How popular is the baby name Zelda 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 Zelda.

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Popularity of the baby name Zelda


Posts that mention the name Zelda

Biggest changes in girl name popularity, 2015

Which girl names increased and decreased the most in popularity from 2014 to 2015?

Here are two ways to look at it. The SSA’s way looks at ranking differences and covers the top 1,000 girl names (roughly). My way looks at raw number differences and takes all girl names on the SSA’s list into account.

Biggest Increases

Raw number increases (all girl names)Ranking increases (top 1,000 girl names)
1. Alexa, +1,786 babies (4,243 to 6,029)
2. Hazel, +1,373 babies (2,897 to 4,270)
3. Mia, +1,336 babies (13,484 to 14,820)
4. Charlotte, +1,238 babies (10,094 to 11,332)
5. Scarlett, +1,106 babies (5,994 to 7,100)
6. Amelia, +1,025 babies (8,770 to 9,795)
7. Riley, +925 babies (4,782 to 5,707)
8. Aurora, +882 babies (2,731 to 3,613)
9. Adeline, +862 babies (1,529 to 2,391)
10. Penelope, +843 babies (5,078 to 5,921)		1. Alaia, +2,012 spots (2,676th to 664th)
2. Meilani, +1,836 spots (2,786th to 950th)
3. Aitana, +1,721 spots (2,638th to 917th)
4. Aislinn, +1,385 spots (2,345th to 960th)
5. Taya, +1,107 spots (2,089th to 982nd)
6. Adaline, +1,029 spots (1,393rd to 364th)
7. Briar, +597 spots (1,441st to 844th)
8. Zelda, +512 spots (1,159th to 647th)
9. Adley, +495 spots (1,322nd to 827th)
10. Lennox, +416 spots (1,156th to 740th)

Hazel, Taya and Adeline were influenced by films: Hazel by The Fault in Our Stars (2014), Taya by American Sniper (2014), and Adaline by The Age of Adaline (2015).

Meilani and Aitana were boosted by celebrity babies. Meilani is the daughter of Jenni “JWoww” Farley, originally of “Jersey Shore” fame, and Aitana is the daughter of Mexican actors Alessandra Rosaldo and Eugenio Derbez. (Both babies were born in 2014.)

Adley was popularized by county singer Adley Stump.

Biggest Decreases

Raw number decreases (all girl names)Ranking decreases (top 1,000 girl names)
1. Isabella, -1,523 babies (17,027 to 15,504)
2. Sophia, -1,236 babies (18,563 to 17,327)
3. Annabelle, -1,093 babies (4,343 to 3,250)
4. Emily, -895 babies (12,622 to 11,727)
5. Alexis, -813 babies (4,208 to 3,395)
6. Arianna, -757 babies (5,255 to 4,498)
7. Ella, -673 babies (8,525 to 7,852)
8. Aubree, -649 babies (4,266 to 3,617)
9. Chloe, -623 babies (8,507 to 7,884)
10. Natalie, -623 babies (7,089 to 6,466)		1. Isis, -1,065 spots (705th to 1,770th)
2. Annabell, -500 spots (935th to 1,435th)
3. Anabel, -500 spots (908th to 1,408th)
4. Cindy, -343 spots (712th to 1,055th)
5. Anabella, -333 spots (531st to 864th)
6. Aranza, -324 spots (607th to 931st)
7. Anabelle, -272 spots (464th to 736th)
8. Sherlyn, -250 spots (891st to 1,141st)
9. Kiley, -235 spots (661st to 896th)
10. Danika, -225 spots (785th to 1,010th)

Isis was brought down by the association with the Jihadist militant group, and nearly every single variant of Annabelle was negatively affected by the horror film Annabelle, released in late 2014.

In 2014, the big winners were Olivia and Aranza, and the big losers were Sophia and Miley.

Sources: Change in Popularity from 2014 to 2015 – SSA, Emma and Noah Once Again Social Security’s Most Popular Baby Names for 2015 – SSA

Popular baby names in the United States, 2015

Flag of the United States
Flag of the United States

According to the Social Security Administration, Emma and Noah were the most popular baby names in the United States in 2015.

Here’s the top 10:

Girl NamesBoy Names
1. Emma, 20355 baby girls
2. Olivia, 19553
3. Sophia, 17327
4. Ava, 16286
5. Isabella, 15504
6. Mia, 14820
7. Abigail, 12311
8. Emily, 11727
9. Charlotte, 11332
10. Harper, 10241		1. Noah, 19511 baby boys
2. Liam, 18281
3. Mason, 16535
4. Jacob, 15816
5. William, 15809
6. Ethan, 14991
7. James, 14705
8. Alexander, 14460
9. Michael, 14321
10. Benjamin, 13608

Emma and Noah were also the #1 names in 2014.

Harper replaced Madison in the girls’ top 10; Benjamin replaced Daniel in the boys’ top 10.

Here’s the rest of the top 50:

Girl NamesBoy Names
11. Madison, 10038
12. Amelia, 9795
13. Elizabeth, 9656
14. Sofia, 9650
15. Evelyn, 9313
16. Avery, 9298
17. Chloe, 7884
18. Ella, 7852
19. Grace, 7589
20. Victoria, 7575
21. Aubrey, 7357
22. Scarlett, 7100
23. Zoey, 6900
24. Addison, 6683
25. Lily, 6617
26. Lillian, 6571
27. Natalie, 6466
28. Hannah, 6372
29. Aria, 6371
30. Layla, 6289
31. Brooklyn, 6268
32. Alexa, 6029
33. Zoe, 5995
34. Penelope, 5921
35. Riley, 5707
36. Leah, 5585
37. Audrey, 5581
38. Savannah, 5413
39. Allison, 5329
40. Samantha, 5304
41. Nora, 5301
42. Skylar, 5258
43. Camila, 5257
44. Anna, 5094
45. Paisley, 5056
46. Ariana, 4933
47. Ellie, 4838
48. Aaliyah, 4836
49. Claire, 4805
50. Violet, 4779		11. Elijah, 13511
12. Daniel, 13408
13. Aiden, 13378
14. Logan, 12862
15. Matthew, 12648
16. Lucas, 12246
17. Jackson, 12182
18. David, 11691
19. Oliver, 11592
20. Jayden, 11475
21. Joseph, 11375
22. Gabriel, 10782
23. Samuel, 10733
24. Carter, 10727
25. Anthony, 10564
26. John, 10303
27. Dylan, 10232
28. Luke, 10219
29. Henry, 10112
30. Andrew, 10027
31. Isaac, 9878
32. Christopher, 9742
33. Joshua, 9720
34. Wyatt, 9597
35. Sebastian, 9569
36. Owen, 9549
37. Caleb, 8727
38. Nathan, 8530
39. Ryan, 8474
40. Jack, 8456
41. Hunter, 8284
42. Levi, 8236
43. Christian, 8127
44. Jaxon, 8015
45. Julian, 8003
46. Landon, 7896
47. Grayson, 7852
48. Jonathan, 7577
49. Isaiah, 7528
50. Charles, 7125

In the girls’ top 50, Alexa, Paisley, Ellie and Violet replaced Arianna, Gabriella, Sadie and Sarah.

In the boys’ top 50, Grayson and Charles replaced Eli and Aaron.

Impressive rises:

  • Alexa rose 31 places, from 63rd to 32nd
  • Violet rose 17 places, from 67th to 50th
  • Grayson rose 16 places, from 63rd to 47th
  • Oliver rose 13 places, from 32nd to 19th
  • Riley (girl name) rose 12 places, from 47th to 35th

Impressive drops:

  • Arianna dropped 16 places, from 40th to 56th
  • Gabriella dropped 11 places, from 43rd to 54th
  • Anna dropped 10 places, from 34th to 44th

There’s much more to come! Until then, I’ll quote liberally from the SSA’s press release:

Each year, the list reveals the effect of pop-culture on naming trends. This year’s winners for biggest jump in popularity in the Top 1,000 are Alaia and Riaan.

Alaia jumped 2,012 spots on the girls’ side to number 664, from number 2,676 in 2014. Perhaps this can be attributed to high fashion designer Azzedine Alaia, or maybe it is because of Alaia Baldwin, the model/daughter of actor Stephen Baldwin.

Riaan increased 1,360 spots for the boys, from number 2,286 in 2014 to number 926. Of Indian origin, it is also the name of the young son of a well-known Bollywood actor, Riteish Deshmukh.

The second fastest riser for girls was Meilani. If you have ever watched MTV’s “Jersey Shore,” and maybe even if you haven’t, you’ve heard of Jenni “JWoww” Farley. She gave birth to daughter Meilani in 2014. On a different American shore, out in Hawaii, is another well-known Meilani–Bethany Meilani Hamilton, the professional surfer whose story of surviving a shark attack was documented in the movie “Soul Surfer.”

For boys, it was Huxley (a brave new comeback for the late science fiction writer?).

Some other notable names in the top 10 biggest increase category, and some possible reasons for their newfound popularity:

– Omari and Jabari for boys. Omari Hardwick is an actor, known for his roles in “Sparkle,” “The A-Team,” and BET Network’s “Being Mary Jane.” He currently stars in “Power,” a popular cable TV series. Jabari Parker is a professional basketball player for the Milwaukee Bucks. He was the second overall pick in the 2014 NBA draft out of Duke.

– Adaline and Zelda for girls. “The Age of Adaline” is a 2015 fantasy film starring Blake Lively, Harrison Ford, Michiel Huisman, and Ellen Burstyn. As for Zelda, maybe the legend continues to grow?

I’ll also note that the name Isis dropped from 705th place (398 baby girls) in 2014 to 1770th place (117 baby girls) in 2015.

Source: Emma and Noah Once Again Social Security’s Most Popular Baby Names for 2015 – SSA

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

Baby named Tali’Zorah for video game character

A baby girl born in North Carolina in early January was named Tali’Zorah (full first name) after a character in the video game Mass Effect.

Tali’Zorah’s father, Adam, said the name was his wife’s idea:

“I was playing the first Mass Effect while she enjoyed it as a spectator, and she fell in love with the name ‘Tali’Zorah’ the instant we met the Quarian being hunted by Fist.

“She told me back then, ‘If we ever have a daughter, I’d love to name her Tali’Zorah,'” Adam said. “It just sounds so beautiful.”

Is he worried Tali’Zorah might be teased about her unusual name?

“Kids will pick on other kids, whether it’s for a name, their hair, or their clothes, so the best I can do is to teach her how to treat people with respect and how to handle those who refuse to do the same.”

Good answer.

What do you think of the name Tali’Zorah? (Her middle name is Rose, btw.)

Source: This Baby’s Name Comes From Mass Effect, and Grandma is Thrilled

Other video game baby names: Dovahkiin, Kain, Kairi, Raiden, Rinoa, Zelda. Not Turok, though.

Name this couple’s daughter: Amelia? Cthulhu?

Canadian software developer Stephen McLaughlin and his wife Alysha have put up a website, NameMyDaughter.com, where you can suggest and/or vote for a name for their unborn baby girl, due on April 2.

Here’s what Stephen said about the decision to create the site:

I came home one day and was talking to my wife about naming our daughter and said, “You know, I should ask the Internet because that’s what I do for a living.”

The caveat, of course, is that the couple “will ultimately be making the final decision” regarding their daughter’s name. Meaning that the site is really no more than a great big suggestion engine that happens to be getting a lot of traffic right now, thanks to Reddit and some press coverage.

Well played, McLaughlin family. Well played.

But it’s an entertaining site nonetheless.

As you’d expect, the internet-suggested names are a mix of serious and silly. The day I created the this post, Amelia was the first name with the most votes. Now that I’m writing it up, the top choice is Cthulhu. Other first names with a lot of votes include Charlotte, Olivia, Camille, Sage, Megatron, Pond, Streetlamp and Stormageddon. Also, both Zelda and Not Zelda.

For middles I see Mae, Rose, Grace, Renee, All-Spark, Le-dash-a, Salad, and Of-the-sea. (Of-the-sea is actually kinda awesome. I’ve voted for that one a few times.)

What first-middle pairing do you think the McLaughlins will end up choosing?

What would you choose if you could name this baby?

Update: And the name is…not Cthulhu. Amelia Savannah Joy McLaughlin was born April 7.

P.S. The McLaughlins live in the British Columbia city Kelowna, which is not just a place, but also a baby name.

Sources: