How popular is the baby name Jeremiah 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 Jeremiah.

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Popularity of the baby name Jeremiah


Posts that mention the name Jeremiah

Popular baby names in New York City, 2011

Flag of New York
Flag of New York

Last year — for the third year in a row — New York City’s most popular baby names were Jayden and Isabella.

More than 800 baby boys were named Jayden and more than 600 baby girls were named Isabella in 2011.

Here are more of the top boy names:

RankOVERALLAsian &
Pacific
Islander		BlackHispanicWhite
1JAYDENEthanJaydenJaydenMichael
2JacobJaydenAidenJustinJoseph
3EthanRyanElijahJacobJacob
4DanielJustinJeremiahMatthewDavid
5MichaelLucasJoshuaAngelBenjamin
6MatthewJasonEthanEthanMoshe
7JustinAidenJosiahChristopherDaniel
8DavidKevinIsaiahDanielAlexander
9Aiden*EricTylerAlexanderMatthew
10Alexander*DanielMichaelAnthonyJack

*Aiden and Alexander are new. They replaced Joseph (#13) and Joshua (#14).

And here are the rest of the top girl names:

RankOVERALLAsian &
Pacific
Islander		BlackHispanicWhite
1ISABELLASophiaMadisonIsabellaEsther
2SophiaChloeLondonMiaEmma,
Olivia
3OliviaEmilyKaylaSophiaLeah
4EmmaOliviaChloeAshleySophia
5MiaEmmaAaliyahCamilaChaya
6EmilyIsabellaMakaylaSofiaSarah
7MadisonTiffanyNevaehEmilyRachel
8LeahAshleyGabrielleHaileyAva
9ChloeFionaTaylorLeahIsabella
10Sofia*AngelaJada,
Olivia,
Serenity		MadisonChana

*Sofia is new. It replaced Sarah (#11).

Source: Mayor Bloomberg Announces Isabella and Jayden Are 2011’s Most Popular Baby Names for Third Year in a Row

Image: Adapted from Flag of New York (public domain)

Biggest changes in boy name popularity, 2010

For the last few years, the SSA has re-ordered the top 500 (or so) baby names according to rank change.

Below I’ve done the same sort of analysis, but I changed two things. First, I focused on the number of babies instead of on rankings. Second, I looked at the entire list, not just the top 500.

And that’s why these lists and the SSA’s lists look so different. :)

The boy names that increased and decreased the most in terms of usage are below. The girl names were in the last post.

Biggest Increases, 2009 to 2010

  1. Mason, +4074 babies (rank change: 34th to 12th)
  2. Bentley, +3221 (515th to 101st)
  3. Liam, +2317 (49th to 30th)
  4. Eli, +1601 (90th to 65th)
  5. Easton, +1330 (253rd to 145th)
  6. Grayson, +1077 (173rd to 122nd)
  7. Elijah, +984 (22nd to 18th)
  8. Levi, +935 (85th to 70th)
  9. Jacob, +839 (1st to 1st)
  10. Bryson, +771 (151st to 120th)
  11. Lucas, +727 (39th to 35th)
  12. Axel, +645 (264th to 187th)
  13. Colton, +516 (93rd to 73rd)
  14. Jeremiah, +485 (65th to 52nd)
  15. Asher, +474 (165th to 139th)
  16. Brayden, +474 (48th to 40th)
  17. Greyson, +451 (347th to 249th)
  18. Henry, +448 (71st to 67th)
  19. Miles, +434 (162nd to 137th)
  20. Jaxon, +423 (124th to 99th)

Biggest Decreases, 2009 to 2010

  1. Joshua, -2311 babies (rank change: 6th to 11th)
  2. Christopher, -2129 (10th to 13th)
  3. Matthew, -1941 (13th to 16th)
  4. Ethan, -1917 (2nd to 2nd)
  5. Daniel, -1777 (7th to 8th)
  6. Michael, -1689 (3rd to 3rd)
  7. Christian, -1620 (23rd to 29th)
  8. Alexander, -1541 (4th to 6th)
  9. Aidan, -1523 (72nd to 94th)
  10. Kevin, -1476 (44th to 58th)
  11. Brandon, -1331 (38th to 43rd)
  12. David, -1328 (14th to 15th)
  13. Nicholas, -1252 (32nd to 38th)
  14. Ryan, -1185 (19th to 23rd)
  15. Joseph, -1162 (15th to 20th)
  16. Gavin, -1159 (33rd to 37th)
  17. Jose, -1139 (43th to 51st)
  18. Tyler, -1130 (28th to 34th)
  19. Angel, -1102 (37th to 42nd)
  20. Juan, -1048 (67th to 75th)

As with the girl names, three of the above (Jacob, Ethan and Michael) were big winners/losers according to the numbers, but their rankings stayed the same.

What popularized the baby name Jerrica in the 1980s?

The character Jem from from the animated TV series "Jem" (1985-1988).
Jem from “Jem“

Ready for a pair of truly outrageous baby names?

The animated TV series Jem, which began airing in late 1985, focused on an all-girl rock band called Jem and the Holograms.

Jem was the lead singer, and she had a big secret: she didn’t really exist! “Jem” was just the alter-ego of a woman named Jerrica Benton, who used a powerful holographic computer (called Synergy) and a pair of hi-tech earrings to have the “Jem” hologram projected over her.

The Name Jem

Before Jem, there had been girls named Gem and boys named Jem (short for Jeremy/Jeremiah/James). But only in 1986 do baby girls named Jem start popping up in the U.S. baby name data:

  • 1989: 6 baby girls named Jem
  • 1988: 9 baby girls named Jem
  • 1987: 11 baby girls named Jem
  • 1986: 5 baby girls named Jem [debut]
  • 1985: unlisted
  • 1984: unlisted
The character Jerrica Benton from the animated TV series "Jem" (1985-1988).
Jerrica from “Jem“

The Name Jerrica

The Jessica-like name Jerrica was in use well before the cartoon started airing, but without Jem it might never have cracked the top 1,000:

  • 1989: 402 baby girls named Jerrica [ranked 558th]
  • 1988: 437 baby girls named Jerrica [ranked 506th]
  • 1987: 318 baby girls named Jerrica [ranked 607th]
  • 1986: 199 baby girls named Jerrica [ranked 836th]
  • 1985: 64 baby girls named Jerrica
  • 1984: 45 baby girls named Jerrica

Jerrica managed to stay in the top 1,000 all the way through 1995. It’s still in the SSA data today, though the numbers aren’t too impressive anymore (i.e., only 27 baby girls were named Jerrica in 2009).

The names Jerica and Jerika also saw increased usage during this time. Other variants of Jerrica that debuted in the data in the mid-to-late ’80s include Jerryca, Jericca, Jherica/Jherrica (inspired by the Jheri curl?), Gerrica/Gerica/Gerika, and Jarrica/Jarica/Jarika/Jareka.

Source: Jem (TV series) – Wikipedia

[Other cartoon-inspired baby names: Aeon, Cheetara, Pebbles, Caillou]

California octuplets: Noah, Maliyah, Isaiah, Nariyah…

kinderfest

“Octomom” Nadya Suleman, the mother of the octuplets (6 boys, 2 girls) born in California in January of 2009, has finally revealed the names the babies. Here they are, by order of birth:

  1. Noah
  2. Maliyah (girl)
  3. Isaiah
  4. Nariyah (girl)
  5. Jonah
  6. Makai
  7. Josiah
  8. Jeremiah

(In early reports, the girls’ names were misspelled Maliah and Nariah, and Makai’s name was misspelled McCai.)

Five of the above are biblical, while the other three have a sort of biblical styling to them.

The names of Nadya’s older six children (4 boys, 2 girls) are…

  • Elijah (born in 2001)
  • Amerah (2002)
  • Joshua (2003)
  • Aidan (2005)
  • Calyssa (2006, twin)
  • Caleb (2006, twin)

Sources: Octuplets make American TV debut (Guardian, 2009), Her side of the story (NBC, 2009), Suleman octuplets – Wikipedia

Image: Ein Kinderfest (1868) by Ludwig Knaus