How popular is the baby name Jon 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 Jon.

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Popularity of the baby name Jon


Posts that mention the name Jon

What brought the baby name Aloma back in the early 1940s?

Movie poster for "Aloma of the South Seas" (1941)
“Aloma of the South Seas” poster

In 1941, the name Aloma re-emerged in the U.S. baby name data after a brief absence. It went on to achieve peak usage the very next year:

  • 1944: 40 baby girls named Aloma
  • 1943: 103 baby girls named Aloma [rank: 762nd]
  • 1942: 147 baby girls named Aloma [rank: 616th]
  • 1941: 47 baby girls named Aloma
  • 1940: unlisted
  • 1939: unlisted

It also managed to reach the girls’ top 1,000 twice.

What was drawing attention to the name Aloma around that time?

The movie Aloma of the South Seas, which was released in August of 1941.

The main character was Tanoa (played by Jon Hall), a young man from a tropical island in the Pacific Ocean. After spending many years abroad, Tanoa returned home upon the death of his father, the chief. Soon after, Tanoa fell in love with a fellow islander named Aloma (Dorothy Lamour). But Tanoa also had a villainous cousin named Revo (Philip Reed), who coveted both the lady and the throne…

Plot-wise, the movie didn’t have much in common with the 1926 silent film of the same name, which featured dancer Gilda Gray as Aloma. The original film was based on the Broadway play Aloma of the South Seas (1925) by LeRoy Clemens and John B. Hymer.

The 1941 version did, however, end with a spectacular volcanic eruption. It also earned a pair of Academy Award nominations (for cinematography and special effects). Oh, and one of the screenwriters happened to be former actress Seena Owen.

What are your thoughts on the baby name Aloma?

Sources: Aloma of the South Seas (1941 film) – Wikipedia, Aloma of the South Seas (1941) – TCM, SSA

Image: Movie poster for Aloma of the South Seas

Popular baby names in Slovenia, 2023

Flag of Slovenia
Flag of Slovenia

Last year, the Central European country of Slovenia (not to be confused with the Central European country of Slovakia) welcomed 16,989 babies: 8,312 girls and 8,677 boys.

What were the most popular names among these babies? Ema and Luka.

Here are Slovenia’s top 50+ girl names and top 50 boy names of 2023:

Girl names

  1. Ema, 180 baby girls
  2. Hana, 179
  3. Zala, 177
  4. Mia, 156
  5. Julija, 147
  6. Sofija, 144
  7. Ela, 134
  8. Ajda, 125 – means “buckwheat” in Slovene.
  9. Vita, 123
  10. Mila, 118
  11. Lina, 117
  12. Eva, 114
  13. Lana, 113
  14. Zoja, 109
  15. Lara, 103
  16. Neža, 99 (tie)
  17. Nika, 99 (tie)
  18. Maša, 96
  19. Ana, 95
  20. Sofia, 92
  21. Sara, 91
  22. Zarja, 86
  23. Gaja, 81
  24. Iva, 79
  25. Brina, 77
  26. Pika, 74 – means “dot” in Slovene. In Slovenia, Pippi Longstocking’s first name is Pika.
  27. Klara, 69
  28. Lucija, 67
  29. Lia, 61
  30. Lili, 58
  31. Alina, 57 (tie)
  32. Ula, 57 (tie)
  33. Tinkara, 55
  34. Olivija, 51 (3-way tie)
  35. Ota, 51 (3-way tie)
  36. Tara, 51 (3-way tie)
  37. Olivia, 48
  38. Aurora, 47 (4-way tie)
  39. Iza, 47 (4-way tie)
  40. Maja, 47 (4-way tie)
  41. Zara, 47 (4-way tie)
  42. Naja, 46
  43. Asja, 45
  44. Kaja, 44
  45. Nina, 43
  46. Elena, 42 (tie)
  47. Manca, 42 (tie)
  48. Ava, 41
  49. Živa, 40
  50. Aria, 38 (tie)
  51. Mija, 38 (tie)

Boy names

  1. Luka, 198 baby boys
  2. Nik, 195
  3. Filip, 185
  4. Jakob, 175
  5. Mark, 173
  6. Lovro, 145
  7. Liam, 134
  8. Tim, 132
  9. Lan, 129 (tie)
  10. Oskar, 129 (tie)
  11. Oliver, 124
  12. Maj, 114
  13. Maks, 101 (tie)
  14. Žan, 101 (tie)
  15. Teo, 100
  16. Jan, 94
  17. Vid, 92
  18. Gal, 89
  19. Bine, 84
  20. Jaka, 80
  21. Leo, 77
  22. David, 75 (tie)
  23. Nace, 75 (tie)
  24. Leon, 74
  25. Izak, 71
  26. Aleks, 69
  27. Brin, 67
  28. Anže, 59 (3-way tie)
  29. Val, 59 (3-way tie)
  30. Vito, 59 (3-way tie)
  31. Lukas, 58
  32. Adam, 54 (3-way tie)
  33. Tine, 54 (3-way tie)
  34. Žiga, 54 (3-way tie)
  35. Anej, 53
  36. Svit, 50 – means “dawn” in Slovene.
  37. Nejc, 49
  38. Bor, 48 (4-way tie) – means “pine tree” in Slovene. It’s also a short form of bor- names, like Boris.
  39. Erik, 48 (4-way tie)
  40. Mateo, 48 (4-way tie)
  41. Matic, 48 (4-way tie)
  42. Aleksej, 47 (tie)
  43. Jon, 47 (tie)
  44. Lenart, 46 (tie)
  45. Matija, 46 (tie)
  46. Lev, 44
  47. Benjamin, 42
  48. Erazem, 41
  49. Tian, 40
  50. Teodor, 39

The girls’ top 100 included Loti (60th), Nuša (86th), Nikolina (90th), and Inja (94th).

The boys’ top 100 included Ožbej (70th), Tilen (73rd), Nai (95th), and the vowelless Crt (97th) — though that “C” should have a caron (which signifies a ch sound).

I didn’t post about Slovenia’s top baby names of 2022, but here are Slovenia’s 2021 rankings.

Sources: Top 100 baby names in 2023 – Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia, Births, 2023 – Statistical Office of the Republic of Slovenia, Behind the Name

Image: Adapted from Flag of Slovenia (public domain)

What gave the baby name Renata a boost in 1980?

The character Renata Corelli Sutton from the TV series "Search for Tomorrow" (1951-1986)
Renata from “Search for Tomorrow“

According to the U.S. baby name data, the name Renata saw an impressive spike in usage in 1980:

  • 1982: 146 baby girls named Renata
  • 1981: 224 baby girls named Renata [rank: 737th]
  • 1980: 720 baby girls named Renata [rank: 336th]
  • 1979: 229 baby girls named Renata [rank: 727th]
  • 1978: 47 baby girls named Renata

Here’s a visual:

Graph of the usage of the baby name Renata in the U.S. since 1880
Usage of the baby name Renata

The same year, the spelling Renatta also reached peak usage, and the spelling Rennata appeared for the first time in the data.

What was influencing these names around that time?

Television character Renata Sutton (played by French actress Sonia Petrovna), who was part of the long-running soap opera Search for Tomorrow — but only for a short time.

The character was introduced to viewers as Renata Corelli in August of 1979. (Despite being from Italy, Renata had a heavy French accent.) She married fellow character David Sutton during the spring of 1980. Just a few month later, though, pregnant Renata went into labor in the middle of a house fire. She didn’t survive.

Nationally syndicated soap opera columnist Jon-Michael Reed believed the show had made a big mistake by killing off Renata, who he described as “one of the most beautiful and unusual soap heroines in recent memory.”

What are your thoughts on the name Renata?

P.S. Renata’s baby girl, Mia, managed to survive the fire — and may have given the baby name Mia a slight boost in 1981, though it’s hard to tell.

Sources:

Image: Screenshot of Search for Tomorrow

Popular baby names in Iceland, 2023

Flag of Iceland
Flag of Iceland

Last year, the island nation of Iceland welcomed over 4,200 babies.

What were the most popular names among these babies? Emilía and Birnir.

Below are Iceland’s top 50+ girl names and top 50+ boy names of 2023. (Please note that I created these two gendered sets of rankings from the single non-gendered set of rankings that Iceland released.)

Girl names

  1. Emilía, 23 baby girls
  2. Sara, 22
  3. Aþena, 21 (3-way tie)
  4. Embla, 21 (3-way tie)
  5. Sóley, 21 (3-way tie)
  6. Emma, 20
  7. Katla, 19
  8. Eva, 18 (4-way tie)
  9. Lilja, 18 (4-way tie)
  10. Una, 18 (4-way tie)
  11. Viktoría, 18 (4-way tie)
  12. Anna, 16 (3-way tie)
  13. Bríet, 16 (3-way tie)
  14. Hekla, 16 (3-way tie) – inspired by Hekla, the name of one of Iceland’s most active volcanoes.
  15. Matthildur, 15 (tie)
  16. Salka, 15 (tie)
  17. Birta, 14 (3-way tie)
  18. Hafdís, 14 (3-way tie)
  19. Katrín, 14 (3-way tie)
  20. Andrea, 13 (3-way tie)
  21. Freyja, 13 (3-way tie)
  22. Natalía, 13 (3-way tie)
  23. Íris, 12 (4-way tie)
  24. Iðunn, 12 (4-way tie)
  25. Kristín, 12 (4-way tie)
  26. Móeiður, 12 (4-way tie)
  27. Ástrós, 11 (5-way tie)
  28. Fanney, 11 (5-way tie) – modern coinage created from elements meaning “snowdrift” and “island.”
  29. Hrafntinna, 11 (5-way tie)
  30. Saga, 11 (5-way tie)
  31. Ylfa, 11 (5-way tie)
  32. Elín, 10 (5-way tie)
  33. Heiðdís, 10 (5-way tie)
  34. Hildur, 10 (5-way tie)
  35. Júlía, 10 (5-way tie)
  36. Laufey, 10 (5-way tie)
  37. Amelía, 9 (12-way tie)
  38. Aría, 9 (12-way tie)
  39. Dagbjört, 9 (12-way tie)
  40. Glódís, 9 (12-way tie) – modern coinage created from elements meaning “to shine” and “goddess.”
  41. Helena, 9 (12-way tie)
  42. Ísabella, 9 (12-way tie)
  43. Karítas, 9 (12-way tie)
  44. Klara, 9 (12-way tie)
  45. Máney, 9 (12-way tie)
  46. María, 9 (12-way tie)
  47. Sigrún, 9 (12-way tie)
  48. Sóldís, 9 (12-way tie)
  49. Alexandra, 8 (9-way tie)
  50. Edda, 8 (9-way tie)
  51. Eldey, 8 (9-way tie)
  52. Harpa, 8 (9-way tie)
  53. Írena, 8 (9-way tie)
  54. Margrét, 8 (9-way tie)
  55. Rakel, 8 (9-way tie)
  56. Ronja, 8 (9-way tie)
  57. Þórdís, 8 (9-way tie)

Boy names

  1. Birnir, 30 baby boys
  2. Emil, 28
  3. Elmar, 25 (tie)
  4. Jón, 25 (tie)
  5. Óliver 24
  6. Aron, 23
  7. Viktor, 22
  8. Jökull, 21
  9. Alexander, 20
  10. Atlas, 19
  11. Gunnar, 18
  12. Baldur, 17 (tie)
  13. Mikael, 17 (tie)
  14. Breki, 16 (3-way tie) – derived from an Old Norse word meaning “breaker.”
  15. Styrmir, 16 (3-way tie)
  16. Theodór, 16 (3-way tie)
  17. Arnar, 15 (3-way tie)
  18. Kári, 15 (3-way tie)
  19. Óðinn, 15 (3-way tie)
  20. Baltasar, 14 (3-way tie)
  21. Elías, 14 (3-way tie)
  22. Huginn, 14 (3-way tie)
  23. Daníel, 13 (4-way tie)
  24. Hilmir, 13 (4-way tie)
  25. Ísak, 13 (4-way tie)
  26. Úlfur, 13 (4-way tie)
  27. Gabríel, 12 (4-way tie)
  28. Guðmundur, 12 (4-way tie)
  29. Ólafur, 12 (4-way tie)
  30. Tómas, 12 (4-way tie)
  31. Ari, 11 (11-way tie)
  32. Benedikt, 11 (11-way tie)
  33. Benjamín, 11 (11-way tie)
  34. Björn, 11 (11-way tie)
  35. Brynjar, 11 (11-way tie)
  36. Dagur, 11 (11-way tie)
  37. Erik, 11 (11-way tie)
  38. Kristján, 11 (11-way tie)
  39. Kristófer, 11 (11-way tie)
  40. Matthías, 11 (11-way tie)
  41. Sigurður, 11 (11-way tie)
  42. Anton, 10 (7-way tie)
  43. Atli, 10 (7-way tie)
  44. Ágúst, 10 (7-way tie)
  45. Hinrik, 10 (7-way tie)
  46. Jóhann, 10 (7-way tie)
  47. Magnús, 10 (7-way tie)
  48. Stefán, 10 (7-way tie)
  49. Adam, 9 (8-way tie)
  50. Bergur, 9 (8-way tie)
  51. Birkir, 9 (8-way tie)
  52. Leó, 9 (8-way tie)
  53. Máni, 9 (8-way tie)
  54. Óskar, 9 (8-way tie)
  55. Stormur, 9 (8-way tie)
  56. Tristan, 9 (8-way tie)

Interesting names from outside the top 50 include…

  • Rökkvi (masculine name, given to 8 babies), which may mean “twilight.”
  • Kolbrá (fem., 5 babies), a modern coinage created from elements meaning “black, dark” and “eyelash.”
  • Hrafnkatla (fem., 3 babies), the feminine form of Hrafnkell, which is made up of elements meaning “raven” and “cauldron.”
  • Tindur (masc., 3 babies), derived from an Old Norse word meaning “spike,” “tooth,” “mountain peak.”
  • Þráinn (masc., 3 babies), based on an Old Norse word meaning “obstinacy.”
  • Krummi (masc., 2 babies), which could mean either “bent, crooked” or “raven.”

And what about the single-use names?

Over 980 names were bestowed just once in Iceland last year. Here’s a sampling of Iceland’s unique baby names of 2023:

Apolonia, Broteva, Dofri, Esjar, Friðþjófur, Gígja, Gíslason, Hlín, Indriði, Jóvin, Kjalar, Myrkár, Náttey, Ösp, Possible, Röskva, Spói, Torfi, Undína, Völundur, Yndís, Zebbý

Here are simplified definitions for a few of the above…

  • Friðþjófur (masc.), made up of elements meaning “peace” and “thief”
    • A name that means “peace thief” seems very appropriate for a newborn baby. :)
  • Gígja (fem.), meaning “fiddle.”
  • Ösp (fem.), meaning “aspen tree.”
  • Röskva (fem.), meaning “vigorous,” “brave.”
  • Spói (masc.), from the Icelandic word spói, which refers to the whimbrel (a type of bird).

Gíslason — a surname that was likely used as a masculine forename (given that -son ending) — may have been inspired by Icelandic soccer player Rúrik Gíslason.

I didn’t post about Iceland’s top baby names of 2022, but here are Iceland’s 2021 rankings.

Sources: Vinsælustu nöfnin 2023 – Þjóðskrá, Births – Statistics Iceland, Nordic Names, Wiktionary

Image: Adapted from Flag of Iceland (public domain)