How popular is the baby name Kevin 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 Kevin.

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Popularity of the baby name Kevin


Posts that mention the name Kevin

Baby name story: Powell

Powell's Books
Powell’s Books

Audrey and Kevin DeKam of Oregon welcomed a baby boy on October 3, 2008. They named him Powell in honor of Powell’s Books in Portland.

Audrey DeKam told the staff at Powell’s that she and her husband couldn’t reach an agreement on a name, when she stumbled upon “Powell” in a baby name book and learned that it means “alert.” She instantly liked the name because it reminded her of Powell’s Books.

“It’s the first time in our long history that a baby has been named in our honor,” said store owner Michael Powell. “And it’s a wonderful reason to celebrate.”

Sadly, their baby name book was wrong. Powell doesn’t mean “alert.” The two possible origins are Paul, from the Latin paulus, meaning “small,” or the Welsh patronymic ap-Hywel, “son of Hywel,” with Hywel meaning “eminent, conspicuous.”

Regardless, I think it’s cool to be named with a beloved bookstore in mind.

What’s the name of your favorite bookstore? Would it make a good baby name?

Sources: Oregon Baby Named After Parents’ Favorite Bookstore, Oregon Parents Name Baby After Powell’s Books

Image: Adapted from PowellsBookstore by Cacophony under CC BY 3.0.

Popular baby names in Sweden, 2010

Flag of Sweden
Flag of Sweden

Sweden’s top baby names have been released!

The winners last year were Oscar and Maja (which is pronounced like Maya).

Here are Sweden’s top 50 girl names and top 50 boy names of 2010:

Girl names

  1. Maja, 895 baby girls (1.6% of all baby girls)
  2. Alice, 867
  3. Julia, 823
  4. Linnéa, 750
  5. Wilma, 742
  6. Ella, 737
  7. Elsa, 724
  8. Emma, 722
  9. Alva, 711
  10. Olivia, 703
  11. Molly, 677
  12. Ebba, 661
  13. Klara, 638
  14. Nellie, 592
  15. Agnes, 588
  16. Isabelle, 583
  17. Ida, 577
  18. Elin, 570
  19. Ellen, 545
  20. Moa, 542
  21. Emilia, 522
  22. Nova, 515
  23. Alma, 506
  24. Saga, 490
  25. Amanda, 475
  26. Isabella, 467
  27. Lilly, 460
  28. Alicia, 456
  29. Astrid, 441
  30. Matilda, 433
  31. Tilde, 431 (tie)
  32. Tuva, 431 (tie)
  33. Stella, 416
  34. Elvira, 412 (tie)
  35. Felicia, 412 (tie)
  36. Tyra, 409
  37. Hanna, 408
  38. Sara, 404
  39. Vera, 399
  40. Thea, 380
  41. Freja, 378
  42. Lova, 372
  43. Meja, 359 (tie)
  44. Selma, 359 (tie)
  45. Signe, 352
  46. Ester, 339
  47. Lovisa, 336
  48. Ellie, 328
  49. Lea, 308 (tie)
  50. Tilda, 308 (tie)

Boy names

  1. Oscar, 1,108 baby boys (nearly 1.9% of all baby boys)
  2. William, 1,032
  3. Lucas, 1,026
  4. Elias, 888
  5. Alexander, 887
  6. Hugo, 873
  7. Oliver, 810
  8. Theo, 804
  9. Liam, 782
  10. Leo, 764
  11. Erik, 741 (tie)
  12. Viktor, 741 (tie)
  13. Emil, 729
  14. Isak, 712
  15. Axel, 692
  16. Filip, 685
  17. Anton, 627
  18. Gustav, 617
  19. Edvin, 609
  20. Vincent, 598
  21. Arvid, 596
  22. Albin, 581
  23. Ludvig, 580
  24. Melvin, 562
  25. Noah, 554
  26. Charlie, 531
  27. Max, 529
  28. Elliot, 509
  29. Viggo, 499
  30. Alvin, 488
  31. Alfred, 480
  32. Adam, 474 (tie)
  33. Theodor, 474 (tie)
  34. Olle, 464
  35. Wilmer, 458
  36. Benjamin, 457
  37. Simon, 453
  38. Nils, 431
  39. Noel, 417
  40. Jacob, 414
  41. Leon, 411
  42. Rasmus, 405
  43. Kevin, 400
  44. Linus, 394
  45. Casper, 380 (tie)
  46. Gabriel, 380 (tie)
  47. Jonathan, 377
  48. Milo, 373
  49. Melker, 369
  50. Felix, 367

In the girls’ top 10, Olivia replaced Ebba.

In the boys’ top 10, Theo, Liam and Leo replaced Erik, Victor, and Axel.

Newbies to the girls’ top 100 were Tove, Minna, Majken, Annie, Juni, Hedvig and Novalie. Drop-outs were Malva, Victoria, Fanny, Alexandra, Rut, Miranda and Johanna.

Newbies to the boys’ top 100 were Frank, Ebbe, Elvin, Julian and Ivar. Drop-outs were Dante, Mattias, Jesper, Dennis and Ruben.

The girl names that made the biggest jumps from 2009 to 2010 were Tove, Minna and Novalie. Those that dropped the furthest were Kajsa, Emelie and Cornelia.

The boy names that made the biggest jumps from 2009 to 2010 were Frank, Elvin and Milo. Those that dropped the furthest were Carl, Marcus and Jonathan.

Sources:

Image: Adapted from Flag of Sweden (public domain)

[Latest update: Dec. 2024]

Which baby names are banned in Portugal?

Belém Tower, Portugal
Belém Tower

Did you know that certain baby names are illegal in the European country of Portugal?

The Portuguese government maintains an 80-page list of baby names — a mix of the permitted and the forbidden. Here are some of the names (and weirdly specific name combinations) Portuguese parents are not allowed to give their babies:

  • Aidan
  • Albuquerque
  • Allan Brett
  • Anouchka
  • Antoinette
  • Argo Demetrius
  • Ashanti
  • Ashley
  • Babilónia
  • Ben-Hur
  • Brunei
  • Bruce
  • Bryan
  • Charlotte
  • Cheyenne
  • Claret
  • Claude
  • Coltrane (jazz musician)
  • Brilhante (Portuguese for “brilliant”)
  • Britta Nórdica
  • Chianda Kady
  • Dmitri, Dmitriy, Dmitro
  • Do Sorriso
  • Douglas
  • Dylan
  • Farley
  • Faruk
  • Fraternidade
  • Giana Lai
  • Heidi
  • Hendrix
  • Imperatriz
  • Ivanhoe (19th-century novel)
  • Jaiantcumar
  • Jenny
  • Jimmy
  • Jivago (form of Zhivago)
  • Kathleen
  • Kennedy
  • Leeyang
  • Loïc
  • Logan
  • Mabel
  • Magnifica
  • Mar e Sol (Portuguese for “sea and sun”)
  • Marx
  • Mary Ann
  • Melbournia
  • Nazareth Fernandes
  • Nirvana
  • Olaf
  • Pablo
  • Piombina (Italian town Piombino)
  • Portugal
  • Rihanna
  • Rosa Luxemburgo
  • Samora Machel
  • Sandokan (fictional pirate Sandokan)
  • Satélite
  • Sayonara (Japanese for “goodbye”)
  • Tamagnini (Italian surname)
  • Trebaruna (Lusitanian deity)
  • Vasconcelos (Portuguese surname)
  • Viking
  • Virtuosa
  • Viterbo (Italian town)
  • Zingara (Italian for “gypsy”)

Some are foreign names/words, some are locations, some refer to pop culture, and so forth.

Many of the no-no names are simply in the wrong form (according to the government). For instance, parents can use…

  • Aarão, but not Aaron
  • Agata, but not Agatha
  • Baltasar, but not Baltazar
  • Daisi, but not Daisy
  • Dulce do Amparo, but not Dulce Amparo
  • Kévim, but not Kevin
  • Hervé, but not Hervê or Herve (reminds me of the Zöé controversy)
  • Maria de Lurdes, but not Maria de Lourdes
  • Martina, but not Martine
  • Mónica, but not Monique
  • Nuno, or Nuno de Santa Maria, or Nuno do Carmo (Carmelite), but not Nuno Álvares.

To see all the names for yourself, download the Lista de Nomes from the Instituto dos Registos e do Notariado.

Image: Adapted from Tower of Belem by Errabee under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Baby name story: Julia Gillard

The mid-term elections may be over, but here’s one more election-related story for you.

Julia Gillard became Australia’s first female prime minister back on June 24, 2010. Minutes after the election results were announced, Papua New Guinea couple Singkau and Doreen Fuguto welcomed a baby girl. What did they name her? Julia Gillard.

Baby Julia Gillard wasn’t the first PNG baby to be named after an Australian prime minister, though. Back in 2008, then-prime minister Kevin Rudd paid a visit PNG. While he was there, Esau and Lina Kitgi welcomed a baby boy. They named him Kevin Rudd Junior.

Source: PNG newborn named Julia Gillard