How popular is the baby name Gaia 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 Gaia.
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The country of Italy — which includes not only the boot-shaped Italian peninsula, but also various Mediterranean islands (including the two largest, Sicily and Sardinia) — shares land borders with France, Switzerland, Austria, and Slovenia.
In 2022, Italy welcomed 393,333 babies — 190,493 girls and 202,840 boys.
What were the most popular names among these babies? Sofia and Leonardo, for the fifth year in a row.
Here are Italy’s top 50 girl names and top 50 boy names of 2022:
Girl Names
Sofia, 5,465 baby girls
Aurora, 4,900
Giulia, 4,198
Ginevra, 3,846
Vittoria, 3,814
Beatrice, 3,333 – pronounced beh-a-TREE-cheh
Alice, 3,154 – pronounced a-LEE-cheh
Ludovica, 3,103
Emma, 2,800
Matilde, 2,621
Anna, 2,284
Camilla, 2,253
Chiara, 2,120 – pronounced KYAH-rah
Giorgia, 2,089
Bianca, 2,042
Nicole, 2,001
Greta, 1,929
Gaia, 1,736
Martina, 1,729
Azzurra, 1,717
Arianna, 1,560
Sara, 1,542
Noemi, 1,528
Isabel, 1,420
Rebecca, 1,394
Chloe, 1,359
Adele, 1,356
Mia, 1,329
Elena, 1,277
Diana, 1,207
Francesca, 1,145
Ambra, 1,130
Gioia, 1,123
Cecilia, 1,119
Viola, 1,100
Elisa, 1,030
Marta, 1,023
Emily, 1,022
Carlotta, 954
Margherita, 918
Sole, 916 – pronounced SOH-leh
Anita, 879
Maria, 876
Eleonora, 866
Amelia, 861
Alessia, 851
Nina, 831
Luna, 828
Giada, 818
Sophie, 789
Boy Names
Leonardo, 7,888 baby boys
Francesco, 4,823
Tommaso, 4,795
Edoardo, 4,748
Alessandro, 4,729
Lorenzo, 4,493
Mattia, 4,374
Gabriele, 4,062
Riccardo, 3,753
Andrea, 3,604
Diego, 2,824
Nicolò, 2,747
Matteo, 2,744
Giuseppe, 2,735
Federico, 2,563
Antonio, 2,562
Enea, 2,314
Samuele, 2,230
Giovanni, 2,173
Pietro, 2,130
Filippo, 2,018
Davide, 1,830
Giulio, 1,711
Gioele, 1,695
Christian, 1,653
Michele, 1,612
Gabriel, 1,533
Luca, 1,464
Marco, 1,433
Elia, 1,418
Salvatore, 1,417
Vincenzo, 1,353
Liam, 1,269
Thomas, 1,259
Emanuele, 1,220
Noah, 1,200
Alessio, 1,164
Samuel, 1,140
Nathan, 1,112
Giacomo, 1,101
Jacopo, 1,033
Giorgio, 1,025
Simone, 1,014
Ettore, 1,008
Luigi, 999
Manuel, 996
Damiano, 982
Daniele, 930
Domenico, 872
Daniel, 869
I’d like to thank reader Daniele, who not only alerted me that Italy’s rankings came out early this year, but also generously offered explanations for a few of the fastest-rising names: Sole, Soleil, and Sophie.
Sole (Italian for “sun”), which was rarely used in the early 2000s, started picking up steam in the mid-2010s. Last year, it jumped into the top 50 for the first time. Daniele said that Sole’s rise “has been fueled by a few celebrity baby names.”
Sophie and Soleil (French for “sun”) are linked to influencers/TV personalities Sophie Codegoni and Soleil Sorge. Both women participated in the 6th season (2021-2022) of Grande Fratello VIP, which is the celebrity version of Grande Fratello (Italy’s Big Brother).
Soleil Sorge had become famous a few years earlier when she appeared on the 21st season (2016-2017) of the dating reality TV show Uomini e Donne (translation: Men and Women). Her name debuted in the Italian data in 2017:
2022: 474 baby girls named Soleil in Italy
2021: 144 baby girls named Soleil in Italy
2020: 98 baby girls named Soleil in Italy
2019: 104 baby girls named Soleil in Italy
2018: 78 baby girls named Soleil in Italy
2017: 74 baby girls named Soleil in Italy [debut]
2016: unlisted
2015: unlisted
(Italy’s baby name data — just like the U.S. data — includes only names given to five or more babies per year.)
Thank you so much, Daniele! :)
Other names currently on the rise in Italy include:
The Southern European country of Italy — that boot-shaped peninsula that juts out into the Mediterranean Sea — shares land borders with France, Switzerland, Austria, and Slovenia.
Last year, Italy welcomed 400,249 babies.
What were the most popular names among these babies? Sofia and Leonardo.
Here are Italy’s top 50 girl names and top 50 boy names of 2021:
Girl Names
Sofia, 5,578 baby girls (2.86%)
Aurora, 4,991
Giulia, 4,616
Ginevra, 3,803
Beatrice, 3,647
Alice, 3,392
Vittoria, 3,202
Emma, 2,876
Ludovica, 2,813
Matilde, 2,633
Giorgia, 2,359
Camilla, 2,343
Chiara, 2,320
Anna, 2,291
Bianca, 2,201
Nicole, 2,169
Gaia, 2,088
Martina, 2,069
Greta, 2,052
Azzurra, 1,673
Sara, 1,651
Arianna, 1,647
Noemi, 1,639
Rebecca, 1,533
Mia, 1,494
Isabel, 1,422
Adele, 1,349
Chloe, 1,317
Elena, 1,298
Francesca, 1,260
Gioia, 1,202
Ambra, 1,171
Viola, 1,152
Carlotta, 1,149
Cecilia, 1,144
Diana, 1,117
Alessia, 1,101
Elisa, 1,086
Emily, 1,070
Marta, 1,066
Maria, 989
Margherita, 988
Anita, 978
Giada, 972
Eleonora, 926
Nina, 856
Miriam, 842
Asia, 823
Amelia, 805
Diletta, 804 – means “beloved” in Italian.
Boy Names
Leonardo, 8,448 baby boys (4.12%)
Alessandro, 4,975
Tommaso, 4,973
Francesco, 4,924
Lorenzo, 4,642
Edoardo, 4,369
Mattia, 4,215
Riccardo, 3,992
Gabriele, 3,944
Andrea, 3,860
Diego, 2,946
Matteo, 2,867
Nicolò, 2,847
Giuseppe, 2,740
Antonio, 2,598
Federico, 2,546
Pietro, 2,247
Samuele, 2,225
Giovanni, 2,211
Filippo, 2,113
Enea, 1,963 – form of Aeneas.
According to Greek mythology, the Trojan hero Aeneas was an ancestor of twins Romulus and Remus, the legendary founders of Rome. One ancient source associates Aeneas’ name with the Greek adjective ainos, meaning “unspeakable, causing nervousness, fear, terror.”
Davide, 1,925
Christian, 1,738
Gioele, 1,722
Giulio, 1,713
Michele, 1,685
Marco, 1,541
Gabriel, 1,439
Elia, 1,403
Luca, 1,400
Salvatore, 1,374
Vincenzo, 1,333
Emanuele, 1,326
Thomas, 1,322
Alessio, 1,251
Giacomo, 1,197
Nathan, 1,192
Liam, 1,174
Simone, 1,166
Samuel, 1,133
Jacopo, 1,129
Noah, 1,097
Daniele, 1,050
Giorgio, 1,025
Ettore, 1,002 – form of Hector.
Luigi, 996
Daniel, 946
Manuel, 936
Nicola, 859
Damiano, 830
Leonardo is still the clear favorite for baby boys, while Azzurra — no doubt inspired by Italy’s national soccer team gli Azzurri, “the Blues” — continues its rise among baby girls:
Here are Italy’s 2020 rankings, if you’d like to compare last year to the year before.
Looking for baby names that feature the appealing letter-pair PH?
I’ve collected hundreds of options for you in this post!
Before we get to the names, though, let’s get one big question out of the way…
Why does PH sound like “F”?
In English, PH is a digraph, which means that it’s a pair of letters that make a single sound. (It’s interesting that the word “digraph” contains a digraph, isn’t it?)
Most of the English words that have PH were derived from Greek — specifically, from Greek words that included the Greek letter phi:
In ancient times, the Greek letter phi made an aspirated p-sound. (The unaspirated p-sound, on the other hand, was made by the Greek letter pi.)
When Greek was transliterated into Latin, the letter phi was written as “ph” to denote this aspiration — that is, to signal that the letter “p” was accompanied by a brief puff of air.
So, what happened?
In the first several centuries A.D., the pronunciation of the Greek letter phi changed. It slowly evolved from an aspirated p-sound into an f-sound.
As a result, the letter-pair “ph” underwent a corresponding (though somewhat illogical) pronunciation change. It, too, came to represent an f-sound — and still does to this day.
Now, back to the names!
Top baby names with PH
Let’s begin with the most popular names with PH (including a few names that start with PH):
Top girl names with PH
Top boy names with PH
Sophia Josephine Sophie Phoebe Daphne Phoenix Ophelia Stephanie Murphy Persephone
Joseph Christopher Phoenix Memphis Philip Phillip Raphael Kristopher Ephraim Murphy
Now here are the same names again, but this time around I’ve added some details (including definitions and rankings).
Christopher + Kristopher
The name Christopher was derived from a pair of ancient Greek words: christos, meaning “Christ” or “anointed one,” and phoros, meaning “bearing” — hence, “Christ-bearing.”
Kristopher is a slightly simplified form of Christopher (perhaps influenced by the Scandinavian spelling, Kristoffer).
Christopher is currently the 52nd most popular boy name in the nation, and Kristopher ranks 936th.
Other forms of the name include Christoph (German) and Christophe (French).
Daphne
The name Daphne was derived from the ancient Greek word daphne, meaning “laurel.”
In Greek myth, Daphne was a naiad who was saved from the advances of the god Apollo by being transformed into a laurel tree.
Daphne is currently the 288th most popular girl name in the U.S.
One variant form of the name is Daphna. The name is also sometimes spelled Daphnie, Daphney, or Daphni.
Ephraim
The name Ephraim is the Biblical Greek form of a Hebrew name meaning “fruitful.” It’s pronounced a variety of ways: EHF-rum, EEF-rum, EHF-fray-um, etc.
Ephraim is currently the 978th most popular boy name in the nation.
The name is also sometimes spelled Ephram or Ephrem.
Joseph + Josephine
The name Joseph is based on Ioseph, the Biblical Greek form of a Hebrew name meaning “he adds.”
Josephine comes from Joséphine, the French feminine form of Joseph.
Joseph is currently the 28th most popular boy name in the U.S., whereas Josephine ranks 72nd for girls.
The Dutch form of Joseph is Josephus. Other feminine forms include Josepha (German) and Josephina.
Memphis
Memphis was the Greek form of the ancient Egyptian city-name Men-nefer, which meant “his beauty.” (The nefer element is also evident in the Egyptian name Nefertiti.)
The Egyptian city is long gone, but a city in Tennessee was named Memphis in the 1820s.
Memphis is currently the 404th most popular boy name in the nation.
Murphy
The Irish surname Murphy was derived from a medieval Irish given name comprised of the elements muir, meaning “sea,” and cath, meaning “battle.”
Murphy is currently the 716th most popular girl name in the U.S. (It’s also sitting just outside the top 1,000 for boys.)
The name is also sometimes spelled Murphie, Murphee, or Murphey.
Ophelia
The name Ophelia was derived from the ancient Greek word opheleia, meaning “aid, help, succor.”
It’s not a name found in Greek myth, but William Shakespeare used it for a character in his play Hamlet around the year 1600. And, much more recently, the Lumineers featured the name in their 2016 song “Ophelia.”
Ophelia is currently the 321st most popular girl name in the nation.
The French form of the name is Ophélie.
Persephone
The etymology of the Greek name Persephone (pronounced per-SEH-fuh-nee) isn’t known for certain, but one modern theory suggests that it means “she who threshes ears of corn.”
In Greek myth, Persephone was the daughter of Demeter (the goddess of agriculture) and Zeus.
Persephone is currently the 778th most popular girl name in the U.S. (It entered the top 1,000 for the first time in 2019.)
The name is also sometimes spelled Persephonie or Persephony.
Philip + Phillip
The name Philip was derived from a pair of ancient Greek words: philos, meaning “beloved, loving,” and hippos, meaning “horse” — hence, “lover of horses.”
Phillip-with-two-L’s is a common variant of Philip.
Philip is currently the 451th most popular boy name in the nation, and Phillip (two L’s) ranks 523rd.
Other forms of the name include Philipp (German) and Philippe (French). Feminine forms include Philippa and Phillipa.
Phoebe
The name Phoebe was derived from the ancient Greek word phoibos, meaning “pure, bright, radiant.”
Many characters in Greek myth had this name, including a Titaness who was the daughter of Uranus and Gaia. This particular Phoebe was the grandmother of the sun god Apollo and the moon goddess Artemis.
Phoebe is currently the 247th most popular girl name in the U.S.
The spelling Phebe (used in certain translations of the Bible) was more prevalent in previous generations. Among the babies born in the city of Providence in 1868, for instance, we find four girls named Phebe, but none named Phoebe.
Phoenix
The name Phoenix was derived from the ancient Greek word phoinix, meaning “crimson” or “purple.”
In Greek and Egyptian myth, the phoenix was a bird that periodically self-immolated and then rose again from its own ashes.
In fact, the capital of Arizona was named “Phoenix” because early settlers, in the 1860s, noticed archaeological evidence of the previous Native American inhabitants and recognized that “the new town would spring from the ruins of a former civilization.”
Phoenix, a relatively gender-neutral name, currently ranks 248th for boys and 308th for girls.
Raphael
Raphael — the name of a Biblical archangel, Renaissance painter, and a Ninja Turtle — is based on a Hebrew name meaning “God heals.”
Raphael is currently the 538th most popular boy name in the nation.
Feminine forms of the name include Raphaela (German) and Raphaëlle (French).
Sophia + Sophie
The name Sophia was derived from the ancient Greek word sophos, meaning “wisdom,” “sound judgment,” “skilled.”
Finally, here are some very rare names with PH — some of which haven’t seen any usage in the U.S. in recent years, others of which never appeared in the U.S. data at all.
Image: Adapted from Fasan3 by Ragnhild & Neil Crawford under CC BY-SA 2.0.
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