How popular is the baby name An in the United States right now? How popular was it historically? Find out using the graph below! Plus, check out all the blog posts that mention the name An.

The graph will take a few moments to load. (Don't worry, it shouldn't take 9 months!) If it's taking too long, try reloading the page.


Popularity of the Baby Name An


Posts that Mention the Name An

Top baby names in Japan, 2022

japan

The island country of Japan, located in the northwest Pacific Ocean, welcomes over 800,000 babies every year.

As far as I know, Japan has never released an official set of baby name rankings. But Japan’s top baby names of 2022 might be Himari and Ao, if two unofficial sets of rankings are to be believed.

The two sets of rankings were put out by a pair of Japanese companies that used their own data (i.e., the names of the newborns of their own customers/clients) to guess which baby names were the most popular in Japan last year.

  • Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Company’s 2022 baby name rankings (in Japanese) account for 8,561 baby girls and 8,952 baby boys born in Japan from January to September, 2022.
  • Benesse Corporation’s 2022 baby name rankings (in Japanese) account for 148,103 baby girls and 149,152 baby boys born in Japan from January 1 to September 27, 2022.

These rankings aren’t exactly representative: the samples are self-selected, the last quarter of the year is entirely omitted, etc. Nevertheless, they’re fun to check out. And I think it’s significant that they agree on the #1 girl name.

Because both companies rank names as they’re written — and each of these written forms tends to have multiple pronunciations — I had to create images of the rankings (because my blogging software can’t handle kanji/kana characters). So, in the images below, the written forms are on the left, and their most common readings(s) are on the right.


Let’s start with Meiji Yasuda’s list.

Girl Names (Meiji)

Top girl names in Japan in 2022, according to Meiji Yasuda Life

(Himari, Hinata, Hina; Rin; Uta; Hina, Haruna; Yuina, Yuna; An, Anzu; Mio, Rei; Yua; Mei; Riko; Sakura; Ema.)

Boy Names (Meiji)

Top boy names in Japan in 2022, according to Meiji Yasuda Life

(Aoi, So, Ao; Nagi, Nagisa; Ren; Haruto, Hinato; Minato; Soma, Fuma; Ao, Aoi; Itsuki, Tatsuki; Yamato; Yuma, Haruma; Dan, Haru.)


And now, Benesse.

Girl Names (Benesse)

Top girl names in Japan in 2022, according to Benesse

(Himari, Rin, Yuina, Mei, Uta, Hina, Aoi, Riko, Tsumugi, Ema.)

Boy Names (Benesse)

Top boy names in Japan in 2022, according to Benesse

(Ao, Haruto, Aoi, Asahi, Ren, Minato, Yuito, Yuma, Hinata, Itsuki.)

Benesse also noted that several tiger-related boy names saw higher usage in 2022, which was a Year of the Tiger according to the Chinese zodiac.

Tiger-related boy names that saw higher usage in Japan in 2022, according to Benesse

Taiga sounds like the English word “tiger,” while Kotaro can include the kanji character that means “tiger.”

Sources:

Image by Svetlana Gumerova from Unsplash

Top lengths of baby names in the U.S., 2021

Which lengths were the most and least popular for U.S. baby names in 2021?

Top length for girl names: 6 letters

For baby girls, the most-used length was 6 letters, followed by 5 and 7.

Graph of length popularity for U.S. baby girl names, 2021

The most popular girl names per length were…

  • 2 letters (over 200 baby girls): Bo, Jo, Zo, An, Vy, Io
  • 3 letters (over 58,300): Ava, Mia, Zoe, Ivy, Eva, Ada
  • 4 letters (over 223,800): Emma, Luna, Ella, Aria, Mila, Nora
  • 5 letters (over 348,000): Sofia, Avery, Emily, Chloe, Layla, Hazel
  • 6 letters (over 466,100): Olivia, Amelia, Sophia, Evelyn, Harper, Camila
  • 7 letters (over 307,900): Eleanor, Abigail, Madison, Addison, Lillian, Paisley
  • 8 letters (over 142,000): Isabella, Scarlett, Penelope, Victoria, Brooklyn, Savannah
  • 9 letters (over 71,800): Charlotte, Elizabeth, Valentina, Josephine, Gabriella
  • 10 letters (over 8,000): Evangeline, Alexandria, Alessandra, Jacqueline
  • 11 letters (over 300): Christianna, Ameliagrace, Anavictoria
  • 12 letters (under 100)
  • 13 letters (over 100)
  • 14 letters (under 100)
  • 15 letters (none)

Top length for boy names: 6 letters

For baby boys, the most-used length was also 6 letters, followed by 5 and 4.

Graph of length popularity for U.S. baby boy names, 2021

The most popular girl names per length were…

  • 2 letters (over 1,800 baby boys): Bo, Ty, Om, Aj, Cy, Oz
  • 3 letters (over 49,200): Leo, Eli, Kai, Ian, Ace, Max
  • 4 letters (over 288,800): Liam, Noah, Jack, Levi, Owen, John
  • 5 letters (over 453,200): James, Lucas, Henry, Mateo, Mason, Ethan
  • 6 letters (over 511,800): Oliver, Elijah, Daniel, Samuel, Joseph, Julian
  • 7 letters (over 269,000): William, Jackson, Michael, Grayson, Matthew, Gabriel
  • 8 letters (over 106,100): Benjamin, Theodore, Maverick, Santiago, Jonathan, Jeremiah
  • 9 letters (over 42,000): Alexander, Sebastian, Christian, Nathaniel, Alejandro
  • 10 letters (over 3,700): Maximilian, Alessandro, Kristopher, Montgomery
  • 11 letters (over 7,800): Christopher, Maximiliano, Constantine
  • 12 letters (over 200)
  • 13 letters (over 100)
  • 14 letters (under 100)
  • 15 letters (under 100)

Top baby names in Japan, 2019

japan

The government of Japan doesn’t release official baby name rankings, but, in late 2019, the Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co. released the results of its annual baby name survey. The survey covered the first nine months of 2019 and accounted for 8,407 baby girls and 8,455 baby boys (so: less than 2% of the total number of births in Japan).

According to Meiji Yasuda, the top names in Japan in 2019 were Rin and Ren.

Here are the top five names for per gender:

Girl Names

  1. Rin, meaning “dignified”
  2. Himari
  3. Yua
  4. An
  5. Tsumugi

Boy Names

  1. Ren, meaning “lotus”
  2. Haruto & Arata [2-way tie]
  3. Minato
  4. Aoi
  5. Ritsu

Ren was also the top boy name in 2018.

The Reiwa era began in Japan on May 1, 2019, but apparently the era-change did not have a strong influence baby names:

In the past, there had been a trend to name babies using characters from the new era name, but no such names made the top 10 this year, suggesting that this trend may have weakened.

The name Reiwa (“using the same characters as the current era name”) only managed to rank 600th for boys in 2019. In fact, no name containing the kanji for “rei” made the top 100 for either gender — though names with the kanji for “wa” did pop up in the top 100 for both genders.

Sources: Rin and Ren most popular baby names of 2019: survey, Rin, Ren top Japanese baby names in 2019; kanji from new era name less prevalent: poll, Japan’s Deaths Exceed Births by Half a Million in 2019

Numerology & baby names: Number 6

Baby names with a numerological value of 6

Here are hundreds of baby names that have a numerological value of “6.”

I’ve sub-categorized them by overall totals, because I think that some of the intermediate numbers could have special significance to people as well.

Within each group, I’ve listed up to ten of the most popular “6” names per gender (according to the current U.S. rankings).

Beneath all the names are some ways you could interpret the numerological value of “6,” including descriptions from two different numerological systems.

6

The following baby names add up to 6.

  • “6” girl names: Ada
  • “6” boy names: Abba

6 via 15

The following baby names add up to 15, which reduces to six (1+5=6).

  • “15” girl names: Aida, Adia, Alaa, An, Ama, Aala, Daia, Adai, Abcde
  • “15” boy names: Jad, Gabe, Aadi, An, Ej, Alaa

6 via 24

The following baby names add up to 24, which reduces to six (2+4=6).

  • “24” girl names: Ava, Nia, Maia, Alaia, Hana, Amia, Rae, Dara, Kaci, Edna
  • “24” boy names: Ian, Dean, Aden, Dane, Kage, Kal, Abdel, Blade, Edan, Ahan

6 via 33

The following baby names add up to 33, which reduces to six (3+3=6).

  • “33” girl names: Kali, Mabel, Anahi, Mara, Alena, Shea, Aimee, Andie, Arie, Elana
  • “33” boy names: Aiden, Isaac, Wade, Fabian, Kobe, Sam, Abdiel, Amar, Shea, Don

6 via 42

The following baby names add up to 42, which reduces to six (4+2=6).

  • “42” girl names: Eliana, Maria, Cecilia, Callie, Elaina, Lilah, Maggie, Amira, Amari, Anaya
  • “42” boy names: Evan, Axel, Damian, Alex, Joel, Nash, Amari, Andre, Odin, Deacon

6 via 51

The following baby names add up to 51, which reduces to six (5+1=6).

  • “51” girl names: Layla, Lydia, Delilah, Khloe, Myla, Camilla, Phoebe, Haley, Charli, Greta
  • “51” boy names: Michael, Asher, Hugo, Raiden, Issac, Jamir, Boone, Gary, Lachlan, Deandre

6 via 60

The following baby names add up to 60, which reduces to six (6+0=6).

  • “60” girl names: Hailey, Millie, Kehlani, Miranda, Nylah, Raven, Averie, Skye, Wren, Emely
  • “60” boy names: Landon, Kayden, Silas, Grant, Thiago, Enzo, Bryan, Ibrahim, Kason, Ruben

6 via 69

The following baby names add up to 69, which reduces to six (6+9=15; 1+5=6).

  • “69” girl names: Riley, Lillian, Stella, Parker, Harley, Giselle, Rylie, Addilyn, Oakley, Maliyah
  • “69” boy names: Jeremiah, Cameron, Brayden, Parker, Jasper, Griffin, Riley, Hector, Conner, Malcolm

6 via 78

The following baby names add up to 78, which reduces to six (7+8=15; 1+5=6).

  • “78” girl names: Genesis, Kennedy, Melissa, Madilyn, Esmeralda, Scarlet, Viviana, Kayleigh, Oaklyn, Julieta
  • “78” boy names: Robert, Tucker, Patrick, Emiliano, Karson, Daxton, Troy, Dominick, Colson, Vicente

6 via 87

The following baby names add up to 87, which reduces to six (8+7=15; 1+5=6).

  • “87” girl names: Paisley, Everly, Mackenzie, Veronica, Justice, Journi, Marisol, Marlowe, Blessing, Tallulah
  • “87” boy names: Vincent, Victor, Stephen, Joaquin, Kolton, Dustin, Braylon, Justice, Layton, Sonny

6 via 96

The following baby names add up to 96, which reduces to six (9+6=15; 1+5=6).

  • “96” girl names: Destiny, Mallory, Kristen, Vivianne, Shirley, Ellisyn, Kirsten, Maddilynn, Blakelynn, Journii
  • “96” boy names: Weston, Stanley, Ernesto, Turner, Jayvion, Pierson, Knowledge, Townes, Triton, Rexton

6 via 105

The following baby names add up to 105, which reduces to six (1+0+5=6).

  • “105” girl names: Wynter, Dorothy, Christine, Esperanza, Viktoria, Kristine, Alysson, Jessalyn, Huntley, Cypress
  • “105” boy names: Lorenzo, Maximilian, Gustavo, Tristen, Xzavier, Johnathon, Tytus, Huntley, Cypress, Giovonni

6 via 114

The following baby names add up to 114, which reduces to six (1+1+4=6).

  • “114” girl names: Rosemary, Jazzlyn, Josslyn, Brynnleigh, Joselynn, Vittoria, Waylynn, Treazure, Austynn, Alyssandra
  • “114” boy names: Winston, Princeton, Demetrius, Juancarlos, Townsend, Stavros, Waylynn, Sovereign, Leanthony, Moustapha

6 via 123

The following baby names add up to 123, which reduces to six (1+2+3=6).

  • “123” girl names: Monserrat, Antoinette, Riverlyn, Kimberlynn, Quetzalli, Preslynn, Joycelynn, Maryfrances, Starlynn, Rosealynn
  • “123” boy names: Maxamillion, Johnthomas, Timmothy, Greyston, Alexzavier, Grizzly, Lovensky, Cordarious

6 via 132

The following baby names add up to 132, which reduces to six (1+3+2=6).

  • “132” girl names: Westlynn, Timberlynn, Ramatoulaye
  • “132” boy names: Maximilliano, Bartholomew, Marcanthony, Apostolos, Ellsworth, Truxton, Alexanderjames, Josedejesus

6 via 141

The following baby names add up to 141, which reduces to six (1+4+1=6).

  • “141” girl names: Livingston
  • “141” boy names: Youssouf, Livingston, Fiyinfoluwa, Trystyn

6 via 150

The following baby names add up to 150, which reduces to six (1+5+0=6).

  • “150” girl names: Kourtlynn, Morireoluwa, Ibukunoluwa, Montzerrat
  • “150” boy names: Ibukunoluwa, Luisenrique, Morireoluwa, Oluwamayowa

6 via 159

The following baby names add up to 159, which reduces to six (1+5+9=15; 1+5=6).

  • “159” girl names: Krystalynn, Charlotterose

6 via 168

The following baby names add up to 168, which reduces to six (1+6+8=15; 1+5=6).

  • “168” girl names: Oluwasemilore, Chrysanthemum
  • “168” boy names: Quintavious, Oluwasemilore

6 via 177

The girl name Oluwajomiloju adds up to 177, which reduces to six (1+7+7=15; 1+5=6).

What Does “6” Mean?

First, we’ll look at the significance assigned to “6” by two different numerological sources. Second, and more importantly, ask yourself if “6” or any of the intermediate numbers above have any special significance to you.

Numerological Attributes

“6” (the hexad) according to the Pythagoreans:

  • “They rightly call it ‘reconciliation’: for it weaves together male and female by blending, and not by juxtaposition as the pentad does. And it is plausibly called ‘peace,’ and a much earlier name for it, based on the fact that it organizes things, was ‘universe’: for the universe, like 6, is often seen as composed of opposites in harmony”
  • “They also called it ‘health’ and ‘anvil’ (as it were, the unwearying one), because it is reasonable to think that the most fundamental triangles of the elements of the universe partake in it, since each triangle is six, if it is divided by three perpendiculars”
  • “It arises out of the first even and first odd numbers, male and female, as a product and by multiplication; hence it is called ‘androgynous.'”
  • “It is also called ‘marriage,’ in the strict sense that it arises not by addition, as the pentad does, but by multiplication. Moreover, it is called ‘marriage’ because it is equal to its own parts, and it is the function of marriage to make offspring similar to parents.”
  • “They also called it…’measurer of time in twos’ because of the distribution of all time, which is accomplished by a hexad of zodiacal signs over the Earth and another under the Earth, or because time, since it has three parts [past, present, future], is assimilated to the triad, and the hexad arises from two threes.”
  • “It is also called ‘Thaleia’ [etym. Greek, “the plentiful one”] because of its harmonizing different things, and ‘panacea,’ either because of its connection with health…or as it were self-sufficiency, because it has been furnished with parts sufficient for wholeness.”

“6” according to Edgar Cayce:

  • “Six – the strength of a three, with a helpful influence” (reading 261-14).
  • “Six being the changes that have been made in the double strength of three” (reading 261-15).
  • “Six – again makes for the beauty and the symmetrical forces of all numbers, making for strength” (reading 5751-1).
Personal/Cultural Significance

Does “6” — or do any of the other numbers above (e.g., 33, 42, 96, 123) — have any special significance to you?

Think about your own preferences and personal experiences: lucky numbers, birth dates, music, sports, and so on. For example, maybe your favorite book is The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, which highlights the number 42.

Also think about associations you may have picked up from your culture, your religion, or society in general.

If you have any interesting insights about the number 6, or any of the other numbers above, please leave a comment!

Source: Theologumena Arithmeticae, attributed to Iamblichus (c.250-c.330).