How popular is the baby name Axel 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 Axel.

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Popularity of the baby name Axel


Posts that mention the name Axel

Popular baby names in France, 2021

Flag of France
Flag of France

Did you know that France is the most-visited tourist destination in the world?

Last year, the country welcomed about 738,000 babies. The most popular names among these babies were Jade (pronounced zhahd) and Gabriel.

Here are France’s top 50 girl names and top 50 boy names of 2021:

Girl Names

  1. Jade, 3,802 baby girls
  2. Louise, 3,768
  3. Emma, 3,202
  4. Ambre, 3,017
  5. Alice, 2,769
  6. Rose, 2,703
  7. Anna, 2,515
  8. Alba, 2,504
  9. Romy, 2,446
  10. Mia, 2,430
  11. Lina, 2,366
  12. Lou, 2,222
  13. Julia, 2,212
  14. Chloé, 2,210
  15. Léna, 2,093
  16. Léa, 2,039
  17. Agathe, 2,020
  18. Iris, 2,006
  19. Nina, 1,896
  20. Juliette, 1,870
  21. Inaya, 1,867 – an Urdu name derived from the Arabic word inayah, meaning “care, concern.”
  22. Zoé, 1,840
  23. Jeanne, 1,727
  24. Léonie, 1,726
  25. Charlie, 1,725
  26. Eva, 1,709
  27. Mila, 1,706
  28. Luna, 1,686
  29. Adèle, 1,661
  30. Victoire, 1,648
  31. Inès, 1,594
  32. Olivia, 1,594
  33. Lola, 1,547
  34. Victoria, 1,537
  35. Lucie, 1,493
  36. Margaux, 1,472
  37. Romane, 1,458
  38. Giulia, 1,454
  39. Camille, 1,428
  40. Sofia, 1,381
  41. Charlotte, 1,352
  42. Alix, 1,349
  43. Nour, 1,274
  44. Lyana, 1,237
  45. Margot, 1,225
  46. Sarah, 1,214
  47. Louna, 1,209 – likely based on Luna (#28).
  48. Mya, 1,182
  49. Manon, 1,177
  50. Lya, 1,158

Boy Names

  1. Gabriel, 4,974 baby boys
  2. Léo, 4,358
  3. Raphaël, 3,957
  4. Louis, 3,715
  5. Arthur, 3,598
  6. Jules, 3,594
  7. Maël, 3,438
  8. Noah, 3,384
  9. Adam, 3,148
  10. Lucas, 3,054
  11. Hugo, 2,905
  12. Gabin, 2,719 – based on the Latin name Gabinus, which might have referred to the ancient city of Gabii (located in what is now central Italy).
  13. Liam, 2,672
  14. Sacha, 2,628
  15. Aaron, 2,496
  16. Léon, 2,362
  17. Isaac, 2,322
  18. Paul, 2,291
  19. Nathan, 2,286
  20. Noé, 2,276
  21. Eden, 2,260
  22. Mohamed, 2,183
  23. Ethan, 2,104
  24. Tom, 1,995
  25. Malo, 1,935 – a Breton name probably derived from the Old Breton elements mach, meaning “pledge, hostage,” and lou, meaning “luminous; beautiful.”
  26. Naël, 1,919
  27. Théo, 1,902
  28. Marius, 1,868
  29. Nino, 1,838
  30. Marceau, 1,834
  31. Mathis, 1,801
  32. Victor, 1,768
  33. Ayden, 1,753
  34. Milo, 1,723
  35. Martin, 1,712
  36. Tiago, 1,658
  37. Robin, 1,657
  38. Axel, 1,571
  39. Timéo, 1,541
  40. Eliott, 1,538 (tie)
  41. Lyam, 1,538 (tie)
  42. Enzo, 1,503
  43. Antoine, 1,445
  44. Nolan, 1,439
  45. Augustin, 1,430
  46. Gaspard, 1,379
  47. Valentin, 1,362
  48. Amir, 1,309
  49. Samuel, 1,301
  50. Côme, 1,300 – (pronounced kohm, as in the brand name Lancôme) the French form of Cosmas, ultimately derived from the ancient Greek word kosmos, meaning “order.”

The girls’ top 100 included Capucine (52nd), Apolline (65th), Thaïs (82nd), and Garance (98th).

The boys’ top 100 included Sohan (55th), Kaïs (58th), Soan (66th), and Livio (81st).

Soan, a variant spelling of Sohan, has been popularized recently by French singer/songwriter Soan (born Julien Decroix).

Also on the boys’ list, Charly (#78) pulled ahead of Charlie (#90) after the names saw nearly identical levels of usage in 2020. I wonder if this means that Charly is emerging as the preferred male spelling of the name…?

Gabriel also topped the rankings for the capital city of Paris last year. Jade, on the other hand, didn’t even make the top 10 — it was way down in 32nd place.

Finally, here are France’s 2020 rankings, if you’d like to compare last year to the year before.

Sources: Classement des prénoms en France depuis 1900 – Insee, Demography report 2021 – Insee, World Tourism rankings – Wikipedia, Behind the Name, Malo (saint) – Wikipeda

Image: Adapted from Flag of France (public domain)

Popular baby names in Austin (Texas), 2017

Flag of Texas
Flag of Texas

A few days ago, I stumbled upon a set of baby name data for Austin, Texas, for the year 2017. While it isn’t current, it does seem to be complete — so it includes hundreds of rare and single-use names (which are always fascinating!).

The data accounts for nearly 19,900 births (9,733 girls and 10,163 boys), and features nearly 6,100 names (3,431 given to girls, 2,656 given to boys).

According to this data, which comes from the City of Austin’s Open Data Portal, the top baby names in the capital of Texas five years ago were Emma and James.

Here are Austin’s top 50 girl names and top 50 boy names of 2017:

Girl Names

  1. Emma, 98 baby girls
  2. Isabella, 88
  3. Olivia, 84
  4. Mia, 81
  5. Evelyn, 77
  6. Sophia, 75
  7. Ava, 73
  8. Abigail, 59 (tie)
  9. Charlotte, 59 (tie)
  10. Emily, 58
  11. Camila, 56 (tie)
  12. Elizabeth, 56 (tie)
  13. Harper, 53
  14. Amelia, 52
  15. Penelope, 51 (tie)
  16. Sofia, 51 (tie)
  17. Scarlett, 46
  18. Ella, 45
  19. Avery, 43 (tie)
  20. Zoe, 43 (tie)
  21. Lillian, 41
  22. Layla, 40 (tie)
  23. Madison, 40 (tie)
  24. Eleanor, 39
  25. Victoria, 38
  26. Allison, 37
  27. Claire, 36 (3-way tie)
  28. Elena, 36 (3-way tie)
  29. Luna, 36 (3-way tie)
  30. Aria, 35 (tie)
  31. Chloe, 35 (tie)
  32. Ellie, 34 (tie)
  33. Katherine, 34 (tie)
  34. Samantha, 33
  35. Hannah, 30 (4-way tie)
  36. Hazel, 30 (4-way tie)
  37. Mila, 30 (4-way tie)
  38. Stella, 30 (4-way tie)
  39. Leah, 29
  40. Cora, 28 (5-way tie)
  41. Genesis, 28 (5-way tie)
  42. Grace, 28 (5-way tie)
  43. Natalie, 28 (5-way tie)
  44. Ximena, 28 (5-way tie)
  45. Clara, 27 (3-way tie)
  46. Eliana, 27 (3-way tie)
  47. Ruby, 27 (3-way tie)
  48. Audrey, 26 (tie)
  49. Sarah, 26 (tie)
  50. Alexa, 25 (3-way tie)
  51. Everly, 25 (3-way tie)
  52. Lily, 25 (3-way tie)

Boy Names

  1. James, 104 baby boys
  2. Noah, 85
  3. Daniel, 83
  4. Benjamin, 82
  5. William, 80
  6. Oliver, 75
  7. Liam, 74
  8. Alexander, 73
  9. Sebastian, 70
  10. Henry, 67
  11. Elijah, 66 (tie)
  12. Mateo, 66 (tie)
  13. Ethan, 65
  14. Jackson, 63
  15. Anthony, 61
  16. Jacob, 60
  17. Aiden, 59 (tie)
  18. Luke, 59 (tie)
  19. David, 58 (tie)
  20. Samuel, 58 (tie)
  21. John, 56
  22. Isaac, 55 (tie)
  23. Julian, 55 (tie)
  24. Michael, 54
  25. Charles, 53 (3-way tie)
  26. Jack, 53 (3-way tie)
  27. Matthew, 53 (3-way tie)
  28. Jose, 52 (tie)
  29. Joshua, 52 (tie)
  30. Wyatt, 50
  31. Aaron, 49 (4-way tie)
  32. Grayson, 49 (4-way tie)
  33. Joseph, 49 (4-way tie)
  34. Levi, 49 (4-way tie)
  35. Dylan, 48
  36. Hudson, 47
  37. Josiah, 46 (3-way tie)
  38. Logan, 46 (3-way tie)
  39. Santiago, 46 (3-way tie)
  40. Jayden, 45
  41. Nathan, 44
  42. Christopher, 43 (tie)
  43. Thomas, 43 (tie)
  44. Andrew, 42 (4-way tie)
  45. Gabriel, 42 (4-way tie)
  46. Luis, 42 (4-way tie)
  47. Owen, 42 (4-way tie)
  48. Lucas, 41
  49. Adrian, 40 (3-way tie)
  50. Axel, 40 (3-way tie)
  51. Christian, 40 (3-way tie)

On the girls’ list, Allison caught my eye. It ranked 26th in Austin in 2017, but 61st nationally the same year. Interesting.

Further down on the boys’ list was Austin itself, in 95th place — vs. 75th nationally — with 21 baby boys. Much further down was Texas, with 2 baby boys.

And now it’s time for the unique names!

One-of-a-kind names were given to 24% of the baby girls and 17% of the baby boys born in Austin in 2017. Here’s a sampling of the names that were bestowed just once:

Unique Girl NamesUnique Boy Names
Aubrion, Autry, Blue Jay, Cadeau, Ceiba, Dulceluna, Eeriemoon, Fiza, Gilana, Holleen, Itzigueri, Jill, Kasleen, Lillabee, L’Oreal, Mauzie, Millioni, Nincye, Nobelina, Orchid, Princess Plethora, Qiwei, Roshnee, Scepter, Shanze, Thais, Tsumugi, Umutoni, Vyga, Wengiel, Xyzla, Ynafets, ZieglindAshton Alchimist, Bruges, Cayenne, Dalbus, Eames, Fenghua, Ganesh, Getsai, Hackett, Itzae, Jizael, Kavelli Kaine, Linnaeus, Linux, Mazoree, Mistral, Naranna, Nimbus, Olince, Penn, Qhing, Rigveda, Shooter, Syphax, Tavoric, Templar, Urfan, Vetri, Wajahat, Xavi, Yoonbin, Zaxton

Some possible explanations/associations for a few of the above:

  • Cadeau is the French word for “present, gift.”
  • Ceiba is a type of tree.
  • Tsumugi Shirogane is a character from the 2017 video game Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony.
  • Ynafets is “Stefany” spelled backwards.
  • Bruges is the capital of West Flanders (a province of Belgium).
  • Mistral is a strong late-winter wind in southern France.
  • The Rigveda is a sacred Hindu text.

I’ve never posted rankings for Austin before, but I have posted rankings recently for two nearby Texas cities: Houston (which is more than twice the size of Austin, population-wise) and College Station (which is about an eighth of the size of Austin).

Sources: From Aadhav to Zyva: 6,087 Names of Babies Born in Austin in 2017 | Open Data | City of Austin Texas, Wiktionary

Image: Adapted from Flag of Texas (public domain)

Popular and unique baby names in Uruguay, 2020

Flag of Uruguay
Flag of Uruguay

According to Uruguay’s Dirección Nacional de Identificación Civil (DNIC), the most popular baby names in the country in 2020 were technically Emma and Juan.

But if accented “María” and unaccented “Maria” had been counted together, María would have easily taken the #1 spot.

Uruguay’s baby name rankings consist of girl and boy names mixed together on a single list. The data mostly represents first-name usage, but does include some second-name usage as well. (This is because the rankings are created from Uruguayan identity card data, and Uruguayans are permitted to add up to two given names to their ID cards.)

That said, here are Uruguay’s top 100+ baby names of 2020:

  1. Juan, 861 babies
  2. Emma, 682
  3. Mateo, 611
  4. María, 564
  5. Julieta, 495
  6. Martina, 477
  7. Felipe, 460
  8. Lorenzo, 408
  9. Isabella, 400
  10. Catalina, 383
  11. Maria, 378
  12. Sofía, 372
  13. Emilia, 358
  14. Thiago, 354
  15. Santino, 347
  16. Lucas, 334
  17. Dante, 330
  18. Lautaro, 327
  19. Delfina, 320
  20. Benjamín, 315
  21. Bautista, 312 (tie)
  22. Santiago, 312 (tie)
  23. Olivia, 310
  24. Joaquín, 259
  25. Zoe, 249
  26. Emily, 236 (tie)
  27. Paulina, 236 (tie)
  28. Francisco, 235
  29. Renata, 233
  30. Francesca, 227
  31. Bruno, 222 (tie)
  32. Luis, 222 (tie)
  33. Carlos, 220 (tie)
  34. Clara, 220 (tie)
  35. Facundo, 215
  36. Emiliano, 211
  37. Valentino, 209
  38. Ana, 208
  39. Mía, 203
  40. Valentina, 199
  41. Josefina, 194 (3-way tie)
  42. Juana, 194 (3-way tie)
  43. Maite, 194 (3-way tie)
  44. Agustina, 192 (tie)
  45. Tomás, 192 (tie)
  46. Luciano, 188
  47. Alfonsina, 186 (tie)
  48. Bastian, 186 (tie)
  49. Enzo, 184
  50. Dylan, 182
  51. Agustín, 180
  52. Nahitan, 175
  53. Jorge, 172
  54. Bianca, 170
  55. Valentín, 167
  56. Liam, 164
  57. Mia, 161
  58. José, 160
  59. Renzo, 159
  60. Franco, 155 (tie)
  61. Manuel, 155 (tie)
  62. Benicio, 154
  63. Ian, 152
  64. Ignacio, 150
  65. Camila, 149
  66. Victoria, 148
  67. Diego, 143
  68. Oriana, 142
  69. Pedro, 140
  70. Milagros, 137
  71. Alma, 131 (tie)
  72. Pilar, 131 (tie)
  73. Camilo, 129 (3-way tie)
  74. Guillermo, 129 (3-way tie)
  75. Vicente, 129 (3-way tie)
  76. Noah, 128
  77. Ciro, 127 (tie)
  78. Julia, 127 (tie)
  79. Salvador, 126
  80. Alfonso, 125
  81. Ramiro, 124
  82. Daniel, 120
  83. Máximo, 117
  84. Faustino, 115
  85. Jose, 114
  86. Samuel, 113
  87. Faustina, 111
  88. Alejandro, 110
  89. Federico, 109
  90. Genaro, 107
  91. Maia, 106 (tie)
  92. Pablo, 106 (tie)
  93. Lara, 105
  94. Sofia, 103
  95. Guillermina, 102
  96. Ámbar, 100
  97. Eduardo, 99
  98. Lucía, 98
  99. Federica, 96 (tie)
  100. Tadeo, 96 (tie)
  101. Theo (95)
  102. Luciana, 94 (tie)
  103. Sara, 94 (tie)
  104. Tiziano, 92
  105. Alexander, 91 (tie)
  106. Rafael, 91 (tie)
  107. Julián, 90 (3-way tie)
  108. Luana, 90 (3-way tie)
  109. Nicolás, 90 (3-way tie)
  110. Benjamin, 88
  111. Aitana, 86 (3-way tie)
  112. Bruna, 86 (3-way tie)
  113. Leonardo, 86 (3-way tie)
  114. Florencia, 85
  115. Rodrigo, 84
  116. David, 83 (4-way tie)
  117. Gael, 83 (4-way tie)
  118. Joaquina, 83 (4-way tie)
  119. Matías, 83 (4-way tie)
  120. Miguel, 80
  121. Gabriel, 79 (tie)
  122. Jazmín, 79 (tie)
  123. Alex, 78 (tie)
  124. Axel, 78 (tie)

(I went down far enough to ensure that at least fifty girl names were included…and then a little farther, because that 2-way tie between the 4-letter anagram names Alex and Axel is kind of adorable. :)

I’ve never looked at rankings for Uruguay before, so I don’t have past rankings to compare these to. But here are a few of the names from lower down on the list:

  • 35 babies were named Celeste, which is the nickname (El Celeste, “the sky-blue”) of Uruguay’s national soccer team.
  • 11 were named Edinson, which is the first name of Uruguayan soccer player Edinson Cavani.
  • 8 were named Nairobi, which is a female character from the popular Spanish-language TV series La casa de papel (English title: Money Heist).
  • 2 were named Tabaré, which was the first name of Uruguayan president Tabaré Vázquez (who both left office and passed away in 2020).
    • The name comes from Uruguayan literature: The main character of the epic poem Tabaré (1888) by Juan Zorrilla de San Martín is an indigenous Charrúa man named Tabaré.

Finally, because Uruguay releases all of its baby name data, we can check out the unique names at the other end of the spectrum as well. Here’s a selection Uruguay’s single-use baby names of 2020:

Atahualpa, Brislady, Crisbely, Duckenson, Elubina, Fritznel, Garibaldi, Hartmut, Izpabelli, Juanfer, Khantuta, Leovisnel, Missber, Norquides, Olgalisy, Pierangely, Quinto, Roismerl, Szabolcs, Tonatiuh, Tonantzín, Urumana, Viorky, Wanderson, Xilianny, Yusnavi, Zolanch

Some possible explanations/associations:

  • Atahualpa – the last emperor of the Inca
  • Garibaldi – 19th-century Italian revolutionary Giuseppe Garibaldi
  • Pierangely – Italian actress Pier Angeli
  • Tonatiuh – Nahua (Aztec) sun deity
  • Tonantzín – Nahuatl honorific title meaning “our mother”

Sources:

Image: Adapted from Flag of Uruguay (public domain)

[Latest update: Jul. 2023]

Popular and unique baby names in Quebec (Canada), 2021

Flag of Quebec
Flag of Quebec

According to Retraite Québec, the most popular baby names in the Canadian province of Quebec last year were Emma and Noah.

Here are Quebec’s top 50 girl names and top 50 boy names of 2021:

Girl Names

  1. Emma, 521 baby girls
  2. Olivia, 519
  3. Alice, 508
  4. Florence, 498
  5. Charlie, 488
  6. Livia, 473
  7. Charlotte, 465
  8. Lea, 462
  9. Romy, 357
  10. Zoe, 344
  11. Clara, 335
  12. Juliette, 331
  13. Rosalie, 327
  14. Beatrice, 326
  15. Rose, 322
  16. Chloe, 314
  17. Eva, 312 (tie)
  18. Sofia, 312 (tie)
  19. Mia, 290
  20. Mila, 283
  21. Victoria, 253
  22. Jade, 249
  23. Julia, 245
  24. Leonie, 230
  25. Maeva, 221 (tie)
  26. Raphaelle, 221 (tie)
  27. Jeanne, 200
  28. Camille, 194
  29. Amelia, 193
  30. Flavie, 187
  31. Ophelie, 179
  32. Elizabeth, 177
  33. Elena, 176
  34. Adele, 164 (tie)
  35. Eleonore, 164 (tie)
  36. Sophia, 157
  37. Jasmine, 145
  38. Laurence, 144 (tie)
  39. Lexie, 144 (tie)
  40. Alicia, 143
  41. Lily, 139
  42. Oceane, 137
  43. Ellie, 136
  44. Sarah, 129
  45. Anna, 125 (3-way tie)
  46. Flora, 125 (3-way tie)
  47. Simone, 125 (3-way tie)
  48. Noelie, 124 (tie)
  49. Sophie, 124 (tie)
  50. Maelie, 123

Boy Names

  1. Noah, 717 baby boys
  2. William, 709
  3. Thomas, 645
  4. Leo, 622
  5. Liam, 618
  6. Jacob, 529
  7. Nathan, 519
  8. Arthur, 508
  9. Edouard, 499
  10. Felix, 484
  11. Logan, 476
  12. Emile, 465 (tie)
  13. Louis, 465 (tie)
  14. Charles, 408
  15. Raphael, 396
  16. James, 366
  17. Arnaud, 362 (tie)
  18. Theo, 362 (tie)
  19. Victor, 360
  20. Adam, 337
  21. Elliot, 332
  22. Alexis, 329
  23. Henri, 308
  24. Jules, 306
  25. Benjamin, 301
  26. Samuel, 290
  27. Gabriel, 289
  28. Milan, 282 (tie)
  29. Olivier, 282 (tie)
  30. Laurent, 280
  31. Theodore, 277
  32. Nolan, 274
  33. Jackson, 271
  34. Jayden, 266
  35. Lucas, 256
  36. Antoine, 245
  37. Zack, 239
  38. Eloi, 230 (tie)
  39. Ethan, 230 (tie)
  40. Matheo, 212
  41. Axel, 204
  42. Jake, 203
  43. Eli, 198
  44. Mathis, 191
  45. Hubert, 190
  46. Xavier, 177
  47. Zachary, 176
  48. Leonard, 171
  49. Loic, 170
  50. Mayson, 166

In the girls’ top 10, Zoe replaced Clara.

In the boys’ top 10, Felix replaced Logan.

And here are some of the baby names that were bestowed just once in Quebec last year:

Unique Girl NamesUnique Boy Names
Auxane, Beaulieu, Celtina, Dulcinee, Ephelina, Freticia, Gamaelle, Hestia, Isalie, Jophina, Kautjaq, Lasiala, Milaloup, Nausicaa, Oncy, Protea, Qulliq, Riziki, Sensitiva, Timmiak, Uzia, Violaine, Waapikun, Xeia, Yzea, ZoonaAmenzo, Blinken, Clydirk, Dawensky, Eliodore, Fritzner, Ghiss, Hulkson, Ikuagasak, Jackary, Kaulder, Lafleche, Mclovin, Nickford, Otsoa, Piponik, Qianli, Raynloc, Stratos, Trupt, Ulys, Vinicius, Wendrick, Xakhan, Yamsongo, Zoric

Some possible explanations/associations for a few of the above:

  • Beaulieu means “beautiful place” in French.
  • Kaulder was a character in the movie The Last Witch Hunter (2015).
  • McLovin was a name used on a fake ID in the movie Superbad (2007).
  • Milaloup looks like a combination of the name Mila and the French word loup, meaning “wolf.”
  • Nausicaa was a character in Homer’s Odyssey.
  • Qulliq refers to a seal-oil/whale blubber lamp used by the Inuit.
  • Timmiak refers to a duck or a goose in Inuktitut.

In 2020, the top names in Quebec were Olivia and Liam.

Sources: List of Baby Names – Retraite Québec, Noah and Emma most popular baby names in Quebec in 2021

Image: Adapted from Flag of Quebec (public domain)