How popular is the baby name Giovanni 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 Giovanni.

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Popularity of the baby name Giovanni


Posts that mention the name Giovanni

What popularized the baby name Jovi?

The 1986 album "Slippery When Wet" (picture disc) by Bon Jovi
Bon Jovi album

The story about the Canadian baby named Jovi made me wonder: How many U.S. babies have been named Jovi after Bon Jovi?

I mean, the band has been around for decades. And it’s an American band, after all. Surely a few American babies have been named Jovi over the years.

According to SSA data, there wasn’t much interest in the name Jovi in the early 1980s. Not too surprising, as Bon Jovi’s breakthrough album Slippery When Wet wasn’t released until August of 1986.

Right on cue, babies named Jovi began popping up in 1987:

Girls named JoviBoys named Jovi
1989613
19881114
1987921*
1986..
1985..
*Debut

Usage began to wane in the mid-1990s, but began picking up steam again in the mid-2000s (the decade).

Why is it more popular now than ever before? Here are some possible explanations.

First, Bon Jovi started releasing country-tinged material in 2006. They put out an entire country rock album, Lost Highway, in 2007. So perhaps country music fans had a lot to do with this increase.

Second, the teens who listened to Bon Jovi in the 1980s would have started having kids of their own in the 1990s and 2000s. Maybe these long-term fans are using the name now as a belated tribute.

Third, Jovi could be piggybacking on any of several baby-naming trends:

  • The unique name trend
  • The symbolic surname trend (Jagger, Emerson, Kennedy)
  • The ethnic name trend (Giovanni, which is related to Jovi/Giovi, is currently at an all-time high)

These trends may make Jovi sound appealing even to those who aren’t big Bon Jovi fans. (If those people even exist! I doubt it.)

Would you ever consider using the name Jovi for a baby? If so, would you use it as a boy name, a girl name, or would gender not matter?

P.S. Bon Jovi takes its name from the lead singer’s real-life Italian surname, Bongiovi.

Popular baby names in Malta, 2009

Flag of Malta
Flag of Malta

The last time I wrote about popular baby names in Malta was two years ago. It’s time for an update!

A total of 4,143 babies were born in Malta in 2009. (In 2006, the number was 3,885.) These were the most popular baby names last year:

Girl Names

  1. Maria/Mariah/Marie, 82 baby girls
  2. Elena/Ylenia/Ella, 79
  3. Christina/Kristina/Krista, 63
  4. Eliza/Elizabeth/Lisa, 52
  5. Amy/Aimee, 49
  6. Julia/Gulia, 45
  7. Maya/Maia, 39 [tie]
  8. Emma, 39 [tie]
  9. Martina, 33
  10. Rihanna/Rhiana, 32
  11. Jasmine/Yasmine 31
  12. Keira, 29
  13. Mikela/Michaela, 28
  14. Jade 27
  15. Hannah/Anna/Ann, 26
  16. Nicole, 25 [3-way tie]
  17. Mireille, 25 [3-way tie]
  18. Hailey/Hayley, 25 [3-way tie]
  19. Sarah/Sara, 24
  20. Emilia, 22 [tie]
  21. Lea, 22 [tie]
  22. Thea, 20
  23. Shania, 18 [4-way tie]
  24. Katrina/Kate, 18 [4-way tie]
  25. Amber, 18 [4-way tie]
  26. Kailey/Kayleigh, 18 [4-way tie]
  27. Faith, 17 [tie]
  28. Laura, 17 [tie]

Boy Names

  1. Luke/Luca, 92 baby boys
  2. Matthew/Matthias/Matteo, 84
  3. Jake, 59
  4. Aiden, 53
  5. Jaden/Jayden, 51
  6. John/Giovanni/Jean, 48
  7. Kaiden/Kayden, 47
  8. Michael/Miguel/Mikele, 46
  9. Nicholas/Nick, 42
  10. Isaac/Izaak, 39
  11. Nathan, 38
  12. Liam/William, 36 [tie]
  13. Gabriel, 36 [tie]
  14. Benjamin/Ben, 35
  15. Alexander/Alessandro/Alejandro, 34 [tie]
  16. Zachary/Zak, 34 [tie]
  17. James, 33 [tie]
  18. Daniel, 33 [tie]
  19. Denzel/Danzil, 31
  20. Keiran, 29
  21. Andre/Andrew/Andrea, 26 [tie]
  22. Sven, 26 [tie]
  23. Julian, 25
  24. Kyle, 24 [tie]
  25. Joseph/Giuseppe/Beppe, 24 [tie]

You’ll notice that Malta still lumps variants together. (They even lump non-variants like Elena and Ella together.) I’m not a big fan of this method because when groupings change from year to year, comparisons become impossible.

Malta also seems to have some issues with spelling. Aidan and Kieran became Aiden and Keiran between 2006 and 2009, for instance. And I wonder if “Gulia” wasn’t supposed to be spelled “Giulia.” (Though I do like the fact that there’s a “Julia/Gulia” grouping. Very Wedding Singer-esque.)

But it’s interesting stuff nonetheless. I’m especially intrigued by all the -ayden names on the boys’ list. (Worldwide phenomenon, anyone?)

If you want to see more from Malta, the top baby names of 2008, 2007, 2004/2005, 2003 and 2002 are available for download.

Source: National Statistics Office – Malta

Image: Adapted from Flag of Malta (public domain)

Baby named after Jon Bon Jovi

Blaine and Chera Miller of Regina, Saskatchewan, have been huge Bon Jovi fans since they began dating as teenagers. At their wedding, their first dance was to Bon Jovi’s “Thank You For Loving Me” from the album Crush (2000). And when they had their second child in 2009, they named him Jovi after lead singer Jon Bon Jovi.

What did Jon have to say about it?

It’s humbling. It’s very humbling to think that you’ve touched somebody’s life for them to make such a kind of an important decision in their lives.

Bon Jovi was in Regina on tour this week, so Blaine, Chera and 15-month-old Jovi got a chance to meet the singer (and also the lead guitarist, Richie Sambora). Jon gave the parents a copy of the night’s set list and gave baby Jovi a guitar pick. Photos of Jon meeting Jovi have been posted to Bon Jovi’s Facebook page.

Wondering where Jon Bon Jovi’s stage name came from? It’s a respelling of his birth name, John Bongiovi. The Italian surname Bongiovi is a contraction of Bongiovanni, which is made up of the elements bon, “good,” and giovanni, “John.” So you could say that baby Jovi’s name is basically a contracted, Anglicized version of the Italian form of John.

Source: “Bon Jovi fans who gave baby ‘a bad name’ meet singer,” TheProvince.com