How popular is the baby name Dominic 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 Dominic.

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Popularity of the baby name Dominic


Posts that mention the name Dominic

For-profit baby names

California mom-to-be Natasha Hill — the woman who was supposed to be getting $5,000 for allowing strangers to name her unborn baby via the site Belly Ballot — isn’t really pregnant. She isn’t even really named “Natasha Hill.”

Her name is Natasha Lloyd, and she’s an actress who was hired by the website’s founder to help drum up publicity.

Yep — the whole thing was a hoax. The folks at Today.com were the ones to figure it out:

When TODAY Moms first reported on the contest, some readers were incredulous; they couldn’t believe a real mom would do such a thing. Now it appears they were right.

Except…they weren’t. Several “real moms” (and dads) have indeed done such a thing. Here are all the for-profit baby names (and attempts) I know of:

*I never blogged about these three, so here are the details:

  • In 2001, Jason Black and Frances Schroeder of New York tried to auction off the name of the their third child (first son) via Yahoo and eBay. They were aiming for a corporate sponsor, so the bidding started at $500,000. No one bid. They ended up naming the baby Zane Black.
  • In 2002, Bob and Tracy Armstrong from Florida tried to auction off the name of their baby (gender unknown) via eBay. After eBay pulled the auction for the third time, they decided not to try again.
  • In 2002, Heather and Steve Johnston of Washington state tried to auction off the name of their baby boy via eBay. The bidding started at $250,000. I found no follow-up stories, so I imagine the auction was either pulled or unsuccessful.

Video games on one end, $15,000 on the other…such wildly different values placed on baby names. Kinda fascinating, isn’t it?

Sources: $5,000 online baby-name contest revealed as hoax, Mom crowdsources baby name for $5,000

Image: Adapted from $20 Federal Reserve Bank Note (1929) (public domain)

[Latest update: Dec. 2024]

Popular baby names in Saskatchewan (Canada), 2012

Flag of Saskatchewan
Flag of Saskatchewan

The most popular baby names in Saskatchewan were announced last week.

According to the ISC’s Vital Statistics registry, Saskatchewan’s top names are Liam for boys and Emma for girls.

Here are the province’s top 20 girl names and top 20 boy names of 2012:

Baby Girl NamesBaby Boy Names
1. Emma
2. Olivia
3. Ava
4. Emily
5. Brooklyn
6. Lily
7. Sophia
8. Abigail
9. Ella
10. Sophie [2-way tie]
11. Avery [2-way tie]
12. Madison [2-way tie]
13. Elizabeth [2-way tie]
14. Chloe
15. Hailey
16. Isabella
17. Aubree [2-way tie]
18. Aubrey [2-way tie]
19. Brielle
20. Harper [4-way tie]
21. Alexis [4-way tie]
22. Amelia [4-way tie]
23. Addison [4-way tie]		1. Liam
2. Ethan
3. Carter
4. William
5. Mason
6. Lucas [3-way tie]
7. Noah [3-way tie]
8. Hudson [3-way tie]
9. Jacob
10. Owen
11. Benjamin
12. Alexander
13. Hunter
14. Jack
15. Ryder [2-way tie]
16. Dominic [2-way tie]
17. Aiden
18. Blake
19. Logan
20. Bentley

Gone from the top 20 are Leah, Mya, Sadie and Taylor (for girls) and Caleb, Chase, Cole, Hayden, James, Joshua and Matthew (for boys).

Here are Saskatchewan’s most popular baby names of 2011. (Manitoba, too!)

Sources: Emma and Liam 2012’s top baby names in Saskatchewan, again, ISC – Most Popular Baby Names

Image: Adapted from Flag of Saskatchewan (public domain)

Pop culture baby name game, 2012

Britney Spears album

Happy birthday, Britney Spears!

And you guys know what happens every year on Brit’s birthday…we kick off the annual Pop Culture Baby Name Game!

Which baby names have become more popular in 2012, thanks to popular culture?

We won’t have definitive answers until the SSA releases its next batch of data (in mid-2013). But 2012 is almost over, so we have all the information we need to start making guesses.

Some possibilities I’ve already blogged about:

  • Anastasia, Grey – Fifty Shades of Grey
  • Arrietty – The Secret World of Arrietty
  • Avila, Hildegard – St. John of Avila and St. Hildegard of Bingen
  • Azealia – Azealia Banks
  • Carly, or Carly Rae – Carly Rae Jepsen
  • Dev, Lovely – “Dev”
  • Django – Django Unchained
  • Essined, Lidislay – “Nuestra Belleza Latina”
  • Felix – daredevil Felix Baumgartner
  • Kateri – St. Kateri Tekakwitha
  • Katniss – Hunger Games
  • Lorenzo, Dominic – Snooki’s son Lorenzo Dominic
  • Merida – Brave
  • Olive – Drew Barrymore’s daughter Olive
  • Penelope – Kourtney Kardashian’s daughter Penelope
  • Renesmee – Twilight
  • Sparkle, Tika – Sparkle
  • Tennessee – Reese Witherspoon’s son Tennessee
  • Toby – “Good Luck Charlie”
  • Trayvon – Trayvon Martin

Plus a few I forgot to blog about:

  • Blue, Ivy – Beyonce and Jay-Z’s daughter Blue Ivy, born way back in January. (Only 7 girls and 11 boys were named Blue in 2011. I have a feeling both of these numbers will be going up.)
  • Maxwell (for a girl) – Jessica Simpson’s daughter Maxwell, born in May.
  • Mitt, Romney – Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney

Want to play? Leave a comment with your name predictions and the pop culture event(s) you think gave those names a boost this year.

UPDATE, May 2013: Here are the results!

Celebrity baby name: Lorenzo Dominic

Earlier today, Nicole “Snooki” Polizzi of Jersey Shore tweet-announced that her new baby boy is named Lorenzo Dominic:

I am pleasantly surprised! Two great names. Well done, Snooki.

Lorenzo is the Italian/Spanish equivalent of Laurence. Both come from the Roman cognomen Laurentius, which referred to someone from the ancient Roman city of Laurentum. About 1,000 U.S. baby boys have been getting this name every year since the mid-1990s.

  • 2011: 1,030 baby boys named Lorenzo
  • 2010: 964 baby boys named Lorenzo
  • 2009: 954 baby boys named Lorenzo
  • 2008: 987 baby boys named Lorenzo
  • 2007: 1,172 baby boys named Lorenzo

Dominic comes from the Latin name Dominicus, meaning “of the Lord.” In the last decade the name has been more popular than ever before, likely thanks to the Fast and the Furious character Dominic Toretto (played by Vin Diesel).

  • 2011: 5,431 baby boys named Dominic
  • 2010: 5,297 baby boys named Dominic
  • 2009: 5,326 baby boys named Dominic
  • 2008: 4,958 baby boys named Dominic
  • 2007: 5,414 baby boys named Dominic

The first name of the baby’s father, Jionni LaValle, was the top debut name of 2011. So — even though we’re already two-thirds of the way through 2012 — I imagine both Lorenzo and Dominic will see Snooki-inspired gains this year.

Do you like the names Lorenzo and Dominic? Do you think Snooki’s baby will make them more popular?

Update, Aug. 2020: Usage of the name Dominic did indeed increase in 2012, and the name Lorenzo got a boost as well — but mostly in 2013:

DominicLorenzo
20146,252 [rank: 69th]1,637 [rank: 227th]
20136,319 [rank: 68th]1,513 [rank: 238th]
20126,182 [rank: 70th]1,088 [rank: 307th]
20115,431 [rank: 77th]1,030 [rank: 311th]