How popular is the baby name David 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 David.

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Popularity of the baby name David


Posts that mention the name David

Popular baby names in Austria, 2022

Flag of Austria
Flag of Austria

The country of Austria, home to nearly 9 million people, is located in Central Europe and shares a border with eight other countries (including Germany, Italy, and Switzerland).

Last year, Austria welcomed 82,627 babies — 40,060 girls and 42,567 boys.

What were the most popular names among these babies? Emma and Maximilian.

Here are Austria’s top 25 girl names and top 25 boy names of 2022:

Girl Names

  1. Emma, 659 baby girls
  2. Emilia, 632
  3. Marie, 625
  4. Mia, 593
  5. Anna, 589
  6. Sophia, 549
  7. Laura, 534
  8. Valentina, 525
  9. Lena, 518
  10. Johanna, 502
  11. Lea, 483
  12. Hannah, 467
  13. Leonie, 426
  14. Sophie, 421
  15. Lina, 410
  16. Luisa, 380
  17. Lara, 376
  18. Elena, 362
  19. Ella, 356
  20. Nora, 351
  21. Hanna, 318
  22. Olivia, 310
  23. Magdalena, 309
  24. Helena, 290
  25. Mila, 287

Boy Names

  1. Maximilian, 735 baby boys
  2. Felix, 722
  3. Paul, 708
  4. Jakob, 693
  5. Noah, 671
  6. Elias, 666
  7. David, 636
  8. Jonas, 629
  9. Leon, 616
  10. Lukas, 587
  11. Tobias, 560
  12. Leo, 498
  13. Matteo, 469
  14. Alexander, 468
  15. Fabian, 454
  16. Julian, 446
  17. Valentin, 429
  18. Moritz, 417
  19. Simon, 406
  20. Theo, 399
  21. Luca, 386
  22. Anton, 379
  23. Liam, 352
  24. Raphael, 348
  25. Samuel, 346

The top names in Austria in 2021 were Marie and Paul.

Sources: First names of newborns – Statistics Austria, Atlas der Vornamen – Statistics Austria, Demographic characteristics of newborns – Statistics Austria

Image: Adapted from Flag of Austria (public domain)

What popularized the baby name Rosanna in 1982?

Toto single "Rosanna" (1982)
Toto single

According to the U.S. baby name data, the baby name Rosanna more than doubled in usage in 1982:

  • 1984: 367 baby girls named Rosanna [rank: 527th]
  • 1983: 488 baby girls named Rosanna [rank: 435th]
  • 1982: 492 baby girls named Rosanna [rank: 438th] (peak usage)
  • 1981: 194 baby girls named Rosanna [rank: 821st]
  • 1980: 202 baby girls named Rosanna [rank: 804th]

Here’s a visual:

Graph of the usage of the baby name Rosanna in the U.S. since 1880
Usage of the baby name Rosanna

Other spellings of the name (such as Roseanna, Rosana, Rozanna, Roseana, and the one-hit wonder Rosezanna) also saw higher usage that year.

What’s the reason?

The Grammy-winning song “Rosanna” by Los Angeles-based rock band Toto.

It was released in March of 1982 as the first single from the album Toto IV, which also featured the band’s biggest hit, “Africa.”

“Rosanna” peaked at #2 on Billboard‘s Hot 100 chart for five consecutive weeks during July. (The final two weeks, it was second to Survivor’s “Eye of the Tiger.”)

Here’s the music video:

(Fun fact: The woman who played Rosanna in the video, Cynthia Rhodes, went on to play Penny in Dirty Dancing five years later.)

So what’s the story behind the song?

Toto’s David Paich said that he wrote it “about a high school love, one of my first loves.” Around the time he was writing it, another band member, Steve Porcaro, started dating actress Rosanna Arquette. Rosanna’s name happened to “fit perfectly” in the song Paich was writing, so he decided to use it.

So it’s got her name on it, but it’s really about another high school sweetheart, which is how songs happen sometimes.

What are your thoughts on the baby name Rosanna? (How would you spell it?)

Sources: Roseanna (song) – Wikipedia, David Paich of Toto: Songwriter Interviews – Songfacts, SSA

Popular baby names in Switzerland, 2022

Flag of Switzerland
Flag of Switzerland

Mountainous, landlocked Switzerland is located in the middle of Europe and surrounded by five other countries: Germany, Austria, Liechtenstein, Italy, and France.

Last year, Switzerland welcomed 82,371 babies. What were the most popular names among these babies? Emma and Noah.

Here are Switzerland’s top 50+ girl names and top 50+ boy names of 2022:

Girl Names

  1. Emma, 361 baby girls
  2. Mia, 356
  3. Sofia, 318
  4. Emilia, 292
  5. Lina, 289
  6. Elena, 280
  7. Mila, 267
  8. Nora, 258
  9. Malea, 249
  10. Lia, 230 (tie)
  11. Olivia, 230 (tie)
  12. Ella, 222
  13. Anna, 219 (tie)
  14. Giulia, 219 (tie)
  15. Alice, 218 (tie)
  16. Lea, 218 (tie)
  17. Alina, 212 (tie)
  18. Lena, 212 (tie)
  19. Nina, 210
  20. Chiara, 208 (tie)
  21. Lara, 208 (tie)
  22. Luna, 195
  23. Leonie, 194
  24. Elina, 193
  25. Sophia, 192
  26. Yara, 186
  27. Julia, 185
  28. Laura, 182
  29. Elin, 178
  30. Valentina, 176
  31. Sara, 175
  32. Emily, 170
  33. Aurora, 168
  34. Amelia, 167
  35. Luana, 166
  36. Sophie, 165
  37. Livia, 151
  38. Elisa, 143
  39. Eva, 141 (tie)
  40. Juna, 141 (tie)
  41. Zoé, 138
  42. Mara, 133
  43. Victoria, 131
  44. Jana, 129
  45. Ronja, 128
  46. Lou, 127 (tie)
  47. Maria, 127 (tie)
  48. Ava, 126
  49. Charlotte, 124
  50. Alma, 123 (tie)
  51. Malia, 123 (tie)

Boy Names

  1. Noah, 540 boy names
  2. Liam, 428
  3. Matteo, 353
  4. Leon, 293
  5. Luca, 291
  6. Gabriel, 286
  7. Elias, 281
  8. Leo, 256
  9. Louis, 251
  10. Leano, 242
  11. Lio, 233
  12. Leonardo, 224
  13. Lian, 210
  14. Nino, 208
  15. Elio, 205
  16. Julian, 201
  17. Aaron, 199
  18. Nico, 197
  19. Elia, 196 (tie)
  20. Levi, 196 (tie)
  21. Samuel, 191
  22. Finn, 184
  23. Malik, 177
  24. Luan, 176
  25. David, 174 (tie)
  26. Leandro, 174 (tie)
  27. Mattia, 169
  28. Diego, 168 (tie)
  29. Milo, 168 (tie)
  30. Adam, 157
  31. Ben, 156
  32. Levin, 155
  33. Dario, 152 (tie)
  34. Nael, 152 (tie)
  35. Arthur, 151 (tie)
  36. Noé, 151 (tie)
  37. Jonas, 150 (tie)
  38. Lenny, 150 (tie)
  39. Mateo, 149
  40. Livio, 148
  41. Lucas, 145
  42. Robin, 144
  43. Enea, 138
  44. Nathan, 137
  45. Kian, 136
  46. Nelio, 134
  47. Mael, 128
  48. Tim, 127
  49. Theo, 126
  50. Enzo, 123 (tie)
  51. Laurin, 123 (tie)

The name Malea has risen significantly (among German-speakers almost exclusively) over the last twenty years. Malea debuted in the Swiss data in 2003, vaulted from outside the girls’ top 1,000 all the way to 261st in 2009, rose to the top 100 a few years later, and finally entered the top 10 in 2022. No doubt this rise was fueled by the trendiness of Mia, Emilia, and Mila. (Mia has ranked either #1 or #2 in Switzerland ever since 2011.)

The girls’ top 100 included Yuna (59th), Dua (66th), Melissa (84th), and Ida (97th).

The boys’ top 100 included Nevio (55th), Fabio (71st), Romeo (85th), and Timo (94th).

Switzerland, which is home to about 8.7 million people, has four national languages: German, French, Italian, and Romansh. Here are the top baby names among the speakers of each of these languages:

Girl NamesBoy Names
German speakers
(62.3% of the population)		1. Emilia, 273
2. Mia, 272
3. Malea, 243
4. Emma, 238 (tie)
5. Lina, 238 (tie)		1. Noah, 353
2. Liam, 266
3. Leon, 264 (tie)
4. Matteo, 264 (tie)
5. Leano, 241
French speakers
(22.8% of pop.)		1. Alice, 125
2. Emma, 107
3. Olivia, 86
4. Eva, 85
5. Sofia, 83		1. Noah, 168
2. Gabriel, 137
3. Liam, 136
4. Arthur, 102
5. Louis, 94
Italian speakers
(8.0% of pop.)		1. Sofia, 30
2. Aurora, 22 (tie)
3. Emily, 22 (tie)
4. Ginevra, 20
5. Nina, 17		1. Leonardo, 44
2. Liam, 26
3. Alessandro, 20
4. Noah, 19
5. Enea, 18
Romansh speakers
(0.5% of pop.)		1. Lia, 3 (tie)
2. Sofia, 3 (tie)
3. Elin, 2		1. Jan, 3 (tie)
2. Mauro, 3 (tie)
3. Andrin, Gian, Joel, Levi, Lino, Lio, 2 each (6-way tie)

And here’s a selection of names from the other end of the spectrum — names that were given to just two babies each in Switzerland in 2022:

Rare Girl Names Rare Boy Names
Airi, Berfin, Catalia, Demiana, Elikia, Franka, Gini, Hevi, Ilirida, Jemina, Kemilly, Lamia, Maluna, Nainika, Ornella, Pema, Qiana, Rhéa, Sinja, Tringa, Ursina, Vinia, Wilda, Xenja, Yanna, ZerinAthos, Bosco, Cuno, Divico, Eleano, Filmon, Gauthier, Hansueli, Ilio, Janic, Kauã, Lirim, Menzo, Nart, Orfeas, Pharell, Qamil, Rexhep, Surafiel, Tamino, Unejs, Vid, Wayne, Xhan, Yori, Zidane

Some definitions/explanations:

  • Hansueli is a Swiss-German combination of Hans (equivalent to John) and Ueli (a diminutive of Ulrich).
  • Lirim is based on the Albanian word liri, meaning “freedom, liberty.”
  • Maluna may have been inspired by a German children’s book series featuring a fairy character named Maluna Mondschein. (Her first name is an elaboration of luna, Latin for “moon,” while her last name is German for “moonshine.”) The six books, written by Andrea Schütze, were published from 2014 to 2019.

Finally, here’s a link to Switzerland’s 2021 rankings, if you’d like to compare last year to the year before.

Sources: First names of newborns – Federal Statistical Office, Switzerland – Wikipedia, Languages of Switzerland – Wikipedia, Behind the Name

Image: Adapted from Flag of Switzerland (public domain)

Where did the baby names Juandalynn and Donzaleigh come from in 1970?

Donzaleigh and Juandalynn Abernathy with parents (Ralph and Juanita) and brother (Ralph), circa 1969
Donzaleigh and Juandalynn Abernathy with family

The names Donzaleigh and Juandalynn were both one-hit wonders in the U.S. baby name data in 1970:

Girls named JuandalynnGirls named Donzaleigh
1972..
1971..
197013*9*
1969..
1968..
*Debut

Where did they come from?

Juandalynn and Donzaleigh Abernathy — the daughters of civil rights activist and Baptist minister Ralph Abernathy (1926-1990).

Ralph Abernathy and Martin Luther King, Jr., co-founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in the late 1950s, following the Montgomery bus boycott (which they helped organize). King was the first president of the SCLC, but Abernathy assumed the role after King was assassinated in April of 1968.

In 1969 and 1970 — when Abernathy was in the spotlight as the new SCLC president — African American magazines like Jet and Ebony ran photos of the Abernathy family, which included Ralph, his wife Juanita, and their middle three children:

  • Juandalynn Ralpheda (b. 1954)
  • Donzaleigh Avis (b. 1957)
  • Ralph David III (b. 1959)

(Their oldest, Ralph David Jr., had died two days after birth in 1953. Their youngest, Kwame Luthuli, wasn’t born until the early 1970s.)

Juandalynn’s first and middle names were clearly inspired by her parents’ names, but I don’t know how Donzaleigh’s name was coined.

What are your thoughts on the names Juandalynn and Donzaleigh? Which one do you like more?

Sources:

Image: © 1970 Ebony