How popular is the baby name King 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 King.

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Popularity of the baby name King


Posts that mention the name King

“Empire” baby name predictions: Cookie? Jussie?

Cookie, Empire

The first season of hit drama Empire aired from January through March of this year.

The show’s audience grew bigger and bigger with each successive episode (no small feat!) and the first-season finale was the most successful of “any new series on any broadcast network” since the first-season finale of Grey’s Anatomy back in 2005.

I think the show — which will be back on the air with new episodes in September — could have a big impact on baby names in 2015. Some Empire names to keep an eye on:

  • Taraji, for actress Taraji P. Henson.
  • Cookie, for character Cookie Lyon. This name was last on the SSA’s list in the early 1990s, but the character is giving the name Cookie a whole new image, so…will it be back in 2015?
  • Lyon, for the family surname.
  • Lucious, for character Lucious Lyon. It gets a fraction of the usage that Lucius gets, but could this character change that?
  • Lola, for character Lola Lyon. Not a major character, but extremely adorable — and when it comes to names, that’s sometimes all that matters.
  • Trai, for actor Trai Byers.

And three names that might debut on the SSA’a list in 2015…

  • Bryshere, for actor Bryshere Y. Gray.
  • Jussie, for actor Jussie Smollett. Smollett has been in and out the spotlight for a long time now, and his name has never made the list, but maybe this will change in 2015. (His character, Jamal, is probably the most likable person on the show.)
  • Empire, for the show itself. This one might seem improbable, but I wouldn’t count it out as similar names (e.g., King, Kingdom, Emperor, Sire, Sovereign) do exist.

What are your thoughts on the names in Empire? Did I miss any good ones?

Sources: Empire – Wikipedia, ‘Empire’ strikes back as season’s hottest show, ‘Empire’ Finale Ratings Rise Even More, Best New Series Result In 10 Years – Update

P.S. Actor Terrence Howard, who plays Lucious, recently welcomed a son named Qirin. The name was derived from qilin, the name of a mythical Chinese creature.

Popular baby names in England and Wales (UK), 2013

Flag of the United Kingdom
Flag of the United Kingdom

The top baby names in England and Wales were announced last week.

According to data from the Office for National Statistics, the most popular baby names last year were Amelia and Oliver.

Here are England and Wales’ top 20 girl names and top 20 boy names of 2013:

Girl Names

  1. Amelia, 5570 baby girls
  2. Olivia, 4598
  3. Emily, 4049
  4. Ava, 3575
  5. Isla, 3526
  6. Jessica, 3507
  7. Poppy, 3422
  8. Isabella, 3246
  9. Sophie, 3013
  10. Mia, 2993
  11. Ruby, 2948
  12. Lily, 2883
  13. Grace, 2799
  14. Evie, 2767
  15. Sophia, 2764
  16. Ella, 2722
  17. Scarlett, 2643
  18. Chloe, 2401
  19. Isabelle, 2287
  20. Freya, 2266

Boy Names

  1. Oliver, 6,949 baby boys
  2. Jack, 6,212
  3. Harry, 5,888
  4. Jacob, 5,126
  5. Charlie 5,039
  6. Thomas, 4,591
  7. Oscar, 4,511
  8. William, 4,268
  9. James, 4,236
  10. George, 4,202
  11. Alfie, 4,138
  12. Joshua, 3,973
  13. Noah, 3,830
  14. Ethan, 3,572
  15. Muhammad, 3,499
  16. Archie, 3,265
  17. Leo, 3,264
  18. Henry, 3,248
  19. Joseph, 3,225
  20. Samuel, 3,188

There were some big moves on the boys’ side: Oscar rose from 17th to 7th, while Riley plummeted from 8th to 21st. (Here are the biggest moves overall for boy names and girl names.)

New to the top 20 are Scarlett, Archie, Henry and Joseph. They replaced Charlotte, Riley, Daniel and Max.

One thing I found interesting? Freya wasn’t on the England top 20. It also wasn’t on the Wales top 20. And yet still it managed to rank 20th on the combined top 20. Very sneaky, Freya.

Here are some of last year’s rare baby names, each given to between 3 and 10 babies (inclusive):

Rare Girl NamesRare Boy Names
Akvile, Alaska, Alphonsa, Andromeda, Arena, Arizona, Atlantis, Belinay, Bellatrix, Blousey, Boadicea, Boglarka, Bonnie-Blue, Boo, Boux, Charm, Cressida, Crystal-Rose, Daenerys, Delphie, Disney, Duru, Edwina, Ellery, Eloghosa, Enfys, Enlli*, Eos, Ernestine, Esila, Evan, Frayer, Freshta, Fausta, Garance, Gelila, Gemini, Gerda, Glorious, Halo, Honour, Io, Iole, Ionie, Iseult, Isla-Belle, Izna, Lava, Lleucu, Llinos, Llio, Loveday, Loxy, Mafalda, Man, Maple, Miami, Migle, Milda, Misk, Mirabella, Mirren, Myfi, Myrtle, Nandi, Nephele, Nma, Ottoline, Pebbles, Popi, Purity, Quorra, Quratulain, Rory, Ruby-Tuesday, Salsabeel, Sehrish, Sequoia, Sibel, Sobia, Solveig, Sundus, Tiggi, Tiggy, Tirion, Tulsi, Vespa, Vogue, YiyiAlaric, Bramwell, Cavalli, Ceirion, Denley, Diesel, Diggory, Drin, Eesaa, Eyoel, Fiachra, Finlo, Fyfe, Ghyll, Greatness, Gruff, Hanzala, Haoyu, Heathcliff, Henley-John, Ho, Hocine, Innis, Iori, J, Jai-Jai, Jay-J, Jaygo, Johnboy, Jonjoe, Kebba, Kelly, Khizr, King-David, Klevis, Lebron, Liutaruas, Llyr, Lochie, Messi, Mortimer, Nebi, Nimrod, Noman, Olti, Omarion, Orpheus, Osgar, Oska, Perseus, Ptolemy, Qi, Rhythm, Rozh, Rhon, Sandor, Shady, Shaquille, Sheriff, Shko, Soul, Swayley, T, Tiger, Tirath, Tobenna, Toprak, Tuguldur, Tylah, Tyrion, Ugnius, Viggo, Wentworth, Winter, Wolf, Wolfgang, Wren, Yanky, Yug, Zeus, Zsombor

*Enlli, which debuted last year, comes from the name of the Welsh island Ynys Enlli (called Bardsey Island in English). The island name is usually translated as “island of the current,” with ynys meaning “island,” and enlli meaning “current.” You can hear the proper pronunciation of Ynys Enlli at Forvo.

Finally, all of my previous posts on the popular (and unique) baby names in England and Wales: 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, and 2008.

Source: Baby Names, England and Wales, 2013 – ONS

Image: Adapted from Flag of the United Kingdom (public domain)

Letter by letter: Popular baby boy names, 2013

letterpress letters

Wondering what the most popular J-names for baby boys are? How about Q-names?

Below are the 10 most popular boy names for each letter, A through Z. (The parenthetical notations show how the current rankings differ from the 2012 rankings.)

The two new #1 names that emerged in 2013 were Hunter, which replaced Henry, and Thomas, which replaced Tyler.

A-Names

1. Alexander, 14771 baby boys
2. Aiden, 13527
3. Anthony, 12164
4. Andrew, 11568
5. Aaron, 7246
6. Adrian, 6802 (was 8th)
7. Austin, 6441
8. Angel, 6320 (was 6th)
9. Ayden, 6035
10. Adam, 5193

B-Names

1. Benjamin, 13373 baby boys
2. Brayden, 7384
3. Brandon, 6180
4. Blake, 5601
5. Bentley, 5344
6. Brody, 4302
7. Bryson, 3783
8. Bryce, 3335
9. Brantley, 3171 (was 13th)
10. Braxton, 3078

Out of the top 10: Bryan, now ranked 11th.

C-Names

1. Christopher, 10765 baby boys
2. Carter, 9512 (was 4th)
3. Caleb, 9500 (was 2nd)
4. Christian, 9261 (was 3rd)
5. Connor, 7058 (was 6th)
6. Charles, 6955 (was 7th)
7. Cameron, 6809 (was 5th)
8. Colton, 6442
9. Chase, 5504
10. Cooper, 4843

D-Names

1. Daniel, 14140 baby boys
2. David, 12226
3. Dylan, 10058
4. Dominic, 6277
5. Damian, 3945
6. Declan, 3097 (was 7th)
7. Diego, 2905 (was 6th)
8. Derek, 1865 (was 9th)
9. Devin, 1828 (was 8th)
10. Damien, 1603

E-Names

1. Ethan, 16127 baby boys
2. Elijah, 13626
3. Eli, 7867
4. Evan, 7070
5. Easton, 4615
6. Elias, 3472 (was 7th)
7. Eric, 3233 (was 6th)
8. Ezra, 2708 (was 10th)
9. Edward, 2679 (was 8th)
10. Emmanuel, 2377 (was 9th)

F-Names

1. Francisco, 1688 baby boys
2. Finn, 1440 (was 3rd)
3. Fernando, 1424 (was 2nd)
4. Felix, 1171 (was 5th)
5. Fabian, 1091 (was 4th)
6. Frank, 996
7. Finnegan, 605
8. Finley, 562 (was 10th)
9. Frederick, 549
10. Franklin, 545 (was 8th)

G-Names

1. Gabriel, 11112 baby boys
2. Gavin, 7379
3. Grayson, 5500
4. Giovanni, 2964
5. Greyson, 2630 (was 9th)
6. George, 2522 (was 7th)
7. Grant, 2401 (was 6th)
8. Gael, 2296 (was 5th)
9. Gage, 2131 (was 8th)
10. Graham, 1876 (was 11th)

Out of the top 10: Garrett, now ranked 12th.

H-Names

1. Hunter, 8887 baby boys (was 2nd)
2. Henry, 8802 (was 1st)
3. Hudson, 4628
4. Hayden, 2933
5. Harrison, 2491
6. Hector, 1248
7. Holden, 1198
8. Hugo, 653
9. Hayes, 411 (was 13th)
10. Harvey, 399 (was 15th)

Hunter became the new #1 H-name in 2013.

Out of the top 10: Harley, now ranked 11th, and Harper, now 14th.

I-Names

1. Isaac, 10005 baby boys
2. Isaiah, 7754
3. Ian, 5374
4. Ivan, 2846
5. Iker, 1612
6. Israel, 1457
7. Ismael, 741
8. Izaiah, 634
9. Ibrahim, 631 (was 10th)
10. Issac, 585 (was 9th)

J-Names

1. Jacob, 17976 baby boys
2. Jayden, 14656
3. James, 13416
4. Jackson, 12488 (was 6th)
5. Joseph, 12095
6. Joshua, 11680 (was 4th)
7. John, 10588
8. Jack, 8506 (was 9th)
9. Jonathan, 8478 (was 8th)
10. Jaxon, 7479 (was 13th)

Out of the top 10: Jordan, now ranked 12th.

K-Names

1. Kevin, 5892 baby boys
2. Kayden, 4386
3. Kaiden, 3076 (was 6th)
4. Kaleb, 2833 (was 3rd)
5. Kaden, 2606
6. Kyle, 2563 (was 4th)
7. Kenneth, 2159
8. Kingston, 2114 (was 9th)
9. King, 2085 (was 11th)
10. Kai, 1956 (was 8th)

Out of the top 10: Keegan, now ranked 11th.

L-Names

1. Liam, 18002 baby boys
2. Logan, 12270
3. Lucas, 11451
4. Luke, 9497 (was 5th)
5. Landon, 8679 (was 4th)
6. Levi, 7339
7. Lincoln, 4010 (was 8th)
8. Luis, 3976 (was 7th)
9. Leo, 3473
10. Leonardo, 2891

M-Names

1. Mason, 17591 baby boys
2. Michael, 15366
3. Matthew, 13226
4. Micah, 3631
5. Maxwell, 3607 (was 7th)
6. Mateo, 3547 (was 9th)
7. Max, 3492 (was 5th)
8. Miles, 3385 (was 6th)
9. Miguel, 2874 (was 8th)
10. Marcus, 2497

N-Names

1. Noah, 18090 baby boys
2. Nathan, 9620
3. Nicholas, 7078
4. Nolan, 4715 (was 5th)
5. Nathaniel, 4461 (was 4th)
6. Nicolas, 2109
7. Nehemiah, 919
8. Noel, 774
9. Nash, 596 (was 10th)
10. Nico, 561 (was 11th)

Out of the top 10: Nikolas, now ranked 11th.

O-Names

1. Owen, 8702 baby boys
2. Oliver, 7209
3. Oscar, 2225
4. Omar, 1873
5. Orion, 743
6. Orlando, 465
7. Odin, 447
8. Otto, 338 (was 10th)
9. Omari, 318 (was 8th)
10. Oakley, 288 (was 11th)

Out of the top 10: Osvaldo, now ranked 11th.

P-Names

1. Parker, 5622 baby boys
2. Preston, 2636
3. Patrick, 2566
4. Paul, 2017 (was 5th)
5. Peter, 1833 (was 6th)
6. Peyton, 1833 (was 4th)
7. Paxton, 1346
8. Pedro, 922
9. Phillip, 858
10. Phoenix, 775 (was 11th)

Out of the top 10: Pablo, now ranked 13th.

Q-Names

1. Quinn, 875 baby boys
2. Quentin, 722
3. Quinton, 479
4. Quincy, 416
5. Quintin, 248
6. Quinten, 161
7. Quinlan, 59
8. Quade, 34 (was 15th)
9. Quadir, 32 (was 10th)
10. Quran, 31 (was 11th)

Out of the top 10: Quincey, now ranked 11th, and Quin, now 13th.

R-Names

1. Ryan, 9808 baby boys
2. Robert, 6641
3. Ryder, 3750
4. Roman, 2858 (was 6th)
5. Richard, 2770 (was 4th)
6. Riley, 2531 (was 5th)
7. Ryker, 2462 (was 8th)
8. Rylan, 1882 (was 7th)
9. Ricardo, 1421
10. Reid, 1364 (was 12th)

Out of the top 10: Raymond, now ranked 11th.

S-Names

1. Samuel, 10957 baby boys
2. Sebastian, 7495
3. Silas, 3367 (was 7th)
4. Sawyer, 3142 (was 6th)
5. Santiago, 3015 (was 4th)
6. Steven, 2850 (was 3rd)
7. Sean, 2180 (was 5th)
8. Simon, 1592 (was 12th)
9. Seth, 1578 (was 8th)
10. Spencer, 1440

Out of the top 10: Stephen, now ranked 11th.

T-Names

1. Thomas, 6708 baby boys (was 2nd)
2. Tyler, 6590 (was 1st)
3. Tristan, 3970
4. Timothy, 3016
5. Theodore, 2397 (was 7th)
6. Tucker, 2220
7. Tanner, 2029 (was 5th)
8. Travis, 1571 (was 9th)
9. Trevor, 1520 (was 8th)
10. Trenton, 1319

Thomas became the new #1 T-name in 2013.

U-Names

1. Uriel, 567 baby boys
2. Uriah, 488
3. Urijah, 298
4. Ulises, 270
5. Ulysses, 164
6. Umar, 94 (was 7th)
7. Unknown, 85 (was 6th) [not a name; used when a name is unknown]
8. Uziel, 77
9. Uzziah, 51 (was 10th)
10. Usman, 39 (was 15th)

Out of the top 10: Usher, now ranked 11th.

V-Names

1. Vincent, 3829 baby boys
2. Victor, 2715
3. Vihaan, 426
4. Valentino, 329 (was 6th)
5. Vicente, 317 (was 4th)
6. Vincenzo, 285 (was 5th)
7. Van, 252 (was 8th)
8. Vaughn, 247 (was 9th)
9. Vance, 244 (was 7th)
10. Valentin, 237

W-Names

1. William, 16495 baby boys
2. Wyatt, 8490
3. Wesley, 2819
4. Weston, 2473
5. Waylon, 1190
6. Walter, 930
7. Walker, 833
8. Warren, 577
9. Wade, 483
10. Winston, 390 (was 11th)

Out of the top 10: Wilson, now ranked 11th.

X-Names

1. Xavier, 4933 baby boys
2. Xander, 1687
3. Xzavier, 420
4. Xavi, 217
5. Xavion, 81
6. Xaiden, 76
7. Xavian, 63
8. Xavior, 55
9. Xayden, 53
10. Xzander, 43 (was 12th)

Out of the top 10: Xavien, now ranked 11th.

Y-Names

1. Yahir, 570 baby boys
2. Yusuf, 414
3. Yosef, 328
4. Yousef, 249 (was 5th)
5. Yael, 243 (was 4th)
6. Yair, 206 (was 10th)
7. Yadiel, 202 (was 8th)
8. Yisroel, 179 (was 9th)
9. Yehuda, 174 (was 6th)
10. Youssef, 173 (was 12th)

Out of the top 10: Yandel, now ranked 14th.

Z-Names

1. Zachary, 5685 baby boys
2. Zayden, 2097 (was 3rd)
3. Zane, 1719 (was 2nd)
4. Zander, 1586 (was 5th)
5. Zion, 1514 (was 4th)
6. Zaiden, 956
7. Zachariah, 744
8. Zayne, 576 (was 9th)
9. Zackary, 463 (was 8th)
10. Zain, 360 (was 11th)

Out of the top 10: Zechariah, now ranked 11th.

Here are the 2012 rankings, if you want to check them out.

U.S. Baby Names 2013: Most popular names, Top girl-name debuts, Top boy-name debuts, Biggest girl-name changes, Biggest boy-name changes, Top first letters, Top lengths, Top girl names by letter, Top boy names by letter

Image: Adapted from Wood letterpress type at Washington University in St. Louis in 2011 by Michellecornelison under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Biggest changes in boy name popularity, 2013

Which boy names increased/decreased the most in popularity from 2012 to 2013?

We just looked at the girl names, so now let’s check out the boy names.

Below are two versions of each list. My version looks at raw number differences and takes all 13,958 boy names on the 2013 list into account. The SSA’s version looks at ranking differences and covers roughly the top 1,000 boy names.

Biggest Increases

Raw Numbers (Nancy’s list)Rankings (SSA’s list)
  1. Jase, +3,410 babies (1,123 to 4,533)
  2. Jayceon, +1,658 (180 to 1,838)
  3. Jace, +1,649 (4,692 to 6,341)
  4. Oliver, +1,313 (5,896 to 7,209)
  5. Camden, +1,276 (2,592 to 3,868)
  6. Liam, +1,246 (16,756 to 18,002)
  7. Jaxon, +1,198 (6,281 to 7,479)
  8. Lincoln, +1,112 (2,898 to 4,010)
  9. Hunter, +890 (7,997 to 8,887)
  10. Silas, +882 (2,485 to 3,367)
  11. Noah, +815 (17,275 to 18,090)
  12. Ryker, +815 (1,647 to 2,462)
  13. Grayson, +805 (4,695 to 5,500)
  14. Lucas, +781 (10,670 to 11,451)
  15. Sebastian, +778 (6,717 to 7,495)
  16. Jaxson, +774 (3,644 to 4,418)
  17. Henry, +750 (8,052 to 8,802)
  18. Josiah, +748 (5,475 to 6,223)
  19. Jayce, +737 (1,906 to 2,643)
  20. Mateo, +715 (2,832 to 3,547)
  21. Easton, +680 (3,935 to 4,615)
  22. King, +656 (1,429 to 2,085)
  23. Ezra, +628 (2,080 to 2,708)
  24. Leo, +605 (2,868 to 3,473)
  25. Benjamin, +600 (12,773 to 13,373)
  1. Jayceon, +845 spots (1,051st to 206th)
  2. Milan, +650 (1,192nd to 542nd)
  3. Atlas, +614 (1,403rd to 789th)
  4. Jayse, +495 (1,469th to 974th)
  5. Duke, +429 (1,147th to 718th)
  6. Castiel, +418 (1,374th to 956th)
  7. Zayn, +410 (1,310th to 900th)
  8. Thiago, +374 (859th to 485th)
  9. Forrest, +340 (1,181st to 841st)
  10. Kyrie, +278 (868th to 590th)
  11. Lochlan, +263 (1,201st to 938th)
  12. Azariah, +247 (1,081st to 834th)
  13. Deacon, +232 (673rd to 441st)
  14. Gannon, +231 (1,074th to 843rd)
  15. Kalel, +222 (1,187th to 965th)
  16. Jase, +215 (304th to 89th)
  17. Harlan, +211 (1,067th to 856th)
  18. Jair, +199 (1,019th to 820th)
  19. Anson, +190 (1,158th to 968th)
  20. Magnus, +179 (1,137th to 958th)
  21. Enoch, +178 (1,014th to 836th)
  22. Harvey, +176 (792nd to 616th)
  23. Cassius, +172 (932nd to 760th)
  24. Stetson, +169 (1,119th to 950th)
  25. Yair, +162 (1,125th to 963rd)

Commenter Rita wrote up a great list of explanations for many of the above.

Josiah and Ryker were both featured in the regionally popular names post from a few months ago.

Biggest Decreases

Raw Numbers (Nancy’s list)Rankings (SSA’s list)
  1. Ethan, -1,494 babies (17,621 to 16,127)
  2. Jayden, -1,413 (16,069 to 14,656)
  3. Mason, -1,329 (18,920 to 17,591)
  4. Aiden, -1,313 (14,840 to 13,527)
  5. Ryan, -1,106 (10,914 to 9,808)
  6. Brayden, -1,099 (8,483 to 7,384)
  7. Christopher, -1,084 (11,849 to 10,765)
  8. Tyler, -1,084 (7,674 to 6,590)
  9. Justin, -1,040 (5,867 to 4,827)
  10. Jacob, -1,023 (18,999 to 17,976)
  11. Andrew, -998 (12,566 to 11,568)
  12. Anthony, -980 (13,144 to 12,164)
  13. Joshua, -907 (12,587 to 11,680)
  14. Gavin, -856 (8,235 to 7,379)
  15. Brandon, -834 (7,014 to 6,180)
  16. Jonathan, -833 (9,311 to 8,478)
  17. Evan, -806 (7,876 to 7,070)
  18. Nathan, -768 (10,388 to 9,620)
  19. Michael, -710 (16,076 to 15,366)
  20. Matthew, -691 (13,917 to 13,226)
  21. Angel, -679 (6,999 to 6,320)
  22. Jordan, -646 (7,774 to 7,128)
  23. Landon, -641 (9,320 to 8,679)
  24. Nicholas, -630 (7,708 to 7,078)
  25. Hayden, -588 (3,521 to 2,933)
  1. Austyn, -330 spots (899th to 1,229th)
  2. Masen, -299 (726th to 1,025th)
  3. Trevon, -287 (925th to 1,212th)
  4. Jaidyn, -276 (978th to 1,254th)
  5. Bently, -264 (638th to 902nd)
  6. Jarrett, -257 (991st to 1,248th)
  7. Brennen, -239 (765th to 1,004th)
  8. Devan, -211 (989th to 1,200th)
  9. Osvaldo, -204 (755th to 959th)
  10. Karsen, -203 (993rd to 1,196th)
  11. Jaeden, -189 (849th to 1,038th)
  12. Donte, -187 (912th to 1,099th)
  13. Brendon, -186 (801st to 987th)
  14. Yandel, -177 (976th to 1,153rd)
  15. Teagan, -171 (758th to 929th)
  16. Johann, -169 (942nd to 1,111th)
  17. Yehuda, -168 (900th to 1,068th)
  18. Jionni, -161 (869th to 1,030th)
  19. Trystan, -160 (975th to 1,135th)
  20. Kael, -155 (992nd to 1,147th)
  21. Giovanny, -155 (762nd to 917th)
  22. Camilo, -155 (839th to 994th)
  23. Braiden, -154 (605th to 759th
  24. Damari, -153 (874th to 1,027th)
  25. Aydan, -148 (702nd to 850th)

Eight -ayden names between both lists, eh?

And check out Mason — from the biggest winner in 2011 and 2010 to the 3rd-biggest loser in 2013. Fast to rise, fast to fall.

Winners/losers in years past:

  • 2012: Liam/Jacob, or Major/Braeden
  • 2011: Mason/Jacob
  • 2010: Mason/Joshua

Source: Change in Popularity from 2012 to 2013

U.S. Baby Names 2013: Most popular names, Top girl-name debuts, Top boy-name debuts, Biggest girl-name changes, Biggest boy-name changes, Top first letters, Top lengths, Top girl names by letter, Top boy names by letter