How popular is the baby name Alfie 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 Alfie.

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Popularity of the baby name Alfie


Posts that mention the name Alfie

What brought the baby name Zoella back in the 2010s?

English blogger/vlogger Zoe Sugg
Zoe Sugg

While I was checking out my traffic stats the other day, I noticed that my Zoella page has been getting a weirdly high number of visitors lately. Which is odd, because Zoella isn’t exactly an in-demand baby name.

In the U.S., usage of rare Zoella peaked in the last decades of the 1800s and first decades of the 1900s. The name has only appeared in the SSA’s baby name data a total of three times:

  • 2012: unlisted
  • 2011: 5 baby girls named Zoella
  • 2010: unlisted
  • […]
  • 1922: unlisted
  • 1921: 5 baby girls named Zoella
  • 1920: 5 baby girls named Zoella [debut]
  • 1919: unlisted

Why are people searching for a name that hasn’t been in style for nearly a century? And, why might Zoella have popped back into the data recently?

Beyond the fact that Zoella looks like a combination of the trendy names Zoe and Ella, my best guess is popular beauty and fashion blogger/vlogger Zoella, a.k.a. 23-year-old Zoë Sugg of Wiltshire, England.

Zoella won the Cosmo Blog Award for “Best established beauty blog” in 2011 and, just a few weeks ago, won “Best British Vlogger” at BBC Radio 1’s Teen Awards. She currently has around 3 million subscribers on YouTube.

If Zoella’s visibility has indeed inspired parents to start naming their baby girls Zoella, this could be the very first case of a blogger/vlogger affecting the baby name charts.

Do you like the name Zoella? Do you think it’ll become more popular over the next few years?

P.S. I’ve checked the full England & Wales popularity lists going back to 2007. So far, no Zoella.

Update, Oct. 2020: Zoella has appeared in the data quite a bit since I published this post seven years ago! Here are the latest numbers for Zoella:

  • 2019: 31 baby girls named Zoella
  • 2018: 34 baby girls named Zoella
  • 2017: 13 baby girls named Zoella
  • 2016: 20 baby girls named Zoella
  • 2015: 20 baby girls named Zoella
  • 2014: 13 baby girls named Zoella
  • 2013: 6 baby girls named Zoella
  • 2012: unlisted
  • 2011: 5 baby girls named Zoella
  • 2010: unlisted

And here’s a visual:

baby name Zoella popularity graph

I find it very interesting that the baby name data seems to mirror (with a several-year lag) the Google Trends graph for Zoella:

“United States. 10/25/08 – 10/25/20. Web Search.”

(That high point happened in December of 2014.)

Where do you think the name Zoella is headed? Will usage start to taper off (like the searches did), or will the name stick around in the data (despite the waning popularity of the vlogger who drew attention to it in the first place)?

Update, Jan. 2025: Last month, Zoë Sugg and her boyfriend, Alfred “Alfie” Deyes, welcomed their second daughter, Novie Nell. (Here’s the IG announcement.) Their first daughter, born in mid-2021, was named Ottilie Rue. The name Ottilie was already becoming trendy in England and Wales when they chose it, but Novie is still quite rare. (It was given to just 8 baby girls in 2023.) Do you think we’ll see an uptick in the usage of Novie in England and Wales in 2025?

Sources: Zoe Sugg – Wikipedia, SSA

Image: Adapted from Zoe Sugg by Gage Skidmore under CC BY-SA 2.0.

[Latest update: Jan. 2025]

Kids named for cars: Porsche, Mercedes, Alfa

Porsche coupe
Porsche

Last month, Joy Lowther of Norfolk, England, went into labor while shopping in a local supermarket. Ten minutes later, she gave birth to a baby girl.

She and her boyfriend decided to name the baby Porsche, as one of their older children is called Mercedes. The other two are Frank* and Alfie — who’s now called Alfa, says Joy, “because the girls are named after cars.”

Joy plans to have one more baby. If it’s a boy, he’ll be called Bentley (a name that’s very trendy in the U.S. right now thanks to reality TV).

Joy didn’t mention what she’d name another baby girl, but I know of a Porsche in Texas who has sisters named Audi and Lexus, so there are two ideas. Another possibility is Cressida, which might be picking up steam soon. Other car names that have been used as girl names include Camry, Jetta, Miata and Kia.

*Poor Frank. He’s the only sibling without a car name. On that note, here’s a question for you: If you had a bunch of siblings (4+) and all but one of you had a name that fit a pattern, would you want one of the “in” names, or would you rather be the odd one out?

Source: Alfa, Mercedes and now Porsche! (via Abby)

Image: Adapted from 1964 Porsche coupe by Edgy01 under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Popular baby names in England and Wales (UK), 2012

Flag of the United Kingdom
Flag of the United Kingdom

The most popular baby names in England and Wales were announced last week.

According to the Office for National Statistics, the region’s top names were Harry for boys and Amelia for girls.

Here are the top 20 girl names and top 20 boy names of 2012:

Top Girl NamesTop Boy Names
1. Amelia
2. Olivia
3. Jessica
4. Emily
5. Lily
6. Ava
7. Mia
8. Isla
9. Sophie
10. Isabella
11. Evie
12. Ruby
13. Poppy
14. Grace
15. Sophia
16. Chloe
17. Isabelle
18. Ella
19. Freya
20. Charlotte		1. Harry
2. Oliver
3. Jack
4. Charlie
5. Jacob
6. Thomas
7. Alfie
8. Riley
9. William
10. James
11. Joshua
12. George
13. Ethan
14. Noah
15. Samuel
16. Daniel
17. Oscar
18. Max
19. Muhammad
20. Leo

The England-only top 20 included all of the above except for Archie (not Leo) on the boys’ side.

The Wales-only top 20 included Dylan, Mason, Logan, Tyler and Isaac (not Samuel, Daniel, Oscar, Max or Muhammad) for boys and Seren, Megan, Ffion and Layla (not Isla, Chloe, Freya or Charlotte) for girls.

Newbies to the England and Wales top 100 are…

  • Hugo, Sonny, Seth, Elliott, Theodore, Rory and Ellis for boys. (Out are Joel, Hayden, John, Ashton, Jackson, Ben and Reece.)
  • Mollie, Ivy, Darcey, Tilly, Sara and Violet for girls. (Out are Lexie, Lauren, Rebecca, Tia, Nicola and Kayla.)

Here’s a selection of names from the other end of the list (each given to 10 babies or fewer):

Rare Girl NamesRare Boy Names
Ambreen, Anest, Arrietty, Arzoo, Bowie, Charvi, Cressida, Csenge, Delyth, Devoiry, Eveie, Flourish, Gwenno, Liepa, Llio, Lliwen, Loveday, Mayameen, Mazvita, Migle, Makanaka, Ocean-Blu, Pip, Senuli, Strawberry, Testimony, Tiggy, TulsiAlieu, Atreyu, Bede, Betzalel, Boston, Cavalli, Celt, Cem, Connah, Croyde, Dacre, Exodus, His, Huckleberry, James-Dean, Jools, Jovi, Louix, MD., Messiah, Motty, Neyo, Nuh, Nuno, Papa, Peregrine, Platon, Reco, Rhome, Soul, Ting, Tirth, Ugnius, Wing, Winner

Finally, here are some older posts with the 2011, 2010, 2009, and 2008 lists of most popular names in England & Wales.

Source: Baby Names, England and Wales, 2012 (ONS)

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

Popular baby names in Ireland, 2012

Flag of Ireland
Flag of Ireland


The most popular baby names in Ireland came out a few days ago.

According to the Central Statistics Office, the country’s top names are Emily for girls and Jack for boys.

Here are the top 100 girl names and top 100 boy names of 2012:

Girl Names

  1. Emily
  2. Sophie
  3. Emma
  4. Grace
  5. Lily
  6. Mia
  7. Ella
  8. Ava
  9. Lucy
  10. Sarah
  11. Aoife
  12. Amelia
  13. Hannah
  14. Katie
  15. Chloe
  16. Caoimhe
  17. Saoirse
  18. Kate
  19. Holly
  20. Ruby
  21. Sophia
  22. Anna
  23. Lauren
  24. Leah
  25. Amy
  26. Isabelle
  27. Molly
  28. Ellie
  29. Jessica
  30. Olivia
  31. Roisin
  32. Ciara
  33. Kayla
  34. Julia [tie]
  35. Zoe [tie]
  36. Laura
  37. Niamh
  38. Abbie
  39. Erin
  40. Rachel
  41. Robyn
  42. Aisling
  43. Faye
  44. Rebecca
  45. Eva [tie]
  46. Layla [tie]
  47. Ellen
  48. Cara
  49. Freya
  50. Abigail [tie]
  51. Eve [tie]
  52. Isabella [tie]
  53. Megan
  54. Aine [tie]
  55. Clodagh [tie]
  56. Aoibhinn
  57. Millie
  58. Nicole
  59. Aoibheann
  60. Maja
  61. Sadhbh
  62. Eabha
  63. Charlotte
  64. Amber [tie]
  65. Caitlin [tie]
  66. Sofia [tie]
  67. Alannah
  68. Zara
  69. Alice
  70. Maria
  71. Elizabeth [tie]
  72. Lena [tie]
  73. Mary [tie]
  74. Emilia
  75. Aimee [tie]
  76. Lilly [tie]
  77. Hollie
  78. Aoibhe
  79. Victoria
  80. Eimear [tie]
  81. Maya [tie]
  82. Isabel [tie]
  83. Orla [tie]
  84. Evie
  85. Kayleigh
  86. Brooke [tie]
  87. Clara [tie]
  88. Meabh
  89. Lexi
  90. Tara
  91. Daisy [tie]
  92. Katelyn [tie]
  93. Ailbhe [tie]
  94. Amelie [tie]
  95. Natalia [tie]
  96. Sara [tie]
  97. Hanna [tie]
  98. Laoise [tie]
  99. Ruth [tie]
  100. Madison [tie]
  101. Maeve [tie]
  102. Maisie [tie]
  103. Rose [tie]

Boy Names

  1. Jack
  2. James
  3. Daniel
  4. Sean
  5. Conor
  6. Adam
  7. Harry
  8. Ryan
  9. Dylan
  10. Michael
  11. Luke
  12. Charlie
  13. Liam
  14. Oisin
  15. Cian
  16. Jamie
  17. Thomas
  18. Alex
  19. Noah
  20. Darragh
  21. Patrick
  22. Aaron
  23. Cillian
  24. Matthew
  25. John
  26. Nathan
  27. David [tie]
  28. Fionn [tie]
  29. Evan
  30. Ethan
  31. Jake
  32. Kyle
  33. Rian
  34. Ben [tie]
  35. Max [tie]
  36. Eoin
  37. Tadhg
  38. Finn
  39. Callum
  40. Samuel
  41. Joshua
  42. Rory
  43. Jayden
  44. Joseph
  45. Tyler
  46. Sam
  47. Shane
  48. Mark [tie]
  49. Robert [tie]
  50. Aidan
  51. William
  52. Ronan
  53. Eoghan
  54. Alexander [tie]
  55. Leon [tie]
  56. Cathal
  57. Mason
  58. Tom
  59. Oliver
  60. Andrew
  61. Oscar
  62. Ciaran
  63. Bobby
  64. Jacob
  65. Senan
  66. Rhys
  67. Scott
  68. Benjamin [tie]
  69. Cormac [tie]
  70. Kevin
  71. Lucas
  72. Alan
  73. Donnacha [tie]
  74. Jakub [tie]
  75. Christopher
  76. Filip [tie]
  77. Killian [tie]
  78. Josh
  79. Alfie
  80. Tommy
  81. Ruairi
  82. Odhran
  83. Oran
  84. Leo
  85. Isaac
  86. Dara [tie]
  87. Jason [tie]
  88. Zach
  89. Martin [tie]
  90. Peter [tie]
  91. Brian
  92. Danny
  93. Niall [tie]
  94. Tomas [tie]
  95. Edward [tie]
  96. Stephen [tie]
  97. Logan
  98. Kacper
  99. Anthony
  100. Billy

New to the top 100 list are Isaac, Danny and Logan for boys and Evie, Amelie, Hanna, Maisie and Rose for girls.

Some of the specifically Irish names in the top 100 are…

  • Girls: Aoife, Caoimhe, Saoirse, Roisin, Ciara, Niamh, Aisling, Aine, Clodagh, Aoibhinn, Aoibheann, Sadhbh, Eabha, Aoibhe, Eimear, Meabh, Ailbhe, Laoise, Maeve
  • Boys: Liam, Oisin, Cian, Darragh, Cillian, Fionn, Rian, Eoin, Tadhg, Finn, Callum, Rory, Ronan, Eoghan, Cathal, Ciaran, Senan, Cormac, Donnacha, Ruairi, Odhran, Niall

Sources: Jack and Emily most popular baby names, Irish Babies’ Names – CSO

Image: Adapted from Flag of Ireland (public domain)