How popular is the baby name Christopher 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 Christopher.

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Popularity of the baby name Christopher


Posts that mention the name Christopher

Biggest changes in boy name popularity, 2010

For the last few years, the SSA has re-ordered the top 500 (or so) baby names according to rank change.

Below I’ve done the same sort of analysis, but I changed two things. First, I focused on the number of babies instead of on rankings. Second, I looked at the entire list, not just the top 500.

And that’s why these lists and the SSA’s lists look so different. :)

The boy names that increased and decreased the most in terms of usage are below. The girl names were in the last post.

Biggest Increases, 2009 to 2010

  1. Mason, +4074 babies (rank change: 34th to 12th)
  2. Bentley, +3221 (515th to 101st)
  3. Liam, +2317 (49th to 30th)
  4. Eli, +1601 (90th to 65th)
  5. Easton, +1330 (253rd to 145th)
  6. Grayson, +1077 (173rd to 122nd)
  7. Elijah, +984 (22nd to 18th)
  8. Levi, +935 (85th to 70th)
  9. Jacob, +839 (1st to 1st)
  10. Bryson, +771 (151st to 120th)
  11. Lucas, +727 (39th to 35th)
  12. Axel, +645 (264th to 187th)
  13. Colton, +516 (93rd to 73rd)
  14. Jeremiah, +485 (65th to 52nd)
  15. Asher, +474 (165th to 139th)
  16. Brayden, +474 (48th to 40th)
  17. Greyson, +451 (347th to 249th)
  18. Henry, +448 (71st to 67th)
  19. Miles, +434 (162nd to 137th)
  20. Jaxon, +423 (124th to 99th)

Biggest Decreases, 2009 to 2010

  1. Joshua, -2311 babies (rank change: 6th to 11th)
  2. Christopher, -2129 (10th to 13th)
  3. Matthew, -1941 (13th to 16th)
  4. Ethan, -1917 (2nd to 2nd)
  5. Daniel, -1777 (7th to 8th)
  6. Michael, -1689 (3rd to 3rd)
  7. Christian, -1620 (23rd to 29th)
  8. Alexander, -1541 (4th to 6th)
  9. Aidan, -1523 (72nd to 94th)
  10. Kevin, -1476 (44th to 58th)
  11. Brandon, -1331 (38th to 43rd)
  12. David, -1328 (14th to 15th)
  13. Nicholas, -1252 (32nd to 38th)
  14. Ryan, -1185 (19th to 23rd)
  15. Joseph, -1162 (15th to 20th)
  16. Gavin, -1159 (33rd to 37th)
  17. Jose, -1139 (43th to 51st)
  18. Tyler, -1130 (28th to 34th)
  19. Angel, -1102 (37th to 42nd)
  20. Juan, -1048 (67th to 75th)

As with the girl names, three of the above (Jacob, Ethan and Michael) were big winners/losers according to the numbers, but their rankings stayed the same.

Older siblings vote for baby’s name

In early 1965, Marius and Anne Spada of Towaco, New Jersey, welcomed a baby boy — their 16th child. They didn’t give him a name, though. They had their older children vote on his name, pursuant to family tradition.

Of the 15 older children, 13 took part in the election. They were Anselm (19), Marie (18), Lucille (16), James (15), Jennifer (14), Victoria (13), twins Larry and Laurie (12), Patrick (9), Nicholas (8), Annette (7), Teresa (5) and Christopher (4). The two not taking part were Joseph (17) and Marius Jr. (2). Joseph was away on Army duty, and Marius Jr. was considered too young.

The parents had no say in the balloting. “We leave it entirely up to them,” Marius Sr. (44) told the papers. “I used to be able to sway the election, but I guess I’m too old now politically to carry much weight.”

The winning name was Dominick, with 11 votes. Marius Sr. explained that the name was inspired by “a priest, Father Dominick, who’s a friend of the family.” Runners-up were John and Anthony, with 1 vote each.

Source: “‘Decision of Lifetime’ Made by Youngsters.” Spokane Daily Chronicle 20 Jan. 1965: 27.

Popular baby names in England and Wales (UK), 2010

Flag of the United Kingdom
Flag of the United Kingdom

Oliver and Olivia still reign supreme in England and Wales. Here are the most popular baby names of 2010:

Boy NamesGirl Names
1. Oliver
2. Jack
3. Harry
4. Alfie
5. Charlie
6. Thomas
7. William
8. Joshua
9. George
10. James		1. Olivia
2. Sophie
3. Emily
4. Lily
5. Amelia
6. Jessica
7. Ruby
8. Chloe
9. Grace
10. Evie

George is new to the boys’ top 10. The drop-out was Daniel.

No newbies on the girls’ side.

Ollie, Bobby, Caleb, Jenson, Dexter and Kayden replaced Ellis, Joe, Christopher, Ewan, Morgan and Austin in the boys’ top 100.

Annabelle, Eliza, Laila, Aisha, Maryam and Maisy replaced Lydia, Eve, Alisha, Francesca, Sara and Mya in the girls’ top 100.

Source: Oliver and Olivia most popular baby names in 2010

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

What gave the baby name Nira a boost in 1933?

The Great Depression began in October of 1929. When Franklin Delano Roosevelt replaced Herbert Hoover as U.S. President in early 1933, he got to work on the New Deal, which was intended to bring immediate economic relief.

Part of the New Deal was the National Industrial Recovery Act (NIRA), which “sanctioned, supported, and in some cases, enforced an alliance of industries.” It was enacted on June 16, 1933.

Soon after, Roosevelt created the corresponding National Recovery Administration (NRA), which was “empowered to make voluntary agreements dealing with hours of work, rates of pay, and the fixing of prices.” Participating businesses were encouraged to display the NRA emblem, the Blue Eagle.

At first, the public was excited by the NIRA and the NRA. So was Hollywood, which put out short films promoting the NRA.

And all this excitement spilled over onto birth certificates.

According to the U.S. baby name data, more than 200 baby girls were named Nira in 1933. This was enough to make Nira the 463rd most popular baby girl name in the nation that year.

  • 1937: unlisted
  • 1936: 9 baby girls named Nira
  • 1935: 12 baby girls named Nira
  • 1934: 38 baby girls named Nira
  • 1933: 201 baby girls named Nira [peak]
  • 1932: unlisted
  • 1931: 8 baby girls named Nira
  • 1930: unlisted

Here’s a visual of the spike:

Graph of the usage of the baby name Nira in the U.S. since 1880, showing a big spike in usage in 1933.
Usage of the baby name Nira

Newspapers heralded the births of several of these 1933 Niras, including:

  • Nira Collins, born on July 25th to Mr. and Mrs. Christopher J. Collins of Philadelphia. The father, unemployed for ten months, found work two weeks before she was born.
  • Nira Davis, born on August 30th to Mrs. Geraldine Davis of Newburgh, New York.
  • Nira Lavallee, born on September 1st to Mr. and Mrs. George E. Lavallee of Marlborough, Massachusetts. Her father “returned to work after a lengthy period of unemployment soon after her birth.”
  • Nira Coelho, born on September 25th to Mr. and Mrs. Pedro Coelho of Los Angeles. “The parents are ardent believers in the President’s recovery program.”

One reporter cautioned that, while Nira was “a pretty name,” parents should “take into account the fact that everyone who keeps posted on current national history will know Nira was born in 1933. Which might be embarrassing 25 or 30 years hence.”

The flood of baby Niras prompted at least one person to write to the editor of the New York Times and ask if Washington had offered an “official pronunciation of the name” yet.

But the popular support didn’t last long. The NIRA and the NRA were widely criticized, and ended up doing little to speed up economic recovery. (We can get a feel for how quickly the excitement dried up by looking at the downward trajectory of those SSA numbers: 201, 38, 12.)

The NIRA had been set to expire in June of 1935, but was nullified even earlier when the Supreme Court unanimously declared the NIRA unconstitutional in May of 1935.

Sources:

Image: LOC

[Follow-up posts: Blue Eagle, Nira (Iowa), Fera.]