How popular is the baby name Luka 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 Luka.

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Popularity of the baby name Luka


Posts that mention the name Luka

Popular boy names in the United States, 2020

Flag of the United States
Flag of the United States

We just looked at last year’s girl names, so now it’s time for the boy names!

Here are the most popular boy names overall:

  1. Liam, 19,659 baby boys
  2. Noah, 18,252
  3. Oliver, 14,147
  4. Elijah, 13,034
  5. William, 12,541
  6. James, 12,250
  7. Benjamin, 12,136
  8. Lucas, 11,281
  9. Henry, 10,705
  10. Alexander, 10,151

Henry and Alexander replaced Mason (now ranked 11th) and Ethan (13th).

The boy names that saw the largest increases in usage in terms of absolute numbers of babies were…

  1. Kobe, increased by 998 babies
  2. Theodore, 685
  3. Luka, 618
  4. Asher, 592
  5. Enzo, 490
  6. Adriel, 471
  7. Archer, 451
  8. Kylo, 424
  9. River, 410
  10. Beau, 398

Kobe was influenced by the untimely death of basketball great Kobe Bryant (whose daughter, Gianna, had an equally strong influence on girl names.)

Theodore and Luka were also among the fastest risers of 2019.

The boy names that saw the largest increases in usage in terms of relative numbers of babies were…

  1. Omere, increased by 460%
  2. Ripp, 342%
  3. Hardin, 300%
  4. Vardaan, 280%
  5. Rip, 260%
  6. Alekai, 260%
  7. Sharvil, 255%
  8. Evian, 253%
  9. Neizan, 243%
  10. Barkon, 240%

Omere could be from Omere Harris, son of YouTubers (and former Love & Hip Hop-ers) Mendeecees Harris and Yandy Smith.

Ripp was a debut name just one year earlier. Speaking of debuts…

Here are the boy names that debuted most impressively in the 2020 data:

  1. Aarnik, debuted with 14 baby boys
  2. Itzan, 14
  3. Azhir, 13
  4. Carin, 13
  5. Jahkor, 13
  6. Krown, 13
  7. Amavi, 12 (a double-debut with 30 girls as well)
  8. Deluka, 12
  9. Ezrin, 12
  10. Hardyn, 12

Some explanations…

  • Itzan is probably from Spanish actor Itzan Escamilla, who stars in the Netflix series Élite.
  • Carin could be from Mexican singer Carin Leon (whose real name is Oscar; “Carin” is a shortening of his nickname, Oscarin.)
  • Jahkor was the name of a character in the Netflix movie All Day and a Night (2020).

The boy names that saw the largest decreases in usage in terms of absolute numbers of babies were…

  1. Ethan, decreased by 1,801 babies
  2. Jacob, -1,525
  3. Logan, -1,434
  4. Mason, -1,407
  5. Matthew, -1,170
  6. Lucas, -1,164
  7. Carter, -1,141
  8. Jaxon, -1,132
  9. Isaac, -1,121
  10. Alexander, -1,113

The boy name that saw the largest decrease in usage in terms of relative numbers of babies was Daer (-80%), and the boy name that saw the steepest drop off the list was Montae (from 20 babies in 2019 to fewer than 5 in 2020).

If you can explain any of these rises (or drops), please leave a comment!

Sources: SSA, Olivia and Liam are Social Security’s Top Baby Names for 2020 – SSA

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

[Latest update: 5/11/2021]

What turned Nico into a girl name (briefly) in the 1970s?

Nico's album "Chelsea Girl" (1967)
Nico album

In places like Italy and Spain, Nico (pronounced nee-ko) is a masculine name. It’s used most often for baby boys in the United States as well, but was trendier for girls from the late ’60s to the mid-’70s:

Girls named NicoBoys named Nico
19761118
19751210
197489
19731814
19721514
19712215
19701912
19691811
1968710
19677*7
1966.6
*Debut

Why?

Because of mononymous singer Nico, who became famous during the late ’60s thanks to her performances in various Andy Warhol projects. She starred in the hit film Chelsea Girls (1966), for instance, and in 1967 she was featured on the albums The Velvet Underground & Nico and Chelsea Girl.

One factor that no doubt helped “Nico” catch on as a girl name (at least temporarily) was the trendiness of the name Nicole during the ’60s and ’70s. (I should mention that the late ’60s is also when the name Chelsea started taking off.)

Nico’s real name was Christa Päffgen. She began using her stage name (which was inspired by an ex-boyfriend named Nikos) while modeling as a teenager.

A few decades later, the male usage of “Nico” rose sharply thanks to the All My Children character Nico Kelly, who was on the soap opera from 1987 to 1989. In fact, Nico was the fastest-rising boy name of 1988. (The name of his girlfriend Cecily also saw much higher usage around that time.)

Girls named NicoBoys named Nico
19909266 [rank: 621st]
19898314 [rank: 548th]
1988596 [rank: 989th]
1987.10

What are your thoughts on the name Nico? Do you like it better as a girl name, or as a boy name?

Source: Nico – Wikipedia

P.S. A similar thing happened to the name Luka two decades later…

Popular baby names in Queensland (Australia), 2020

According to Queensland Government, the most popular baby names in the Australian state in 2020 were Charlotte and Oliver.

Here are Queensland’s top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names of 2020:

Girl Names

  1. Charlotte, 359 baby girls
  2. Olivia, 320
  3. Isla, 319
  4. Amelia, 295
  5. Mia, 256
  6. Ava, 247
  7. Harper, 227
  8. Willow, 226
  9. Grace, 222
  10. Sophie, 206

Boy Names

  1. Oliver, 525 baby boys
  2. Noah, 383
  3. Jack, 324
  4. William, 322
  5. Henry, 307
  6. Theodore, 283
  7. Elijah, 273
  8. Leo, 267
  9. Thomas, 266
  10. Hudson, 263

In the girls’ top 10, Sophie replaced Matilda.

In the boys’ top 10, Theodore replaced Harrison.

Notably, the name Maverick entered the top 100 for the first time last year, jumping from 169th in 2019 to 84th in 2020.

The other big movers among boys’ names were Luka (154th most popular to 95th most popular) and Gabriel (No.139 to No.96).

And there were three girls’ names that made similar leaps – Holly (No.139 to No.79), Billie (No.109 to No.52) and Hallie (No.137 to No.88).

In 2019, the top two baby names in Queensland were Olivia and Oliver.

Sources: Top 100 Baby Names – Queensland Government, Charlotte and Oliver are the new David and Michelle

Popular baby names in Slovenia, 2019

Flag of Slovenia
Flag of Slovenia

According to Slovenia’s Statistical Office, the most popular baby names in the country in 2019 were Zala and Luka.

Here are Slovenia’s top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names of 2019:

Girl Names

  1. Zala, 272 baby girls
  2. Ema, 224
  3. Mia, 213
  4. Julija, 176
  5. Sara, 164
  6. Ela, 163
  7. Lara, 161
  8. Eva, 160 (tie)
  9. Hana, 160 (tie)
  10. Zoja, 149

Boy Names

  1. Luka, 282 baby boys
  2. Filip, 241
  3. Jakob, 233
  4. Nik, 232
  5. Mark, 231
  6. Tim, 177
  7. Jan, 171
  8. Jaka, 164
  9. Oskar, 162
  10. Žan, 156

In the girls’ top 10, Ela, Hana, and Zoja replaced Nika, Maša, and Lana.

(The top girl name, Zala, is a short form of Rozalija, the Slovene form of Rosalia. The other Z-name on the girls’ list, Zoja, is the Slovene form of Zoe.)

In the boys’ top 10, Oskar replaced Lovro.

In 2018, the top names were Ema and Luka.

Sources: Top Baby Names – Republic of Slovenia Statistical Office, Zala – Behind the Name

Image: Adapted from Flag of Slovenia (public domain)