How popular is the baby name John 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 John.

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Popularity of the baby name John


Posts that mention the name John

Where did the baby name Cavett come from in 1973?

Talk show host Dick Cavett (in 1971)
Dick Cavett

The surname Cavett made its first and only appearance in the U.S. baby name data in the early 1970s:

  • 1975: unlisted
  • 1974: unlisted
  • 1973: 5 baby boys named Cavett [debut]
  • 1972: unlisted
  • 1971: unlisted

What put it there?

My guess is Dick Cavett, host of The Dick Cavett Show.

Different versions of Cavett’s Emmy-winning talk show were broadcast on television from the late ’60s to the early 2000s, but the most popular incarnation aired late-night on ABC — opposite Johnny Carson’s Tonight Show on NBC — from 1969 to 1974.

What differentiated Cavett from Carson? Cavett had a more intellectual approach to comedy, and also interviewed a wider range of guests — not just movie stars and musicians, but also filmmakers, athletes, authors, journalists, politicians, activists, scientists, artists, and so forth. Cavett’s guests included Alfred Hitchcock, Arthur C. Clarke, Bobby Fischer, Christiaan Barnard, Harland Sanders, Hugh Hefner, Jackie Robinson, Jacques Cousteau, Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, John Lennon (and Yoko Ono), Louis Armstrong, Muhammad Ali, Orson Welles, and Salvador Dalí.

Cavett’s Scottish surname was derived from a similar French surname, Cavet, which originally referred to either someone who worked with a cavet (a type of hoe) or someone who lived near or in a cave.

What are your thoughts on Cavett as a first name?

Sources:

Image: Screenshot of The Dick Cavett Show

Popular baby names in Boston (Massachusetts), 2023

Flag of Massachusetts
Flag of Massachusetts

Last year, the City of Boston welcomed a total of 20,645 babies.

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

Here are Boston’s top 20 girl names and top 20 boy names of 2023:

Girl names

  1. Olivia
  2. Emma
  3. Sophia
  4. Charlotte
  5. Sofia
  6. Isabella
  7. Grace
  8. Chloe
  9. Amelia
  10. Maya
  11. Luna
  12. Gianna
  13. Mia
  14. Nora
  15. Ava
  16. Natalie
  17. Ella
  18. Emilia
  19. Maeve
  20. Eleanor

Boy names

  1. Liam
  2. Noah
  3. Henry
  4. Leo
  5. Theodore
  6. Jack
  7. Julian
  8. James
  9. Thomas
  10. Benjamin
  11. William
  12. Luca
  13. John
  14. Ethan
  15. Logan
  16. Aiden
  17. Charles
  18. Samuel
  19. Joseph
  20. Oliver

Thomas caught my eye — it’s a top-10 boy name in Boston, but (in 2022) it only managed to rank 22nd state-wide and 45th country-wide.

Massachusetts’ top baby names of 2023 won’t be revealed until May, when the new SSA data comes out, but the state’s #1 names in 2022 were Olivia and Noah. (Noah won by a wide margin, in fact. It was given to 142 more baby boys than second-place Liam.)

Sources: Most Popular Baby Names in Boston, SSA

Image: Adapted from Flag of Massachusetts (public domain)

Baby named Tennys, becomes professional tennis player

American tennis player Tennys Sandgren
Tennis player Tennys Sandgren

Did you know that there’s an American professional tennis player named Tennys? (It’s pronounced just like the sport.)

Tennys Sandgren, who was born in 1991, was technically named after his great-grandfather Tennys — a first-generation American whose parents were Swedish immigrants. That said, his parents were inspired to pass the name down largely because they were avid tennis players. (They first met at a tennis club, in fact.)

Sandgren told the New York Times that having the name “Tennys” made him feel obligated to become a reasonably good tennis player:

I had a little bit of expectations just to be not terrible, because you can’t be named so similar to a sport and not be at least adequate at that sport. I don’t think there’s been expectations to be really good, because my parents never put that kind of pressure on me, but I had to be at least decent.

He also admitted that he uses a fake name in restaurants:

When I order sandwiches or coffee, I don’t give my name, I’ll say ‘David’ or something. It’s just not worth it. They never mess David up. I just want my sandwich; I just want my coffee.

In early 2020, Sandgren played Roger Federer in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open. During a humorous pre-match interview [vid] with John McEnroe, Federer discussed his opponent’s first name:

JM: Finally, Roger […] your next match is against a guy — I think he’s got the greatest name for tennis in tennis history, his name’s Tennys Sandgren. I don’t know why his parents named him Tennys, but God bless them, cause he’s in the quarterfinals. And he’s the only American left. So what do you make of that, coming up in a couple days?

RF: He was not gonna be a baseball player, that’s for sure, with that name. It’s unreal, actually. I’m looking forward to playing against him, I’ve never played against Tennys. I’ve played a lot of tennis in my life, but never against Tennys.

So far, I haven’t been able to figure out the etymology of the name Tennys. It could be related to the Swedish name Tönnes, which is a diminutive of Antonius. It also reminds me of the English surname Tennyson, which ultimately comes from the personal name Denis.

Sources:

Image: Adapted from Tennys Sandgren Challenger of Dallas, Feb 2013 by Khall1323 under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Top baby names of 2023 in several U.S. states (provisional)

peeking nun

Want to take a peek into the future?

The year isn’t over yet, but that hasn’t stopped several regional governments from releasing provisional baby name rankings for 2023.

At least four U.S. states and one U.S. city have put out their top baby names of 2023 already, for instance. Let’s check them out, starting in the east and moving westward…

Rhode Island

According to the Rhode Island Department of Health, these were the state’s top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names of 2023.

Top girl names, Rhode IslandTop boy names, Rhode Island
1. Charlotte
2. Sophia
3. Olivia
4. Amelia
5. Emma
6. Nora
7. Luna
8. Isabella
9. Mia
10. Isla
1. Noah
2. Liam
3. James
4. Theodore
5. Lucas
6. Michael
7. Julian
8. Benjamin
9. Henry
10. Luca

Mississippi

According to the Mississippi State Department of Health, these were the state’s top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names of 2023.

Top girl names, MississippiTop boy names, Mississippi
1. Ava
2. Amelia
3. Olivia
4. Charlotte
5. Harper
6. Elizabeth
7. Emma
8. Mary
9. Nova
10. Evelyn
1. John
2. James
3. William
4. Elijah
5. Noah
6. Liam
7. Waylon
8. Mason
9. Grayson
10. Asher

Houston (Texas)

According to the Houston Health Department, these were the city’s top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names of 2023.

Top girl names, City of HoustonTop boy names, City of Houston
1. Emma
2. Mia
3. Camila
4. Olivia
5. Isabella
6. Sofia
7. Sophia
8. Amelia
9. Charlotte
10. Emily
1. Liam
2. Noah
3. Mateo
4. Santiago
5. Sebastian
6. Dylan
7. Elijah
8. Lucas
9. Oliver
10. Daniel

New Mexico

According to the New Mexico Department of Health, these were the state’s top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names of 2023.

Top girl names, New MexicoTop boy names, New Mexico
1. Olivia
2. Amelia
3. Isabella
4. Emma
5. Sofia
6. Mia
7. Sophia
8. Aria
9. Luna
10. Camila
1. Liam
2. Mateo
3. Noah
4. Santiago
5. Ezekiel
6. Elijah
7. Josiah
8. Sebastian
9. Ezra
10. Julian

Arizona

According to the Arizona Department of Health Services, these were the state’s top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names of 2023.

Top girl names, ArizonaTop boy names, Arizona
1. Olivia
2. Isabella
3. Emma
4. Mia
5. Camila
6. Sophia
7. Amelia
8. Charlotte
9. Evelyn
10. Luna
1. Liam
2. Mateo
3. Noah
4. Oliver
5. Santiago
6. Elijah
7. Sebastian
8. Ezra
9. Levi
10. Benjamin

Several regions outside the U.S. have also released their 2023 baby name rankings already. Here’s what I’ve spotted so far…

RegionTop names
British Columbia (Canada)Olivia & Noah
New Brunswick (Canada)Olivia & Liam
Nova Scotia (Canada)Olivia & Henry
P.E.I. (Canada)Sadie/Sophie & Jack
ACT/Canberra (Australia)Amelia/Charlotte & Henry
South Australia (Australia)Isla & Oliver
Western Australia (Australia)Isla & Oliver

Have you seen any others?

Sources:

Image: Adapted from A trompe l’œil with a young nun peeking out through a shutter (public domain)