How popular is the baby name Benjamin 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 Benjamin.

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Popularity of the baby name Benjamin


Posts that mention the name Benjamin

Popular baby names in Austin (Texas), 2008-2016

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Flag of Texas

A couple of months ago, we looked at Austin’s top baby names of 2017. When I found the data for that post, I also found nine other top-10 lists for Austin (2008-2016). Because they’re out of date, I’ll go ahead and consolidate these earlier rankings into a single blog post (like I did for New York City a while back).

2016

The most popular baby names in Austin in 2016.

Top Girl Names (Austin, 2016)Top Boy Names (Austin, 2016)
1. Olivia
2. Mia
3. Isabella
4. Sophia
5. Elizabeth
6. Ava
7. Emma
8. Charlotte
9. Sofia
10. Camila & Emily (tie)		1. William
2. Alexander
3. Ethan
4. Noah
5. Oliver
6. Benjamin
7. Liam
8. Jacob
9. James
10. Mathew

(“Mathew” could be a typo…?)

2015

The most popular baby names in Austin in 2015.

Top Girl Names (Austin, 2015)Top Boy Names (Austin, 2015)
1. Olivia
2. Sophia
3. Emma
4. Sofia
5. Ava
6. Evelyn
7. Emily
8. Abigail
9. Isabella
10. Mia		1. Liam
2. Noah
3. William
4. James
5. Alexander
6. Jacob
7. Luke
8. David
9. Dylan
10. Henry

2014

The most popular baby names in Austin in 2014.

Top Girl Names (Austin, 2014)Top Boy Names (Austin, 2014)
1. Olivia
2. Emma
3. Isabella
4. Sofia
5. Mia
6. Sophia
7. Ava
8. Charlotte
9. Emily
10. Abigail		1. Noah
2. William
3. Michael
4. Alexander
5. Benjamin
6. James
7. Anthony
8. Jacob
9. Liam
10. Daniel & Ethan (tie)

2013

The most popular baby names in Austin in 2013.

Top Girl Names (Austin, 2013)Top Boy Names (Austin, 2013)
1. Olivia
2. Sophia
3. Emily
4. Isabella
5. Emma
6. Mia
7. Abigail
8. Avery
9. Ava
10. Sofia		1. Alexander
2. William
3. Noah
4. Jacob
5. Benjamin
6. Ethan
7. David
8. Liam
9. Andrew
10. Christopher, James, John & Luke (4-way tie)

2012

The most popular baby names in Austin in 2012.

Top Girl Names (Austin, 2012)Top Boy Names (Austin, 2012)
1. Sophia
2. Isabella
3. Emma
4. Olivia
5. Ava
6. Abigail
7. Mia
8. Emily
9. Sofia
10. Harper		1. William
2. Alexander
3. Ethan
4. Noah
5. Christopher
6. Jacob
7. David
8. James
9. Benjamin
10. Matthew

2011

The most popular baby names in Austin in 2011.

Top Girl Names (Austin, 2011)Top Boy Names (Austin, 2011)
1. Sophia
2. Isabella
3. Olivia
4. Emma
5. Abigail
6. Ava
7. Emily
8. Addison
9. Elizabeth
10. Sofia		1. Jacob
2. William
3. Alexander
4. Daniel
5. Noah
6. David
7. Mason
8. John
9. Benjamin
10. Ethan

2010

The most popular baby names in Austin in 2010.

Top Girl Names (Austin, 2010)Top Boy Names (Austin, 2010)
1. Sophia
2. Isabella
3. Ava
4. Abigail
5. Emma
6. Olivia
7. Emily
8. Avery
9. Chloe
10. Elizabeth		1. William
2. Jacob
3. Alexander
4. Noah
5. Christopher
6. Daniel
7. John
8. Andrew
9. Michael
10. Angel

2009

The most popular baby names in Austin in 2009.

Top Girl Names (Austin, 2009)Top Boy Names (Austin, 2009)
1. Isabella
2. Mia
3. Sophia
4. Emily
5. Ava
6. Emma
7. Olivia
8. Elizabeth
9. Natalie
10. Ashley		1. William
2. Jose
3. Daniel
4. Alexander
5. Christopher
6. Andrew
7. Jacob
8. Angel
9. Michael
10. Joshua

2008

The most popular baby names in Austin in 2008.

Top Girl Names (Austin, 2008)Top Boy Names (Austin, 2008)
1. Isabella
2. Sophia
3. Emily
4. Abigail
5. Emma
6. Ava
7. Olivia
8. Ashley
9. Elizabeth
10. Madison & Natalie (tie)		1. Alexander
2. Daniel
3. David
4. Angel
5. Jacob
6. Michael
7. John
8. Joshua
9. William
10. Christopher & Noah (tie)

Did any of these names (or rankings) stand out to you?

Source: Most Popular Baby Names 2008-2017 City Of Austin | Open Data | City of Austin Texas

Image: Adapted from Flag of Texas (public domain)

Popular baby names in College Station (Texas), 2022

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Flag of Texas

The city of College Station, home of Texas A&M University (the state’s first public institution of higher education), is located in east-central Texas.

Last year, College Station welcomed 3,856 babies — 1,932 girls and 1,924 boys.

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

Here are College Station’s top 3 girl names and top 3 boy names of 2022:

Girl Names

  1. Evelynn, 21 baby girls
  2. Camila, 20
  3. Ava, 18

Boy Names

  1. Noah, 20 baby boys
  2. Daniel & Liam (tie), 18 each
  3. Benjamin, 15

I’m curious about Evelynn being the top girl name, because the traditional spelling, Evelyn, tends to be much more popular. Could “Evelynn” be a typo…?

Hadley wasn’t in the girls’ top 3, but it was the name of the first baby born in College Station in 2022.

Finally, here are some of the interesting first-middle combos bestowed in the city last year:

  • Girls: Galilea Ninive, Magnolia Truth, Italia Grecia, Saylor Arrow, Pepper Joe
  • Boys: Dodger John, Rowdy Randermann, Kratos Despereaux, Rhythm Ritesh, Riggins Joe

In 2021, the top names in College Station were Adalyn/Olivia/Sophia (a three-way tie) and Liam.

Source: Back by popular demand, here are the most popular local baby names (and our favorites) of 2022

Image: Adapted from Flag of Texas (public domain)

Popular baby names in Canada, 2021

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Flag of Canada

Canada might be the second-largest country in terms of area, but it isn’t very large in terms of population. In fact, it’s one of the least densely populated places in the world.

In 2021, Canada (excluding Yukon) welcomed over 367,684 babies. By comparison, the U.S. state of Texas recorded 373,340 births the same year.

What were the most popular names among Canada’s 2021 babies?

Well…we don’t know for sure. Because Canada doesn’t release baby name rankings that cover the entire country.

map of Canada

I’d love to give you the next-best thing — sets of regional Canadian rankings representing Canada’s ten provinces and three territories — but, as of right now, two of the provinces and all three territories have not released rankings for 2021. (Yukon hasn’t even reported an official number of births yet.)

So I’ll give you the third-best thing: Eight sets of provincial Canadian rankings, all gathered into a single post, followed by a guess about the country’s top five names per gender.

Here are the rankings, ordered by total number of births per region (highest to lowest):

Ontario

In 2021, Ontario welcomed 141,766 babies. Here are Ontario’s top baby names of 2021:

Girl Names, Ont.Boy Names, Ont.
1. Olivia
2. Emma
3. Charlotte
4. Amelia
5. Ava
6. Sophia
7. Isla
8. Evelyn
9. Mia
10. Ella		1. Noah
2. Liam
3. Oliver
4. Jack
5. Benjamin
6. Theodore
7. Lucas
8. William
9. Ethan
10. Leo

In 2020, the top names in Ontario were also Olivia and Noah.

Quebec

In 2021, Quebec welcomed 83,335 babies. Here are Quebec’s top baby names of 2021:

Girl Names, Que.Boy Names, Que.
1. Emma, 521 baby girls
2. Olivia, 519
3. Alice, 508
4. Florence, 498
5. Charlie, 488
6. Livia, 473
7. Charlotte, 465
8. Léa, 462
9. Romy, 357
10. Zoe, 344		1. Noah, 717 baby boys
2. William, 709
3. Thomas, 645
4. Léo, 622
5. Liam, 618
6. Jacob, 529
7. Nathan, 519
8. Arthur, 508
9. Édouard, 499
10. Félix, 484

(Here’s more on Quebec’s top names of 2021.)

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

Alberta

In 2021, Alberta welcomed 49,779 babies. Here are Alberta’s top baby names of 2021:

Girl Names, Alb.Boy Names, Alb.
1. Olivia, 210 baby girls
2. Charlotte, 166
3. Ava, 165
4. Emma, 164
5. Amelia, 161
6. Sophia, 137
7. Isla, 135
8. Abigail, 120 (tie)
9. Chloe, 120 (tie)
10. Evelyn, 119		1. Noah, 274 baby boys
2. Jack, 220
3. Oliver, 208
4. Liam, 198
5. Theodore, 191
6. William, 174
7. Ethan, 162
8. Levi, 148
9. Benjamin, 147 (tie)
10. Henry, 147 (tie)

(Here’s more on Alberta’s top names of 2021.)

In 2020, the top names in Alberta were also Olivia and Noah.

British Columbia

In 2021, British Columbia welcomed 43,999 babies. Here are B.C.’s top baby names of 2021:

Girl Names, B.C.Boy Names, B.C.
1. Olivia, 238 baby girls
2. Emma, 205
3. Charlotte, 182
4. Ava, 161
5. Isla, 157
6. Amelia, 151
7. Sophia, 143
8. Chloe, 127
9. Mia, 126 (tie)
10. Mila, 126 (tie)		1. Liam, 229 baby boys
2. Noah, 223
3. Jack, 201
4. Theodore, 191
5. Benjamin, 183
6. Oliver, 181
7. Owen, 159
8. Leo, 150
9. Ethan, 146
10. Logan, 142

In 2020, the top names in B.C. were also Olivia and Liam.

Manitoba

In 2021, Manitoba welcomed 14,552 babies. Manitoba’s top baby names of 2021, however, haven’t been released yet.

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

Saskatchewan

In 2021, Saskatchewan welcomed 14,509 babies. Here are Saskatchewan’s top baby names of 2021:

Girl Names, Sask.Boy Names, Sask.
1. Olivia, 57 baby girls
2. Sophia, 47
3. Emma, 43
4. Willow, 41
5. Ava, 39
6. Isla, 34
7. Abigail, 32
8. Amelia/Charlotte/Ellie/Harper/Hazel/Lily/Scarlett, 31 each (7-way tie)		1. Noah, 65 baby boys
2. Liam, 61
3. Theodore, 59
4. Oliver, 58
5. William, 53
6. Hudson, 50 (3-way tie)
7. Levi, 50 (3-way tie)
8. Lincoln, 50 (3-way tie)
9. Grayson, 41 (tie)
10. Jackson, 41 (tie)

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

Nova Scotia

In 2021, Nova Scotia welcomed 7,021 babies. Here are N.S.’s top baby names of 2021:

Girl Names, N.S.Boy Names, N.S.
1. Olivia, 56 baby girls
2. Ava, 41
3. Ellie, 37
4. Isla, 35
5. Amelia, 33 (tie)
6. Ivy, 33 (tie)
7. Evelyn, 31 (tie)
8. Violet, 31 (tie)
9. Charlotte, 29 (tie)
10. Harper, 29 (tie)		1. Jack, 52 baby boys
2. Noah, 49
3. Oliver, 47
4. Owen, 46
5. Levi, 45
6. Benjamin, 41 (3-way tie)
7. Henry, 41 (3-way tie)
8. William, 41 (3-way tie)
9. Lucas, 39
10. Liam, 38

In 2020, the top two names in N.S. were Olivia and Oliver.

New Brunswick

In 2021, New Brunswick welcomed 6,353 babies. Here are N.B.’s top baby names of 2021:

Girl Names, N.B.Boy Names, N.B.
1. Charlotte
2. Olivia
3. Sophia
4. Ellie
5. Paisley
6. Sophie
7. Willow
8. Isla
9. Emma
10. Ella		1. Liam
2. William
3. Oliver
4. Benjamin
5. Noah
6. Owen
7. Levi
8. Thomas
9. Jackson
10. Henry

In 2020, the top two names in N.B. were Olivia and Liam.

Newfoundland and Labrador

In 2021, Newfoundland and Labrador welcomed 3,833 babies. N.L.’s top baby names of 2021, however, haven’t been released yet.

In 2020, the top two names in N.L. were Amelia and Jaxson.

Prince Edward Island

In 2021, Prince Edward Island welcomed 1,447 babies. Here are P.E.I.’s top baby names of 2021:

Girl Names, P.E.I.Boy Names, P.E.I.
1. Alice, 9 baby girls
2. Scarlett, 8
3. Grace, 6 (3-way tie)
4. Isla, 6 (3-way tie)
5. Ivy, 6 (3-way tie)
6. Amelia/Anna/Annie/Ava/Charlotte/Ella/Ellie/Everly/Isabella/Lexi/Lucy/Maeve/Olivia/Sophia/Sophie/Willow, 5 each (16-way tie)		1. Oliver, 13 baby boys
2. Jack, 11 (tie)
3. Theo, 11 (tie)
4. Liam, 9
5. Austin, 8 (5-way tie)
6. Ezra, 8 (5-way tie)
7. Jackson, 8 (5-way tie)
8. Leo, 8 (5-way tie)
9. Noah, 8 (5-way tie)
10. Benjamin/Emmett/Ethan/Lucas/Theodore, 7 each (5-way tie)

In 2020, the top two names in P.E.I. were Nora/Charlotte (tie) and Hudson.

Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Yukon

In 2021, N.W.T. and Nunavut welcomed 628 babies and 462 babies, respectively. (Yukon likely welcomed a few hundred babies as well.)

None of the territories have released baby name rankings for 2021.

Canada

Using the data we have from the first, second, third, fourth, and sixth most populous provinces — which, together, welcomed over 90% of the country’s 2021 babies — we can make a guess about Canada’s top baby names overall:

Possible Top Girl NamesPossible Top Boy Names
1. Olivia
2. Emma
3. Charlotte
4. Amelia
5. Ava		1. Noah
2. Liam
3. Benjamin
4. Oliver
5. Jack

I’m only moderately confident about these guesses, primarily because the most populous province, Ontario, didn’t include raw numbers with its rankings.

I placed Benjamin higher than both Oliver and Jack because it was the only one of the three to reach the top 50 in Quebec, Canada’s second-most-populous province. (Benjamin even ranked slightly higher than Olivier, the French form of Oliver, in Quebec.)

If Manitoba, Newfoundland, or any of the territories release 2021 rankings in the coming months, I’ll come back and revise this post.

What are your thoughts on Canada’s top baby names of 2021?

Update, May 20, 2023: A couple of weeks ago, just before of the release of the 2022 U.S. baby name data, Statistics Canada published — for the first time ever! — official rankings for the entire country of Canada:

Official Top Girl NamesOfficial Top Boy Names
1. Olivia, 2,032 baby girls
2. Emma, 1,715
3. Charlotte, 1,579
4. Amelia, 1,308
5. Ava, 1,105 (tie)
6. Sophia, 1,105 (tie)
7. Chloe, 1,088
8. Mia, 1,017
9. Mila, 936
10. Isla, 922		1. Noah, 2,393 baby boys
2. Liam, 1,967
3. William, 1,684
4. Leo, 1,559
5. Benjamin, 1,433
6. Theodore, 1,425
7. Jack, 1,365
8. Thomas, 1,318
9. Logan, 1,314
10. Oliver, 1,310

My guess about the girls’ top five was a lot better than my guess about the boys’ top five. :)

Here are links to the news release, the visualization tool, and the downloadable data table.

Sources:

Image: Adapted from Flag of Canada (public domain)
Map: Adapted from Canada location map 2 by MapGrid under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Popular baby names in Virginia, 2022

Flag of Virginia
Flag of Virginia

The Commonwealth of Virginia, located on the east coast of the United States, is the 12th most populous state in the country.

Last year, Virginia welcomed 95,583 babies.

What were the most popular names among these babies? Charlotte and Noah, according to the Virginia Department of Health’s Office of Vital Records.

Here are Virginia’s top 15 girl names and top 15 boy names of 2022:

Girl Names

  1. Charlotte
  2. Olivia
  3. Ava
  4. Amelia
  5. Emma
  6. Harper
  7. Evelyn
  8. Eleanor
  9. Sophia
  10. Elizabeth
  11. Lilly
  12. Abigail
  13. Riley
  14. Nora
  15. Chloe

Boy Names

  1. Noah
  2. James
  3. Liam
  4. William
  5. Henry
  6. Theodore
  7. Oliver
  8. Elijah
  9. Levi
  10. Benjamin
  11. Owen
  12. John
  13. Jack
  14. Asher
  15. Lucas

…But that’s not all!

The state also revealed the top names within each of its four largest ethnic groups: White, Black, Hispanic and Asian. (According to the most recent CDC data, from 2020, 53.9% of Virginia’s babies were born to non-Hispanic White mothers, 20.7% to Black mothers, 15.6% to Hispanic mothers, and 7.3% to Asian mothers.)

These were the top 5 girl names and 5 boy names among Virginia’s White babies:

Girl names, WhiteBoy names, White
1. Charlotte
2. Olivia
3. Amelia
4. Harper
5. Emma		1. William
2. Henry
3. James
4. Theodore
5. Oliver

These were the top 5 girl names and 5 boy names among Virginia’s Black babies:

Girl names, BlackBoy names, Black
1. Ava
2. Naomi
3. Nova
4. Zuri
5. Leilani		1. Noah
2. Elijah
3. Josiah
4. Amir
5. Micah

These were the top 5 girl names and 5 boy names among Virginia’s Hispanic babies:

Girl names, HispanicBoy names, Hispanic
1. Mia
2. Camila
3. Isabella
4. Emma
5. Genesis		1. Liam
2. Mateo
3. Dylan
4. Noah
5. Lucas

And, finally, these were the top 5 girl names and 5 boy names among Virginia’s Asian babies:

Girl names, AsianBoy names, Asian
1. Sophia
2. Chloe
3. Olivia
4. Mia
5. Charlotte		1. Noah
2. Muhammad
3. Liam
4. Kai
5. Henry

Nearly a decade ago we looked at Virginia’s 2013 rankings, which also included a breakdown of usage by ethnic group.

Sources:

Image: Adapted from Flag of Virginia (public domain)