How popular is the baby name Joseph in the United States right now? How popular was it historically? Find out using the graph below! Plus, check out 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

Top lengths of baby names in the United States, 2021

Which lengths were the most and least popular for U.S. baby names in 2021?

Top length for girl names: 6 letters

For baby girls, the most-used length was 6 letters, followed by 5 and 7.

Graph of length popularity for U.S. baby girl names, 2021

The most popular girl names per length were…

  • 2 letters (over 200 baby girls): Bo, Jo, Zo, An, Vy, Io
  • 3 letters (over 58,300): Ava, Mia, Zoe, Ivy, Eva, Ada
  • 4 letters (over 223,800): Emma, Luna, Ella, Aria, Mila, Nora
  • 5 letters (over 348,000): Sofia, Avery, Emily, Chloe, Layla, Hazel
  • 6 letters (over 466,100): Olivia, Amelia, Sophia, Evelyn, Harper, Camila
  • 7 letters (over 307,900): Eleanor, Abigail, Madison, Addison, Lillian, Paisley
  • 8 letters (over 142,000): Isabella, Scarlett, Penelope, Victoria, Brooklyn, Savannah
  • 9 letters (over 71,800): Charlotte, Elizabeth, Valentina, Josephine, Gabriella
  • 10 letters (over 8,000): Evangeline, Alexandria, Alessandra, Jacqueline
  • 11 letters (over 300): Christianna, Ameliagrace, Anavictoria
  • 12 letters (under 100)
  • 13 letters (over 100)
  • 14 letters (under 100)
  • 15 letters (none)

Top length for boy names: 6 letters

For baby boys, the most-used length was also 6 letters, followed by 5 and 4.

Graph of length popularity for U.S. baby boy names, 2021

The most popular girl names per length were…

  • 2 letters (over 1,800 baby boys): Bo, Ty, Om, Aj, Cy, Oz
  • 3 letters (over 49,200): Leo, Eli, Kai, Ian, Ace, Max
  • 4 letters (over 288,800): Liam, Noah, Jack, Levi, Owen, John
  • 5 letters (over 453,200): James, Lucas, Henry, Mateo, Mason, Ethan
  • 6 letters (over 511,800): Oliver, Elijah, Daniel, Samuel, Joseph, Julian
  • 7 letters (over 269,000): William, Jackson, Michael, Grayson, Matthew, Gabriel
  • 8 letters (over 106,100): Benjamin, Theodore, Maverick, Santiago, Jonathan, Jeremiah
  • 9 letters (over 42,000): Alexander, Sebastian, Christian, Nathaniel, Alejandro
  • 10 letters (over 3,700): Maximilian, Alessandro, Kristopher, Montgomery
  • 11 letters (over 7,800): Christopher, Maximiliano, Constantine
  • 12 letters (over 200)
  • 13 letters (over 100)
  • 14 letters (under 100)
  • 15 letters (under 100)

Top first letters of baby names in the United States, 2021

Which first letters were the most and least popular for U.S. baby names in 2021?

Top first letters for girl names: A, E, M

For baby girls, the most-used first letter was A, followed by E and M. The least-used first letter was U.

Graph of first letter popularity for U.S. baby girl names, 2021

The most popular girl names per letter were…

  • A-names (over 273,100 baby girls): Amelia, Ava, Abigail, Avery, Aria, Aurora
  • B-names (over 49,300): Brooklyn, Bella, Brielle, Blakely, Bailey, Brianna
  • C-names (over 93,100): Charlotte, Camila, Chloe, Claire, Caroline, Cora
  • D-names (over 40,300): Delilah, Daisy, Diana, Daniela, Delaney, Dakota
  • E-names (over 155,300): Emma, Evelyn, Elizabeth, Eleanor, Ella, Emily
  • F-names (over 16,500): Freya, Faith, Finley, Fiona, Fatima, Frances
  • G-names (over 42,900): Gianna, Grace, Genesis, Gabriella, Genevieve, Georgia
  • H-names (over 54,900): Harper, Hazel, Hannah, Hailey, Hadley, Harmony
  • I-names (over 44,100): Isabella, Isla, Ivy, Iris, Isabelle, Isabel
  • J-names (over 73,500): Josephine, Jade, Julia, Josie, Juniper, Jasmine
  • K-names (over 89,100): Kinsley, Kennedy, Kaylee, Kehlani, Katherine, Kylie
  • L-names (over 115,300): Luna, Layla, Lily, Leah, Lucy, Lillian
  • M-names (over 143,500): Mia, Mila, Madison, Maya, Madelyn, Madeline
  • N-names (over 58,800): Nora, Nova, Naomi, Natalie, Natalia, Nevaeh
  • O-names (over 30,200): Olivia, Olive, Oakley, Oaklynn, Octavia, Ophelia
  • P-names (over 37,600): Penelope, Paisley, Piper, Peyton, Parker, Presley
  • Q-names (over 4,100): Quinn, Quincy, Queen, Quinley, Quetzalli, Quinnley
  • R-names (over 74,800): Riley, Ruby, Rylee, Raelynn, Rose, Remi
  • S-names (over 116,400): Sophia, Sofia, Scarlett, Stella, Savannah, Skylar
  • T-names (over 24,200): Taylor, Teagan, Trinity, Tatum, Tessa, Talia
  • U-names (over 600): Unique, Uma, Ulani, Una, Unknown, Unity
  • V-names (over 32,400): Violet, Victoria, Valentina, Vivian, Valerie, Valeria
  • W-names (over 14,700): Willow, Wren, Winter, Wynter, Willa, Wrenley
  • X-names (over 4,500): Ximena, Xiomara, Xyla, Xena, Xochitl, Xitlali
  • Y-names (over 7,600): Yaretzi, Yara, Yareli, Yasmin, Yamileth, Yuna
  • Z-names (over 29,100): Zoey, Zoe, Zuri, Zara, Zariah, Zelda

Top first letters for boy names: J, A, L

For baby boys, the most-used first letter was J, followed by A and L. The least-used first letter was U.

Graph of first letter popularity for U.S. baby boy names, 2021

The most popular boy names per letter were…

  • A-names (over 178,600 baby boys): Alexander, Asher, Aiden, Anthony, Andrew, Adrian
  • B-names (over 86,600): Benjamin, Brooks, Bennett, Beau, Bryson, Brayden
  • C-names (over 123,000): Carter, Charles, Caleb, Christopher, Cameron, Cooper
  • D-names (over 85,000): Daniel, David, Dylan, Dominic, Declan, Damian
  • E-names (over 108,700): Elijah, Ethan, Ezra, Elias, Ezekiel, Eli
  • F-names (over 20,500): Finn, Felix, Finley, Francisco, Fernando, Finnegan
  • G-names (over 53,500): Grayson, Gabriel, Greyson, Gael, Giovanni, George
  • H-names (over 50,000): Henry, Hudson, Hunter, Harrison, Hayden, Hayes
  • I-names (over 31,500): Isaac, Isaiah, Ian, Ivan, Israel, Ismael
  • J-names (over 202,800): James, Jack, Jackson, Jacob, John, Joseph
  • K-names (over 93,400): Kai, Kayden, Kingston, Kaiden, Kevin, King
  • L-names (over 133,400): Liam, Lucas, Levi, Logan, Leo, Luke
  • M-names (over 126,700): Mateo, Michael, Mason, Matthew, Maverick, Miles
  • N-names (over 57,400): Noah, Nathan, Nolan, Nicholas, Nathaniel, Nicolas
  • O-names (over 38,800): Oliver, Owen, Oscar, Omar, Orion, Odin
  • P-names (over 23,700): Parker, Patrick, Peter, Preston, Phoenix, Paxton
  • Q-names (over 3,100): Quinn, Quentin, Quincy, Quinton, Quintin, Quinten
  • R-names (over 82,800): Ryan, Roman, Robert, Rowan, River, Ryder
  • S-names (over 70,300): Sebastian, Samuel, Santiago, Silas, Sawyer, Steven
  • T-names (over 59,200): Theodore, Thomas, Thiago, Theo, Tyler, Tucker
  • U-names (over 2,500): Uriel, Uriah, Ulises, Ulysses, Uziel, Umar
  • V-names (over 11,000): Vincent, Victor, Valentino, Vincenzo, Vicente, Vihaan
  • W-names (over 49,100): William, Wyatt, Waylon, Wesley, Weston, Walker
  • X-names (over 7,200): Xavier, Xander, Xzavier, Xavion, Xavien, Xavian
  • Y-names (over 8,200): Yusuf, Yosef, Yehuda, Yousef, Yahir, Yisroel
  • Z-names (over 26,900): Zion, Zachary, Zayden, Zane, Zayn, Zander

Popular baby names in Malta, 2021

malta

According to the news site Malta Daily, the Mediterranean island nation of Malta welcomed 4,164 babies last year.

Malta’s top baby names of 2021 were…

Girls Names

  • Emma
  • Mia
  • Ella
  • Valentina
  • Emily

Boy Names

  • Matteo
  • Luca
  • Noah
  • Adam
  • Jake

My source wasn’t explicit about the rankings, so I’ve ordered them here the way they were ordered in the article. I’m guessing that Emma and Matteo were the top choices.

Malta’s government finally began registering Maltese names in late 2020, thanks to a software upgrade that included Maltese font, so the 2021 rankings are the first to take Maltese orthography into account. The four most popular Maltese names last year were…

Maltese names Guze, Ganni, Eliza, Lucija

(These are the Maltese equivalents of John, Joseph, Elizabeth, and Lucia.)

Back in 2018, the top two names in Malta were Emma and Noah.

Sources: What were the most popular names for Maltese babies in 2021?, Ganni becomes first baby named using Maltese fonts after IT system change

Popular baby names in Paris, 2021

Paris, Eiffel Tower

According to Paris Data, the most popular baby names in the capital of France last year were Louise and Gabriel.

Here are the city’s top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names of 2021:

Girl Names

  1. Louise, 217 baby girls
  2. Alma, 207
  3. Emma, 178
  4. Chloé & Adèle, 151 each (2-way tie)
  5. Anna, 150
  6. Olivia, 142
  7. Jeanne & Eva, 138 each (2-way tie)
  8. Rose, 133
  9. Gabrielle, 131
  10. Alice, 129

Boy Names

  1. Gabriel, 357 baby boys
  2. Adam, 250
  3. Louis, 245
  4. Raphaël, 233
  5. Arthur, 227
  6. Noah, 191
  7. Isaac, 187
  8. Joseph & Mohamed, 178 each (2-way tie)
  9. Léon, 171
  10. Léo, 166

And here’s a selection of names from lower down in the rankings (which includes all names given to at least five babies per gender, per year).

Parisian Girl NamesParisian Boy Names
Garance (53 girls), Nelya (30), Ysée (23), Jennah (23), Nava (15), Athénaïs (12), Calypso (8), Alizée (5), Mazarine (5)Henri (42 boys), Kylian (25), Dario (14), Archibald (11), Zéphyr (11), Pacôme (8), Tancrède (8), Enguerrand (7), Orphée (6)

In 2020, the top two names in Paris were also Louise and Gabriel.

Sources: Liste des prénoms – Paris Data, Découvrez le top 10 des prénoms donnés en 2021 à Paris

What gave the baby name Caprica a boost?

TV show "Caprica" (2010)

The rare name Caprica, which popped up in the U.S. baby name data several times in the 1970s, returned in 2010:

  • 2012: unlisted
  • 2011: unlisted
  • 2010: 6 baby girls named Caprica
  • 2009: unlisted
  • 2008: unlisted

Why?

Because of the sci-fi TV series Caprica (pronounced CAP-rih-kuh), which aired for just one season (Jan. to Nov., 2010). The title of the show referred to the fictional planet upon which the story was set.

TV show "Caprica" (2010)

Caprica was a spin-off prequel of the TV show Battlestar Galactica — not the original version from the late 1970s, but the re-imagined version from the early 2000s.

The events of Caprica took place 58 years before the events of Battlestar Galactica. The show focused on two Caprican families, the Greystones and the Adamas, and portrayed the creation of the first Cylons.

What are your thoughts on “Caprica” as a baby name?

Sources: Caprica – Wikipedia, Caprica – Rotten Tomatoes

P.S. One of Caprica‘s main characters, Joseph Adama, was played by Esai Morales…