The U.S. state of Iowa welcomes “around 40,000” babies each year.
What were the most popular names among last year’s babies specifically? Charlotte and Oliver, according to the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services.
Here are Iowa’s top 20+ girl names and top 20+ boy names of 2023:
Girl names
- Charlotte, 161 baby girls
- Evelyn, 128
- Harper, 127
- Olivia, 126
- Amelia, 125
- Emma, 110
- Sophia, 109
- Eleanor, 106
- Ava, 102
- Hazel, 88
- Nora, 84
- Violet, 82
- Willow, 77
- Mia, 76
- Isabella, 75 (tie)
- Ivy, 75 (tie)
- Lainey, 74
- Isla, 71
- Grace, 69
- Aurora, 67 (tie)
- Ellie, 67 (tie)
Boy names
- Oliver, 194 baby boys
- Henry, 173
- Theodore, 154
- Liam, 147
- Jack, 135 (tie)
- Noah, 135 (tie)
- Hudson, 114
- William, 112
- James, 104
- Owen, 103
- Cooper, 99 (tie)
- Maverick, 99 (tie)
- Leo, 95
- Brooks, 94
- Waylon, 91
- Benjamin, 88
- Wyatt, 87
- Elijah, 85
- Asher, 84 (3-way tie)
- Bennett, 84 (3-way tie)
- Lucas, 84 (3-way tie)
The SSA’s rankings for Iowa are mostly (but not exactly) the same.
And what about the names at the other end of the spectrum? Here’s a selection of the baby names that were bestowed just once in Iowa last year:
| Unique girl names | Unique boy names |
| Ainekulu, Berthenina, Caspia, Dotlyn, Eterna, Fauna, Genavee, Historia, Ivella, Jaspen, Kimawari, Landrine, Malulani, Nicklin, Osprey, Pendeza, Quenya, Rosehip, Still, Tcharleen, Vanlal, Wembley, Xanna, Yangkuoth, Ziigwan | Asphodel, Brodysseus, Calmly, Datsun, Ethic, Fisk, Grealish, Haiku, Inguun, Jozion, Kakashi, Linux, Malipo, Nayrold, Omegajoe, Pomaikai, Quantum, Render, Sabawoon, Thaylor, Vybe, Witt, Xiver, Yekini, Zettlin |
Some possible explanations/associations for a few of the above:
- Grealish is the surname of English soccer player Jack Grealish.
- Kakashi is a character from the Japanese manga/anime series Naruto. (The literal translation of his name is “scarecrow.”)
- Kimawari is the Japanese name of the Pokémon character Sunflora.
- Malipo means “payments” or “revenge” in Swahili.
- Malulani is a particular star in Hawaiian astronomy. (The literal translation of the star’s name is “celestial shade.”)
- Pendeza means “to be pleasing” or “to be attractive” in Swahili.
- Pomaikai is based on the Hawaiian word pomaika’i, which means “good fortune.”
- Sabawoon means “dawn” in Pashto.
- Wembley is a soccer stadium (and music venue) in London.
- Ziigwan means “it is (early) spring” in Ojibwe.
Finally, here’s a link to Iowa’s 2022 rankings, if you’d like to compare last year to the year before.
Sources:
- Iowa Health & Human Servies: Baby Names, Reproduction & Birth
- Wiktionary: Malipo, Pendeza
- Pukui, Mary Kawena and Samuel H. Elbert. Hawaiian Dictionary. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1986.
- Ziigwan – The Ojibwe People’s Dictionary
- Learn the five seasons of the Ojibwe calendar – WWF.ca
Image: Adapted from Flag of Iowa (public domain)
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