How popular is the baby name James 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 James.

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Popularity of the baby name James


Posts that mention the name James

Popular baby names in Australia, 2022

Flag of Australia
Flag of Australia

In 2022, Australia — which boasts a large number of endemic animals (e.g., koala, kangaroo, wallaby, wombat, dingo) — welcomed 300,684 human babies: 146,403 girls and 154,281 boys.

What were the most popular names among Australia’s newborns last year?

Well…we don’t know for sure. Because Australia doesn’t release baby name rankings that cover the entire country.

So let’s take a look at eight sets of regional Australian rankings — representing Australia’s six states and two most populous territories — and make a guess about the country’s top names overall.

Here are the rankings, ordered by total number of births per region (highest to lowest):

New South Wales

Last year, New South Wales welcomed 95,758 (31.8%) of Australia’s babies. Here are NSW’s top baby names of 2022:

Girl names, NSWBoy names, NSW
1. Charlotte, 430
2. Amelia, 425
3. Isla, 403
4. Olivia, 401
5. Mia, 363
6. Ava, 343
7. Ella, 331
8. Matilda, 318
9. Sienna, 293
10. Willow, 288		1. Noah, 630
2. Oliver, 628
3. Leo, 447
4. William, 427
5. Theodore, 404
6. Jack, 381
7. Luca, 367 (tie)
8. Henry, 367 (tie)
9. Thomas, 348
10. Charlie, 334

Victoria

Last year, Victoria welcomed 76,187 (25.3%) of Australia’s babies. Here are Victoria’s top baby names of 2022:

Girl names, VictoriaBoy names, Victoria
1. Charlotte, 367
2. Amelia, 356
3. Isla, 345 (tie)
4. Mia, 345 (tie)
5. Olivia, 326
6. Matilda, 296
7. Ava, 293
8. Ella, 283 (tie)
9. Grace, 283 (tie)
10. Hazel, 266		1. Oliver, 593
2. Noah, 503
3. Jack, 416
4. Leo, 408
5. Henry, 354
6. Charlie, 344
7. William, 328
8. Theodore, 326
9. Thomas, 282
10. Hudson, 274

Queensland

Last year, Queensland welcomed 62,313 (20.7%) of Australia’s babies. Here are Queensland’s top baby names of 2022:

Girl names, QueenslandBoy names, Queensland
1. Amelia, 321
2. Charlotte, 308
3. Isla, 296
4. Olivia, 285
5. Ava, 250
6. Mia, 245
7. Willow, 233
8. Matilda, 232
9. Lily, 228
10. Ella, 216		1. Oliver, 539
2. Noah, 393
3. William, 359
4. Hudson, 357
5. Henry, 341
6. Theodore, 340
7. Leo, 332
8. Charlie, 276
9. Jack, 267
10. Luca, 257

Western Australia

Last year, Western Australia welcomed 31,474 (10.5%) of Australia’s babies. Here are WA’s top baby names of 2022:

Girl names, Western Aus.Boy names, Western Aus.
1. Isla, 162
2. Amelia, 150 (tie)
3. Olivia, 150 (tie)
4. Charlotte, 126
5. Mia, 122
6. Lily, 116 (tie)
7. Grace, 116 (tie)
8. Harper, 113 (tie)
9. Ava, 113 (tie)
10. Willow, 105		1. Oliver, 260
2. Noah, 178
3. Leo, 171
4. Charlie, 151
5. Jack, 140
6. Hudson, 136 (tie)
7. Thomas, 136 (tie)
8. Theodore, 132
9. Henry, 131
10. Levi/James/Luca, 124 each (3-way tie)

South Australia

Last year, South Australia welcomed 19,502 (6.5%) of Australia’s babies. Here are SA’s top baby names of 2022:

Girl names, South Aus.Boy names, South Aus.
1. Isla, 111
2. Charlotte, 110
3. Amelia, 89
4. Willow, 84
5. Grace, 82
6. Olivia, 81
7. Lily, 75
8. Ella/Harper/Matilda/Mia, 72 each (4-way tie)		1. Oliver, 181
2. Noah, 142
3. Henry, 121
4. Leo, 108
5. Archie, 107
6. William, 93
7. Hudson, 90
8. Luca, 87
9. Charlie, 83 (tie)
10. Thomas, 83 (tie)

Australian Capital Territory

Last year, the ACT (Canberra) welcomed 6,375 (2.1%) of Australia’s babies. Here are the ACT’s top baby names of 2022:

Girl names, ACTBoy names, ACT
1. Charlotte
2. Isla
3. Evelyn
4. Amelia
5. Zoe
6. Ella (tie)
7. Hazel (tie)
8. Ava/Freya/Grace/Olivia (4-way tie)		1. Oliver
2. Henry
3. William
4. Leo
5. Theodore
6. Noah
7. Arthur
8. George (tie)
9. Thomas (tie)
10. Elijah/Levi/Lucas (3-way tie)

Tasmania

Last year, Tasmania welcomed 5,498 (1.8%) of Australia’s babies. Here are Tasmania’s top baby names of 2022:

Girl names, TasmaniaBoy names, Tasmania
1. Grace
2. Willow
3. Charlotte
4. Mia
5. Matilda
6. Hazel
7. Elsie
8. Harper
9. Isla
10. Daisy		1. Oliver
2. Henry
3. George
4. Hudson
5. Archie
6. Noah
7. Theodore
8. Charlie
9. Leo
10. Jack

Northern Territory

Last year, Northern Territory welcomed 3,577 (1.2%) of Australia’s babies. Here are NT’s top baby names of 2022:

Girl names, NTBoy names, NT
1. Charlotte, 18
2. Matilda, 16
3. Ava, 14
4. Amelia, 13 (3-way tie)
5. Ella, 13 (3-way tie)
6. Isla, 13 (3-way tie)
7. Harper, 12 (tie)
8. Isabella, 12 (tie)
9. Grace, 9
10. Frankie/Ruby/Sadie/Willow, 8 each (4-way tie)		1. Noah, 16 (tie)
2. William, 16 (tie)
3. Levi, 14
4. Michael, 12 (tie)
5. Xavier, 12 (tie)
6. Hudson, 11 (3-way tie)
7. Jack, 11 (3-way tie)
8. James, 11 (3-way tie)
9. Archer/Harry/Lucas, 10 each (3-way tie)
map of Australia

Australia overall

Finally, using the data above, let’s make a guess about Australia’s top baby names overall. Here’s what I came up with:

Australia’s top girl names (possibly)Australia’s top boy names (possibly)
1. Charlotte
2. Amelia
3. Isla
4. Olivia
5. Mia		1. Oliver
2. Noah
3. Leo
4. Henry
5. William

What are your thoughts on these? Would you have ranked them differently?

(My guesses regarding Australia’s top names of 2021 had Isla and Oliver in the top spots.)

Sources:

Image: Adapted from Flag of Australia (public domain)
Map: Adapted from Australia location map by NordNordWest under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Popular and unique baby names in Iowa, 2022

Flag of Iowa
Flag of Iowa

Did you know that Iowa is the only U.S. state bordered by two navigable rivers (i.e., rivers used for interstate commerce)? Its eastern border is formed by the Mississippi River, and its western border is formed by the Missouri River (for the most part).

Last year, the state’s most popular baby names were Olivia and Oliver, according to the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services

Here are Iowa’s top 20 girl names and top 20+ boy names of 2022:

Girl Names

  1. Olivia, 173 baby girls
  2. Charlotte, 155
  3. Ava, 130
  4. Emma, 122
  5. Amelia, 118
  6. Evelyn, 114
  7. Harper, 109
  8. Eleanor, 105
  9. Hazel, 94
  10. Nora, 93
  11. Scarlett, 91
  12. Ellie, 89
  13. Sophia, 85
  14. Avery, 84
  15. Ivy, 83
  16. Violet, 82
  17. Isabella, 78
  18. Grace, 74 (tie)
  19. Willow, 74 (tie)
  20. Aurora, 67

Boy Names

  1. Oliver, 198 baby boys
  2. Liam, 180
  3. Theodore, 163
  4. Henry, 156
  5. William, 127
  6. Leo, 122
  7. Hudson, 121
  8. Jack, 119 (tie)
  9. Owen, 119 (tie)
  10. James, 118
  11. Brooks, 115
  12. Asher, 112
  13. Wyatt, 108
  14. Elijah, 107
  15. Maverick, 101
  16. Noah, 98
  17. Bennett, 90 (tie)
  18. Cooper, 90 (tie)
  19. Jackson, 88
  20. Lincoln, 87 (tie)
  21. Lucas, 87 (tie)

The SSA’s rankings for Iowa are largely (though not exactly) the same.

Now for the fun part — unique names!

In total, 3,680 (67%) of the girl names and 2,801 (58%) of the boy names bestowed in Iowa last year were given to a single baby. Here’s a selection of Iowa’s unique baby names of 2022:

Unique girl namesUnique boy names
Alini, Brillith, Clovianna, Demri, Eleen, Fienne, Giantra, Hinata, Idara, Jimmilah, Ketsia, Lithena, Meridia, Nashley, Prinsha, Quinlyn, Rencalina, Simrat, Tauren, Uniti, Velzy, Weaver, Xella, Yusali, ZevlynAckley, Berrick, Clandson, Dazin, Eitan, Faron, Grayler, Hemby, Indie, Jefrin, Kindness, Lijah, Maiti, Noriel, Olten, Percy, Quineal, Raul, Solanus, Trendale, Ukiyo, Vaylor, Westlan, Xanthos, Yannick, Zario

Some of the single-use noun-names I spotted were Fjord (boy), Badger (boy), Minnow (girl), Sparrow (girl), Lithium (boy), and Paprika (girl).

I also noticed the name Caladan (boy), which was likely inspired by the planet Caladan from the movie Dune: Part One, which was released in late 2021.

Speaking of 2021…here’s a link to Iowa’s 2021 rankings, if you’d like to compare last year to the year before.

Sources: Baby Names – Iowa Health & Human Services, Iowa – Wikipedia, Iowa’s Waterway System – Iowa DOT

Image: Adapted from Flag of Iowa (public domain)

Babies named for Elbridge Gerry

American politician Elbridge Gerry (1744-1814)
Elbridge Gerry

When you think of politician Elbridge Gerry (1744-1814), what comes to mind?

Probably the political portmanteau gerrymander, which was mockingly coined by a newspaper cartoonist in 1812.

But Gerry was one of the founding fathers of the United States.

He signed both the Declaration of Independence and the Articles of Confederation. He refused to sign the Constitution, though, because it didn’t include a Bill of Rights. He promptly helped draft and pass a Bill of Rights (i.e., the first ten amendments) while serving as a member of the inaugural House of Representatives.

He went on to serve as the eighth governor of Massachusetts (1810-1812), and died while in office as the fifth vice president of the United States (1813-1814) under James Madison.

Hundreds of baby boys were named after Elbridge Gerry. Most were born in Gerry’s home state of Massachusetts. The rest came from nearby states, particularly Maine (which was part of Massachusetts from the 1650s to 1820). Some examples…

My favorite namesake, a Mainer named Elbridge Gerry Berry, wasn’t born until 1822.

P.S. Elbridge Gerry is to gerrymandering as Ambrose Burnside is to sideburns…

Sources: Elbridge Gerry – Wikipedia, FamilySearch.org, Find a Grave
Image: Elbridge Gerry (1861) by James Bogle

Popular baby names in San Diego (California), 2022 & 2021

Flag of California
Flag of California

The county of San Diego, located in the southwestern corner of the state of California, is the fifth-most-populous county in the United States.

Last year, San Diego County welcomed 37,753 babies — 18,473 girls and 19,278 boys.

What were the most popular names among these babies? Olivia and Mateo.

Here are San Diego’s top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names of 2022:

Girl Names, 2022

  1. Olivia, 211 baby girls
  2. Emma, 207
  3. Isabella, 178
  4. Mia, 177
  5. Camila, 165
  6. Sophia, 146
  7. Luna, 138
  8. Mila, 129
  9. Sofia, 119
  10. Charlotte, 115

Boy Names, 2022

  1. Mateo, 234 baby boys
  2. Liam, 232
  3. Noah, 192
  4. Sebastian, 183
  5. Oliver, 164
  6. Benjamin, 143
  7. Luca, 141
  8. Santiago, 139
  9. Alexander, 128
  10. Julian, 121

And, because I didn’t blog about the county’s top names of 2021, here are those top-10 lists as well:

Girl Names, 2021

  1. Emma, 217 baby girls
  2. Olivia, 213
  3. Mia, 164 (tie)
  4. Sophia, 164 (tie)
  5. Camila, 151
  6. Sofia, 144
  7. Isabella, 143
  8. Amelia, 138
  9. Luna, 137
  10. Charlotte, 130

Boy Names, 2021

  1. Noah, 210 baby boys
  2. Liam, 206
  3. Mateo, 180
  4. Oliver, 163
  5. Benjamin, 155
  6. Sebastian, 143
  7. Luca, 124
  8. Alexander, 123 (tie)
  9. James, 123 (tie)
  10. Julian, 121

A year earlier, in 2020, the #1 names in San Diego were Olivia and Noah.

(I’ve also posted 2022 rankings for Sonoma County, also in California, and Coconino County, in nearby Arizona.)

Sources: County Reveals Top 10 Baby Names of 2022 – San Diego County News Center, Top 10 Leading Baby Names in San Diego County, By Gender, 1996-2022 (PDF)

Image: Adapted from Flag of California (public domain)