How popular is the baby name Ben 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 Ben.
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.
In the middle of the first decade of the 2000s, the name Cale — which was being given to hundreds of baby boys per year — debuted impressively in the girls’ data:
2008: 14 baby girls named Cale
2007: 17 baby girls named Cale
2006: 34 baby girls named Cale [debut]
2005: unlisted
2004: unlisted
(The similar name Kale also saw higher usage for girls around that time.)
What was behind this sudden interest in Cale as a girl name?
A little girl named Cale in the family-friendly film Dreamer, which was released in October of 2005.
The movie’s main characters were Kentucky horse trainer Ben Crane (played by Kurt Russell) and his school-age daughter Cale (played by Dakota Fanning).
When Ben refused to euthanize an injured racehorse named Soñador (“Sonya”), he was given the horse — then promptly fired. While Ben tried to fix his family’s precarious financial situation, Cale developed a strong bond with the animal. Sonya went on to make a full recovery, but would she ever race again?
The film was loosely based on the recovery story of racehorse Mariah’s Storm. (I don’t know the story behind the horse’s name, but “Mariah’s Storm” is reminding me of the 1940s book Storm, which featured a cyclone whose name was spelled like Maria, but pronounced like Mariah.)
What are your thoughts on the baby name Cale? Do you prefer it as a boy name, or as a girl name?
Some possible influences/associations for a few of the above:
Filianore is a character in the video game Dark Souls III (2016) — specifically, in the downloadable content pack Dark Souls III: The Ringed City (2017).
St. Frowin of Engelberg was a 12th-century Swiss German abbot.
Itgelt is likely based on the Mongolian word itgel, meaning “faith, belief.”
Kordian is the main character of the Polish drama Kordian (1834) by Juliusz Slowacki.
Lysithea refers to several figures in Greek mythology, as well as to a character in the video game Fire Emblem: Three Houses (2019).
Metatron is an archangel mentioned in Jewish folklore.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy is the president of Ukraine.
St. Willibald was an 8th-century Englishman who became a bishop in Bavaria.
Finally, here’s a link to Austria’s 2022 rankings, if you’d like to compare last year to the year before.
Last year, the European country of Switzerland welcomed 80,024 babies.
What were the most popular names among these babies? Mia and Noah.
Here are Switzerland’s top 50+ girl names and top 50 boy names of 2023:
Girl names
Mia, 380 baby girls
Emma, 376
Sofia, 358
Emilia, 313
Elena, 286
Lia, 260 (tie)
Olivia, 260 (tie)
Lina, 259
Nora, 240
Mila, 239
Ella, 208
Lara, 207
Lena, 202
Luna, 200
Lea, 196
Malea, 194
Anna, 192
Alice, 191 (3-way tie)
Sophia, 191 (3-way tie)
Valentina, 191 (3-way tie)
Yara, 188
Elina, 183
Nina, 182
Alina, 181
Leonie, 178
Aurora, 176
Giulia, 172
Chiara, 170
Eva, 164
Elin, 162 (3-way tie)
Julia, 162 (3-way tie)
Laura, 162 (3-way tie)
Amelia, 156 (tie)
Emily, 156 (tie)
Livia, 155
Luana, 154
Sophie, 147
Alma, 145
Maria, 133
Elisa, 131
Juna, 130
Sara, 126
Yuna, 125
Zoé, 124
Dua, 120
Ayla, 118 (tie)
Clara, 118 (tie)
Malia, 117 (tie)
Mara, 117 (tie)
Inaya, 114 (4-way tie)
Jana, 114 (4-way tie)
Lou, 114 (4-way tie)
Victoria, 114 (4-way tie)
Boy names
Noah, 495 baby boys
Liam, 442
Matteo, 362
Gabriel, 284
Leano, 282
Leo, 273
Luca, 271
Leon, 255
Elias, 246
Lio, 245
Louis, 241
Nino, 201
Leonardo, 196
Aaron, 193
Ben, 189
Elio, 187
Elia, 186
Theo, 182
Luan, 180 (tie)
Samuel, 180 (tie)
David, 173 (tie)
Levi, 173 (tie)
Livio, 172
Malik, 168
Mateo, 166
Nico, 161
Arthur, 160
Adam, 158 (tie)
Lian, 158 (tie)
Leandro, 157
Diego, 155
Julian, 151
Finn, 150 (tie)
Mattia, 150 (tie)
Noé, 146
Emil, 143 (tie)
Enea, 143 (tie)
Nael, 141
Mael, 140
Levin, 138
Oliver, 137
Milo, 133
Kian, 132
Rayan, 131
Enzo, 130
Daniel, 129 (tie)
Robin, 129 (tie)
Emilio, 126 (tie)
Lino, 126 (tie)
Lucas, 124
The girls’ top 100 included Lynn (65th), Amira (76th), Kiara (89th), and Aurelia (94th).
The boys’ top 100 included Laurin (58th), Nevio (72nd), Andrin (88th), and Nils (93rd).
Switzerland has four national languages: German, French, Italian, and Romansh. Here are the top baby names among the speakers of each of these languages:
Girl names
Boy names
German speakers (62.3% of the population)
1. Mia, 289 2. Emilia, 287 3. Sofia, 249
1. Noah, 323 2. Matteo, 282 3. Liam, 279
French speakers (22.8% of pop.)
1. Emma, 125 2. Olivia, 103 3. Alice, 94
1. Noah, 143 2. Gabriel, 140 3. Liam, 139
Italian speakers (8.0% of pop.)
1. Emma, 25 2. Aurora, 24 3. Ginevra/Sofia, 21 each
1. Leonardo, 38 2. Noah, 28 3. Enea, 26
Romansh speakers (0.5% of pop.)
1. Amalia/Gianna/Hannah, 2 each
1. Mauro, 4 2. Luca/Nino, 3 each
And here’s a selection of uncommon names that were given to just two babies each in Switzerland in 2023:
Last year, the Republic of Ireland — which covers five-sixths of the island of Ireland — welcomed roughly 55,000 babies.
What were the most popular names among these babies? Grace and Jack.
Here are Ireland’s top 50 girl names and top 50 boy names of 2023:
Girl Names
Grace, 339 baby girls
Fiadh (pronounced FEE-a), 300
Emily, 297
Sophie, 283
Lily, 270
Ellie, 252
Mia, 242
Amelia, 241 (tie)
Éabha (pronounced EY-va), 241 (tie)
Ella, 231
Isla, 227
Hannah, 226
Sophia, 218
Lucy, 214
Ava, 207
Sadie, 200
Olivia, 199
Freya, 188
Emma, 183
Chloe, 181
Robyn, 180
Molly, 176
Anna, 166 (tie)
Croía (pronounced KREE-a), 166 (tie)
Evie, 165
Caoimhe (pronounced KEE-va or KWEE-va), 158
Saoirse (pronounced SEER-sha or SAYR-sha), 157 (tie)
Cara, 157 (tie)
Sofia, 156
Millie, 150
Aoife (pronounced EE-fa), 148
Isabelle, 132
Bonnie, 130
Maya, 128 (tie)
Ada, 128 (tie)
Róisín (pronounced ROH-sheen), 127
Ruby, 126
Kate, 123 (tie)
Alice, 123 (tie)
Holly, 120 (3-way tie)
Erin, 120 (3-way tie)
Sadhbh (pronounced siev; rhymes with “5”), 120 (3-way tie)
Leah, 119
Isabella, 118 (3-way tie)
Ailbhe (pronounced AL-va), 118 (3-way tie)
Méabh (pronounced mayv), 118 (3-way tie)
Zoe, 115
Annie, 112
Ivy, 111
Willow, 110
Boy Names
Jack, 561 baby boys
Noah, 473
James, 369
Rían (pronounced REE-an), 339
Oisín (pronounced UH-sheen or OH-sheen), 330
Fionn (pronounced fyun or fyoon), 306
Tadhg (pronounced tieg, like the first part of “tiger”), 301
Liam, 289
Cillian (pronounced KIL-ee-an), 275
Daniel, 256
Finn, 251
Conor, 244 (tie)
Charlie, 244 (tie)
Seán (pronounced shawn), 240
Michael, 239
Leo, 237
Theo, 233
Thomas, 227
Patrick, 221
Luke, 215
Tommy, 214
Oliver, 211
Adam, 201
Harry, 198
Luca, 197
Darragh, 195
Alex, 175
Bobby, 157
Cian (pronounced KEE-an or keen), 156
Oscar, 154
John, 152 (tie)
Max, 152 (tie)
Ryan, 151
Páidí (pronounced PAW-dee), 150
Jamie, 149
Ben, 147
Kai, 141 (tie)
Ollie, 141 (tie)
Tom, 135
Matthew, 134
Dylan, 132
Callum, 131
Sonny, 130
Sam, 129
Ethan, 127 (tie)
Alfie, 127 (tie)
David, 122
Alexander, 118
Mason, 116
Caelan, 114
New to the girls’ top 100 were Lucia, Cadhla (pronounced KIE-la) and Síofra (pronounced SHEE-fra).
New to the boys’ top 100 were Caelan, Jude, Paddy, Éanna (pronounced EY-na) and Dáithí (pronounced DAH-hee).
The fastest-rising names in the top 100 in terms of numbers of babies were:
Éala (increased by 41 baby girls), Ailbhe (+40), Méabh (+36), Zara (+33), Croía (+26)
Caelan (increased by 58 baby boys), Páidí (+41), Arlo (+35), Tommy (+30), Mark (+28)
And the fastest-rising names in terms of rank were:
Síofra (rose 57 spots on the girls’ list), Lucia (+43), Éala (+38), Lottie (+36), Zara (+31)
Caelan (rose 58 spots on the boys’ list), Mark (+46), Ruairí (+41), Eoin (+37), Arlo (+31)
Ireland’s four provinces
Home to more than five million people, the Republic of Ireland is divided into four provinces. (One of these provinces, Ulster, lies largely within Northern Ireland, which is part of the UK.) The top baby names within each of the four provinces last year were…
Top Girl Name
Top Boy Name
Leinster (56% of the population)
Grace
Jack
Munster (27% of pop.)
Grace
Jack
Connacht (11% of pop.)
Fiadh
Jack
Ulster [ROI portion] (6% of pop.)
Lily
Jack
And what about the baby names at the other end of the spectrum?
Here’s a selection of the names that were given to just 3 babies each in Ireland last year:
This website or its third-party tools process personal data.In case of sale of your personal information, you may opt out by using the link Do not sell my personal information.
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.
Cookie
Duration
Description
cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics
11 months
This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional
11 months
The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary
11 months
This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-others
11 months
This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance
11 months
This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance".
viewed_cookie_policy
11 months
The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.
Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.