How popular is the baby name Athena 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 Athena.

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Popularity of the baby name Athena


Posts that mention the name Athena

Popular baby names in the Philippines, 2022

Flag of the Philippines
Flag of the Philippines

In 2022, the Philippines welcomed 1,455,393 babies.

What were the most popular names among these babies? Althea and Nathaniel, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority.

Here are the country’s top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names of 2022:

Girl names

  1. Althea, 1,935 baby girls
  2. Angel, 1,388
  3. Samantha, 1,314
  4. Princess, 1,110
  5. Nathalie, 1,094
  6. Chloe, 1,056
  7. Sofia, 1,046
  8. Zia, 984
  9. Athena, 983
  10. Sophia, 973

Boy names

  1. Nathaniel, 1,956 baby boys
  2. Jacob, 1,781
  3. Ezekiel, 1,662
  4. Gabriel, 1,583
  5. Nathan, 1,557
  6. Ethan, 1,359
  7. Noah, 1,322
  8. Liam, 1,198
  9. James, 1,151
  10. Matthew, 1,138

In the girls’ top 10, Zia and Athena replaced Andrea and Angela.

In the boys’ top 10, Noah and Liam replaced Angelo and Zion.

And which baby names saw the biggest jumps in usage?

  • Noah, which rose from 931 to 1,322 baby boys [2021 to 2022]
  • Avianna Louise, which rose from 11 to 295 baby girls [2021 to 2022]

Avianna Louise’s extreme increase must be attributable to something, though I’m not sure what.

In lieu of that, here’s some fun data from a 2017 infographic (PDF) showing how beauty queens have influenced girl names in the Philippines over the years.

In 1974 and 1994 — the first two times that the Philippines hosted the Miss Universe pageant — babies were named after both the delegate from the Philippines and the delegate who won the pageant:

NameDelegateUsage Increase (baby girls)
GuadalupeGuadalupe Sanchez
Miss Philippines 1974		46 to 87
[1973 to 1974]
AmparoAmparo Muñoz (of Spain)
Miss Universe 1974		127 to 689
[1973 to 1974]
CharleneCharlene Gonzales
Miss Philippines 1994		1,345 to 4,178
[1993 to 1994]
SushmitaSushmita Sen (of India)
Miss Universe 1994		3 to 535
[1993 to 1994]

And in 1969, 1973, and 2015, the delegate from the Philippines was the winner of the pageant:

NameDelegateUsage increase (baby girls)
GloriaGloria Diaz
Miss Universe 1969		3,100 to 3,413
[1968 to 1969]
Margarita or Margie
(not specified)		Margarita “Margie” Moran
Miss Universe 1973		1,706 to 2,351
[1972 to 1973]
PiaPia Wurtzbach
Miss Universe 2015		621 to 925
[2015 to 2016]

A fourth Filipina, Catriona Gray, won Miss Universe (and likewise influenced baby names) in 2018.

Sources: Most Common Baby Names of 2022 – Philippine Statistics Authority (PDF), Registered Live Births in the Philippines, 2022 – Philippine Statistics Authority

Image: Adapted from Flag of the Philippines (public domain)

Popular baby names in Iceland, 2023

Flag of Iceland
Flag of Iceland

Last year, the island nation of Iceland welcomed over 4,200 babies.

What were the most popular names among these babies? Emilía and Birnir.

Below are Iceland’s top 50+ girl names and top 50+ boy names of 2023. (Please note that I created these two gendered sets of rankings from the single non-gendered set of rankings that Iceland released.)

Girl names

  1. Emilía, 23 baby girls
  2. Sara, 22
  3. Aþena, 21 (3-way tie)
  4. Embla, 21 (3-way tie)
  5. Sóley, 21 (3-way tie)
  6. Emma, 20
  7. Katla, 19
  8. Eva, 18 (4-way tie)
  9. Lilja, 18 (4-way tie)
  10. Una, 18 (4-way tie)
  11. Viktoría, 18 (4-way tie)
  12. Anna, 16 (3-way tie)
  13. Bríet, 16 (3-way tie)
  14. Hekla, 16 (3-way tie) – inspired by Hekla, the name of one of Iceland’s most active volcanoes.
  15. Matthildur, 15 (tie)
  16. Salka, 15 (tie)
  17. Birta, 14 (3-way tie)
  18. Hafdís, 14 (3-way tie)
  19. Katrín, 14 (3-way tie)
  20. Andrea, 13 (3-way tie)
  21. Freyja, 13 (3-way tie)
  22. Natalía, 13 (3-way tie)
  23. Íris, 12 (4-way tie)
  24. Iðunn, 12 (4-way tie)
  25. Kristín, 12 (4-way tie)
  26. Móeiður, 12 (4-way tie)
  27. Ástrós, 11 (5-way tie)
  28. Fanney, 11 (5-way tie) – modern coinage created from elements meaning “snowdrift” and “island.”
  29. Hrafntinna, 11 (5-way tie)
  30. Saga, 11 (5-way tie)
  31. Ylfa, 11 (5-way tie)
  32. Elín, 10 (5-way tie)
  33. Heiðdís, 10 (5-way tie)
  34. Hildur, 10 (5-way tie)
  35. Júlía, 10 (5-way tie)
  36. Laufey, 10 (5-way tie)
  37. Amelía, 9 (12-way tie)
  38. Aría, 9 (12-way tie)
  39. Dagbjört, 9 (12-way tie)
  40. Glódís, 9 (12-way tie) – modern coinage created from elements meaning “to shine” and “goddess.”
  41. Helena, 9 (12-way tie)
  42. Ísabella, 9 (12-way tie)
  43. Karítas, 9 (12-way tie)
  44. Klara, 9 (12-way tie)
  45. Máney, 9 (12-way tie)
  46. María, 9 (12-way tie)
  47. Sigrún, 9 (12-way tie)
  48. Sóldís, 9 (12-way tie)
  49. Alexandra, 8 (9-way tie)
  50. Edda, 8 (9-way tie)
  51. Eldey, 8 (9-way tie)
  52. Harpa, 8 (9-way tie)
  53. Írena, 8 (9-way tie)
  54. Margrét, 8 (9-way tie)
  55. Rakel, 8 (9-way tie)
  56. Ronja, 8 (9-way tie)
  57. Þórdís, 8 (9-way tie)

Boy names

  1. Birnir, 30 baby boys
  2. Emil, 28
  3. Elmar, 25 (tie)
  4. Jón, 25 (tie)
  5. Óliver 24
  6. Aron, 23
  7. Viktor, 22
  8. Jökull, 21
  9. Alexander, 20
  10. Atlas, 19
  11. Gunnar, 18
  12. Baldur, 17 (tie)
  13. Mikael, 17 (tie)
  14. Breki, 16 (3-way tie) – derived from an Old Norse word meaning “breaker.”
  15. Styrmir, 16 (3-way tie)
  16. Theodór, 16 (3-way tie)
  17. Arnar, 15 (3-way tie)
  18. Kári, 15 (3-way tie)
  19. Óðinn, 15 (3-way tie)
  20. Baltasar, 14 (3-way tie)
  21. Elías, 14 (3-way tie)
  22. Huginn, 14 (3-way tie)
  23. Daníel, 13 (4-way tie)
  24. Hilmir, 13 (4-way tie)
  25. Ísak, 13 (4-way tie)
  26. Úlfur, 13 (4-way tie)
  27. Gabríel, 12 (4-way tie)
  28. Guðmundur, 12 (4-way tie)
  29. Ólafur, 12 (4-way tie)
  30. Tómas, 12 (4-way tie)
  31. Ari, 11 (11-way tie)
  32. Benedikt, 11 (11-way tie)
  33. Benjamín, 11 (11-way tie)
  34. Björn, 11 (11-way tie)
  35. Brynjar, 11 (11-way tie)
  36. Dagur, 11 (11-way tie)
  37. Erik, 11 (11-way tie)
  38. Kristján, 11 (11-way tie)
  39. Kristófer, 11 (11-way tie)
  40. Matthías, 11 (11-way tie)
  41. Sigurður, 11 (11-way tie)
  42. Anton, 10 (7-way tie)
  43. Atli, 10 (7-way tie)
  44. Ágúst, 10 (7-way tie)
  45. Hinrik, 10 (7-way tie)
  46. Jóhann, 10 (7-way tie)
  47. Magnús, 10 (7-way tie)
  48. Stefán, 10 (7-way tie)
  49. Adam, 9 (8-way tie)
  50. Bergur, 9 (8-way tie)
  51. Birkir, 9 (8-way tie)
  52. Leó, 9 (8-way tie)
  53. Máni, 9 (8-way tie)
  54. Óskar, 9 (8-way tie)
  55. Stormur, 9 (8-way tie)
  56. Tristan, 9 (8-way tie)

Interesting names from outside the top 50 include…

  • Rökkvi (masculine name, given to 8 babies), which may mean “twilight.”
  • Kolbrá (fem., 5 babies), a modern coinage created from elements meaning “black, dark” and “eyelash.”
  • Hrafnkatla (fem., 3 babies), the feminine form of Hrafnkell, which is made up of elements meaning “raven” and “cauldron.”
  • Tindur (masc., 3 babies), derived from an Old Norse word meaning “spike,” “tooth,” “mountain peak.”
  • Þráinn (masc., 3 babies), based on an Old Norse word meaning “obstinacy.”
  • Krummi (masc., 2 babies), which could mean either “bent, crooked” or “raven.”

And what about the single-use names?

Over 980 names were bestowed just once in Iceland last year. Here’s a sampling of Iceland’s unique baby names of 2023:

Apolonia, Broteva, Dofri, Esjar, Friðþjófur, Gígja, Gíslason, Hlín, Indriði, Jóvin, Kjalar, Myrkár, Náttey, Ösp, Possible, Röskva, Spói, Torfi, Undína, Völundur, Yndís, Zebbý

Here are simplified definitions for a few of the above…

  • Friðþjófur (masc.), made up of elements meaning “peace” and “thief”
    • A name that means “peace thief” seems very appropriate for a newborn baby. :)
  • Gígja (fem.), meaning “fiddle.”
  • Ösp (fem.), meaning “aspen tree.”
  • Röskva (fem.), meaning “vigorous,” “brave.”
  • Spói (masc.), from the Icelandic word spói, which refers to the whimbrel (a type of bird).

Gíslason — a surname that was likely used as a masculine forename (given that -son ending) — may have been inspired by Icelandic soccer player Rúrik Gíslason.

I didn’t post about Iceland’s top baby names of 2022, but here are Iceland’s 2021 rankings.

Sources: Vinsælustu nöfnin 2023 – Þjóðskrá, Births – Statistics Iceland, Nordic Names, Wiktionary

Image: Adapted from Flag of Iceland (public domain)

Popular baby names in Canada, 2022

Flag of Canada
Flag of Canada

The vast country of Canada is located in North America and shares the world’s longest international land border with its neighbor to the south, the United States.

Last year, Canada (excluding Yukon) welcomed 351,679 babies — 48.6% of which were girls, 51.4% of which were boys.

What were the most popular names among these babies? Olivia and Noah.

Here are Canada’s top 50 girl names and top 50 boy names of 2022:

Girl Names

  1. Olivia, 1,804 baby girls
  2. Emma, 1,550
  3. Charlotte, 1,475
  4. Amelia, 1,193
  5. Sophia, 1,079
  6. Chloe, 1,057
  7. Mia, 946
  8. Ava, 923
  9. Lily, 861
  10. Mila, 847
  11. Alice, 786
  12. Isla, 769
  13. Sofia, 763
  14. Evelyn, 751
  15. Abigail, 715
  16. Sophie, 712
  17. Nora, 708
  18. Charlie, 700
  19. Ellie, 680
  20. Zoe, 661
  21. Maya, 658
  22. Isabella, 656
  23. Ella, 634
  24. Clara, 618
  25. Elizabeth, 617
  26. Aria, 610
  27. Violet, 599
  28. Rose, 593
  29. Eva, 578
  30. Hannah, 577
  31. Emily, 575 (tie)
  32. Luna, 575 (tie)
  33. Ivy, 562
  34. Harper, 560
  35. Florence, 557
  36. Scarlett, 519
  37. Victoria, 514
  38. Hazel, 513
  39. Julia, 492
  40. Avery, 490
  41. Madison, 488
  42. Zoey, 474
  43. Eleanor, 467
  44. Grace, 448 (tie)
  45. Livia, 448 (tie)
  46. Emilia, 447
  47. Layla, 437
  48. Aurora, 435
  49. Lea, 434
  50. Willow, 430

Boy Names

  1. Noah, 2,198 baby boys
  2. Liam, 1,902
  3. William, 1,516
  4. Leo, 1,447
  5. Theodore, 1,423
  6. Oliver, 1,273
  7. Benjamin, 1,217
  8. Thomas, 1,205
  9. Lucas, 1,187
  10. Jack, 1,186
  11. James, 1,141
  12. Jacob, 1,105
  13. Nathan, 1,047
  14. Logan, 1,044
  15. Ethan, 1,040
  16. Adam, 977
  17. Theo, 932
  18. Jackson, 907
  19. Owen, 891
  20. Henry, 870
  21. Levi, 831
  22. Arthur, 807
  23. Felix, 806
  24. Gabriel, 777
  25. Samuel, 753
  26. Charles, 749
  27. Luca, 719
  28. Hudson, 663
  29. Nolan, 651
  30. Alexander, 647
  31. Daniel, 644
  32. Mason, 622
  33. Caleb, 613
  34. Louis, 604
  35. Jayden, 595 (tie)
  36. Muhammad, 595 (tie)
  37. Elijah, 593
  38. Aiden, 584
  39. Maverick, 581
  40. Isaac, 579
  41. Ryan, 538
  42. Wyatt, 521
  43. Carter, 520
  44. Luke, 516
  45. Elliot, 499 (tie)
  46. Lincoln, 499 (tie)
  47. Eli, 496
  48. Grayson, 495
  49. Edouard, 492
  50. Mateo, 489

The names in Canada’s top 100 that rose the fastest from 2021 to 2022 were:

  • Wren, Blake, Eloise, Freya, Athena, and Gabriella (girl names)
  • Leon, Ali, Cooper, Rowan, Charlie, Luke, and Sebastian (boy names)

And here’s a selection of names from the other end of the spectrum — names that were given to just 5 babies each in Canada last year:

Rare girl namesRare boy names
Aberdeen, Becca, Charis, Dorcas, Everlyn, Farida, Guntas, Hadeel, Iremide, Jolianne, Khawla, Lumina, Mavi, Nichelle, Opale, Perrie, Rhya, Sylia, Tavisha, Uma, Verna, Wilder, Yoadan, ZaynahAlborz, Brandt, Cornelius, Dryden, Espen, Fabrice, Gurjot, Hades, Indy, Jesper, Kuzey, Lorne, Mederic, Nima, Onkar, Poseidon, Rorik, Solal, Theeran, Udayvir, Viansh, Wesson, Yvan, Zeno

The names used even less frequently — between one and four times — “accounted for 86% of all baby names in 2022.”

Finally, here are Canada’s 2021 rankings, if you’d like to compare last year to the year before.

Sources: First names at birth by sex at birth, selected indicators – Statistics Canada, Canada’s most popular baby names in 2022 – Statistics Canada, Births, 2022 – Statistics Canada, Canada – Wikipedia

Image: Adapted from Flag of Canada (public domain)

What gave the baby name Eris a boost in 1923?

The book "Eris" (1922) by Robert W. Chambers
“Eris”

According to the U.S. baby name data, the name Eris saw its highest-ever usage in 1923:

  • 1925: 53 baby girls named Eris
  • 1924: 103 baby girls named Eris [rank: 728th]
  • 1923: 226 baby girls named Eris [rank: 457th]
  • 1922: 16 baby girls named Eris
  • 1921: 15 baby girls named Eris

It was the fastest-rising girl name of the year, in fact, and it managed to reach the girls’ top 1,000 twice.

Graph of the usage of the baby name Eris in the U.S. since 1880
Usage of the baby name Eris

What caused this sudden interest in the name?

A story called Eris by Robert W. Chambers. It was published as a book in 1922, but, more importantly, it was serialized in McCall’s magazine in 1923 (from February to August).

The main character was a young woman named Eris Odell, who, after growing up on a farm, ran away to New York City to try her luck in motion pictures.

Just like the story of Athalie, which was also written by Chambers, the story of Eris started with the character’s birth (in the year 1900) and an explanation of her name:

His wife said to the doctor, in her painfully distinct voice: “I want she should have a name that no other baby’s got, because — that’s all I can giver her… Something no other baby’s got… Write it, Doctor.”

Dr. Ward wrote “Eris” on the birth certificate. His expression became slightly ironical.

“Eris,” he repeated. “Do you approve this name?”

Odell shrugged assent.

“Yes,” said the woman. “She’s mine. All I can give her is this name. I give it.”

“Eris was the name of a Greek Goddess,” remarked the doctor. He did not explain that Eris was the Goddess of Discord. “I’m very sure,” he added, “that no other baby is named Eris, though plenty of ’em ought to be… “

“Eris” — described as a “lovely, ominous name” about halfway through in the book — was indeed the name of the Greek goddess of strife and discord. The Roman name for this goddess was Discordia.

Fun fact: Eris was the goddess whose golden apple — inscribed: “to the fairest” — sparked the rivalry between Hera, Aphrodite, and Athena (Juno, Venus, and Minerva) that precipitated the Trojan War.

What are your thoughts on the baby name Eris?

Sources: