How popular is the baby name Joseph 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 Joseph.

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Popularity of the baby name Joseph


Posts that mention the name Joseph

Popular baby names in Colorado, 1997

Flag of Colorado
Flag of Colorado

Back in 1997, the western U.S. state of Colorado welcomed 56,505 babies.

What were the most popular names among these babies? Hannah and Jacob, according to data from the Health Statistics Section of Colorado’s Department of Public Health and Environment.

The state also revealed the top names within each of its three largest racial/ethnic groups, which it defined as “White/non-Hispanic,” “White/Hispanic,” and “Black.”

Number of babiesTop girl nameTop boy name
White/non-Hispanic38,729 (69%)HannahJacob
White/Hispanic12,951 (23%)JessicaJose
Black2,582 (5%)JasmineIsaiah

Here are Colorado’s top 50 girl names (overall) and top 50 boy names (overall) of 1997:

Girl names

  1. Hannah
  2. Emily
  3. Jessica
  4. Sarah
  5. Madison
  6. Samantha
  7. Taylor
  8. Alexandra
  9. Ashley
  10. Megan
  11. Elizabeth
  12. Rachel
  13. Alyssa
  14. Alexis
  15. Lauren
  16. Emma
  17. Kayla
  18. Morgan
  19. Amanda
  20. Brianna
  21. Jennifer
  22. Jordan
  23. Abigail
  24. Victoria
  25. Nicole
  26. Brittany
  27. Rebecca
  28. Danielle
  29. Katherine
  30. Sierra
  31. Anna
  32. Mariah
  33. Olivia
  34. Amber
  35. Sydney
  36. Stephanie
  37. Jasmine
  38. Brooke
  39. Haley
  40. Maria
  41. Kaitlyn
  42. Gabrielle
  43. Savannah
  44. Allison
  45. Marissa
  46. Bailey
  47. Courtney
  48. Sara
  49. Erin
  50. Mackenzie

Boy names

  1. Jacob
  2. Michael
  3. Matthew
  4. Joshua
  5. Austin
  6. Tyler
  7. Andrew
  8. Christopher
  9. Nicholas
  10. Brandon
  11. Daniel
  12. Ryan
  13. Joseph
  14. Zachary
  15. David
  16. Alexander
  17. Anthony
  18. John
  19. James
  20. Benjamin
  21. Kyle
  22. Samuel
  23. William
  24. Justin
  25. Jonathan
  26. Dylan
  27. Christian
  28. Jordan
  29. Cody
  30. Robert
  31. Nathan
  32. Aaron
  33. Thomas
  34. Eric
  35. Connor
  36. Cameron
  37. Jose
  38. Noah
  39. Adam
  40. Logan
  41. Isaiah
  42. Sean
  43. Gabriel
  44. Caleb
  45. Jack
  46. Cole
  47. Kevin
  48. Trevor
  49. Ethan
  50. Ian

How do these rankings stack up against the U.S. Social Security Administration’s 1997 rankings for Colorado?

The boy names look similar, but there are two significant discrepancies among the girl names: Alexandra ranked 11 spots lower (19th vs. 8th) and Gabrielle ranked 33 spots lower (75th vs. 42nd) on the federal government’s list.

Other names bestowed in Colorado in 1997 included “Elway, Jamaica, and Mars for baby boys, and October, November, Paradise, and Rejoice for baby girls.”

Elway was no doubt inspired by John Elway, the longtime Denver Broncos quarterback who was about to lead the team to its first Super Bowl victory (in January of 1998).

Speaking of Colorado baby names with historical significance…here are posts about Denver (b. 1859), Colorado (b. 1859), Salida (b. 1881), and Silver Dollar (b. 1889).

Source: Birth Statistics Summary 1997 – Colorado Health and Environmental Data (pdf)

Image: Adapted from Flag of Colorado (public domain)

Popular baby names in Philadelphia, 2005-2016

Flag of Pennsylvania
Flag of Pennsylvania

Did you know that you can find old vital statistics reports for the City of Philadelphia on the city’s website? And that most of these reports include baby name rankings?

I don’t want you to have to comb through a bunch of PDFs to find Philly’s historical top-ten lists, though, so — just as with New York City and Austin — I gathered all of them into a single blog post.

I was able to track down eleven sets of rankings — six covering 2005 to 2010, five covering 2012 to 2016. Eight of them also happen to include total numbers of babies.

2016

The most popular baby names in Philadelphia in 2016.

Top girl names (Philly, 2016)Top boy names (Philly, 2016)
1. Ava, 92 baby girls
2. Sophia, 80
3. Isabella, 69 (tie)
4. Riley, 69 (tie)
5. Mia, 67
6. Olivia, 66
7. Emma, 62
8. Emily, 61
9. Madison, 54
10. Aubrey, 52		1. Noah, 143 baby boys
2. Mason, 104
3. Liam, 100
4. Elijah, 83 (tie)
5. Michael, 83 (tie)
6. James, 76
7. Alexander, 75 (3-way tie)
8. Ethan, 75 (3-way tie)
9. Ryan, 75 (3-way tie)
10. Aiden, 70

2015

The most popular baby names in Philadelphia in 2015.

Top girl names (Philly, 2015)Top boy names (Philly, 2015)
1. Ava, 110 baby girls
2. Olivia, 101
3. Isabella, 95
4. Mia, 82
5. Madison, 70
6. Sophia, 69
7. Emma, 64
8. Aubrey, 62
9. Skylar, 54 (tie)
10. Sofia, 54 (tie)		1. Noah, 138 baby boys
2. Mason, 129
3. Michael, 101
4. Liam, 100
5. Daniel, 95
6. Jayden, 94
7. Elijah, 88
8. Aiden, 82
9. Ethan, 78
10. James, 73

2014

The most popular baby names in Philadelphia in 2014.

Top girl names (Philly, 2014)Top boy names (Philly, 2014)
1. Olivia, 91 baby girls
2. Ava, 89
3. Isabella, 77 (tie)
4. Madison, 77 (tie)
5. Mia, 73
6. Emma, 71 (tie)
7. Sophia, 71 (tie)
8. Aubrey, 58
9. Emily, 55
10. Skylar, 52		1. Mason, 133 baby boys
2. Noah, 124
3. Ethan, 104
4. Daniel, 96 (tie)
5. Liam, 96 (tie)
6. Jayden, 93
7. Michael, 88
8. James, 87
9. Aiden, 82 (tie)
10. Logan, 82 (tie)

2013

The most popular baby names in Philadelphia in 2013.

Top girl names (Philly, 2013)Top boy names (Philly, 2013)
1. Isabella, 95 baby girls
2. Sophia, 92
3. Ava, 85
4. Madison, 76
5. Olivia, 71
6. Emma, 66
7. Aubrey, 63
8. Mia, 54
9. Layla, 53
10. Abigail, 45		1. Jayden, 117 baby boys
2. Noah, 111
3. Michael, 108
4. Mason, 107
5. Liam, 94
6. Jacob, 88
7. Aiden, 86
8. Ryan, 82
9. Ethan, 81 (tie)
10. James, 81 (tie)

2012

The most popular baby names in Philadelphia in 2012.

Top girl names (Philly, 2012)Top boy names (Philly, 2012)
1. Sophia, 105 baby girls
2. Isabella, 97
3. Ava, 90
4. Olivia, 84
5. Madison, 79
6. Emma, 69
7. Mia, 55
8. Peyton, 50 (tie)
9. Layla, 50 (tie)
10. Zoe, 49		1. Jayden, 138 baby boys
2. Michael, 110
3. Aiden, 108
4. Mason, 104
5. James, 95 (tie)
6. Elijah, 95 (tie)
7. Noah, 92
8. Ethan, 90
9. Jacob, 87
10. Liam, 86

2010

The most popular baby names in Philadelphia in 2010.

Top girl names (Philly, 2010)Top boy names (Philly, 2010)
1. Isabella
2. Madison
3. Sophia
4. Ava
5. London
6. Kayla
7. Mia
8. Makayla
9. Nevaeh
10. Emma		1. Jayden
2. Michael
3. Anthony
4. Joshua
5. Elijah
6. Joseph
7. Ryan
8. Aiden
9. Christopher
10. Jacob

2009

The most popular baby names in Philadelphia in 2009.

Top girl names (Philly, 2009)Top boy names (Philly, 2009)
1. Sophia
2. Isabella
3. Kayla
4. Olivia
5. Nevaeh
6. Makayla
7. Layla
8. London
9. Madison
10. Ava		1. Jayden
2. Michael
3. Anthony
4. Joshua
5. Daniel
6. Joseph
7. Christopher
8. Christian
9. Nathan
10. Elijah

2008

The most popular baby names in Philadelphia in 2008.

Top girl names (Philly, 2008)Top boy names (Philly, 2008)
1. Kayla
2. Isabella
3. Ava
4. Sophia
5. Madison
6. Olivia
7. Destiny
8. Emily
9. Mia
10. London		1. Jayden
2. Michael
3. Anthony
4. Christopher
5. Daniel
6. Joshua
7. Ryan
8. Joseph
9. Nicholas
10. Ethan

2007

The most popular baby names in Philadelphia in 2007.

Top girl names (Philly, 2007)Top boy names (Philly, 2007)
1. Kayla, 101 baby girls
2. Ava, 74 (tie)
3. Sophia, 74 (tie)
4. Olivia, 71
5. Madison, 62
6. Emily, 53 (tie)
7. Isabella, 53 (tie)
8. Mia, 52
9. Aniyah, 51 (tie)
10. Gianna, 51 (tie)		1. Anthony, 151 baby boys
2. Michael, 150
3. Jayden, 144
4. Christopher, 116
5. Joseph, 112
6. Ryan, 103
7. Joshua, 101
8. William, 92
9. Daniel, 89
10. David, 87

2006

The most popular baby names in Philadelphia in 2006.

Top girl names (Philly, 2006)Top boy names (Philly, 2006)
1. Kayla, 105 baby girls
2. Isabella, 69
3. Destiny, 66
4. Emily, 64
5. Gianna, 62
6. Jayla, 61
7. Ava, 60
8. Sophia, 54
9. Alyssa, 53 (tie)
10. Brianna, 53 (tie)		1. Michael, 156 baby boys
2. Anthony, 153
3. Christopher, 120
4. Joseph, 111
5. Joshua, 104
6. Elijah, 91
7. Isaiah, 89
8. Daniel, 88 (3-way tie)
9. David, 88 (3-way tie)
10. William, 88 (3-way tie)

2005

The most popular baby names in Philadelphia in 2005.

Top girl names (Philly, 2005)Top boy names (Philly, 2005)
1. Kayla, 93 baby girls
2. Destiny, 79
3. Emily, 69
4. Madison, 61
5. Samantha, 53
6. Angelina, 52
7. Ava, 50 (tie)
8. Brianna, 50 (tie)
9. Makayla, 49
10. Olivia, 48		1. Michael, 156 baby boys
2. Anthony, 140
3. Christopher, 125
4. Joseph, 123
5. Joshua, 102
6. Daniel, 101
7. Nicholas, 99
8. Matthew, 97
9. John, 84
10. Isaiah, 82

Finally, because Philadelphia and New York City are relatively close to one another, I thought I’d compare/contrast the rankings above with the NYC rankings for the same years (2005 to 2016, excluding 2011).

Parents in both cities often liked the same names, but not always at the same time, or to the same degree. During the years that Kayla ranked #1 in Philly, for instance, it was already on the decline in NYC.

Here are all the names that reached the top 10 at least twice in one city, but zero times in the other city:

Girl namesBoy names
Top-10 in Philly only
(2+ instances)		Aubrey, Destiny, Gianna, Layla, London, Makayla, Nevaeh, SkylarElijah, Isaiah, James, Mason, William
Top-10 in NYC only
(2+ instances)		Ashley, Chloe, Leah, Sarah, RachelDylan, Justin

Any thoughts on these differences?

Sources: Philadelphia‘s Vital Statistics Reports for 2016 (pdf), 2015 (pdf), 2014 (pdf), 2013 (pdf), 2012 (pdf), 2010 (pdf), 2009 (pdf), 2008 (pdf), 2007 (pdf), 2006 (pdf), 2005 (pdf)

Image: Adapted from Flag of Pennsylvania (public domain)

Popular baby names in Arizona, 2024

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Flag of Arizona

The state of Arizona will likely welcome more than 77,000 babies in 2024.

What will the top baby names of the year be? Olivia and Liam, according to provisional data released in late December, 2024, by the Arizona Department of Health Services.

Here are Arizona’s projected top 50 girl names and top 50 boy names of 2024:

Girl names

  1. Olivia
  2. Emma
  3. Isabella
  4. Sophia
  5. Amelia
  6. Mia
  7. Camila
  8. Charlotte
  9. Sofia
  10. Luna
  11. Evelyn
  12. Aurora
  13. Aria
  14. Violet
  15. Ava
  16. Gianna
  17. Penelope
  18. Eliana
  19. Elena
  20. Ellie
  21. Valentina
  22. Hazel
  23. Layla
  24. Mila
  25. Lily
  26. Emily
  27. Harper
  28. Ivy
  29. Scarlett
  30. Chloe
  31. Emilia
  32. Leilani
  33. Delilah
  34. Eleanor
  35. Elizabeth
  36. Victoria
  37. Nora
  38. Avery
  39. Maria
  40. Abigail
  41. Nova
  42. Ella
  43. Madison
  44. Liliana
  45. Grace
  46. Daisy
  47. Natalia
  48. Genesis
  49. Athena
  50. Maya

Boy names

  1. Liam
  2. Noah
  3. Mateo
  4. Sebastian
  5. Oliver
  6. Elijah
  7. Alexander
  8. Benjamin
  9. Daniel
  10. Julian
  11. Santiago
  12. Michael
  13. James
  14. Ethan
  15. Aiden
  16. David
  17. Angel
  18. Logan
  19. Mason
  20. Jacob
  21. Ezra
  22. Gabriel
  23. William
  24. Adrian
  25. Isaac
  26. Levi
  27. Anthony
  28. Lucas
  29. Joseph
  30. Ezekiel
  31. Wyatt
  32. Elias
  33. Luke
  34. Samuel
  35. Jose
  36. Henry
  37. Isaiah
  38. Jackson
  39. Matthew
  40. Jayden
  41. Jesus
  42. Luis
  43. Jack
  44. Theodore
  45. Dylan
  46. Carter
  47. Owen
  48. Andrew
  49. Lincoln
  50. Grayson

In the girls’ top 10, Sofia replaced Evelyn.

In the boys’ top 10, Alexander, Daniel, and Julian replaced Santiago, Ezra, and Levi.

And Juniper, which was the #1 girl name in Arizona’s Coconino County in 2022, only managed to rank 90th state-wide in 2024.

If you’d like to see Arizona’s projected rankings for 2023, you can find them in this post.

Sources:

Image: Adapted from Flag of Arizona (public domain)

Popular baby names in New York City, 2023

Flag of New York
Flag of New York

Last year, New York City welcomed 98,389 babies.

What were the most popular names among these babies? Emma (for the seventh year in a row) and Liam (for the eighth year in a row), according to the New York City Health Department.

Here are NYC’s top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names of 2023:

Girl names

  1. Emma, 382 baby girls
  2. Mia
  3. Sophia
  4. Olivia
  5. Isabella
  6. Amelia
  7. Leah (ranked 53rd for girls nationally in 2023)
  8. Chloe (26th)
  9. Luna
  10. Sofia (12th)

Boy names

  1. Liam, 743 baby boys
  2. Noah
  3. David (ranked 27th for boys nationally in 2023)
  4. Lucas
  5. Jacob (36th)
  6. Ethan (25th)
  7. Joseph (29th)
  8. Dylan (34th)
  9. Michael [tie] (16th)
  10. Muhammad [tie] (272nd)

In the girls’ top 10, Chloe and Sofia replaced Ava and Esther.

In the boys’ top 10, Dylan, Michael, and Muhammad replaced Aiden, Daniel, and Alexander.

Both Dylan and Muhammad — which was the #1 boy name in England and Wales last year — are new to NYC’s top 10. Michael, on the other hand, was a “favorite among New Yorkers from 1980 to 2006.”

The Health Department’s news release also mentioned dozens of other Big Apple baby names, including…

Girl namesBoy names
Esther (ranked 12th), Miriam (15th), Aurora (41st), Violet (45th), Rose (52nd), Eleanor (56th), Gemma (78th), Athena (79th), Savannah (85th), Iris (87th), Daisy (93rd), Sage (100th)Alexander (ranked 17th), Zion (62nd), Leonardo (65th), Milan (70th), Adonis (76th), Amari (78th)

Finally, here’s a link to New York City’s 2022 rankings, if you’d like to check them out.

Sources:

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