How popular is the baby name Jenner 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 Jenner.

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Popularity of the baby name Jenner


Posts that mention the name Jenner

Biggest changes in girl name popularity, 2016

Which girl names increased the most in popularity from 2015 to 2016? Which ones decreased the most?

The SSA likes to answer this question by analyzing ranking differences within the top 1,000. I like to answer it by looking at raw number differences that take the full list into account. So let’s check out the results using both methods…

Girl Names: Biggest Increases, 2015 to 2016

Rankings

1. Kehlani, +2,487 spots — up from 3,359th to 872nd
2. Royalty, +618 spots — up from 1,150th to 532nd
3. Saoirse, +465 spots — up from 1,448th to 983rd
4. Ophelia, +396 spots — up from 976th to 580th
5. Aitana, +368 spots — up from 917th to 549th
6. Itzayana, +356 spots — up from 1,125th to 769th
7. Alessia, +348 spots — up from 1,175th to 827th
8. Kaylani, +301 spots — up from 1,056th to 755th
9. Avianna, +298 spots — up from 751st to 453rd
10. Nalani, +294 spots — up from 1,280th to 986th

Kehlani and Kaylani were influenced by singer/songwriter Kehlani Parrish. (Kehlani was the top debut name of 2015, and variant Khelani debuted impressively in 2016.)

Royalty was influenced by the R&B singer Chris Brown, whose daughter (b. 2014) and 7th album (2015) were both called Royalty.

Saoirse was influenced by Irish actress Saoirse Ronan — perhaps specifically by those American talk show appearances in which she talked to the hosts (Ellen DeGeneres, Stephen Colbert, etc.) about how to pronounce her name. Plus there was that widely circulated Ryan Gosling quote on the same topic (“It’s Ser-sha, like inertia”).

Alessia was influenced by singer/songwriter Alessia Cara.

Raw Numbers

1. Adeline, +1,700 baby girls — up from 2,403 to 4,103
2. Charlotte, +1,649 baby girls — up from 11,381 to 13,030
3. Riley, +1,390 baby girls — up from 5,720 to 7,110
4. Adaline, +971 baby girls — up from 902 to 1,873
5. Amelia, +864 baby girls — up from 9,838 to 10,702
6. Luna, +849 baby girls — up from 2,796 to 3,645
7. Emilia, +804 baby girls — up from 2,215 to 3,019
8. Camila, +765 baby girls — up from 5,271 to 6,036
9. Nova, +754 baby girls — up from 1,518 to 2,272
10. Evelyn, +708 baby girls — up from 9,352 to 10,060

Adeline and Adaline were influenced, at least initially, by the movie The Age of Adaline (2015).

Other names that saw raw number increases in the 200+ range included Eleanor, Teagan, Kinsley, Scarlett, Everly, Quinn, Aria, Remi, Harper, Penelope, Thea, Claire, Rowan, Hazel, Ruby, Blake, Aurora, Ivy, Harley, Eloise, Willow, Elena, Josephine, Alice, Blakely, Saylor, Nora, Leia, Iris, Margot, Isla, Freya, Samara, Joy, Zara, Eliana, Joanna, and Malia.

Girl Names: Biggest Decreases, 2015 to 2016

Rankings

1. Caitlin, -542 spots — down from 609th to 1,151st
2. Caitlyn, -462 spots — down from 598th to 1,060th
3. Katelynn, -402 spots — down from 652nd to 1,054th
4. Kaitlynn, -381 spots — down from 994th to 1,375th
5. Neriah, -344 spots — down from 943rd to 1,287th
6. Bryanna, -276 spots — down from 783rd to 1,059th
7. Kiley, -275 spots — down from 898th to 1,173rd
8. Yaritza, -271 spots — down from 935th to 1,206th
9. Denise, -210 spots — down from 993rd to 1,203rd
10. Kaelyn, -203 spots — down from 521st to 724th

caitlyn jenner, magazine cover

Caitlin, Caitlyn, Katelynn, and Kaitlynn, were negatively influenced by Caitlyn Jenner (formerly Bruce Jenner), who appeared on the cover of Vanity Fair in mid-2015 with the headline “Call me Caitlyn.”

This reminds me of what happened a few decades ago to Hillary — another name that was strongly associated for a time with a female who wasn’t conforming to gender norms. Perhaps tellingly, the name Bruce wasn’t hit nearly as hard. Jenner did fall of the charts, though.

Raw Numbers

1. Sophia, -1,311 baby girls — down from 17,381 to 16,070
2. Alexa, -1,289 baby girls — down from 6,049 to 4,760
3. Madison, -1,090 baby girls — down from 10,072 to 8,982
4. Emma, -1,001 baby girls — down from 20,415 to 19,414 (…but still the #1 name overall)
5. Aubrey, -869 baby girls — down from 7,376 to 6,507
6. Isabella, -852 baby girls — down from 15,574 to 14,722
7. Emily, -840 baby girls — down from 11,766 to 10,926
8. Kylie, -753 baby girls — down from 4,149 to 3,396
9. Alexis, -744 baby girls — down from 3,406 to 2,662
10. Abigail, -672 baby girls — down from 12,371 to 11,699

Other names that saw raw number drops in the 200+ range included Kaitlyn, Avery, Allison, Alyssa, London, Kaylee, Sofia, Katelyn, Kimberly, Zoey, Mia, Chloe, Kendall, Taylor, Sadie, Khloe, Mackenzie, Hannah, Peyton, Addison, Samantha, Ashley, Olivia, Gabriella, Brianna, Lauren, Anna, Brooklyn, Morgan, Jocelyn, Sydney, Natalie, Victoria, Makayla, Zoe, Hailey, Payton, Brooke, Annabelle, Trinity, Keira, Adalyn, Jordyn, Kayla, Molly, Audrey, Faith, Madelyn, Lillian, Caitlin, Caitlyn, Makenzie, Paige, Aaliyah, Paisley, Nevaeh, Elizabeth, Amy, and Jessica.

Interesting how certain like-names went in opposite directions last year. Leia, Alessia, and Adaline rose; Leah, Alyssa, and Adalyn fell.

Do you have any other explanations/guesses about any of the names above? If so, please comment!

(In 2015, the big winners were Alexa and Alaia, and the big losers were Isabella and Isis.)

Sources: Change in Popularity from 2015 to 2016, Emma and Noah Remain Social Security’s Most Popular Baby Names for 2016

What gave the baby name Kebrina a boost in the early 1990s?

Psychic Kebrina Kinkade in the "Kebrina's Psychic Answer" infomercial (1992).
“Kebrina’s Psychic Answer” infomercial

My favorite pop culture baby names are the ones that refer to incredibly cheesy things like Rambo, Star Search, and Dijonniase.

The baby name Kebrina, in terms of cheesiness, does not disappoint.

It debuted on the U.S. baby name data in 1979, and saw peak usage in 1993:

  • 1996: unlisted
  • 1995: 7 baby girls name Kebrina
  • 1994: 7 baby girls name Kebrina
  • 1993: 50 baby girls name Kebrina [peak]
  • 1992: 30 baby girls name Kebrina
  • 1991: unlisted
  • […]
  • 1980: unlisted
  • 1979: 5 baby girls name Kebrina [debut]
  • 1978: unlisted

The inspiration?

Kebrina Kinkade, the original “psychic to the stars.”

She was already hobnobbing with celebrities (David Hasselhoff, Bruce Jenner, Dick Van Patten, Lorne Greene, etc.) in the late 1970s, but it wasn’t until 1979, the year she appeared on several TV talk shows, that she achieved enough visibility to influence the baby name charts.

Her name did not make the charts during the ’80s, but it pops up in magazines and newspapers throughout the decade. She’s mentioned in a 1982 People article about a missing person investigation, for instance. (They misspelled her name Kabrina Kincaid.) She also came up in a 1987 newspaper article about how the predictions made by America’s “38 top astrologers and psychics” the year before were mostly incorrect.

Expectant parents didn’t take notice of her name again until the infomercial for “Kebrina’s Psychic Answer” — a psychic hotline that costed callers $3.99 per minute — started airing on television in 1992. The spot, hosted by actors Erik Estrada and Jenilee Harrison, ran until 1994.

I’m not sure what Kebrina Kinkade is up to these days, but I’m sure she’d be happy to know that she’s got dozens of namesakes. (I wonder if she could have predicted it…?)

What do you think of the name Kebrina?

Sources:

Where did the baby name Jenner come from in 1976?

Bruce Jenner on the cover of Sports Illustrated (Aug. 1976)
Bruce Jenner

Much has been said lately about Caitlyn Jenner’s first name (which, notably, does not start with a K).

But what about her surname?

Because, long before the Kardashians were a thing, the baby name Jenner debuted on the charts — first as a boy name, then as a girl name:

  • 1978: unlisted
  • 1977: 9 baby boys & 5 baby girls named Jenner
  • 1976: 8 baby boys named Jenner [debut]
  • 1975: unlisted
  • 1974: unlisted

The decathlete formerly known as Bruce Jenner shot to international fame in 1976 after winning a gold medal at the Summer Olympics in Montreal. (This was about 2 weeks after Nadia Comaneci scored her perfect ten.)

The name Jenner has seen even higher usage in recent years thanks to the reality TV show Keeping Up with the Kardashians, which has been on the air since late 2007.

How do you like Jenner as a first name? Do you think it works better as a boy name or a girl name?

Source: SSA
Image: © 1976 Sports Illustrated