How popular is the baby name Charlotte 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 Charlotte.

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Popularity of the baby name Charlotte


Posts that mention the name Charlotte

Princess Diana’s niece named Charlotte Diana

Diana, Princess of Wales (1961-1997)
Diana, Princess of Wales

Speaking of English names…

Lady Di’s younger brother, Charles Spencer, welcomed a baby girl on July 30.

He and his wife decided to named the baby Charlotte Diana Spencer — middle name in honor of the late Princess of Wales.

Charles said:

[T]hough it’s been 15 years since Diana died, I still miss her every day and I wanted her commemorated in the naming of our daughter.

Source: Sykes, Tom. “Lady Di’s Brother Names New Baby in Her Honour.” Daily Beast 6 Aug. 2012.

Image: Adapted from Diana, Princess of Wales 1997 by John Mathew Smith under CC BY-SA 2.0.

Popular baby names in England and Wales (UK), 2011

Flag of the United Kingdom
Flag of the United Kingdom

According to the Office for National Statistics, the new top baby names in England and Wales are Harry and Amelia.

They beat out 2010’s top names, Oliver and Olivia.

Here are the current top 25 names for both boys and girls:

Girl Names

  1. Amelia
  2. Olivia
  3. Lily
  4. Jessica
  5. Emily
  6. Sophie
  7. Ruby
  8. Grace
  9. Ava
  10. Isabella
  11. Evie
  12. Chloe
  13. Mia
  14. Poppy
  15. Isla
  16. Ella
  17. Isabelle
  18. Sophia
  19. Freya
  20. Daisy
  21. Charlotte
  22. Maisie
  23. Lucy
  24. Phoebe
  25. Scarlett

Boy Names

  1. Harry
  2. Oliver
  3. Jack
  4. Alfie
  5. Charlie
  6. Thomas
  7. Jacob
  8. James
  9. Joshua
  10. William
  11. Ethan
  12. George
  13. Riley
  14. Daniel
  15. Samuel
  16. Noah
  17. Oscar
  18. Joseph
  19. Mohammed
  20. Max
  21. Dylan
  22. Muhammad
  23. Alexander
  24. Archie
  25. Benjamin

In Wales specifically, the top names were Oliver and Lily. In London, Daniel and Isabella.

A few other things I noticed…

Usage of Pippa increased in 2011, thanks to the royal wedding:

  • 2011: 250 baby girls named Pippa (rank: 204th)
  • 2010: 124 baby girls named Pippa (rank: 365th)
  • 2009: 125 baby girls named Pippa (rank: 351st)

Usage of another quirky P-name, Pixie, is also on the up thanks to English pop star Pixie Lott:

  • 2011: 99 baby girls named Pixie (rank: 432nd)
    • +6 named Pixie-Lou
    • +5 named Pixie-Leigh
  • 2010: 83 baby girls named Pixie (rank: 485th)
    • +3 named Pixie-Lou
    • +3 named Pixie-Rose
  • 2009: 33 baby girls named Pixie (rank: 982nd)

I also spotted 5 baby girls named Renesmee, 4 named Coraline and 4 named Io.

The most insightful article I’ve seen about this batch of names so far is Ed West’s “Britain’s divided nation is revealed in our baby names.” Some snippets:

  • “…the annually-published list does show that, for the first time in nine centuries, English people are easily identifiable by class solely by their name, since most names in the 2011 list have strong class biases either way.”
  • “Social mobility will be achieved only when we all give our children the same names.”

Have you spotted anything interesting or surprising on the England and Wales 2011 list?

Source: Baby names in England and Wales: 2011

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

Will the baby name Toby be getting a boost?

Title of the TV series "Good Luck Charlie" (2010-2014)
“Good Luck Charlie“

The Disney Channel sitcom Good Luck Charlie isn’t just helping to popularize the already-trendy girl name Charlie, but it seems to have single-handedly brought back the girl name Teddy. (On the show, the two sisters in the Duncan family are Charlotte, nicknamed “Charlie,” and Teddy.)

Will Good Luck Charlie (which began airing in April of 2010) now have a similar influence on the baby name Toby?

In December of 2011, Disney announced that the family in the sitcom would be welcoming a fifth child. Fans were given a 2-week window in which to vote for their favorite baby name via the show’s official webpage. These were the choices:

BoErika
Bobby Jr.Jenny
JonahMallory
NoahSydney
TobyTalia

The baby, a boy, arrived during the episode that aired on June 24, 2012. He was born in an ice cream truck and given the name Toby (which had received nearly 26 million votes).

Usage of the baby name Toby has been declining in the U.S. lately:

  • 2011: 291 baby boys & 61 baby girls with the name Toby
  • 2010: 358 baby boys & 50 baby girls with the name Toby
  • 2009: 396 baby boys & 56 baby girls with the name Toby
  • 2008: 440 baby boys & 53 baby girls with the name Toby
  • 2007: 461 baby boys & 51 baby girls with the name Toby

Do you think the popular sitcom could turn this trend around?

Update, 2020: The name Toby ended up rising in usage in both 2012 and 2013 before continuing its downward trajectory. The series itself ended in early 2014.

Sources: Good Luck Charlie – Wikipedia, SSA

Image: Screenshot of Good Luck Charlie

Biggest changes in girl name popularity, 2011

Which girl names saw the biggest increases in popularity from 2010 to 2011? How about the biggest decreases?

According to the numbers, the winner was Harper:

  1. Harper, +2012 babies (rank change: 118th to 54th)
  2. Aubrey, +1784 babies (rank change: 44th to 20th)
  3. Aubree, +1509 babies (rank change: 223rd to 99th)
  4. Emma, +1397 babies (rank change: 3rd to 3rd)
  5. Zoey, +1164 babies (rank change: 47th to 28th)
  6. Sophia, +1129 babies (rank change: 2nd to 1st)
  7. Aria, +1066 babies (rank change: 353rd to 157th)
  8. Charlotte, +1024 babies (rank change: 46th to 27th)
  9. Brooklyn, +1017 babies (rank change: 34th to 21st)
  10. Sofia, +981 babies (rank change: 26th to 19th)

The loser? Isabella:

  1. Isabella, -3077 babies (rank change: 1st to 2nd)
  2. Alexis, -1740 babies (rank change: 16th to 26th)
  3. Brianna, -1098 babies (rank change: 30th to 45th)
  4. Abigail, -1059 babies (rank change: 7th to 7th)
  5. Addison, -1056 babies (rank change: 11th to 13th)
  6. Samantha, -1048 babies (rank change: 15th to 17th)
  7. Alyssa, -1001 babies (rank change: 20th to 37th)
  8. Makayla, -959 babies (rank change: 43rd to 56th)
  9. Ashley, -929 babies (rank change: 27th to 42nd)
  10. Bella, -865 babies (rank change: 48th to 60th)

Not only did Isabella see the steepest drop in terms of usage, but she also got knocked out of the #1 spot by Sophia (Sophia was last year’s top climber, btw).

Girl names that decreased in usage but increased in rank (confusingly!) include Ella, Elizabeth and Arianna.