How popular is the baby name Amber 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 Amber.

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Popularity of the baby name Amber


Posts that mention the name Amber

Top 50 nature names for baby girls

Daisy
Daisy

Nature is waking up again!

Let’s celebrate by checking out which nature names are the most popular for baby girls right now.

Ironically, the top 50 list below includes all the seasons except for “Spring,” but it does feature lots of springtime things: flowers, birds, trees…

To create this list, I used the 2015 U.S. baby name data and stuck to names that were also correctly spelled English words. This means that I skipped names that were non-English words (like Luna) and alternative spellings of words (like Brooke). I should also mention that several of these names (such as Rowan, Sage, Robin, and Clementine) do have more than one etymology to choose from.

Here are the names, plus links to the popularity graphs:

  1. Lily
  2. Violet
  3. Hazel
  4. Autumn
  5. Ruby
  6. Jasmine
  7. Willow
  8. Jade
  9. Ivy
  10. Rose
  11. Daisy
  12. Summer
  13. Iris
  14. Olive
  15. Rowan
  16. Amber
  17. River
  18. Ember
  19. Sage
  20. Aspen
  21. Dahlia
  22. Juniper
  23. Raven
  24. Holly
  25. Savanna
  26. Rosemary
  27. Winter
  28. Crystal
  29. Azalea
  30. Pearl
  31. Magnolia
  32. Meadow
  33. Wren
  34. Ivory
  35. Laurel
  36. Sky
  37. Clementine
  38. Briar
  39. Jewel
  40. Heather
  41. Diamond
  42. Robin
  43. Poppy
  44. Opal
  45. Sunny
  46. Coral
  47. Emerald
  48. Clover
  49. Pepper
  50. Sapphire

Which nature name(s) do you like best?

P.S. Nature names that didn’t quite make the top 50 included Amethyst, Stormy, Indigo, Zinnia, Sandy, and Acacia.

Source: SSA (2015 U.S. baby name data)

Image: Adapted from Leucanthemum vulgare by The Cosmonaut under CC BY-SA 2.5 CA.

[Latest update: Feb. 2025]

Chicago Cubs baby names: Wrigley, Clark, Addison

Chicago Cubs sign

A couple of weeks ago, the Chicago Cubs won the World Series in dramatic fashion (with a score of 8-7 in the 10th inning of the 7th game).

So will we see a rise in the number of babies with Cubs-inspired names (like Wrigley) this year? Probably! Here are some recent examples:

  • Wrigley – Katie Stam Irk (a former Miss America) and her husband Brian welcomed a baby boy several days before the final game of the series. After the Cubs emerged victorious, they named the baby Wrigley Oliver.
  • Wrigley – “Bachelorette” couple Chris Siegfried (a former Chicago Cubs relief pitcher) and his wife Desiree welcomed a baby boy in October and named him Asher Wrigley.
  • Faith Victory – Chicago parents Jason and Kristy Amato welcomed a baby girl in October and named her Faith Victory.
  • Clark and Addison – Cubs fans Scott and Amber McFarland welcomed boy-girl twins in late June and named them Clark (son) and Addison (daughter), “after the iconic intersection outside Wrigley Field.”

The names Clark and Addison were also given to a pair of male-female red panda cubs born at Chicago’s Lincoln Park Zoo last year.

And here’s the most impressive set of Cubs-babies I’ve seen so far: A generation ago, Cubs fanatics Julie and Ralph Dynek named their five children Addison (son), Clark (son), Sheffield (son), Grace Waveland (daughter), and Ivy Marie Wrigley Diamond (daughter). The first four were named after the four streets that surround Wrigley Field, and the fifth was named after the field’s famous ivy-covered brick outfield wall.

And don’t forget this 2007 baby named Wrigley Fields. (Visitors who commented on that post mentioned three more Wrigleys, an Addison, and a Clark.)

Have you encountered any other Cubs-inspired baby names lately, either in the news or in real life?

Updates (added June, 2017):

The Chicago Tribune reports that Stephen and Bronwyn Case of Wheaton, Illinois, recently welcomed a baby girl named Waveland. (Here’s her father’s announcement tweet.)

The Daily Herald reported in January that the first Chicago-area baby born in 2017 (twelve minutes after midnight) was a baby girl named Wrigley Rose.

And Golf Digest reminds readers that “former PGA Tour player and Cubs’ fan David Ogrin and his wife named their son Clark Addison” circa 1993. Here’s what Ogrin told the Tribune in 1996:

Believe it or not, I’ve heard recently of at least three other kids named Clark Addison. Maybe they ought to start a club.

Sources:

Image: Adapted from 10,000 Commemoration by RMelon under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Popular girl names: Biblical vs. Non-Biblical

The ratio of Biblical names to non-Biblical names in the girl’s top 20 is about the same today as it was 100 years ago, though the ratio did change a bit mid-century.

(In contrast, there’s been a steady increase in the number of Biblical-origin names among the top boy names.)

Here’s the color-coded table — Biblical names are in the yellow cells, non-Biblical names are in the green cells, and several borderline names (which I counted as non-Biblical) are in the orange cells:

Popular girl names: Biblical vs. non-Biblical.
Popular girl names over time: Biblical (yellow) vs. non-Biblical. Click to enlarge.
  • Biblical names: Abigail, Anna, Betty (via Elizabeth), Chloe, Danielle, Deborah, Debra, Elizabeth, Hannah, Isabella (via Elizabeth), Janet, Jean, Joan, Judith, Judy, Julie, Lillian (via Elizabeth), Lisa (via Elizabeth), Lois, Marie, Marilyn, Mary, Mia (via Maria), Michelle, Nancy (via Anne), Rachel, Rebecca, Ruth, Sandra (via Alexander), Sarah, Sharon, Stephanie, Susan, Tammy (via Tamar/Tamara)
  • Non-Biblical names: Alexis, Alice, Alyssa, Amanda, Amber, Amelia, Amy, Angela, Ashley, Aubrey, Avery, Barbara, Brenda, Brianna, Brittany, Carol, Carolyn, Catherine, Charlotte, Christina, Christine, Crystal, Cynthia, Diane, Donna, Doris, Dorothy, Edna, Ella, Emily, Emma, Evelyn, Florence, Frances, Gladys, Grace, Harper, Heather, Helen, Irene, Jennifer, Joyce, Karen, Kathleen, Kayla, Kelly, Kimberly, Laura, Lauren, Linda, Lori, Louise, Madison, Margaret, Marjorie, Megan, Melissa, Mildred, Natalie, Nicole, Olivia, Pamela, Patricia, Rose, Shannon, Shirley, Sofia, Sophia, Taylor, Tiffany, Victoria, Virginia
  • Borderline names:
    • Ava (could be based on the Germanic root avi or the Biblical name Eve)
    • Jessica (literary invention, but Shakespeare may have based it on the Biblical name Iscah)
    • Samantha (possibly inspired by the Biblical name Samuel)

Again, feels pretty weird to put overtly Christian names like Christina and Christine in the non-Biblical category, but oh well.

Here are the year-by-year tallies:

YearTop 20 names
given to…		# Biblical# Non-Biblical
191431% of baby girls6 (30%)14 (70%)
192431% of baby girls7 (35%)13 (65%)
193432% of baby girls9 (45%)11 (55%)
194435% of baby girls8 (40%)12 (60%)
195434% of baby girls9 (45%)11 (55%)
196424% of baby girls9 (45%)11 (55%)
197424% of baby girls8 (40%)12 (60%)
198426% of baby girls6 (30%)14 (70%)
199419% of baby girls6 (30%)14 (70%)
200414% of baby girls6 (30%)14 (70%)
201412% of baby girls5 (25%)15 (75%)

Just like with the boy names, though, there’s a big difference between the 1914 and 2014 sample sizes — 31% and 12%. So let’s also look at the 2014 top 100, which covers 31% of female births.

By my count, last year’s top 100 girl names were about a quarter Biblical, three-quarters non-Biblical:

Biblical names (27)Non-Biblical/Borderline names (73)
Isabella (via Elizabeth), Mia (via Maria), Abigail, Elizabeth, Chloe, Addison (via Adam), Lillian (via Elizabeth), Hannah, Anna, Leah, Gabriella, Sadie (via Sarah), Sarah, Annabelle, Madelyn (via Magdalene), Lucy (via Lucius), Alexa (via Alexander), Genesis, Naomi, Eva, Lydia, Julia, Khloe, Madeline (via Magdalene), Alexandra, Gianna (via Joanna), Isabelle (via Elizabeth)Emma, Olivia, Sophia, Ava, Emily, Madison, Charlotte, Harper, Sofia, Avery, Amelia, Evelyn, Ella, Victoria, Aubrey, Grace, Zoey, Natalie, Brooklyn, Lily, Layla, Scarlett, Aria, Zoe, Samantha, Audrey, Ariana, Allison, Savannah, Arianna, Camila, Penelope, Claire, Aaliyah, Riley, Skylar, Nora, Hailey, Kaylee, Paisley, Kennedy, Ellie, Peyton, Caroline, Serenity, Aubree, Alexis, Nevaeh, Stella, Violet, Mackenzie, Bella, Autumn, Mila, Kylie, Maya, Piper, Alyssa, Taylor, Eleanor, Melanie, Faith, Katherine, Brianna, Ashley, Ruby, Sophie, London, Lauren, Alice, Vivian, Hadley, Jasmine

Faith, Grace, Angela, Nevaeh, Natalie…all technically non-Biblical.

27%-73% is remarkably similar to both 25%-75% (smaller 2014 sample) and 30%-70% (1914 sample).

So here’s the question of the day: If you had to choose all of your children’s names from either one group or the other — Biblical names or non-Biblical names — which group would you stick to, and why?

Popular baby names in Ireland, 2014

Flag of Ireland
Flag of Ireland

According to data from Ireland’s Central Statistics Office (CSO), the most popular baby names in Ireland in 2014 were Emily and Jack.

Here are Ireland’s top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names of 2014:

Girl NamesBoy Names
1. Emily, 619 baby girls
2. Sophie, 468
3. Emma, 441
4. Grace, 408
5. Ava, 404
6. Ella, 398
7. Amelia, 388
8. Mia, 370
9. Lucy, 369
10. Aoife, 364		1. Jack, 786 baby boys
2. James, 695
3. Daniel, 638
4. Conor, 581
5. Sean, 526
6. Adam, 493
7. Luke, 437
8. Noah, 434
9. Harry, 398
10. Charlie, 389

In the girls’ top 10, Mia replaced Sarah. (Also: Grace rose from 9th to 4th, while Aoife fell from 6th to 10th.)

In the boys’ top 10, Luke and Charlie replaced Ryan and Michael.

Of all the girl names in the current top 100, the ones that saw the biggest increases from 2013 to 2014 were…

  • Evie, Amber, Sadie, Annie and Ailbhe (in terms of rank change)
  • Sadie, Olivia, Amber, Evie and Lily (in terms of number of babies)

Of all the boy names in the current top 100, the ones that saw the biggest increases from 2013 to 2014 were…

  • Ollie, Peter, Isaac, Danny, Billy and Lorcan (in terms of rank change)
  • David, Luke, Callum, Peter and Ciaran (in terms of number of babies)

Kayden, the boy name that saw the biggest rank-change increase from 2012 to 2013, was one of the names that dropped out of the top 100 in 2014.

Here are the 2013 and 2012 rankings for Ireland.

Source: Irish Babies’ Names 2014 (CSO)

Image: Adapted from Flag of Ireland (public domain)