How popular is the baby name Bright 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 Bright.

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Popularity of the baby name Bright


Posts that mention the name Bright

Popular baby names in England and Wales (UK), 2015

Flag of the United Kingdom
Flag of the United Kingdom

According to data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the most popular baby names in England and Wales last year were (again) Amelia and Oliver.

Here are the top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names of 2015:

Girl NamesBoy Names
1. Amelia, 5,158 baby girls
2. Olivia, 4,853
3. Emily, 3,893
4. Isla, 3,474
5. Ava, 3,414
6. Ella, 3,028
7. Jessica, 2,937
8. Isabella, 2,876
9. Mia, 2,842
10. Poppy, 2,816
1. Oliver, 6,941 baby boys
2. Jack, 5,371
3. Harry, 5,308
4. George, 4,869
5. Jacob, 4,850
6. Charlie, 4,831
7. Noah, 4,148
8. William, 4,083
9. Thomas, 4,075
10. Oscar, 4,066

In the girls’ top 10, Ella and Mia replaced Lily (now 13th) and Sophie (now 11th).

In the boys’ top 10, Noah (the top name in the U.S. right now) replaced James (11th).

In the girls’ top 100, Penelope, Mila, Clara, Arabella, Maddison and Aria replaced Lydia (now 103rd), Faith (104th), Mollie (105th), Brooke (107th), Isabel (110th) and Amy (117th).

In the boys’ top 100, Jaxon, Roman, Reggie and Carter replaced Owen (now 101st), Robert (105th), Joey (117th) and Finlay (123rd).

Here are some of last year’s rare baby names, each given to either 3, 4 or 5 babies:

Rare Girl NamesRare Boy Names
Aarzoo, Autumn-Lily, Boglarka, Comfort, Edna, Enxi, Euphemia, Flourish, Fozia, Gabia, Jupiter, Lady, Lleucu, Llio, Merveille, Nectaria, Pebbles, Peony, Prisca, Purity, Quorra, Reisel, Sloka, Tuba, Venice, Vimbainashe, YlvaAlffi, Bam, Bright, Crimea, Cuthbert, Efezino, Elimelech, Fyfe, Ghyll, Gryff, James-Dean, Jamesdean, Kushagra, Ignatius, Marmaduke, Math, Mio, Osagie, Otso, Pip, Przemyslaw, Sherlock, Swayley, Ringo, Testimony, Thierno, Zephyrus

(Crimea is intriguing, isn’t it? It was used as a baby name in the 1850s, during the Crimean War, but this is the first time I’ve seen it on a modern name list.)

And how did Welsh names fare in Wales specifically?

Welsh Girl NamesWelsh Boy Names
Seren (“star”) ranks 17th in Wales
Ffion (“foxglove”), 20th
Megan, 27th (and 76th overall)
Mali, 45th
Alys, 66th
Carys (“love”), 72nd
Efa, 73rd
Cadi, 82nd
Lili, 85th
Lowri, 88th
Eira (“snow”), 92nd
Ela, 97th (tie)
Elin, 97th (tie)
Dylan, ranks 13th in Wales (and 38th overall)
Osian, 25th
Harri, 27th
Jac, 33rd
Rhys, 34th
Evan, 37th
Tomos, 47th
Cai, 51st
Ioan, 56th
Morgan, 67th
Elis, 66th
Hari, 82nd
Gethin (“swarthy”), 88th (tie)
Iestyn, 88th (tie)
Macsen, 92nd (tie)
Owain, 92nd (tie)
Ifan, 96th

Finally, if you’d like to go back another year, here are the England and Wales rankings for 2014.

Source: Baby names in England and Wales: 2015 – ONS

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

Popular baby names in England and Wales (UK), 2014

Flag of the United Kingdom
Flag of the United Kingdom

According to data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the most popular baby names in England and Wales last year were Amelia and Oliver.

Here are the top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names of 2014:

Girl NamesBoy Names
1. Amelia, 5,327 baby girls
2. Olivia, 4,724
3. Isla, 4,012
4. Emily, 3,991
5. Poppy, 3,273
6. Ava, 3,171
7. Isabella, 3,022
8. Jessica, 2,995
9. Lily, 2,965
10. Sophie, 2,905
1. Oliver, 6,649 baby boys
2. Jack, 5,804
3. Harry, 5,379
4. Jacob, 5,050
5. Charlie, 4,642
6. Thomas, 4,405
7. George, 4,320
8. Oscar, 4,269
9. James, 4,167
10. William, 4,134

In the girls’ top 10, Lily replaced Mia (now 13th).

The boys’ top 10 includes the same names in a different order.

The ONS report also highlighted a few seasonal favorites, such as…

  • Holly, which ranked 5th in December but 70th in June. Overall, it was 39th.
  • Summer, which ranked 25th in June but 105th in December. Overall, it was 58th.

Here are some of last year’s rare baby names, each given to either 3, 4 or 5 babies:

Rare Girl NamesRare Boy Names
Ambreen, Angharad, Arinola, Arzoo, Astala, Boux, Cagla, Cliodhna, Darasimi, Delyth, Dolsie, Elliw, Eslem, Flourish, Harper-Lee, Heulwen, Heyabel, Honeysuckle, Ilinca, Io, Iris-Rose, Jedidiah, Kitty-Rose, Lili-Haf, Loveday, Luul, L’Wren, Makatendeka, Maxima, Moksha, Morsal, Nainsi, Peach, Poppy-Willow, Ritaj, Sailor, Shailene, Tavleen, Topsy, Tuppence, Uxia, Vaneeza, Venba, Zennor, ZiggyAldion, Alias, Archimedes, Bevon, Boycie, Bright, Buzz, Caelum, Calix, Cloud, Coast, Cove, Crispin, Denley, Diesel, Dipson, Grantas, Gwern, Hanzala, Harrington, Jensen-James, Jolyon, Jonjoe, Jorel, Kebba, Keita, Khattab, Klaidas, Marceau, Metodi, Oaklen, Osazee, Peregrine, Refoel, Re’Kai, Romarni, Sanchez, Seweryn, Sheriff, Stanleigh, Swayley, Timurs, Ugnius, Vasco, Velizar, Ynyr

Finally, here are all of my previous posts on baby names in England and Wales: 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, and 2008.

Source: Baby Names, England and Wales, 2014 – ONS

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

Popular and unique baby names in Scotland (UK), 2013

Flag of the United Kingdom
Flag of the United Kingdom

This is the second 2013 list I’ve seen so far.

According to provisional finalized data from Scotland’s General Register Office, the most popular baby names in Scotland are still Sophie and Jack.

Here are Scotland’s projected top 20 girl names and top 20 boy names of 2013:

Girl Names

  1. Sophie, 516 baby girls
  2. Olivia, 499
  3. Emily, 490
  4. Isla, 409
  5. Lucy, 393
  6. Ava, 383
  7. Jessica, 374
  8. Amelia, 303
  9. Ella, 300
  10. Millie, 297
  11. Lily, 288
  12. Chloe, 267
  13. Sophia, 266
  14. Ellie, 256
  15. Eva, 254
  16. Emma, 251
  17. Mia, 236
  18. Freya, 225 (tie)
  19. Grace, 225 (tie)
  20. Erin, 223

Boy Names

  1. Jack, 595 baby boys
  2. James, 434
  3. Lewis, 382
  4. Oliver, 361
  5. Daniel, 359
  6. Logan, 349
  7. Alexander, 318
  8. Lucas, 313
  9. Charlie, 301
  10. Harry, 299
  11. Mason, 292
  12. Ethan, 284
  13. Noah, 282
  14. Harris, 270
  15. Riley, 265
  16. Finlay, 259
  17. Alfie, 257
  18. Jacob, 249
  19. Max, 247
  20. Adam, 243

New to the top 20 girl names are Ella and Erin. Drop-outs are Hannah and Holly.

New to the top 20 boy names are Noah, Harris and Jacob. Drop-outs are Tyler, Aaron, Ryan and Liam. (There’s an extra name on the drop-out list because there was a tie for 20th place on the boys’ list last year.)

Of the 4,396 girl names bestowed last year in Scotland, 55 were given to more than 100 baby girls while 2,872 were used only once.

Of the 3,410 boy names bestowed, 74 were given to more than 100 baby boys while 2,197 were used only once.

Here are some of the names used only once in Scotland last year:

Unique Girl NamesUnique Boy Names
Anadoo, Ayse-Gul, Bellatrix, Bjelle, Boroka, Calaposha, Claurieli, Comfort, Diorlouise, Dristy, Drooj, Io, Light, Morag, Nellicy, Ruvimbo, Scarlett-Beau, Scotland, Success, Tarannom, WillowmenaArgyll-Sutherland, Bhriclan, Boto, Bright, Cal-El, Dempster, Frew, Gexian, Godsrest, Grave, Hollywood, Johnboy, Jozzel, King-Enoch, Ledley-Lee, Mnelisi, Moray-Geo, Noxx, Success, Timocy, Woodiee

(Yup, one Success on each side.)

Want to see past lists of popular baby names in Scotland? Check out the 2012, 2011, 2010 and 2009 lists.

Sources: Babies’ First Names 2013 – GRO Scotland, Baby names: Jack and Sophie again Scotland’s most popular

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

Popular baby names in England and Wales (UK), 2008

Flag of the United Kingdom
Flag of the United Kingdom

Ready for some rankings?

Here are England and Wales’ top 20 girl names and top 20 boy names of 2008:

Girl Names

  1. Olivia, 5,325 baby girls
  2. Ruby, 4,931
  3. Emily, 4,881
  4. Grace, 4,775
  5. Jessica, 4,672
  6. Chloe, 4,605
  7. Sophie, 4,380
  8. Lily, 4,047
  9. Amelia, 3,440
  10. Evie, 3,281
  11. Mia, 3,121
  12. Ella, 3,042
  13. Charlotte, 2,939
  14. Lucy, 2,876
  15. Megan, 2,515
  16. Ellie, 2,505
  17. Isabelle, 2,460
  18. Isabella, 2,424
  19. Hannah, 2,335
  20. Katie, 2,324

Boy Names

  1. Jack, 8,010 baby boys
  2. Oliver, 7,417
  3. Thomas, 6,062
  4. Harry, 6,008
  5. Joshua, 5,716
  6. Alfie, 5,566
  7. Charlie, 5,291
  8. Daniel, 5,191
  9. James, 5,170
  10. William, 5,169
  11. Samuel, 4,624
  12. George, 4,214
  13. Joseph, 3,764
  14. Lewis, 3,482
  15. Ethan, 3,451
  16. Mohammed, 3,442
  17. Dylan, 3,373
  18. Benjamin, 3,275
  19. Alexander, 3,215
  20. Jacob, 3,127

Intriguingly, the name Honey ranked 190th on the girls’ list. A whopping 279 baby girls got the name. In contrast, just 90 U.S. baby girls were named Honey that year, and the name has never once cracked the U.S. top 1,000. I wonder what accounts for the relative popularity of Honey overseas.

Finally, here are some of the names that were used less often in 2008…

Uncommon Girl NamesUncommon Boy Names
Bluebell (20 baby girls), Primrose (17), Temperance (13), Breeze (11), Cleopatra (11), Sorrel (11), Tigerlily (9), Tirion (9), Comfort (8), Peaches (8), Pebbles (8), Beyonce (7), Miami (7), Zinnia (7), Godiva (6), Mercades (5), Panashe (5), Tulip (5), Wednesday (5), Magenta (4), Boadicea (3), Cayenne (3), Kimora-Lee (3), Plum (3), Rejoice (3)Spike (23 baby boys), Willoughby (22), Ziggy (20), Ptolemy (19), Zidane (13), Zinedine (12), Kal-El (10), Hendrix (9), Humphrey (8), Elan (6), Gruff (6), Legend (6), Achilles (5), Amen (5), Bright (5), Jesse-James (5), Tennyson (5), Darlington (4), James-Dean (4), Courage (3), Freedom (3), Messiah (3), Remus (3), Riquelme (3), Seven (3)

What are your thoughts on these rankings/names?

Sources: Office for National Statistics, England & Wales Baby Names

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