How popular is the baby name Blue 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 Blue.

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Popularity of the baby name Blue


Posts that mention the name Blue

Unusual baby name: Bluejean

bluejeans

While doing research on old-fashioned double names recently, I spotted the unexpected-but-real name Bluejean on the 1930 U.S. Census:

unusual baby name bluejean
Bluejean Campbell (U.S. Census, 1930)

It belonged to an 8-year-old girl in Colorado, and it made me curious…was this Bluejean the only one? Were there others?

So I did some searching, and I ended up finding about a dozen people, mainly females, named Bluejean or something similar (Blue Jean, Bluejeans, Bluejeana, Bluegene). The most recent was born in the late 1980s.

unusual baby name bluegene
Richard Bluegene Garl (Indiana marriage record, 1952)

What do you think of Bluejean as a baby name? Would you ever consider using it?

Pop culture baby name game, 2017

pop culture baby name game 2017

It’s time for the annual Pop Culture Baby Name Game!

This year we’re kicking things off January 8th, the birthday of Elvis Presley! (He was born in 1935 and would have been 83 today.)

So how do you play the game? Just brainstorm for baby names that could have gotten a boost in usage in 2017 thanks to the influence popular culture: movies, music, television, social media, video games, sports, politics, products, trends, and so forth.

Here are the names we’ve come up with so far:

  • Amilyn – movie Star Wars: The Last Jedi (stolen from Abby)
  • Antiope – movie Wonder Woman
  • Asahd – son of DJ Khaled (suggested by alex)
  • Asperitas – a new type of cloud (suggested by elbowin)
  • Bea – rumored Beyoncé baby name
  • Bear – son of Liam Payne
  • Bilquis – TV show American Gods
  • Callum – move Assassin’s Creed
  • Cardi – rapper Cardi B
  • Carter – son of Beyoncé and Jay-Z (suggested by elbowin)
  • Chance – Chance The Rapper
  • Creeley – TV show Damnation
  • Darci Lynne – winner of America’s Got Talent
  • Eclipse – August solar eclipse
  • Eissa – son of Janet Jackson
  • Eleven – TV show Stranger Things
  • Fatima – 100th anniversary of Marian apparitions
  • Fenty – Rihanna’s company Fenty Beauty
  • Gal – actress Gal Godot
  • Gravity – daughter of fashion models Lucky Blue Smith (male) and Stormi Bree (female)
  • Grover – fictional baby born on TV show Girls
  • Halley – fictional baby born on TV show Big Bang Theory
  • Harvey – hurricane
  • Hela – movie Thor: Ragnarok
  • Irma – hurricane
  • Issa Rae – actress Issa Rae
  • Jacinda – New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern
  • Jumanji – movie Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle
  • Jyn – movie Rogue One: A Star Wars Story
  • Kelsea – singer Kelsea Ballerini
  • Kendrick – rapper Kendrick Lamar
  • Kensli – daughter of Chance the Rapper (suggested by alex)
  • Kenzo – son of Kevin Hart
  • Laureline – movie Valerian
  • Libratus – artificial intelligence (suggested by elbowin)
  • Mahershala – actor Mahershala Ali
  • Maren – singer Maren Morris
  • Mika – news presenter Mika Brzezinski (suggested by alex)
  • Ovince – MMA competitor Ovince Saint Preux
  • Poppy – singer Poppy; movie Trolls
  • Ragnarok – movie Thor: Ragnarok
  • Revel – son of actors Matthew and Renee Morrison
  • Rumi – daughter of Beyoncé and Jay-Z
  • Saffie – victim of Manchester bombing (suggested by elbowin)
  • Sally – former Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates
  • Saoirse – actress Saoirse Ronan
  • Shadow – TV show American Gods
  • Shawn – rumored Beyoncé baby name
  • Shayla – beauty influencer Shayla Mitchell
  • Sir – son of Beyoncé and Jay-Z
  • Sonequa – actress Sonequa Martin-Green
  • Sovereign – daughter of Cam Newton
  • Strummer – son of Julia Stiles
  • Sturgill – musician Sturgill Simpson
  • Sza – singer SZA
  • Tenney – doll/character Tenney Grant (full name: “Tennyson Evangeline”)
  • Totality – August solar eclipse
  • Valerian – movie Valerian
  • Valkyrie – movie Thor: Ragnarok
  • Yulin – San Juan mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz (suggested by elbowin)
  • Zaya – movie Gods of Egypt (stolen from Maybe it is Daijir?)
  • Zelle – payment app

Have any additions to make? Comment below! Just don’t forget to mention the pop culture influence.

The SSA will release the next batch of baby name data in May, so I will post the results to the game a few days after that 2017 data becomes available.

If you don’t want to miss the results post, please subscribe to NBN by entering your email address into the “Get New Posts via Email” form in the sidebar.

P.S. Have some ideas for 2018? Comment with those too — I’ll add them to next year’s game. One addition I just made: Grayson, for the winter storm. (Here’s a Massachusetts baby named Grayson, and a Maine baby possibly named Grayson.)

Popular baby names in England and Wales (UK), 2013

Flag of the United Kingdom
Flag of the United Kingdom

The top baby names in England and Wales were announced last week.

According to data from the Office for National Statistics, the most popular baby names last year were Amelia and Oliver.

Here are England and Wales’ top 20 girl names and top 20 boy names of 2013:

Girl Names

  1. Amelia, 5570 baby girls
  2. Olivia, 4598
  3. Emily, 4049
  4. Ava, 3575
  5. Isla, 3526
  6. Jessica, 3507
  7. Poppy, 3422
  8. Isabella, 3246
  9. Sophie, 3013
  10. Mia, 2993
  11. Ruby, 2948
  12. Lily, 2883
  13. Grace, 2799
  14. Evie, 2767
  15. Sophia, 2764
  16. Ella, 2722
  17. Scarlett, 2643
  18. Chloe, 2401
  19. Isabelle, 2287
  20. Freya, 2266

Boy Names

  1. Oliver, 6,949 baby boys
  2. Jack, 6,212
  3. Harry, 5,888
  4. Jacob, 5,126
  5. Charlie 5,039
  6. Thomas, 4,591
  7. Oscar, 4,511
  8. William, 4,268
  9. James, 4,236
  10. George, 4,202
  11. Alfie, 4,138
  12. Joshua, 3,973
  13. Noah, 3,830
  14. Ethan, 3,572
  15. Muhammad, 3,499
  16. Archie, 3,265
  17. Leo, 3,264
  18. Henry, 3,248
  19. Joseph, 3,225
  20. Samuel, 3,188

There were some big moves on the boys’ side: Oscar rose from 17th to 7th, while Riley plummeted from 8th to 21st. (Here are the biggest moves overall for boy names and girl names.)

New to the top 20 are Scarlett, Archie, Henry and Joseph. They replaced Charlotte, Riley, Daniel and Max.

One thing I found interesting? Freya wasn’t on the England top 20. It also wasn’t on the Wales top 20. And yet still it managed to rank 20th on the combined top 20. Very sneaky, Freya.

Here are some of last year’s rare baby names, each given to between 3 and 10 babies (inclusive):

Rare Girl NamesRare Boy Names
Akvile, Alaska, Alphonsa, Andromeda, Arena, Arizona, Atlantis, Belinay, Bellatrix, Blousey, Boadicea, Boglarka, Bonnie-Blue, Boo, Boux, Charm, Cressida, Crystal-Rose, Daenerys, Delphie, Disney, Duru, Edwina, Ellery, Eloghosa, Enfys, Enlli,* Eos, Ernestine, Esila, Evan, Frayer, Freshta, Fausta, Garance, Gelila, Gemini, Gerda, Glorious, Halo, Honour, Io, Iole, Ionie, Iseult, Isla-Belle, Izna, Lava, Lleucu, Llinos, Llio, Loveday, Loxy, Mafalda, Man, Maple, Miami, Migle, Milda, Misk, Mirabella, Mirren, Myfi, Myrtle, Nandi, Nephele, Nma, Ottoline, Pebbles, Popi, Purity, Quorra, Quratulain, Rory, Ruby-Tuesday, Salsabeel, Sehrish, Sequoia, Sibel, Sobia, Solveig, Sundus, Tiggi, Tiggy, Tirion, Tulsi, Vespa, Vogue, YiyiAlaric, Bramwell, Cavalli, Ceirion, Denley, Diesel, Diggory, Drin, Eesaa, Eyoel, Fiachra, Finlo, Fyfe, Ghyll, Greatness, Gruff, Hanzala, Haoyu, Heathcliff, Henley-John, Ho, Hocine, Innis, Iori, J, Jai-Jai, Jay-J, Jaygo, Johnboy, Jonjoe, Kebba, Kelly, Khizr, King-David, Klevis, Lebron, Liutaruas, Llyr, Lochie, Messi, Mortimer, Nebi, Nimrod, Noman, Olti, Omarion, Orpheus, Osgar, Oska, Perseus, Ptolemy, Qi, Rhythm, Rozh, Rhon, Sandor, Shady, Shaquille, Sheriff, Shko, Soul, Swayley, T, Tiger, Tirath, Tobenna, Toprak, Tuguldur, Tylah, Tyrion, Ugnius, Viggo, Wentworth, Winter, Wolf, Wolfgang, Wren, Yanky, Yug, Zeus, Zsombor

*Enlli, which debuted last year, comes from the name of the Welsh island Ynys Enlli (called Bardsey Island in English). The island name is usually translated as “island of the current,” with ynys meaning “island,” and enlli meaning “current.” You can hear the proper pronunciation of Ynys Enlli at Forvo.

Finally, all of my previous posts on the popular (and unique) baby names in England and Wales: 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, and 2008.

Source: Baby Names, England and Wales, 2013 – ONS

Image: Adapted from Flag of the United Kingdom (public domain)

Pop culture baby name game results, 2012

Here are the results of the 2012 pop culture baby name game!

Below are all the names we came up with and how they fared on the charts last year.

First up, the names that made the biggest gains. (Some of these were on their way up anyway, so I’ll leave it to you guys to interpret just how much each one was/was not helped along by pop culture events.)

Liam, +3286

  • 2012: 16687 baby boys named Liam
  • 2011: 13401 baby boys named Liam

Lincoln, +726

  • 2012: 2882 baby boys named Lincoln
  • 2011: 2156 baby boys named Lincoln

Dominic, +725

  • 2012: 6140 baby boys named Dominic
  • 2011: 5415 baby boys named Dominic

Penelope, +647

  • 2012: 2510 baby girls named Penelope
  • 2011: 1863 baby girls named Penelope

Ivy, +469

  • 2012: 1677 baby girls named Ivy
  • 2011: 1208 baby girls named Ivy

Arya, +367

  • 2012: 754 baby girls named Arya
  • 2011: 387 baby girls named Arya

Luna, +262

  • 2012: 1404 baby girls named Luna
  • 2011: 1142 baby girls named Luna

Louis, +132

  • 2012: 1049 baby boys named Louis
  • 2011: 917 baby boys named Louis

Trayvon, +123

  • 2012: 178 baby boys named Trayvon
  • 2011: 55 baby boys named Trayvon

Adele, +99

  • 2012: 559 baby girls named Adele
  • 2011: 460 baby girls named Adele

Olive, +87

  • 2012: 847 baby girls named Olive
  • 2011: 760 baby girls named Olive

Zayn, +83

  • 2012: 131 baby boys named Zayn
  • 2011: 48 baby boys named Zayn

Selena, +64

  • 2012: 1043 baby girls named Selena
  • 2011: 979 baby girls named Selena

Anastasia, +59

  • 2012: 918 baby girls named Anastasia
  • 2011: 859 baby girls named Anastasia

Grey, +59

  • 2012: 184 baby boys named Grey
  • 2011: 125 baby boys named Grey

Toby, +32 / +59

  • 2012: 93 baby girls and 349 baby boys named Toby
  • 2011: 61 baby girls and 290 baby boys named Toby

Melissa +57

  • 2012: 1761 baby girls named Melissa
  • 2011: 1704 baby girls named Melissa

Lorenzo,+54

  • 2012: 1081 baby boys named Lorenzo
  • 2011: 1027 baby boys named Lorenzo

Jubilee, +52

  • 2012: 155 baby girls named Jubilee
  • 2011: 103 baby girls named Jubilee

London, +22 / +32

  • 2012: 3179 baby girls and 482 baby boys named London
  • 2011: 3157 baby girls and 450 baby boys named London

Viola, +28

  • 2012: 162 baby girls named Viola
  • 2011: 134 baby girls named Viola

Renesmee, +26

  • 2012: 59 baby girls named Renesmee
  • 2011: 33 baby girls named Renesmee

Lovely, +26

  • 2012: 82 baby girls named Lovely
  • 2011: 56 baby girls named Lovely

Sarina, +26

  • 2012: 194 baby girls named Sarina
  • 2011: 168 baby girls named Sarina

McKayla, +25

  • 2012: 399 baby girls named McKayla
  • 2011: 374 baby girls named McKayla

Berenice, +20

  • 2012: 129 baby girls named Berenice
  • 2011: 109 baby girls named Berenice

Rue, +19

  • 2012: 32 baby girls named Rue
  • 2011: 13 baby girls named Rue

Selina, +18

  • 2012: 242 baby girls named Selina
  • 2011: 224 baby girls named Selina

Kateri, +16

  • 2012: 58 baby girls named Kateri
  • 2011: 42 baby girls named kateri

Merida, +15 at least

  • 2012: 19 baby girls named Merida [re-entered list]
  • 2011: ? baby girls named Merida

Pepper, +15

  • 2012: 132 baby girls named Pepper
  • 2011: 117 baby girls named Pepper

Rooney (for girls), +15

  • 2012: 21 baby girls named Rooney
  • 2011: 6 baby girls named Rooney

Hugo, +13

  • 2012: 630 baby boys named Hugo
  • 2011: 617 baby boys named Hugo

Primrose, +12 at least

  • 2012: 16 baby girls named Primrose [re-entered list]
  • 2011: ? baby girls named Primrose

Lisbeth, +11

  • 2012: 82 baby girls named Lisbeth
  • 2011: 71 baby girls named Lisbeth

Blue, +3 / +9

  • 2012: 10 baby girls and 20 baby boys named Blue
  • 2011: 7 baby girls and 11 baby boys named Blue

Romney, +9

  • 2012: 16 baby boys named Romney
  • 2011: 5 baby boys named Romney

Cassadee, +8

  • 2012: 13 baby girls named Cassadee
  • 2011: 5 baby girls named Cassadee

Katniss, +8 at least

  • 2012: 12 baby girls named Katniss [debut]
  • 2011: ? baby girls named Katniss

Niall, +8

  • 2012: 42 baby boys named Niall
  • 2011: 34 baby boys named Niall

Octavia, +7

  • 2012: 79 baby girls named Octavia
  • 2011: 72 baby girls named Octavia

Arrietty, +6 at least

  • 2012: 10 baby girls named Arrietty [debut]
  • 2011: ? baby girls named Arrietty

Loki, +6

  • 2012: 77 baby boys named Loki
  • 2011: 71 baby boys named Loki

Names that went up by 5 or fewer:

  • Beretta
  • Harry
  • Hawk (though Hawkeye debuted)
  • Joss (for boys)
  • Mavis
  • Maxwell (for girls)
  • Mitt
  • Tennessee

Names that went down:

  • Avila
  • Carly
  • Destinee
  • Django
  • Elizabeth
  • Felix
  • Gabrielle
  • Kindle
  • Missy
  • Ryan
  • Sparkle
  • Thor
  • Tony
  • Whitney

Names still not on the SSA’s list:

  • Altaluna
  • Azealia
  • Carlyrae
  • Dev (for girls)
  • Essined
  • Fury
  • Hildegard
  • Hulk
  • Lidislay
  • Quvenzhane
  • Shemekia
  • Stratos
  • Tika
  • Vanellope
  • Whedon
  • Yolo

Did any of these surprise you?

P.S. Thanks so much to everyone who played!