How popular is the baby name Jay 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 Jay.

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Popularity of the baby name Jay


Posts that mention the name Jay

Popular baby names in England and Wales (UK), 2013

Flag of the United Kingdom
Flag of the United Kingdom

The top baby names in England and Wales were announced last week.

According to data from the Office for National Statistics, the most popular baby names last year were Amelia and Oliver.

Here are England and Wales’ top 20 girl names and top 20 boy names of 2013:

Girl Names

  1. Amelia, 5570 baby girls
  2. Olivia, 4598
  3. Emily, 4049
  4. Ava, 3575
  5. Isla, 3526
  6. Jessica, 3507
  7. Poppy, 3422
  8. Isabella, 3246
  9. Sophie, 3013
  10. Mia, 2993
  11. Ruby, 2948
  12. Lily, 2883
  13. Grace, 2799
  14. Evie, 2767
  15. Sophia, 2764
  16. Ella, 2722
  17. Scarlett, 2643
  18. Chloe, 2401
  19. Isabelle, 2287
  20. Freya, 2266

Boy Names

  1. Oliver, 6,949 baby boys
  2. Jack, 6,212
  3. Harry, 5,888
  4. Jacob, 5,126
  5. Charlie 5,039
  6. Thomas, 4,591
  7. Oscar, 4,511
  8. William, 4,268
  9. James, 4,236
  10. George, 4,202
  11. Alfie, 4,138
  12. Joshua, 3,973
  13. Noah, 3,830
  14. Ethan, 3,572
  15. Muhammad, 3,499
  16. Archie, 3,265
  17. Leo, 3,264
  18. Henry, 3,248
  19. Joseph, 3,225
  20. Samuel, 3,188

There were some big moves on the boys’ side: Oscar rose from 17th to 7th, while Riley plummeted from 8th to 21st. (Here are the biggest moves overall for boy names and girl names.)

New to the top 20 are Scarlett, Archie, Henry and Joseph. They replaced Charlotte, Riley, Daniel and Max.

One thing I found interesting? Freya wasn’t on the England top 20. It also wasn’t on the Wales top 20. And yet still it managed to rank 20th on the combined top 20. Very sneaky, Freya.

Here are some of last year’s rare baby names, each given to between 3 and 10 babies (inclusive):

Rare Girl NamesRare Boy Names
Akvile, Alaska, Alphonsa, Andromeda, Arena, Arizona, Atlantis, Belinay, Bellatrix, Blousey, Boadicea, Boglarka, Bonnie-Blue, Boo, Boux, Charm, Cressida, Crystal-Rose, Daenerys, Delphie, Disney, Duru, Edwina, Ellery, Eloghosa, Enfys, Enlli,* Eos, Ernestine, Esila, Evan, Frayer, Freshta, Fausta, Garance, Gelila, Gemini, Gerda, Glorious, Halo, Honour, Io, Iole, Ionie, Iseult, Isla-Belle, Izna, Lava, Lleucu, Llinos, Llio, Loveday, Loxy, Mafalda, Man, Maple, Miami, Migle, Milda, Misk, Mirabella, Mirren, Myfi, Myrtle, Nandi, Nephele, Nma, Ottoline, Pebbles, Popi, Purity, Quorra, Quratulain, Rory, Ruby-Tuesday, Salsabeel, Sehrish, Sequoia, Sibel, Sobia, Solveig, Sundus, Tiggi, Tiggy, Tirion, Tulsi, Vespa, Vogue, YiyiAlaric, Bramwell, Cavalli, Ceirion, Denley, Diesel, Diggory, Drin, Eesaa, Eyoel, Fiachra, Finlo, Fyfe, Ghyll, Greatness, Gruff, Hanzala, Haoyu, Heathcliff, Henley-John, Ho, Hocine, Innis, Iori, J, Jai-Jai, Jay-J, Jaygo, Johnboy, Jonjoe, Kebba, Kelly, Khizr, King-David, Klevis, Lebron, Liutaruas, Llyr, Lochie, Messi, Mortimer, Nebi, Nimrod, Noman, Olti, Omarion, Orpheus, Osgar, Oska, Perseus, Ptolemy, Qi, Rhythm, Rozh, Rhon, Sandor, Shady, Shaquille, Sheriff, Shko, Soul, Swayley, T, Tiger, Tirath, Tobenna, Toprak, Tuguldur, Tylah, Tyrion, Ugnius, Viggo, Wentworth, Winter, Wolf, Wolfgang, Wren, Yanky, Yug, Zeus, Zsombor

*Enlli, which debuted last year, comes from the name of the Welsh island Ynys Enlli (called Bardsey Island in English). The island name is usually translated as “island of the current,” with ynys meaning “island,” and enlli meaning “current.” You can hear the proper pronunciation of Ynys Enlli at Forvo.

Finally, all of my previous posts on the popular (and unique) baby names in England and Wales: 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, and 2008.

Source: Baby Names, England and Wales, 2013 – ONS

Image: Adapted from Flag of the United Kingdom (public domain)

Biggest changes in boy name usage (England, 2013)

Here’s another “biggest changes” analysis, but this one is for the England and Wales boy names. (We looked at the girl names yesterday.)

The tables below include two versions of each list. On the left are the top raw-number differences, taking all names into account. On the right are the top ranking differences, taking only the top 1,000 names (roughly) into account.

Biggest Increases in Popularity

Raw Numbers (all names)Rankings (top 1,000)
  1. Oscar, +1,222 babies
  2. Muhammad, +338
  3. Henry, +320
  4. Joey, +288
  5. Oliver, +280
  6. Teddy, +276
  7. Arthur, +249
  8. Archie, +203
  9. Edward, +185
  10. Theodore, +167
  1. Greyson, +1388 spots
  2. Harvey-Lee, +898
  3. Salahuddin, +759
  4. Bernard, +715
  5. Camden, +686
  6. Kayson, +583
  7. Raife, +531
  8. Buster and Abubakr [tie], +517
  9. Jeffrey and Brax [tie], +499
  10. Emre, +492

I think the rise of Oscar can be attributed, at least in part, to Oscar Pistorius. Can you think of explanations for any of the other names? (I’d especially like to know what gave Buster a boost.)

Biggest Decreases in Popularity

Raw Numbers (all names)Rankings (top 1,000)
  1. Riley, -1,703 babies
  2. Harry, -1,280
  3. Tyler, -1,104
  4. Alfie, -705
  5. Ethan, -649
  6. Charlie, -532
  7. Joshua, -471
  8. Callum, -467
  9. Ryan, -441
  10. Dylan, -407
  1. Rylan, -577 spots
  2. Ray, -339
  3. Rylie, -277
  4. Jeevan, -276
  5. Darren, -255
  6. Codey, -252
  7. Chace, -242
  8. Dorian, -239
  9. Kaelan, -231
  10. Riley-Jay, -228

A lot of Ry- and Ri- names took hits last year. Is the sound falling out of the favor? What do you think?

Top Debut Name

Gurfateh.

Fewer than 3 baby boys got the name in 2012, but 12 baby boys were named Gurfateh in 2013. (But keep in mind that I only have the full England and Wales baby name lists going back to 2007.)

Here are the U.S. boy names that changed the most in popularity in 2013, if you’d like to compare.

Source: Baby Names, England and Wales, 2013 – ONS

Michigan family with 12 children (all boys!)

Last year I blogged about a family with 12 children, all girls. Today I’ve got the opposite: a family with 12 children, all boys.

On August 4, Jay and Kateri “Teri” Schwandt of Michigan welcomed their 12th son in a row.

Here are the names and current ages of all 12 Schwandt boys:

  • Tyler, 21 years old
  • Zach, 17
  • Drew, 16
  • Brandon, 14
  • Tommy, 11
  • Vinny, 10
  • Calvin, 8
  • Gabe, 6
  • Wesley, 5
  • Charlie, 3
  • Luke, 2
  • Tucker, 1 month

According to one source, the Schwandts are “devout Roman Catholics who leave the size of their family to God. Teri’s sister has 10 children, and they, too, are all boys.”

Teri’s birth name, Kateri, was no doubt inspired by Kateri Tekakwitha, who was formally made a Roman Catholic saint just last year. Kateri is derived from Catherine (French pronunciation).

Now it’s your turn! If you had a dozen sons, what would you name them?

Sources: All-boys club: West Michigan couple welcomes 12th son, Couple who had their 12th Son gave up on having a daughter ‘a long time ago’

Image: Ein Kinderfest (1868) by Ludwig Knaus

Will “North West” make pun names trendy?

Last week, Kanye West and Kim Kardashian welcomed their first child, a baby girl.

Most people thought the couple would opt for a K-name, in keeping with family tradition (Kris, Kim, Kourtney, Khloe, Kendall, Kylie). Did they?

Nope! Instead they went for North, with no middle name. So the baby girl’s full name is North West.

Ironically, Kim laughed at the suggestion of “North West” on Jay Leno just a few weeks ago.

Here’s what Grandma Kris had to say about the name:

Kim sort of explained it to me. She said North is the highest power. And their baby North, their little girl, is the highest point and power between the two of them. So I thought that was really cool.

Personal significance aside, the internet has been abuzz with reactions — mostly negative:

The name quickly spawned plenty of punchlines, with many Twitter users joking that “Key” and “Wild” must already have been taken.

Perhaps in anticipation of this type of response, Kim and Kanye were sure to leak the fact that they’d be calling North by the noncontroversial pet name “Nori.”

At the end of the day, though, a pet name isn’t going to offset a pun name.

So now, here’s the question:

  • Do you think “North West” will inspire/embolden more parents to bestow pun names this year?

Update, 7/29/21: Wondering whether baby North West had an influence on U.S. baby names?

She had a slight influence on North, which saw an uptick in usage as a boy name in 2013, and finally debuted as a girl name in 2015:

  • 2015: 6 baby girls and 10 baby boys named North [debut for girls]
  • 2014: 13 baby boys named North
  • 2013: 21 baby boys named North [peak]
  • 2012: 13 baby boys named North
  • 2011: 20 baby boys named North

She had a much stronger influence on the name Nori, which, in recent years, has come close to breaking into the top 1,000.

  • 2015: 134 baby girls and 9 baby boys named Nori
  • 2014: 102 baby girls and 13 baby boys named Nori
  • 2013: 29 baby girls named Nori
  • 2012: 11 baby girls named Nori
  • 2011: 18 baby girls named Nori

(Nori is reminding me of Naleigh, which also saw higher usage thanks to a celebrity baby nickname.)

And, while I’m in here updating this post, I’ll throw in the names of the three babies Kim and Kanye have welcomed since the arrival of Nori…

Saint (boy, born in December 2015) was named after the fact that his parents considered him a “blessing” after Kim’s difficult pregnancy. In 2018, the name Saint entered the top 1,000 for the first time ever.

  • 2018: 256 baby boys named Saint [rank: 858th]
  • 2017: 141 baby boys named Saint
  • 2016: 115 baby boys named Saint
  • 2015: 39 baby boys named Saint
  • 2014: 33 baby boys named Saint
  • 2013: 22 baby boys named Saint

Chicago, “Chi” (girl, born in January 2018) was named after the city where Kanye was raised. The same year, the name Chicago, which had only ever popped up as a boy name in the data, debuted as a girl name:

  • 2020: 8 baby boys named Chicago
  • 2019: 5 baby boys named Chicago
  • 2018: 6 baby girls and 5 baby boys named Chicago [debut for girls]
  • 2017: unlisted
  • 2016: unlisted

But, like her sister, she seems to have had more of an influence on the name Chi (pronounced shy):

  • 2020: 17 baby girls and 14 baby boys named Chi
  • 2019: 18 baby girls and 11 baby boys named Chi
  • 2018: 7 baby girls and 6 baby boys named Chi
  • 2017: 12 baby girls and 10 baby boys named Chi

(Another influence in this case, though, may have been a second baby named Chí — this one born in mid-2019 to former Love & Hip Hop: Hollywood cast members Marcus Black and Brooke Valentine.)

Psalm (boy, born May 2019) got his name from the biblical Book of Psalms. We don’t have the 2020 data yet, so we’ll have to wait and see what happens with the name Psalm, but in 2019 it more than doubled in usage for baby boys:

  • 2020: 17 baby girls and 19 baby boys named Psalm
  • 2019: 7 baby girls and 16 baby boys named Psalm
  • 2018: 8 baby girls and 7 baby boys named Psalm
  • 2017: 11 baby girls and 5 baby boys named Psalm

Which of these four noun-names names — North, Saint, Chicago, or Psalm — do you like best?

Sources: Others named North praise Kim Kardashian and Kanye West’s baby name choice, Kim Kardashian, Kanye West Name Baby Daughter North West, Nicknamed “Nori”, Kris Jenner: Kim Kardashian, Kanye West Made a “Joint Decision” in Naming Baby North, From Chicago and Psalm to Reign and Stormi: The Meanings Behind the Kardashian Kids’ Names