How popular is the baby name Maeve 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 Maeve.

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Popularity of the baby name Maeve


Posts that mention the name Maeve

Top one-syllable baby names of 2021

single tree

Which one-syllable baby names were the most popular in the U.S. in 2021?

I scanned the 2021 U.S. baby name data and found these:

Girl Names

  1. Grace (ranked 34th overall)
  2. Claire (59th)
  3. Quinn (80th)
  4. Jade (91st)
  5. Rose (116th)
  6. Maeve (124th)
  7. Sloane (143rd)
  8. Reese (147th)
  9. Faith (169th)
  10. June (175th)

(A little lower down were Sage, Ruth, and Blake.)

Boy Names

  1. James (ranked 5th overall)
  2. Jack (11th)
  3. John (27th)
  4. Luke (32nd)
  5. Kai (71st)
  6. Brooks (77th)
  7. Beau (94th)
  8. Jace (102nd)
  9. Chase (125th)
  10. Cole (132nd)

(A little lower down were George, Rhett, and Jude.)

These lists include the same names that appeared on the 2020 lists, but in both cases the names are in a slightly different order.

And, of course, here’s the usual disclaimer: I left out the borderline boy names (Owen, Wyatt, Charles, Miles/Myles, Ryan, Ian, Rowan, Gael) that can be pronounced with either one or two syllables, depending upon the accent of the speaker. Notably, all nine of these names ranked higher than both Chase and Cole.

For more single-syllable names, check out the one-syllable girl names and one-syllable boy names posts.

Image: Adapted from 1 Drvo 06241 by Olja Simovic under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Girl names on the rise in the U.S. in 2021

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Which girl names increased in usage the most from 2020 to 2021?

Here’s a table of the fastest-rising girl names of 2021. On the left are the top 25 increases in terms of absolute numbers of babies, and on the right are the top 25 increases in terms of relative numbers of babies.

RankGirl nameAbsolute riseGirl nameRelative rise
1Isla950Thyri1,033%
2Willow766Xaila800%
3Eleanor693Esmeray586%
4Nora674Melek547%
5Maeve603Enola500%
6Leilani584Kaileen475%
7Eloise569Ivoree400%
8Ivy551Eveny400%
9Ayla544Kove400%
10Nova537Yomii350%
11Hazel 477Salah317%
12Oaklynn405Zeanna317%
13Oakley398Bloom290%
14Iris397Jasira280%
15Lainey374Ayzel267%
16Wren361Janari260%
17Violet360Khylani260%
18Lily357Yomi260%
19Raya357Aylee257%
20Luna355Aara257%
21Eliana355Jehilyn256%
22Daphne348Evren256%
23Stevie345Zohemy255%
24Sage344Lilibeth254%
25Magnolia339Haisleigh*250%

*Also at 250% were Lakeyn, Nimrat, Vamika, and Zienna.

Some possible explanations…

  • Thyri is a character on the TV series Vikings.
  • “Yomii” is a song by rapper Moneybagg Yo (lyric: “Let’s have a lil’ girl and name her Yomii”).
  • Raya is the title character in the Disney movie Raya and the Last Dragon (2021).
  • Lilibeth is very close to Lilibet, the name of the daughter (b. June 2021) of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle.

If you can explain any of the other rises, please leave a comment!

Image: Adapted from Turkey-2036 by Dennis Jarvis under CC BY-SA 2.0.

Popular baby names in Prince Edward Island (Canada), 2021

According to Prince Edward Island’s Vital Statistics Office, the most popular baby names on the island in 2021 were Alice and Oliver.

Here are PEI’s top girl names and top boy names of 2021:

Girl Names

  1. Alice, 9 baby girls
  2. Scarlett, 8
  3. Grace, Isla & Ivy, 6 each (3-way tie)
  4. Amelia, Anna, Annie, Ava, Charlotte, Ella, Ellie, Everly, Isabella, Lexi, Lucy, Maeve, Olivia, Sophia, Sophie & Willow, 5 each (16-way tie)
  5. Adeline, Eliza, Eloise, Evelyn, Georgia, Katherine, Kinsley, Nova* & Sadie, 4 each (9-way tie)
  6. Abigail, Adalyn, Addison, Brynlee, Claire, Clara, Emery, Iris, Lydia, Lyla, Nina, Sarah & Skylar, 3 each (13-way tie)

Boy Names

  1. Oliver, 13 baby boys
  2. Jack & Theo, 11 each (tie)
  3. Liam, 9
  4. Austin, Ezra, Jackson, Leo & Noah, 8 each (5-way tie)
  5. Benjamin, Emmett, Ethan, Lucas* & Theodore, 7 each (5-way tie)
  6. Charlie, Henry, Luca & William, 6 each (4-way tie)
  7. Gavin, Hudson, James, Owen & Rowan, 5 each (5-way tie)
  8. Arlo, Beau, Bennett, Elijah, Elliot, Everett, Finn, Levi, Lincoln, Max, Remy, Ryker, Sawyer, Simon, Walter & Weston, 4 each (16-way tie)

These rankings are based on data covering the year up to December 13th. By that date, 619 baby girls and 704 baby boys had been born on the island.

Unexpectedly, PEI released a complete — albeit provisional — list of baby names this time around. So this year we get to check out some of the rare names bestowed just once on the island last year:

Unique Girl NamesUnique Boy Names
Anamika, Athaliah, Brayleigh, Cloud Jrai, Drienne, Élodie, Fearyn, Gray, Haddow, Ishani, Jorie, Kasia, Lorriel, Meekhal, Morayo, Neeltje, Olive-Belle, Paloma, Rilla, Ruthy, Seren, Sudisha, Tomi, Valeah, ZeraAbdul-Rahman, Bane, Berrick, Chivir, Draven, Elon, Felix, Grayden, Hanzebriel, Ibaad, Jordy, Kelton, Leonidas, Maniriho, Marchbank, Najid, Oaks, Porter, Ranaridh, Revel, Sulla, Tully, Wyndham, Yanick, Zeyang

The boy name Bane may have been inspired by the DC Comics supervillain Bane, and the boy name Ranaridh is similar to the name of former Cambodian prime minister Norodom Ranariddh, who died in late 2021.

Finally, in 2020, the top baby names on the island were Nora/Charlotte (tie) and Hudson.

*Nova and Lucas might actually be 4th-place names. My source included conflicting information.

Source: Alice, Oliver most popular P.E.I. baby names in 2021 (12/29)

Popular baby names in England and Wales (UK), 2020

Flag of the United Kingdom
Flag of the United Kingdom

According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the most popular baby names in England and Wales last year — for the fifth year in a row — were Olivia and Oliver.

Here are the top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names of 2020:

Girl Names

  1. Olivia, 3,640 baby girls
  2. Amelia, 3,319
  3. Isla, 2,749
  4. Ava, 2,679
  5. Mia, 2,303
  6. Ivy, 2,166
  7. Lily, 2,150
  8. Isabella, 2,052
  9. Rosie, 2,035
  10. Sophia, 2,028

Boy Names

  1. Oliver, 4,225 baby boys
  2. George, 4,100
  3. Arthur, 4,052
  4. Noah, 4,042
  5. Muhammad, 3,710
  6. Leo, 3,314
  7. Oscar, 3,268
  8. Harry, 3,209
  9. Archie, 2,944
  10. Jack, 2,900

In the girls’ top 10, Ivy and Rosie replaced Grace and Freya.

In the boys’ top 10, Archie replaced Charlie. (No doubt Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s decision to name their first child Archie in 2019 gave the name a boost, but Archie was on the rise in England and Wales long before it became a royal baby name.)

The fastest-rising names within the top 100 were…

  • Arabella, Mabel, Lyra, and Maeve (for girls)
  • Roman, Milo, Otis, and Myles (for boys)

(The popular British TV series Sex Education features main characters named Otis and Maeve.)

Here are the top 10 lists for England and Wales separately:

England, Top 10Wales, Top 10
Girl NamesOlivia, Amelia, Isla, Ava, Mia, Ivy, Lily, Isabella, Sophia, RosieOlivia, Amelia, Isla, Rosie, Ava, Lily, Mia, Ella, Willow, Freya
Boy NamesOliver, George, Arthur, Noah, Muhammad, Leo, Oscar, Harry, Archie, HenryNoah, Oliver, Leo, Theo, Finley, Arthur, George, Archie, Oscar, Charlie

Finally, here are some of the rare baby names from the other end of the rankings. Each one was given to just 3 babies in England and Wales last year.

Rare Girl NamesRare Boy Names
Aelfwynn, Aerith, Berfin, Boheme, Croia, Dorsa, Dwija, Elitsa, Fianna, Gwennie, Hecate, Hetvi, Isla-Bleu, Jamia, Junainah, Kimran, Liarna, Liliwen, Mehwish, Navara, Noorul, Otterly, Palma, Quratulain, Rimsha, Saltanat, Tafida, Tanzeela, Unaizah, Vesa, Wajan, ZimmalAlazar, Brychan, Cavanni, Corran, Dhvij, Ensar, Floki, Grantas, Gruff, Hendry, Huxon, Itanas, Jaivik, Kitson, Lindon, Mursalin, Nandor, Nyron, Oviyan, Phaedon, Qaim, Reggie-Blu, Riven, Romarni, Sejun, Tecwyn, Tomek, Udham, Vishwak, Wolfram, Xheison, Yuvi, Zennor

Liliwen comes from lili wen, one of the Welsh words for snowdrop (a small, white flower that blooms during the winter). The hyphenated variant Lili-wen was also given to three baby girls last year, bringing the grand total to six.

Also given to six baby girls last year? The name Eirlys, from eirlys, another Welsh word for snowdrop. :)

P.S. Want to see the 2019 rankings?

Sources: Baby names in England and Wales: 2020 (ONS), All data related to Baby names in England and Wales: 2020 (ONS), Snowdrops at Penrhyn Castle

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