How popular is the baby name Francesca 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 Francesca.

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Popularity of the baby name Francesca


Posts that mention the name Francesca

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)

Popular baby names in Malta, 2007

Flag of Malta
Flag of Malta

Malta seems to be having some trouble tallying baby names. According to the island’s National Statistics Office, these were the top boy names of 2007:

  1. Luke/Luca, 98 baby boys
  2. Matthew/Matteo/Matthias, 88
  3. Jake, 56
  4. Julian, 40
  5. John/Gianni/Jean/Juan/Sean, 38
  6. Nicholas/Nikolai & Aiden, 37 (tie)
  7. Kieran, 35
  8. Isaac, 34
  9. Andrew/André/Andrea & Zack, 33 (tie)
  10. Nathan/Nathaniel, 32
  11. Jeremy/Jerome & James/Jamie & Jayden, 31 (tie)
  12. Daniel & Gabriel & Miguel, 29 (tie)
  13. Liam, 28
  14. Alexander/Alessandro/Alejandro & Neil, 26 (tie)
  15. Michael/Mikiel/Mikail/Michele & Carl/Carlo/Karl & Kyle, 24 (3-way tie)
  16. Benjamin & Thomas/Tommaso, 20 (tie)
  17. Christian/Kristian, 18
  18. Mark/Marc/Marco, 17
  19. Dejan & Denzel, 16 (tie)
  20. Kayden, 13

There’s nothing wrong with the list itself. But problems begin when you try to compare this list with the 2006 list.

For instance, in 2006, 49 boys were named Michael or Michele. A year later, there’s no way to tell if either of these names has became more or less popular — all we know is that 24 boys were named Michael, Michele Mikiel or Mikail, and that 29 boys were named Miguel specifically.

And that’s just the beginning. Between 2006 and 2007, Nicholas became Nicholas/Nikolai, Thomas became Thomas/Tommaso, and James became James/Jamie. Alexander became Alexander/Alessandro/Alejandro, while (accent-less) Andre became Andrew/André/Andrea. All of these odd groupings make it impossible to draw conclusions about how the popularity level of a specific name has changed over time.

I am also suspicious about spelling. Aidan (#6) and Jaydon (#19) from the 2006 list seemed to morph into Aiden (#6) and Jayden (#11) in 2007.

Finally — and this may be nit-picky — I dislike how Jeremy and Jerome were lumped together. The names may look alike, but they are unrelated.

I have issues with the girl names as well:

  1. Maria/Mariah, 73 baby girls
  2. Martina, 47
  3. Julia/Giulia, 42
  4. Christina/Kristina/Christine/Christa, 41
  5. Elisa/Eliza/Elizabeth, 39
  6. Sarah, 36
  7. Emma & Maya, 34 (tie)
  8. Nicole/Nicola/Nicolette, 31
  9. Amy & Jasmine/Yasmine, 30 (tie)
  10. Michela/Michelle, 29
  11. Katrina/Katie & Shania, 27 (tie)
  12. Aaliyah & Hayley & Jade, 21 (tie)
  13. Alexandra/Alessandra/Alessia, 20
  14. Francesca & Ylenia, 19 (tie)
  15. Kylie, 18
  16. Kaya, 17
  17. Emily & Kayleigh, 16 (tie)
  18. Kelsey & Leah & Rihanna & Thea, 15 (4-way tie)
  19. Ella & Elena & Kiera & Kyra, 14 (4-way tie)
  20. Hannah, 13

Between 2006 and 2007, Julia became Julia/Giula, Nicole became Nicole/Nicola/Nicolette, Jasmin (sans e) became Jasmine/Yasmine, and Elisa/Eliza became Elisa/Eliza/Elisabeth. Michela went from being grouped with Michaela to being grouped with Michelle.

And, as with the boys, I don’t think spelling stayed consistent. Hailey (#10, 2006) became Hayley (#12, 2007) and Kaylie (#17, 2006) became Kayleigh (#17, 2007).

Malta, you’re driving me crazy! I hope the top names of 2008 are listed more logically, i.e., using name-groupings that have been used before.

Source: Naming Babies: 2007 [pdf]

Image: Adapted from Flag of Malta (public domain)

Popular baby names in Malta, 2006

Flag of Malta
Flag of Malta

The National Statistics Office of Malta, a tiny island nation in the Mediterranean Sea, compiles baby name rankings by lumping variant spellings of names (like Matthew, Matteo and Matthias) together into a single entry.

The most popular baby names in Malta last year were:

Girl Names

  1. Maria/Mariah (73 babies)
  2. Maya (53)
  3. Amy (43)
  4. Martina & Emma (tie; 40 each)
  5. Shania (36)
  6. Ylenia & Michela/Michaela & Sarah (tie; 35 each)
  7. Elisa/Eliza (33)
  8. Julia (32)
  9. Jasmin (30)
  10. Hailey (72)
  11. Nicole (26)
  12. Francesca (25)
  13. Catherine/Katarina/Kate (23)
  14. Amber & Hannah (tie; 19 each)
  15. Emily & Kelsey (tie; 18 each)
  16. Thea (16)
  17. Kaylie & Lara (tie; 15 each)
  18. Matthea (14)
  19. Mireille & Naomi (tie; 13 each)
  20. Aaliyah (12)

Boy Names

  1. Luke/Luca (79 babies)
  2. Matthew/Matteo/Matthias (78)
  3. Jake (67)
  4. Andre & Isaac & Michael/Michele (tie; 49 each)
  5. Nicholas (46)
  6. Aidan (42)
  7. Kieran (41)
  8. Daniel (40)
  9. Kyle (37)
  10. Nathan/Nathaniel (31)
  11. Gabriel (30)
  12. Christian & Julian & Liam (tie; 27 each)
  13. Alexander (26)
  14. Zachery (23)
  15. Thomas (22)
  16. James (21)
  17. Benjamin (18)
  18. Tristan (17)
  19. Jaydon & Kurt & Leon & Sven (tie; 16 each)
  20. Denzel & John Paul (tie; 15 each)

There were 1,846 girls and 2,039 boys born in Malta in 2006. (The country only has 402,000 inhabitants total.) Based on the numbers above, 41% of those girls and 46% of those boys were given a top-20 name.

Image: Adapted from Flag of Malta (public domain)

What popularized the baby name Mitzi in the early 1950s?

Actress/singer/dancer Mitzi Gaynor
Mitzi Gaynor

I read something about actress/singer/dancer Mitzi Gaynor today, and it prompted me to take a look at the data for the baby name Mitzi — which barely ranked inside the girls’ top 1,000 during most of the 1940s, then suddenly became popular in the early 1950s:

  • 1954: 358 baby girls named Mitzi [rank: 468th]
  • 1953: 305 baby girls named Mitzi [rank: 499th]
  • 1952: 212 baby girls named Mitzi [rank: 597th]
  • 1951: 98 baby girls named Mitzi [rank: 933rd]
  • 1950: 101 baby girls named Mitzi [rank: 887th]

Gaynor first began appearing in films (such as My Blue Heaven, Golden Girl, and Bloodhounds of Broadway) in the early 1950s. Correspondingly, her name saw notable rise in usage from 1951 to 1953.

She retired from films in the early ’60, and the name consequently dropped out of the top 500 in 1965.

When Mitzi Gaynor was born in Chicago in 1931, she was given a much longer name: Francesca Marlene de Czanyi von Gerber. (She’s of Hungarian descent.)

“Mitzi” was her childhood nickname, and “Gaynor” was chosen for her at the start of her career:

[A]t 17, Mitzi Gerber was signed to a seven-year deal at 20th Century Fox. She recalled that a producer there thought her name sounded like a delicatessen, “so he said, ‘How about Gaynor, [like] Janet Gaynor?’ My father loved it.”

What are your thoughts on the baby name Mitzi? Would you use it?

Sources: Presenting Mitzi Gaynor, Mitzi Gaynor – Wikipedia, SSA

Image: Screenshot of the trailer for There’s No Business Like Show Business (1954)