rd
6. Sifat47582nd
7. Morgane42649th
8. Louane41666th
9. Leane37725th
10. Megane36 (tie)740th (tie)
11. Oceanne36 (tie)740th (tie)

Most of these are French, of course, and the usage was primarily in Quebec:

  • Flavie: 182 of 184 born in Quebec
  • Ophelie: 163 of 169
  • Romane: 114 of 114 (all)
  • Lea-Rose: 54 of 59
  • Lauralie: 55 of 57
  • Morgane: 41 of 42
  • Louane: 41 of 41 (all)
  • Leane: 35 of 37
  • Megane: 35 of 36
  • Oceanne: 31 of 36

The name Sifat, on the other hand, was not used in Quebec at all.

Girl names particularly popular in Canada

Now let’s look at the more than 3,340 girl names that appeared in both sets of data. Of the girl names used more frequently in Canada than in the U.S., the 10 below had the largest pro-Canada differentials. (I added the rankings for both countries as well.)

Differential (Pro-Can.)Rank (Can.)Rank (U.S.)
1. Florence0.2994%35th622nd
2. Charlie0.2794%18th123rd
3. Alice0.2638%11th64th
4. Chloe0.2573%6th18th
5. Livia0.2446%44th890th
6. Lea0.2338%49th785th
7. Sophie0.2198%16th63rd
8. Clara0.2192%24th110th
9. Rose0.2153%28th120th
10. Romy0.1981%67th1,355th

Top U.S.-only girl names

The 2022 U.S. data included 14,319 girl names that were not in the Canadian data. Below are the 10 most popular U.S.-only girl names.

Number of girls (U.S.)Rank (U.S.)
1. Malani789395th
2. Daleyza745423rd
3. Emely701 446th
4. Fernanda688458th
5. Yaretzi641489th
6. Jimena636493rd
7. Alondra615 509th
8. Anahi533565th
9. Jayleen488607th
10. Melany473623rd

Similar to the way the Canada-only list featured names used by French speakers, this U.S.-only list includes quite a few names used by Spanish speakers.

Girl names particularly popular in the U.S.

Now back to the names that both countries had in common. Of the girl names used more frequently in the U.S. than in Canada, the 10 below had the largest pro-U.S. differentials. (And, again, I added the rankings.)

Differential (Pro-U.S.)Rank (U.S.)Rank (Can.)
1. Camila0.3533%12th163rd
2. Isabella0.2697%6th22nd
3. Gianna0.2151%22nd97th
4. Leilani0.1915%59th684th
5. Genesis0.1763%65th937th
6. Luna0.1636%10th31st
7. Caroline0.1385%77th529th
8. Nova0.1315%32nd71st
9. Harper0.1314%11th34th
10. Serenity0.1239%96th513th

Of course, this analysis is necessarily a bit lopsided: Canada has fewer people than the U.S. does, and also releases a relatively limited set of baby name data.

Still, it’s fun to see the results. :)

What are your thoughts on the names above?

Sources:

Image: Adapted from Sunrise at Maligne lake 2 by Sergey Pesterev under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Popular baby names in Sweden, 2022

Flag of Sweden
Flag of Sweden

Sweden, home to over 10 million people, is easily the most populous of the five Nordic countries. (Denmark, Finland, and Norway each contain between 5 and 6 million people; Iceland contains fewer than half a million.)

Last year, Sweden welcomed 104,734 babies. What were the most popular names among these babies? Astrid and William.

Here are Sweden’s top 50 girl names and top 50 boy names of 2022:

Girl Names

  1. Astrid, 603 baby girls
  2. Maja, 601
  3. Alma, 596
  4. Vera, 592
  5. Freja, 584
  6. Leah, 570
  7. Ella, 563
  8. Alice, 552
  9. Selma, 540
  10. Lilly, 530
  11. Elsa, 528
  12. Ellie, 513
  13. Ines, 512
  14. Olivia, 504
  15. Stella, 482
  16. Wilma, 474
  17. Signe, 456
  18. Ebba, 453
  19. Ester, 433
  20. Clara, 429
  21. Saga, 412
  22. Alva, 403
  23. Agnes, 402
  24. Alicia, 383
  25. Mila, 378
  26. Juni, 364
  27. Molly, 354
  28. Leia, 349 (tie)
  29. Luna, 349 (tie)
  30. Iris, 348
  31. Hedda, 339
  32. Julia, 321
  33. Alba, 320
  34. Ellen, 302
  35. Sigrid, 292
  36. Elvira, 289
  37. Nora, 283
  38. Edith, 276 (tie)
  39. Sara, 276 (tie)
  40. Meja, 273
  41. Celine, 256
  42. Nellie, 253
  43. Lova, 252
  44. Livia, 251 (tie)
  45. Nova, 251 (tie)
  46. Lykke, 250
  47. Rut, 248
  48. Elise, 244 (tie)
  49. Lo, 244 (tie)
  50. Sofia, 235

Boy Names

  1. William, 690 baby boys
  2. Liam, 679
  3. Noah, 677
  4. Hugo, 643
  5. Oliver, 629
  6. Lucas, 616
  7. Nils, 579
  8. Matteo, 571
  9. Valter, 566
  10. August, 565
  11. Elias, 559 (tie)
  12. Leon, 559 (tie)
  13. Adam, 556
  14. Leo, 545
  15. Ludvig, 507
  16. Alfred, 502
  17. Oscar, 490
  18. Sam, 488
  19. Theo, 474
  20. Otto, 469
  21. Arvid, 450
  22. Harry, 436
  23. Frans, 429
  24. Charlie, 424
  25. Elliot, 407 (tie)
  26. Isak, 407 (tie)
  27. Malte, 401
  28. Theodor, 395
  29. Vincent, 383
  30. Elton, 371
  31. Olle, 366
  32. Louie, 363
  33. Benjamin, 358
  34. Gabriel, 351
  35. Ebbe, 343
  36. Alexander, 338
  37. Adrian, 337 (tie)
  38. Axel, 337 (tie)
  39. Love, 328
  40. Henry, 325
  41. Tage, 317
  42. Filip, 315 (tie)
  43. Ted, 315 (tie)
  44. Noel, 310
  45. Josef, 300
  46. Mohammed, 298
  47. Melvin, 297
  48. Jack, 287
  49. Aron, 286
  50. Viggo, 281

Astrid and William rose from 9th place and 2nd place (respectively) in 2021 to dethrone former #1 names Alice and Noah in 2022.

The girls’ top 100 included Sally (53rd), Tuva (65th), Idun (86th), and Eira (98th).

The boys’ top 100 included Sixten (67th), Vide (81st), Folke (86th), and Algot (90th).

The names in Sweden’s top 100 that rose the fastest from 2021 to 2022 were Ronja and Ture. Ture’s rise was particularly impressive:

  • 2022: 251 baby boys named Ture in Sweden [rank: 58th]
  • 2021: 163 baby boys named Ture in Sweden [rank: 84th]
  • 2020: 175 baby boys named Ture in Sweden [rank: 81st]
  • 2019: 171 baby boys named Ture in Sweden [rank: 84th]

The names that saw the steepest drops in usage were Emilia and Sigge.

Finally, some strange news:

Statistics Sweden will stop producing name statistics as of 2024. The reason for this is that Statistics Sweden will prioritize the production of other statistics.

So, will these 2022 rankings be the last set of Swedish rankings we see for a while? (Perhaps a long while?)

How interesting that, not long after Canada decides to begin releasing national rankings, Sweden decides to stop releasing national rankings…

Sources: Name statistics – Statistics Sweden, Population statistics – Statistics Sweden, Nordic Countries – Wikipedia

Image: Adapted from Flag of Sweden (public domain)

Top first letters of U.S. baby names in 2022

Which first letters were the most and least popular for U.S. baby names in 2022?

Top first letters for girl names: A, E, M

For baby girls, the most-used first letter was A, followed by E and M. The least-used first letter was U.

Top first letters for U.S. baby girl names, 2022

The most popular girl names per letter were…

  • A-names (given to over 267,800 baby girls): Amelia, Ava, Aria, Abigail
  • B-names (over 47,600): Brooklyn, Bella, Brielle, Blakely
  • C-names (over 91,300): Charlotte, Camila, Chloe, Claire
  • D-names (over 41,500): Delilah, Daisy, Diana, Delaney
  • E-names (over 154,200): Emma, Evelyn, Elizabeth, Eleanor
  • F-names (over 17,000): Freya, Faith, Finley, Fatima
  • G-names (over 41,500): Gianna, Grace, Genesis, Gabriella
  • H-names (over 55,000): Harper, Hazel, Hannah, Hailey
  • I-names (over 46,000): Isabella, Isla, Ivy, Iris
  • J-names (over 71,600): Josephine, Jade, Julia, Juniper
  • K-names (over 86,400): Kinsley, Kennedy, Kehlani, Kaylee
  • L-names (over 118,000): Luna, Layla, Lily, Lucy
  • M-names (over 147,000): Mia, Mila, Madison, Maya
  • N-names (over 59,400): Nora, Nova, Naomi, Natalie
  • O-names (over 30,500): Olivia, Oakley, Olive, Oaklynn
  • P-names (over 36,600): Penelope, Paisley, Piper, Parker
  • Q-names (over 4,000): Quinn, Quincy, Queen, Quinley
  • R-names (over 74,200): Riley, Ruby, Raelynn, Rylee
  • S-names (over 119,300): Sophia, Sofia, Scarlett, Stella
  • T-names (over 23,500): Taylor, Tatum, Teagan, Thea
  • U-names (over 600): Unique, Uma, Una, Unity
  • V-names (over 34,700): Violet, Victoria, Valentina, Vivian
  • W-names (over 16,100): Willow, Wren, Wrenley, Winter
  • X-names (over 4,900): Ximena, Xiomara, Xyla, Xena
  • Y-names (over 9,100): Yaretzi, Yara, Yareli, Yamileth
  • Z-names (over 29,500): Zoe, Zoey, Zuri, Zara

Top first letters for boy names: J, A, L

For baby boys, the most-used first letter was J, followed by A and L. The least-used first letter was U.

Top first letters for U.S. baby boy names, 2022

The most popular boy names per letter were…

  • A-names (given to over 181,000 baby boys): Alexander, Asher, Aiden, Anthony
  • B-names (over 82,300): Benjamin, Brooks, Bennett, Beau
  • C-names (over 121,500): Carter, Charles, Caleb, Cooper
  • D-names (over 84,000): Daniel, David, Dylan, Dominic
  • E-names (over 109,900): Elijah, Ethan, Ezra, Elias
  • F-names (over 20,500): Finn, Felix, Finley, Francisco
  • G-names (over 51,500): Gabriel, Grayson, Greyson, Gael
  • H-names (over 50,000): Henry, Hudson, Hunter, Harrison
  • I-names (over 32,300): Isaac, Isaiah, Ian, Ivan
  • J-names (over 195,800): James, Jack, Jackson, John
  • K-names (over 94,800): Kai, Kayden, Kingston, Kaiden
  • L-names (over 132,400): Liam, Lucas, Levi, Leo
  • M-names (over 128,900): Mateo, Michael, Mason, Matthew
  • N-names (over 56,200): Noah, Nathan, Nolan, Nicholas
  • O-names (over 40,500): Oliver, Owen, Oscar, Omar
  • P-names (over 23,100): Parker, Peter, Patrick, Preston
  • Q-names (over 2,800): Quinn, Quentin, Quincy, Quinton
  • R-names (over 82,200): Roman, Ryan, Robert, Rowan
  • S-names (over 73,500): Sebastian, Samuel, Santiago, Silas
  • T-names (over 61,100): Theodore, Thomas, Theo, Thiago
  • U-names (over 2,600): Uriel, Uriah, Ulises, Ulysses
  • V-names (over 11,100): Vincent, Victor, Valentino, Vicente/Vincenzo (tie)
  • W-names (over 50,300): William, Wyatt, Waylon, Wesley
  • X-names (over 7,000): Xavier, Xander, Xzavier, Xavion
  • Y-names (over 9,000): Yusuf, Yosef, Yehuda, Yahir
  • Z-names (over 27,600): Zion, Zachary, Zayden, Zane

Source: SSA