How popular is the baby name Alex 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 Alex.

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Popularity of the baby name Alex


Posts that mention the name Alex

Popular baby names in the Czech Republic, 2024

Flag of the Czech Republic
Flag of the Czech Republic

Last year, the central European country of the Czech Republic welcomed about 84,000 babies.

What were the most popular names among these babies? Eliška (for the 13th year in a row) and Jakub (for the 14th year in a row).

Here are Czechia’s top 50 girl names and top 50 boy names of 2024:

Girl names

  1. Eliška
  2. Viktorie
  3. Sofie
  4. Anna
  5. Natálie
  6. Amálie
  7. Ema
  8. Tereza
  9. Laura
  10. Adéla
  11. Julie
  12. Rozálie
  13. Nela
  14. Mia
  15. Emma
  16. Karolína
  17. Barbora
  18. Sára
  19. Stella
  20. Anežka – the Czech form of Agnes.
  21. Veronika
  22. Marie
  23. Kristýna
  24. Meda
  25. Valerie
  26. Ella
  27. Klára
  28. Jasmína
  29. Štepánka
  30. Josefína
  31. Lucie
  32. Aneta
  33. Nina
  34. Magdaléna
  35. Zuzana (3-way tie)
  36. Ester (3-way tie)
  37. Beáta (3-way tie)
  38. Alžbeta (tie) – the Slovak form of Elizabeth.
  39. Elena (tie)
  40. Rozárie – the Czech form of Rosaria.
  41. Katerina
  42. Sofia
  43. Leontýna
  44. Liliana
  45. Gabriela
  46. Emily
  47. Amélie
  48. Adriana (3-way tie)
  49. Michaela (3-way tie)
  50. Stela (3-way tie)

Boy names

  1. Jakub
  2. Matyáš
  3. Jan
  4. Adam
  5. Matej
  6. David
  7. Vojtech
  8. Filip
  9. Dominik
  10. Tomáš
  11. Daniel
  12. Tobiáš
  13. Oliver
  14. Štepán
  15. Antonín
  16. Sebastian
  17. Lukáš
  18. Martin
  19. Ondrej
  20. Mikuláš
  21. Šimon (tie)
  22. Marek (tie)
  23. Samuel
  24. Jonáš
  25. Václav
  26. Petr (tie)
  27. Teodor (tie)
  28. Patrik
  29. Jirí – the Czech form of George.
  30. Tadeáš
  31. Kryštof
  32. Michal
  33. Viktor
  34. Vilém – the Czech form of William.
  35. Jáchym
  36. Eliáš
  37. Josef
  38. Richard
  39. Eduard
  40. František
  41. Albert
  42. Tobias
  43. Theodor
  44. Alex
  45. Pavel
  46. Kristián (tie)
  47. Damián (tie)
  48. Vincent
  49. Jindrich – the Czech form of Heinrich.
  50. Michael

The girls’ top 100 included Markéta (57th), Klaudie (68th), Nella (76th), and Bára (97th).

The boys’ top 100 included Vít (55th), Robin (60th), Hynek (66th), and Kevin (81st).

Speaking of Kevin…Czech journalist Michal Kašpárek (who helped build an app based on Czechia’s baby name data) mentioned Kevin and several other non-Czech names during an interview with Radio Prague International last year. Some quotes:

  • Amélie: “Before the movie Amélie came out in 2001 about one girl a year in the Czech Republic was named Amélie. The year after there [were] 13, out of nowhere, and then the number doubled each year until reaching today’s 180 or so Amélies every year.”
  • Kevin: “Kevin became really popular after Home Alone came out, which was in the ’90s, when American names in general got more popular in the Czech Republic.”
  • Bob: “[O]ur data also shows that the first Bobs were showing up in the 1960s, possibly due to Bob Dylan.”
  • Amy: “There was also a big increase in the name Amy around that time that Amy Winehouse hit it big. That was a trend that didn’t stop after she passed away. Amy is still a really common name, and it hadn’t been before.”

I didn’t post about Czechia’s top baby names of 2023, but here are Czechia’s 2016 rankings.

P.S. Several Czech letters, such as R-with-caron and E-with-caron, don’t render properly on my site. So please imagine that they exist in several of the names above: the girl names Alžbeta, Katerina, and Štepánka, and the boy names Jindrich, Jirí, Matej, Ondrej, Štepán, and Vojtech.

Sources: Detským jménum loni opet kralovali Jakub a Eliška – Ceský statistický úrad, Eliška and Jakub remain most popular baby names in Czechia – Radio Prague International, Jakub, Eliška… Kevin: App spotlights first names in Czechia – Radio Prague International, Behind the Name

Image: Adapted from Flag of the Czech Republic (public domain)

Popular baby names in Spain, 2023

Flag of Spain
Flag of Spain

Two years ago, the country of Spain welcomed 320,656 babies — 156,039 (49%) girls and 164,617 (51%) boys.

What were the most popular names among these babies? Lucia and Hugo.

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

Girl names

  1. Lucia, 3,076 baby girls
  2. Sofia, 2,990
  3. Martina, 2,507
  4. Maria, 2,242
  5. Julia, 2,162
  6. Valeria, 2,047
  7. Olivia, 1,838
  8. Emma, 1,770
  9. Paula, 1,720
  10. Vega, 1,719
  11. Mia, 1,660
  12. Alma, 1,615 (tie)
  13. Carmen, 1,615 (tie)
  14. Daniela, 1,543
  15. Carla, 1,507
  16. Lara, 1,418
  17. Sara, 1,389
  18. Jimena, 1,362
  19. Lola, 1,355
  20. Gala, 1,339
  21. Noa, 1,298
  22. Alba, 1,283
  23. Claudia, 1,269
  24. Chloe, 1,221
  25. Valentina, 1,197
  26. Aitana, 1,037
  27. Alejandra, 1,005
  28. Manuela, 986
  29. Triana, 980
  30. Laia, 936
  31. Candela, 917
  32. Abril, 898
  33. Ana, 897 (tie)
  34. Zoe, 897 (tie)
  35. Ines, 880
  36. Victoria, 866
  37. Vera, 864
  38. Elena, 857
  39. Adriana, 828
  40. Blanca, 813
  41. Carlota, 746
  42. Nora, 727
  43. Marina, 723
  44. Rocio, 702
  45. Clara, 693
  46. Lia, 679
  47. Luna, 666
  48. Amira, 608
  49. Marta, 606
  50. Alicia, 583

Boy names

  1. Hugo, 3,126 baby boys
  2. Mateo, 3,100
  3. Martin, 2,917
  4. Leo, 2,542
  5. Lucas, 2,394
  6. Manuel, 2,339
  7. Pablo, 2,224
  8. Alejandro, 2,102
  9. Enzo, 2,062
  10. Daniel, 1,957
  11. Alvaro, 1,919
  12. Thiago, 1,560
  13. Adrian, 1,506
  14. Mario, 1,505
  15. Liam, 1,493
  16. Diego, 1,422
  17. Luca, 1,394
  18. Bruno, 1,367
  19. Oliver, 1,331
  20. Gonzalo, 1,278
  21. David, 1,243
  22. Alex, 1,223
  23. Marcos, 1,201
  24. Gael, 1,199
  25. Nicolas, 1,171
  26. Miguel, 1,162
  27. Izan, 1,158
  28. Marco, 1,148
  29. Antonio, 1,118
  30. Javier, 1,105
  31. Juan, 1,056
  32. Gabriel, 980
  33. Angel, 924
  34. Dylan, 911
  35. Carlos, 905
  36. Marc, 899
  37. Rodrigo, 868
  38. Jose, 866
  39. Dario, 860
  40. Adam, 818
  41. Samuel, 718
  42. Noah, 713
  43. Jaime, 703 (tie)
  44. Jorge, 703 (tie)
  45. Francisco, 657
  46. Santiago, 654
  47. Sergio, 647
  48. Guillermo, 630 (tie)
  49. Pau, 630 (tie)
    • Pau, the Catalan and Occitan form of Paul, is also a homophone of pau, the Catalan word for “peace.” This makes it similar to the Spanish name Paz, which comes from the Marian title Nuestra Señora de la Paz (transl. “Our Lady of Peace”).
  50. Eric, 616

In the girls’ top 10, Vega replaced Daniela.

In the boys’ top 10, Enzo replaced Alvaro.

A year earlier, in 2022, the top names in Spain were Lucia and Martin.

Sources: Apellidos y nombres más frecuentes – INEbase, Estadística de nacimientos – INEbase, Pau – Behind the Name

Image: Adapted from Flag of Spain (public domain)

What popularized the baby name Corbin in 1987?

The character Arnie Becker (played by Corbin Bernsen) from the TV series "L.A. Law" (1986-1994)
Corbin Bernsen as Arnie Becker

According to the U.S. baby name data, the name Corbin nearly tripled in usage in 1987:

  • 1989: 525 baby boys named Corbin [rank: 406th]
  • 1988: 374 baby boys named Corbin [rank: 473rd]
  • 1987: 234 baby boys named Corbin [rank: 592nd]
  • 1986: 79 baby boys named Corbin
  • 1985: 54 baby boys named Corbin

Why?

Because of actor Corbin Bernsen, who played Arnold “Arnie” Becker on the popular NBC legal drama L.A. Law, which began airing (on Thursday nights) in September of 1986.

Arnie Becker was an “oily but effective” divorce attorney who drove a Porsche 911 (license plate: LITIG8R) and led a promiscuous lifestyle. He was described as “television’s first unapologetically yuppie antihero” by a Rolling Stone writer (who noted that Alex P. Keaton was a mere “cuddly yuppie puppy” compared to Becker).

For his portrayal of Becker, Corbin Bernsen received nominations for both an Emmy Award and a Golden Globe Award.

The first name Corbin often comes from the surname Corbin, which has several possible derivations — including the Old French/Middle English word corbin, a diminutive of corb, meaning “crow, raven.”

P.S. The name saw another jump in usage in the late 1990s, thanks to the sci-fi movie The Fifth Element…

Sources:

  • L.A. Law – Television Academy Interviews
  • Kilday, Gregg. “Networking Class Hero.” Rolling Stone 4 Jun. 1987.
  • Asimow, Michael, Kathryn Brown and David Ray Papke. (Eds.) Law and Popular Culture: International Perspectives. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2014.
  • Hanks, Patrick, Simon Lenarcic and Peter McClure. (Eds.) Dictionary of American Family Names. 2nd ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 2022.
  • SSA

Image: Screenshot of L.A. Law

Baby name story: Daehlie

Bjørn Dæhlie greeting Philip Boit at the 1998 Winter Olympics
Bjørn Dæhlie greeting Philip Boit

Norwegian cross-country skier Bjørn Dæhlie (pronounced DAHL-ee) placed first in the men’s 10km classic at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan.

He held off going to the medal ceremony, though, until Kenyan skier Philip Boit — a former middle-distance runner who, after switching sports, became the very first Kenyan to compete at the Winter Games — crossed the finish line in last place, twenty minutes later.

Philip Boit welcomed his first child, a baby boy, just weeks after the Olympics. The baby’s name? Daehlie, after Bjørn Dæhlie. As Boit explained,

All my friends and family said he had to be a very good-hearted man because he waited for me in Nagano, and that I should keep his name in my family.

Philip Boit went on to have three more children: Olympia, Faith, and Alex.

P.S. Philip Boit’s uncle, middle-distance runner Mike Boit, competed alongside Kipchoge Keino at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich, Germany.

Sources:

Image: Screenshot of the 1998 Winter Olympics