How popular is the baby name Khal 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 Khal.

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Popularity of the baby name Khal


Posts that mention the name Khal

The top boy-name debuts of 2018

lotus bud

The top boy-name debuts in the U.S. baby name data last year were:

  1. Jahseh, 65 baby boys
  2. Thielen, 21
  3. Daer, 17
  4. Amell, 12
  5. Daesyn, 12
  6. Ulugbek, 12
  7. Vayu, 12
  8. Lavie, 11
  9. Liano, 11
  10. Oaklynn, 11
  11. Rhaegar, 11
  12. Sirroyal, 11
  13. Truu, 11
  14. Usmon, 11
  15. Weller, 11

Some of the other debuts include: Baz, Xylo, Euro, Sensei, Sicario, Gaurik, Ludo, Soldier, Tritt, Jasahd, Muir, Ozymandias, Thanatos, Ao, Callisto, Charm, Freyr, Garrix, Gursehaj, Jalex, Kenmari, Khal, Koe, Kyloren, Ludovico, Oso, Rovanio, Selleck, Solstice, Swae, Tayceon, Acai, Beacon, Glauk, Glavine, Horizon, Jorniel, Kawaii, Kentucky, Kreek, Perfect, Precise, Prevail, Rehoboth, Sircarter, Solar, Universe, Wentz, Westbrook, Yanciel, Zaytoven

Sircarter was influenced by Sir Carter, the son of Beyoncé and Jay-Z. Do you have explanations for any of the other debuts?

P.S. Wondering what a “debut” name is? Debut names were too rare to appear in the SSA data in any previous year (1880-2017). In order to debut, they need to be given to at least 5 babies of one gender or the other within a single year.

Source: SSA

Image: Adapted from LotusBud0048a (public domain) by Frank “Fg2” Gualtieri

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.

How did “Game of Thrones” influence baby names?

Game of Thrones

Game of Thrones will premiere on HBO in a few days. The TV series is based on the epic fantasy books of George R. R. Martin.

(No, he’s didn’t steal those middle initials from fellow epic fantasy author J. R. R. Tolkien; his full name is George Raymond Richard Martin.)

I’m mentioning the show here because the story features some exotic character names:

AryaEddardSansa
BranJoffreySandor
CatelynJorahTheon
CerseiKhal Drogo*Tyrion
DaenerysPetyrViserys

If it does well, who knows…we may start hearing about babies named Cersei and Daenerys.

Have you ever read the books? If so, what did you think?

*Apparently Khal Drogo’s name translates to “King Drogo” — Khal is the title, Drogo is the name. Thanks, commenters!

Khaleesi
Khaleesi

Update, May 15, 2012: The top names of 2011 recently came out. Looks like these three names may have been influenced by Game of Thrones:

  • Arya, from 273 baby girls in 2010 to 386 baby girls in 2011.
  • Khaleesi, from never-listed to a debut (!) of 27 baby girls.
  • Tyrion, from 11 baby boys to 18 baby boys.

Update, May 2013: The top names of 2012 recently came out, and in these rankings we see…

  • Daenerys, which debuted with 21 baby girls.
  • Nymeria, which debuted with 5 baby girls.
  • Theon, which returned to the data with its highest-ever usage (so far)
  • Renly, which debuted with 10 baby boys.

Update, May 2014: The top names of 2013 just came out, and this set includes at least two more:

  • Sansa, from never-listed to a debut of 11 baby girls.
  • Beric, from never-listed to a debut of 5 baby boys.

Update, May 2015: In the 2014 rankings, the name Jorah, which had appeared in the data as a girl name before, debuted as a boy name. The name Tywin also debuted.

Update, May 2016: The top names of 2015, just released, include the debut name Oberyn.

Update, May 2017: The top names of 2016 recently came out, and these latest rankings indicate that Lyanna has seen a sizeable rise in usage. Debuts include Ellaria and Bronn.

Update, May 2018: The top names of 2017 just came out. This batch includes:

Update, May 2019: The top names of 2018 just came out. The SSA noted in its press release that name Yara rose from 986th place (2017) to 672nd (2018). Also, the name Khal finally debuted — seven years behind Khaleesi. So did Rhaegar, Aegon, and Myrcella.

Update, September 2020: The top names of 2019 came out late this year (due to Covid), but in this set I noticed three more GoT-inspired entries: Rhaella, Margaery, and Dracarys — the third of which isn’t even a character name, but a word that means “dragonfire” in High Valyrian. Daenerys uses the word dracarys to order her dragon to breathe fire.

Update, May 2020: The debut names of 2020 included Tormund, inspired by Tormund Giantsbane.

Update, October 2023: Game of Thrones may be over, but the names continue! Among the top debuts of 2022 was Rhaenyra, inspired by House of the Dragon character Rhaenyra Targaryen. And I think the return of the rare name Helaena to the data could be attributed to the GoT-prequel as well.

Source: SSA

[Latest update: Oct. 2023]