How popular is the baby name Ao 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 Ao.
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The East Asian island nation of Japan, the 11th most populous country in the world, is currently experiencing population decline due to a low birth rate. Last year, Japan welcomed just 770,747 babies. This year, the count will likely be even lower.
Japan doesn’t release official baby name rankings, but the most popular names in the country right now include Himari and Ema for girls, and Ao and Haruto for boys.
How do we know this?
Because, every year, two Japanese companies — Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Company and Benesse Corporation — come up with unofficial baby name rankings for Japan using their own data (i.e., the names of the newborns of their own customers/clients).
Meiji Yasuda Life’s 2023 rankings account for 6,951 baby girls and 6,957 baby boys born in Japan from January to September, 2023.
Benesse’s 2023 rankings account for 141,857 baby girls and 143,259 baby boys born in Japan from January 1 to September 27, 2023.
Each company releases two sets of rankings, in fact.
Why two? Because Japanese names, written using kanji (Chinese characters), are notoriously difficult to read; many have multiple potential pronunciations. So the companies rank baby names both as they’re written and as they’re said aloud (“readings”).
Below you’ll find a whopping eight sets of rankings. They account for two genders, two sources, and two ways of judging popularity: written vs. readings. (I had to turn the rankings into images because my blogging software can’t handle Chinese and Japanese characters.)
Girl names (written)
According to Meiji Yasuda Life, these are Japan’s top girl names. Common readings are in parentheses.
The boy names Ao and Ritsu were given a boost in 2023 by soccer players Ao Tanaka and Ritsu Doan, both of whom helped Japan’s national football team advance during the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
The names Tsumugi (female), Minato (male), and So/Sou (male) also rose in the rankings. They correspond to the names of characters on the popular drama/romance series Silent, which aired in Japan from October to December, 2022.
P.S. Though none of the names above would be considered kira-kira names — that is, names with highly unorthodox readings — an increasing number of Japanese babies have been given kira-kira names over the last few decades. (Two examples are Girisha and Torino, bestowed by Japanese athlete/politician Seiko Hashimoto in the early 2000s.) Japan recently decided to crack down on the usage of kira-kira names: a law change “will limit readings of the kanji in children’s names to those ‘generally recognizable by society.'”
The island country of Japan, located in the northwest Pacific Ocean, welcomed 770,747 babies in 2022.
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.
Looking for baby names that are associated with the color blue — including baby names that mean “blue”?
If so, you’re in the right place! I’ve collected dozens of ideas for you in this post.
Before we get to the names, though, let’s take a quick look at what blue represents…
Symbolism of blue
What does the color blue signify?
In Western cultures in particular, blue can be symbolic of:
Trust
Calm
Sadness
Peace
Loyalty
Depth
Authenticity
It can also be associated with melancholy. “To have the blues,” for instance, is an expression meaning “to feel sad.”
Baby names associated with blue
All of the names below have an association with the color blue. The names range from traditional to unusual, and their associations range from strong to slight.
Those that have been popular enough to appear in the U.S. baby name data are linked to their corresponding popularity graphs.
Aciano Aciano is the Spanish word for cornflower (Centaurea cyanus), a species of plant with flowers that are usually blue. Here’s the popularity graph for Aciano.
Afina Afina is a Romanian feminine name meaning “blueberry.” Here’s the popularity graph for Afina.
Alice Alice is part of “Alice blue” — a shade of blue named after Alice Roosevelt (the oldest daughter of U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt) in the mid-1910s. It was inspired by either the blue of Alice’s eyes or the blue of one of her dresses, sources disagree. The name Alice ultimately derives from the Germanic name Adalheidis, meaning “noble character” or “nobleness.” Here’s the popularity graph for Alice.
(The web color aliceblue is a lot lighter than the original “Alice blue.”)
Ao Ao is a Japanese name that can mean “blue,” depending upon the kanji being used to write the name. Here’s the popularity graph for Ao.
Aomi Aomi is a Japanese name that can include the element Ao.
Aori Aori is another Japanese name that can include the element Ao.
Aqua Aqua is a greenish-blue color. The name of the shade comes from the Latin word aqua, meaning “water.” Here’s the popularity graph for Aqua.
Asuman Asuman is a Turkish feminine name meaning “sky.”
Azul Azul is the Spanish word for Azure. Here’s the popularity graph for Azul.
Azur Azur is the French word for Azure. Here’s the popularity graph for Azur.
Azure Azure is a sky-blue color. The name of the shade ultimately derives from the Arabic word lazuward, which refers to lapis lazuli. Here’s the popularity graph for Azure.
Azzurra and Azzurro Azzurra (feminine) and Azzurro (masculine) are the Italian words for Azure. Here’s the popularity graph for Azzurra.
Beryl Beryl is a mineral that can be blue. (Blue beryl is often called “aquamarine.”) The name of the mineral ultimately comes from the Ancient Greek word beryllos. Here’s the popularity graph for Beryl.
Blue Blue, of course, refers to the color blue. :) Here’s the popularity graph for Blue.
Bluebell Bluebell flowers are blue. “Bluebell” is the common name of plants of various genera (including Hyacinthoides).
Bluebird Bluebird is a type of bird with predominantly blue plumage. “Bluebird” is the common name of birds in the North American genus Sialia.
Bluejay Bluejay is another type of bird with predominantly blue plumage. “Bluejay” is the common name of the bird species Cyanocitta cristata.
Caelum Caelum is the Latin word for “sky, heaven.” (Though it’s used as a name in modern-day America, it was simply a vocabulary word in Ancient Rome.) Here’s the popularity graph for Caelum.
Cielo Cielo is a modern Spanish feminine name based on caelum. Here’s the popularity graph for Cielo.
Cerulean Cerulean is a sky-blue color. The word may ultimately be derived from caelum. Here’s the popularity graph for Cerulean.
Chicory Chicory flowers are typically blue. “Chicory” is the common name of the plant species Cichorium intybus.
Chóro Chóro is a Hopi name meaning “blue-bird.”
Chórzhoya Chórzhoya is a Hopi name meaning “little blue-bird.”
Cobalt Cobalt is a vivid shade of blue. Cobalt pigment was originally made from the metallic element cobalt. Here’s the popularity graph for Cobalt.
Cyan Cyan is the greenish-blue color halfway between blue and green on the visible spectrum. The name of the shade comes from the Ancient Greek word kyanos, meaning “dark blue.” Here’s the popularity graph for Cyan.
Darya Darya (pronounced dar-YOH) is a Persian feminine name meaning “sea, ocean.” Here’s the popularity graph for Darya.
Denim Denim fabric is traditionally blue, as it was originally dyed with indigo. The name of the textile is derived from the French phrase serge de Nîmes, which referred to fabric produced in Nîmes, a town in southern France. Here’s the popularity graph for Denim.
Deniz Deniz (pronounced deh-neez) is a Turkish gender-neutral name meaning “ocean.” Here’s the popularity graph for Deniz.
Fayruz Fayruz is an Arabic feminine name meaning “turquoise (the stone).”
Gentian Gentian (pronounced jen-shun) flowers are often blue. According to Pliny, the genus Gentiana was named in honor of Illyrian king Gentius, who is said to have discovered the plant’s medicinal properties. The name Gentian is traditional in Albania, the territory of which was inhabited by Illyrian tribes during ancient times.
Gentiana Gentiana is the modern Albanian feminine form of Gentian. Here’s the popularity graph for Gentiana.
Glory Glory (besides being a vocabulary word) is part of “morning glory” — the common name of flowering plants in the family Convolvulaceae. Morning glory flowers are sometimes blue. Here’s the popularity graph for Glory.
Gökçe Gökçe (pronounced gok-cheh) is a Turkish gender-neutral name meaning “sky blue.”
Haneul Haneul is a Korean gender-neutral name meaning “sky.”
Hyacinth Hyacinth flowers are sometimes blue. The genus Hyacinthus was named for the plant’s association with the myth of Hyacinthus (who was one of the lovers of Apollo in Greek mythology). Here’s the popularity graph for Hyacinth.
Indigo The word indigo refers to flowering plants of the genus Indigofera — particularly the species Indigofera tinctoria — or to the dye made from the leaves of these plants. By extension, it also refers to the purplish-blue color of this dye. The name of the plant can be traced back to the Ancient Greek word Indikón, meaning “Indian,” as the plant is native to India. (It’s no coincidence that the British Royal Navy began using indigo dye extensively during the years that the British East India Company was gaining control over the Indian subcontinent.) Here’s the popularity graph for Indigo.
Jurate Jurate (pronounced YOO-rah-teh) is a Lithuanian feminine name based on the word jura, meaning “sea.” Here’s the popularity graph for Jurate.
Kai Kai is a Hawaiian gender-neutral name meaning “sea.” Here’s the popularity graph for Kai.
Kekai Kekai is a Hawaiian gender-neutral name meaning “the sea.” Here’s the popularity graph for Kekai.
Kallfu Kallfu is a Mapuche feminine name based on the word kallfü, meaning “blue.”
Kallfuray Kallfuray is a Mapuche feminine name meaning “blue flower.”
Kyanite Kyanite is a mineral that is usually blue. The name of the mineral is based on the Ancient Greek word kyanos, meaning “dark blue.” Here’s the popularity graph for Kyanite.
Lafken Lafken is a Mapuche name meaning “sea, ocean.”
Lake Lake water sometimes appears blue. Here’s the popularity graph for Lake.
Lani Lani is a Hawaiian gender-neutral name meaning “sky.” Here’s the popularity graph for Lani.
Larimar Larimar is a light blue variety of the mineral pectolite. Its name, coined in the 1970s, is a combination of Larissa (the name of the daughter of one of the stone’s discoverers) and mar, the Spanish word for “sea.” Here’s the popularity graph for Larimar.
Lazuli Lazuli is part of “lapis lazuli” (pronounced LA-piss LA-zuh-lee) — the name of a deep-blue gemstone. The word lazuli can be traced back (via Latin lazulum and Arabic lazuward) to the place-name Lajward — a region in central Asia where the stone was mined. (The Latin word lapis simply means “stone.”) Here’s the popularity graph for Lazuli.
Livia and Livio Livia (feminine) and Livio (masculine) are the modern Italian forms of the Roman family name Livius, which is thought to derive from the Latin word lividus, meaning “bluish.” Here are the popularity graphs for Livia and Livio.
Lobelia Lobelia (pronounced loh-BEEL-ee-uh) flowers are often blue. The genus Lobelia was named in honor of Flemish botanist Matthias de l’Obel.
Lupine Lupine flowers are sometimes blue. The genus name Lupinus is derived from the Latin word lupinus, meaning “wolfish” (from lupus, “wolf”). Here’s the popularity graph for Lupine.
Mayim Mayim is the Hebrew word for “water.” (Though it’s used as a name among English speakers, it’s simply a vocabulary word among Hebrew speakers.) Here’s the popularity graph for Mayim.
Maya Maya is a Hebrew feminine name based on mayim. It also happens to be a Zuni word meaning “crested blue-jay.” Here’s the popularity graph for Maya.
Mira and Meera Mira, also spelled Meera, is a Hindi feminine name based on the Sanskrit word mira, meaning “sea, ocean.” Here are the popularity graphs for Mira and Meera.
Moana Moana is a gender-neutral name meaning “ocean” in Hawaiian, Maori, Samoan, Tongan, and other Polynesian languages. Here’s the popularity graph for Moana.
Miosotis Miosotis is the Spanish form of Myosotis. Here’s the popularity graph for Miosotis.
Myosotis Myosotis (pronounced my-oh-SOH-tiss) flowers, also known as forget-me-nots, are frequently blue. The genus name Myosotis, meaning “mouse’s ear” in Latin, refers to the shape of the petals.
Navy In the mid-18th century, officers in Britain’s Royal Navy began wearing uniforms that were dyed blue with indigo. The pigment was particularly colorfast (i.e., able to withstand exposure to sun and salt water), so, over time, other countries began to use it for naval dress as well. The dark shade of blue eventually came to be known as “navy blue.” The word navy refers to a country’s collective sea force. It comes (via French) from the Latin word navigia, meaning “vessels, ships, boats.” Here’s the popularity graph for Navy.
Nila and Neela Nila, also spelled Neela, is a Hindi feminine name based on the Sanskrit word nila, meaning “dark blue” or “blue.” Here are the popularity graphs for Nila and Neela.
Nilam and Neelam Nilam, also spelled Neelam, is another Hindi feminine name based on the Sanskrit word nila. Here are the popularity graphs for Nilam and Neelam.
Nilgün Nilgün is a Turkish feminine given name based on the Persian word nilgun, meaning “indigo (the color).”
Ocean The word ocean refers to the vast body of salt water that covers over 70% of the earth’s surface — or to any of the five large bodies of water (Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, Antarctic, or Arctic) into which it is divided. Here’s the popularity graph for Ocean.
Rayleigh Rayleigh scattering explains why the sky is blue. The process — which involves electromagnetic radiation (such as visible light) being scattered by particles much smaller in size than the wavelength of that radiation — was named after British physicist John William Strutt, third Baron Rayleigh, who first described it in 1871. Here’s the popularity graph for Rayleigh.
Safira Safira is the Portuguese word for “sapphire.” Here’s the popularity graph for Safira.
Sagar Sagar is a Hindi masculine name meaning “sea, ocean.” Here’s the popularity graph for Sagar.
Sama and Samaa Sama, also spelled Samaa, is a an Arabic feminine name meaning “sky.” Here are the popularity graphs for Sama and Samaa.
Sapphire The word sapphire refers to the blue variety of the mineral corundum. By extension, it also refers to the blue color of these crystals. The name of the stone can be traced back to the Ancient Greek word sappheiros, which is thought to have referred to lapis lazuli originally (not to sapphire as we know it today). Here’s the popularity graph for Sapphire.
Shyam Shyam is a Hindi masculine name based on the Sanskrit word shyama, meaning “dark blue.” Here’s the popularity graph for Shyam.
Sky The word sky refers to the upper atmosphere, which is bright blue on clear days. It’s based on the Old Norse word ský, which meant “cloud” (ironically). Here’s the popularity graph for Sky.
Sini Sini is a Finnish feminine name meaning “blue.”
Sora Sora is a Japanese gender-neutral name meaning “sky.” Here’s the popularity graph for Sora.
Sunil Sunil is a Hindi masculine name derived from the Sanskrit word sunila, meaning “very blue.” Here’s the popularity graph for Sunil.
Tchelet Tchelet is a Hebrew feminine name meaning “sky blue.”
True True (besides being a vocabulary word) is part of “true blue” — an expression that means “loyal, faithful.” The association between the color blue and the idea of loyalty or constancy may been inspired by the unchanging blue of the sky. Here’s the popularity graph for True.
Turquoise Turquoise (pronounced TUR-koyz) is a mineral that is typically greenish-blue. The name of the stone can be traced back to the Old French term pierre tourques, meaning “Turkish stone.” Though it was mined in Persia, the stone was introduced to Europe in the 13th century by Turkish traders. Here’s the popularity graph for Turquoise.
Umi Umi is a Japanese feminine name that can mean “sea,” depending upon the kanji being used to write the name. Here’s the popularity graph for Umi.
Umiko Umiko is a Japanese name that can include the element Umi.
Zafiro Zafiro is the Spanish word for “sapphire.” Here’s the popularity graph for Zafiro.
Can you think of any other names that have a connection to the color blue?
P.S. Want to see more color-related baby names? Here are lists of red, orange, yellow, green, and purple names.
Sources:
Ammer, Christine. The American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms. 2nd ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2013
Sircarter was influenced by Sir Carter, the son of Beyoncé and Jay-Z. Do you have explanations for any of the other debuts?
P.S. Wondering what a “debut” name is? Debut names were too rare to appear in the SSA data in any previous year (1880-2017). In order to debut, they need to be given to at least 5 babies of one gender or the other within a single year.
Source: SSA
Image: Adapted from LotusBud0048a (public domain) by Frank “Fg2” Gualtieri
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