How popular is the baby name Kate 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 Kate.

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Popularity of the baby name Kate


Posts that mention the name Kate

Popular baby names in Ireland, 2011

Flag of Ireland
Flag of Ireland

Jack and Emily were the most popular baby names in Ireland in 2011.

Here are the full top-20 lists for each gender:

Girl Names

  1. Emily (1.6% of all baby girls)
  2. Sophie
  3. Emma
  4. Grace
  5. Lily
  6. Sarah
  7. Lucy
  8. Ava
  9. Chloe
  10. Katie
  11. Ella
  12. Mia
  13. Aoife [EE-fa]
  14. Caoimhe [KEE-va or KWEE-va]
  15. Kate
  16. Leah
  17. Hannah
  18. Anna
  19. Saoirse [SEER-sha or SAIR-sha]
  20. Ruby

Boy Names

  1. Jack (2.4% of all baby boys)
  2. James
  3. Sean [shawn]
  4. Daniel
  5. Connor
  6. Ryan
  7. Adam
  8. Harry
  9. Michael
  10. Alex (tie)
  11. Dylan (tie)
  12. Luke
  13. Cian [KEE-an or KEEN]
  14. Jamie
  15. Oisin [UH-sheen or O-sheen]
  16. Aaron
  17. Liam
  18. Thomas
  19. Darragh
  20. Charlie

(And here are the 2010 rankings, if you’d like to compare.)

The names that increased the most in popularity from 2010 to 2011 were…

 Boy NamesGirl Names
By rank:Tommy – 160th to 88th
Mason – 128th to 70th
Hugh – 126th to 99th
Donnacha – 102nd to 76th
Leo – 94th to 79th		Michaela – 164th to 78th
Muireann – 120th to 87th
Sofia – 80th to 58th
Kayla – 41st to 21st
Eve (tie) – 60th to 45th
Maebh (tie) – 107th to 92nd
By number of babies:Harry – 364 to 499
Adam – 581 to 637
Mason – 59 to 115
Thomas – 347 to 403
Rian – 161 to 213		Lily – 371 to 496
Kayla – 186 to 306
Caoimhe – 323 to 398
Mia – 344 to 400
Ella – 380 to 434

Tommy’s rise can be attributed to Tommy Moon, a fictional baby who was “born” (read: introduced) on the popular BBC soap opera EastEnders at the very end of 2010.

And we already know why Mason is so popular…

Sources: Irish Babies’ Names 2011 [pdf], Jack and Emily top baby names list

Image: Adapted from Flag of Ireland (public domain)

Pop culture baby name game results, 2011 (part 2)

Britney Spears album

In part 2 of the Pop culture baby name game, we tried to predict which baby names would see increased usage in 2011, thanks to popular culture.

Here’s how we did. The numbers are all from 2010 and 2011, respectively. (Check out Harper & Bentley!)

  • Adele – yes, rose from 286 to 453 baby girls
  • Atlantis – nope, fell from 16 to 7 baby girls
  • Alaina – yes, rose from 1,490 to 1,985 baby girls
  • Alaric – yes, rose from 40 to 48 baby boys
  • Amy – nope, fell from 2,275 to 2,177 baby girls
  • Arya – yes, rose from 273 to 386 baby girls (& from 87 to 110 baby boys)
  • Arabella – yes, rose from 826 to 934 baby girls
  • Aria – yes, rose from 898 to 1,964 baby girls
  • Arthur – yes, rose from 725 to 888 baby boys
  • Bear – yes, rose from 53 to 85 baby boys
  • Bentley – yes rose from 3761 to 5535 baby boys (& from 231 to 285 baby girls)
  • Betty – yes, rose from 130 to 163 baby girls
  • Bran – yes, rose from 5 to 7 baby boys
  • Cairo – yes, rose from 45 to 91 baby boys, and 5 to 12 baby girls
  • Casey – nope, fell from 483 to 463 baby girls (& from 705 to 635 baby boys)
  • Caylee – yes, rose from 565 to 692 baby girls
  • Charlie (girl name) – yes, rose from 664 to 848 (pop culture reference: Disney’s Good Luck Charlie)
  • Crosby – yes, rose from 180 to 301 baby boys
  • Edith – yes, rose from 325 to 350 baby girls
  • Egypt – yes, rose from 100 to 112 baby girls, and 5 to 11 baby boys
  • Ezra – yes, rose from 1439 to 1735 baby boys (& from 88 to 101 baby girls)
  • Florence – nope, fell from 75 to 73 baby girls (I’m surprised by this!)
  • Flynn – yes, rose from 81 to 208 baby boys
  • Gabrielle – nope, fell from 3,128 to 2,601 baby girls
  • Harper – yes, Harper rose from 2,624 to 4,636 baby girls (& from 339 to 399 baby boys)
  • Harvey – yes, rose 184 to 243 baby boys
  • Hattie – yes, from 157 to 253 baby girls
  • Haven – yes, rose from 447 to 504 baby girls (but fell from 164 to 133 baby boys)
  • Jace – yes, rose from 2,669 to 3,689 baby boys
  • Kate – yes, rose from 1,485 to 1,774 baby girls
  • Kez – nope, off the list both years
  • Khal – nope, off the list both years
  • Libya – yes, rose from off-the-list (fewer than 5) to 7 baby girls
  • Maci – yes, rose from 1,351 to 1,725 baby girls
  • Mars – yes, rose from 14 to 23 baby boys
  • Maxton – yes, 193 to 208 baby boys
  • Mobley – nope, off the list both years
  • Monroe – yes, rose from 93 to 141 baby girls
  • Mylo – yes, rose from 33 to 57 baby boys
  • Nicki – yes, rose from 9 to 21 baby girls
  • Octavia – no, fell from 88 to 72
  • Perry – yes, rose from 32 to 40 baby girls, and 129 to 146 baby boys
  • Pippa – yes, Pippa rose from 16 to 69 baby girls (& Philippa from 25 to 53)
  • Raylan – yes, rose from 132 to 326 baby boys
  • Rue – yes, rose from 9 to 13 baby girls
  • Siri – nope, Siri fell from 111 to 103 baby girls
  • Sparrow – yes, rose from 5 to 11 baby boys (but fell from 32 to 31 baby girls)
  • Spring – yes, rose from 11 to 16 baby girls
  • Steve – yes, rose from 279 to 324 baby boys
  • Tim – nope, fell from 65 to 48 baby boys
  • Tunisia – nope, off the list both years
  • William – yes, rose from 16,979 to 17,151 baby boys

I know I missed a few, but we’ll discuss them all eventually I’m sure. :)

Here are the results to PCBNG #1.

Pop culture baby name game, 2011 (part 2)

Britney Spears album

In the original Pop Culture Baby Name Game, we tried to come up with pop culture-inspired names we think will debut on the SSA’s baby name list in 2011.

But why limit it to debuts? Let’s start another game, this one for names already on the list.

Which baby names will get a boost in 2011, thanks to popular culture?

Here are some possibilities:

  • Siri
  • Atlantis
  • Alaric
  • Pippa, Kate, William (royal wedding)
  • Casey, Caylee, Anthony (Casey Anthony trial)
  • Amy (Amy Winehouse)
  • Gabrielle (Gabrielle Giffords)
  • Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Cairo, and similar place-names (Arab Spring)
  • Florence (mentioned by Julie)
  • Betty, Adele, Gale, Monroe, and more (all mentioned by Maria)

What other names can you think of?

The rankings for 2011 will be out in a few weeks, so get your ideas in soon!

UPDATE, May 2012: Here are the results!

Popular and unique baby names in Alberta (Canada), 2011

Flag of Alberta
Flag of Alberta

I saw lots of news last week about baby names in Alberta, Canada. The media didn’t focus on the Alberta’s most popular names of 2011, which happen to be these:

Girl names

  1. Olivia
  2. Sophia
  3. Emma
  4. Emily
  5. Ava
  6. Chloe
  7. Abigail
  8. Lily
  9. Brooklyn
  10. Sophie

Boy names

  1. Liam
  2. Ethan
  3. Mason
  4. Lucas
  5. Jacob
  6. Benjamin
  7. Alexander
  8. Noah
  9. William
  10. Logan

Instead, the media focused on Alberta’s unique names, which is something that I’ve been writing about for years (literally: 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009).

The official list of Albertan baby names isn’t ready yet, but preliminary data is available via the Edmonton Journal. Here are some unusual names I spotted on the Journal’s list:

Boy namesGirl names
Crevance, Dawnwalker, Dybry, Flourish, Goliath, Jheizzller, Knowledge-Tree,* Lefarius, Llord-Xedric, Madrid, Matt-Dainon, Moo, Moxon, Nzoputa, Princelife, Pure, Spyder, Mskr, Tata-peh, Wanderingspirit, Wisherlee, VedderApril-May, Chaz-a-rae, Cupid, Dayleigh, Dazzelyn, Duffni, Eirachloe, Evolet, Glennizelle, Gobza, Laker-Lynn, Mississippi, Nomalisa, Phetlunda, Psanatcsakor, Q’Tyyr’N, Rainejewelle, Sheamus, Starr-shine, Thespina, Thipphaphone, Vylet, Xyza, Zxyvian

*I’m guessing at the last letter; I think it was cut off.

Many of the news articles also claimed that baby names in Alberta had been inspired by royals William and Kate, who visited Canada last July. This could be true — there were a few more Princes and Dukes than usual in 2011:

  • 2011: 199 Williams, 50 Kates, 8 Princes, 6 Princesses, 9 Dukes, 0 Duchesses
  • 2010: 184 Williams, 44 Kates, 5 Princes, 5 Princesses, 0 Dukes, 0 Duchesses
  • 2009: 198 Williams, 67 Kates, 5 Princes, 2 Princesses, 2 Dukes, 0 Duchesses
  • 2008: 178 Williams, 68 Kates, 4 Princes, 0 Princesses, 3 Dukes, 0 Duchesses
  • 2007: 185 Williams, 67 Kates, 5 Princes, 1 Princess, 3 Dukes, 0 Duchesses

The names Kate and William didn’t move too much, though.

Image: Adapted from Flag of Alberta (public domain)