How popular is the baby name Lorne 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 Lorne.

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Popularity of the baby name Lorne


Posts that mention the name Lorne

Popular baby names in Canada, 2022

Flag of Canada
Flag of Canada

The vast country of Canada is located in North America and shares the world’s longest international land border with its neighbor to the south, the United States.

Last year, Canada (excluding Yukon) welcomed 351,679 babies — 48.6% of which were girls, 51.4% of which were boys.

What were the most popular names among these babies? Olivia and Noah.

Here are Canada’s top 50 girl names and top 50 boy names of 2022:

Girl names

  1. Olivia, 1,804 baby girls
  2. Emma, 1,550
  3. Charlotte, 1,475
  4. Amelia, 1,193
  5. Sophia, 1,079
  6. Chloe, 1,057
  7. Mia, 946
  8. Ava, 923
  9. Lily, 861
  10. Mila, 847
  11. Alice, 786
  12. Isla, 769
  13. Sofia, 763
  14. Evelyn, 751
  15. Abigail, 715
  16. Sophie, 712
  17. Nora, 708
  18. Charlie, 700
  19. Ellie, 680
  20. Zoe, 661
  21. Maya, 658
  22. Isabella, 656
  23. Ella, 634
  24. Clara, 618
  25. Elizabeth, 617
  26. Aria, 610
  27. Violet, 599
  28. Rose, 593
  29. Eva, 578
  30. Hannah, 577
  31. Emily, 575 (tie)
  32. Luna, 575 (tie)
  33. Ivy, 562
  34. Harper, 560
  35. Florence, 557
  36. Scarlett, 519
  37. Victoria, 514
  38. Hazel, 513
  39. Julia, 492
  40. Avery, 490
  41. Madison, 488
  42. Zoey, 474
  43. Eleanor, 467
  44. Grace, 448 (tie)
  45. Livia, 448 (tie)
  46. Emilia, 447
  47. Layla, 437
  48. Aurora, 435
  49. Lea, 434
  50. Willow, 430

Boy names

  1. Noah, 2,198 baby boys
  2. Liam, 1,902
  3. William, 1,516
  4. Leo, 1,447
  5. Theodore, 1,423
  6. Oliver, 1,273
  7. Benjamin, 1,217
  8. Thomas, 1,205
  9. Lucas, 1,187
  10. Jack, 1,186
  11. James, 1,141
  12. Jacob, 1,105
  13. Nathan, 1,047
  14. Logan, 1,044
  15. Ethan, 1,040
  16. Adam, 977
  17. Theo, 932
  18. Jackson, 907
  19. Owen, 891
  20. Henry, 870
  21. Levi, 831
  22. Arthur, 807
  23. Felix, 806
  24. Gabriel, 777
  25. Samuel, 753
  26. Charles, 749
  27. Luca, 719
  28. Hudson, 663
  29. Nolan, 651
  30. Alexander, 647
  31. Daniel, 644
  32. Mason, 622
  33. Caleb, 613
  34. Louis, 604
  35. Jayden, 595 (tie)
  36. Muhammad, 595 (tie)
  37. Elijah, 593
  38. Aiden, 584
  39. Maverick, 581
  40. Isaac, 579
  41. Ryan, 538
  42. Wyatt, 521
  43. Carter, 520
  44. Luke, 516
  45. Elliot, 499 (tie)
  46. Lincoln, 499 (tie)
  47. Eli, 496
  48. Grayson, 495
  49. Edouard, 492
  50. Mateo, 489

Among the fastest-rising baby names of 2022 were the girl names Millie, Wren, and Lily and the boy names Robin, Walker, and Muhammad.

What about the names at the other end of the spectrum? Here’s a selection of the baby names that were given to just 5 babies each in Canada last year:

Rare girl namesRare boy names
Aberdeen, Becca, Charis, Dorcas, Everlyn, Farida, Guntas, Hadeel, Iremide, Jolianne, Khawla, Lumina, Mavi, Nichelle, Opale, Perrie, Rhya, Sylia, Tavisha, Uma, Verna, Wilder, Yoadan, ZaynahAlborz, Brandt, Cornelius, Dryden, Espen, Fabrice, Gurjot, Hades, Indy, Jesper, Kuzey, Lorne, Mederic, Nima, Onkar, Poseidon, Rorik, Solal, Theeran, Udayvir, Viansh, Wesson, Yvan, Zeno

The names used even less frequently — between one and four times — “accounted for 86% of all baby names in 2022.”

Finally, here are Canada’s 2021 rankings, if you’d like to compare last year to the year before.

Sources: First names at birth by sex at birth, selected indicators – Statistics Canada, Canada’s most popular baby names in 2022 – Statistics Canada, Births, 2022 – Statistics Canada, Canada – Wikipedia

Image: Adapted from Flag of Canada (public domain)

How did “Battlestar Galactica” influence baby names in the late 1970s?

The TV show "Battlestar Galactica" (1978-1979)

Today, Battlestar Galactica is a sci-fi media franchise. But the original TV series wasn’t terribly successful — it aired on ABC for a single season (September of 1978 to April of 1979) before being canceled.

Still, the initial show managed to have an impact on American baby names. Here are the names that Battlestar Galactica characters managed to influence in the late 1970s:

  • Adama — from Commander Adama (played by Lorne Greene of Bonanza fame). The name Adama debuted (for boys) in 1978.
  • Apollo — from Captain Apollo, the son of Commander Adama. The name Apollo saw a rise in usage in 1978, and then-peak usage in 1979. (That peak was eclipsed in 2002 after speed skater Apolo Ohno became famous.)
  • Athena and Maren — from the daughter of Commander Adama, Lieutenant Athena (played by Maren Jensen). The name Athena saw a spike in usage 1979, and Maren nearly tripled in usage the same year.
  • Cassiopeia — from the character Cassiopeia, who was a “socialator” (a.k.a. prostitute). The name Cassiopeia debuted in 1979.
  • Starbuck — from Lieutenant Starbuck. The name Starbuck was a one-hit wonder in 1979. Both the name of the Lieutanant and the name of the famous coffee chain were inspired by the Moby Dick character Starbuck.
  • Tigh — from Colonel Tigh (played by Terry Carter, whose stage name was inspired in part by the comic strip Terry & the Pirates). The name Tigh debuted in 1979, and the spelling Tighe saw peak usage the same year.
The character Colonel Tigh from the TV series "Battlestar Galactica" (1978-1979).

Would you consider using any of the names above?

Source: Battlestar Galactica – IMDb

Distinctively Canadian first names

Maligne Lake, Canada

Here are the most distinctively Canadian first names by decade, according to Canadian website The 10 and 3:

  • 2010s: Zainab and Linden
  • 2000s: Gurleen and Callum
  • 1990s: Simran and Mathieu
  • 1980s: Chantelle and Darcy
  • 1970s: Josee and Stephane
  • 1960s: Giuseppina and Luc
  • 1950s: Heather and Giuseppe
  • 1940s: Heather and Lorne
  • 1930s: Isobel and Lorne
  • 1920s: Gwendoline and Lorne

Did you know that Canada’s love of “Lorne” comes from the Marquess of Lorne, the British nobleman who served as Governor General of Canada from 1878 to 1883? To see more explanations, and also more names per decade, check out the source article.

The name I’m most curious about is Josée from the 1970s. It had a “Canadian factor” of 634.6 — larger than any other name in the study — but also had no explanation, and I can’t figure out the influence. Does anyone have a guess?

Source: Gord, Sheila, Graham and Beverley? The Most Distinctively Canadian Names Are Not What You’d Expect

Image: Adapted from Sunrise at Maligne lake 2 by Sergey Pesterev under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Where did the baby name Giuliani come from in 2002?

New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani
Rudy Giuliani

On September 11, 2001, members of the Islamic terrorist group al-Qaeda carried out four coordinated terrorist attacks on U.S. soil. The attacks killed nearly 3,000 people, most of whom died with the collapse of the Twin Towers in New York City.

New York City mayor Rudolph “Rudy” Giuliani was lauded for his leadership in the aftermath of the attacks. He made a number of appearances on TV* and radio. Oprah Winfrey dubbed him “America’s Mayor.”

On the last day of 2001, Time magazine declared Giuliani “Person of the Year.” (That day was also Giuliani’s last day as mayor, incidentally). Time said:

With the President out of sight for most of that day, Giuliani became the voice of America. Every time he spoke, millions of people felt a little better. His words were full of grief and iron, inspiring New York to inspire the nation. “Tomorrow New York is going to be here,” he said. “And we’re going to rebuild, and we’re going to be stronger than we were before…I want the people of New York to be an example to the rest of the country, and the rest of the world, that terrorism can’t stop us.”

And in 2002, we see the name Giuliani appear for the very first time in the U.S. baby name data:

  • 2004: unlisted
  • 2003: unlisted
  • 2002: 6 baby boys named Giuliani [debut]
  • 2001: unlisted
  • 2000: unlisted

The Italian surname Giuliani was derived from the personal name Giuliano, the Italian equivalent of Julian.

Two other baby names that debuted around this time, Independence in 2001 and Patriot in 2002, were also likely given a boost by the events of 9/11.

*Later in September, Rudy Giuliani was featured in the Saturday Night Live “9/11 Tribute” (video) that memorably ended with this short exchange between Lorne Michaels and Giuliani: “Can we be funny?” “Why start now?”

P.S. Fr. Mychal Judge, the first official casualty of 9/11, also had an impact on baby names in the early 2000s.

Sources:

  • Hanks, Patrick. (Ed.) Dictionary of American Family Names. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003.
  • Pooley, Eric. “Mayor of the World.” Time 31 Dec. 2001.
  • SSA

Image: Clipping from the cover of Time magazine (13 Dec. 2001)