How popular is the baby name Major 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 Major.

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Popularity of the baby name Major


Posts that mention the name Major

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

The top boy-name debuts of 2012

lotus bud

There weren’t many high-hitting boy name debuts on the SSA’s 2012 baby name list:

  1. Naksh, 28 baby boys
  2. Viaan, 23
  3. Shenouda, 21
  4. Tyrann, 15
  5. Dmoni, 14
  6. Ardan, 13
  7. Uwais, 13
  8. Kaydien, 12
  9. Arkan, 11
  10. Brettly, 11
  11. Maejor, 11
  12. Viyan, 11

Debut names from the 10-babies-and-under group include Cesc, Wale, Banx, Finnick, Mayjor, Savage, Logic, Maijor, Pinches, Avrumy, Greatness, Grimm, Hawkeye, Truce, Anchor, Ducati, Great, Hsa, Iggy, Romance, Scholar, Sodbileg and Wulfric.

Where do these names come from?

Here are some possible explanations:

  • Brettly – from reality show “American Restoration” cast member Brettly.
  • Dmoni – variant of Domani, which jumped in usage in 2012. Domani is one of the kids on the reality TV show “T.I. & Tiny: The Family Hustle.”
  • Finnick – from Hunger Games character Finnick Odair.
  • Grimm – from TV drama “Grimm.”
  • Hawkeye – from The Avengers character Hawkeye.
  • Maejor, Maijor, Mayjor – variants of Major, which made big gains last year. Major is one of the kids on the reality TV show “T.I. & Tiny: The Family Hustle.”
  • Naksh – from Indian TV drama “Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai,” in which characters Akshara (played by Hina Khan) and Naitik (played by Karan Mehra) have a baby boy named Naksh in early 2012.
  • Shenouda – from Shenouda III, Pope of the Church of Alexandria, who died in March of 2012.
  • Tyrann – from football player Tyrann Mathieu.
  • Viaan, Viyan – from the son of Indian actress Shilpa Shetty. The baby was born in mid-2012.
  • Wale – from rapper Wale. (His stage name is a short form of his birth name, Olubowale.)

Can you come up with explanations for any of the others?

Here’s last year’s debut list.

Source: SSA

Image: Adapted from LotusBud0048a (public domain) by Frank “Fg2” Gualtieri

Biggest changes in boy name popularity, 2012

Which boy names rose the most from 2011 to 2012?

And which ones fell?

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

Here are the differences between the two “increases” and “decreases” lists–

My list, on the left, looks at the raw number differences between the 2011 names and the 2012 names. My analysis covers all 14,162 boy names on the 2012 list.

The SSA’s list, on the right, looks at the ranking differences between the 2011 names and the 2012 names. Their analysis covers approximately the top 500 boy names on the 2012 list.

Biggest Increases

The baby boy names that saw the biggest popularity increases from 2011 to 2012 were…

Nancy’s list (raw numbers)SSA’s list (rankings)
  1. Liam, +3,286 babies [rank: 15th to 6th]
  2. Gael, +2,044 babies [rank: 408th to 146th]
  3. Brantley, +1,583 babies [rank: 321st to 158th]
  4. Jaxon, +1,539 babies [rank: 86th to 66th]
  5. Jace, +962 babies [rank: 106th to 86th]
  6. Ethan, +911 babies [rank: 7th to 3rd]
  7. Damian, +844 babies [rank: 138th to 97th]
  8. Eli, +814 babies [rank: 58th to 44th]
  9. Henry, +795 babies [rank: 57th to 43rd]
  10. Iker, +763 babies [rank: 379th to 230th]
  11. Hudson, +761 babies [rank: 112th to 93rd]
  12. Grayson, +744 babies [rank: 97th to 85th]
  13. Colton, +739 babies [rank: 74th to 65th]
  14. Lincoln, +726 babies [rank: 178th to 132nd]
  15. Dominic, +725 babies [rank: 76th to 70th]
  16. King, +699 babies [rank: 389th to 256th]
  17. Jaxson, +684 babies [rank: 140th to 106th]
  18. Jase, +667 babies [rank: 562nd to 304th]
  19. Hunter, +633 babies [rank: 55th to 45th]
  20. Mateo, +626 babies [rank: 171st to 138th]
  1. Major, +505 (988th to 483rd)
  2. Gael, +262 (408th to 146th)
  3. Jase, +258 (562nd to 304th)
  4. Messiah, +246 (633rd to 387th)
  5. Brantley, +163 (321st to 158th)
  6. Iker, +149 (379th to 230th)
  7. King, +133 (389th to 256th)
  8. Rory, +118 (599th to 481st)
  9. Ari, +73 (508th to 435th)
  10. Maverick, +72 (428th to 356th)
  11. Armani, +70 (502nd to 432nd)
  12. Knox, +66 (434th to 368th)
  13. Gianni, +66 (515th to 449th)
  14. Zayden, +63 (292nd to 229th)
  15. August, +62 (395th to 333rd)
  16. Barrett, +61 (436th to 375th)
  17. Remington, +58 (479th to 421st)
  18. Kasen, +58 (526th to 468th)
  19. Zaiden, +56 (489th to 433rd)
  20. Orion, +52 (471st to 419th)

Looks like the movie Lincoln influenced a lot of parents last year.

Here are last year’s raw number jumps and last year’s ranking jumps.

Biggest Decreases

The baby boy names that saw the biggest popularity decreases from 2011 to 2012 were…

Nancy’s list (raw numbers)SSA’s list (rankings)
  1. Jacob, -1,370 babies [rank: 1st to 1st]
  2. Justin, -1,238 babies [rank: 59th to 74th]
  3. Tyler, -1,178 babies [rank: 38th to 50th]
  4. Christopher, -1,168 babies [rank: 21st to 23rd]
  5. Joshua, -1,162 babies [rank: 14th to 17th]
  6. Anthony, -1,117 babies [rank: 11th to 15th]
  7. Hayden, -1,068 babies [rank: 90th to 109th]
  8. Daniel, -1,063 babies [rank: 10th to 11th]
  9. Jaden, -994 babies [rank: 100th to 140th]
  10. Jonathan, -925 babies [rank: 31st to 35th]
  11. Jayden, -913 babies [rank: 4th to 7th]
  12. Nicholas, -908 babies [rank: 42nd to 49th]
  13. Gabriel, -850 babies [rank: 24th to 24th]
  14. Brandon, -795 babies [rank: 47th to 56th]
  15. Gavin, -789 babies [rank: 36th to 40th]
  16. Evan, -776 babies [rank: 40th to 47th]
  17. Jose, -762 babies [rank: 65th to 72nd]
  18. Christian, -747 babies [rank: 30th to 33rd]
  19. David, -743 babies [rank: 18th to 19th]
  20. Ashton, -735 babies [rank: 109th to 141st]
  1. Braeden, -105 (476th to 581st)
  2. Yahir, -85 (429th to 514th)
  3. Kieran, -82 (474th to 556th)
  4. Cullen, -79 (472nd to 551st)
  5. Brayan, -73 (426th to 499th)
  6. Jalen, -70 (400th to 470th)
  7. Amare, -70 (425th to 495th)
  8. Trey, -69 (324th to 393rd)
  9. Casey, -62 (424th to 486th)
  10. Payton, -60 (398th to 458th)
  11. Jakob, -60 (335th to 395th)
  12. Randy, -57 (356th to 413th)
  13. Zackary, -56 (451st to 507th)
  14. Eddie, -56 (488th to 544th)
  15. Jerry, -53 (394th to 447th)
  16. Jaylen, -51 (206th to 257th)
  17. Ernesto, -50 (491st to 541st)
  18. Devon, -46 (351st to 397th)
  19. Braylon, -46 (233rd to 279th)
  20. Braden, -45 (258th to 303rd)

Here are last year’s raw number drops and last year’s ranking drops.

Source: SSA’s Change In Popularity From 2011 To 2012

Popular baby names in the United States, 2012

Flag of the United States
Flag of the United States

The #1 names in the nation are still Jacob and Sophia!

Here are the full top 50 lists:

Boy NamesGirl Names
1. Jacob, 18899
2. Mason, 18856
3. Ethan, 17547
4. Noah, 17201
5. William, 16726
6. Liam, 16687
7. Jayden, 16013
8. Michael, 15996
9. Alexander, 15105
10. Aiden, 14779
11. Daniel, 14143
12. Matthew, 13834
13. Elijah, 13719
14. James, 13271
15. Anthony, 13105
16. Benjamin, 12695
17. Joshua, 12522
18. Andrew, 12501
19. David, 12422
20. Joseph, 12404
21. Logan, 12390
22. Jackson, 12388
23. Christopher, 11777
24. Gabriel, 11442
25. Samuel, 11290
26. Ryan, 10863
27. Lucas, 10616
28. John, 10505
29. Nathan, 10357
30. Isaac, 9928
31. Dylan, 9920
32. Caleb, 9867
33. Christian, 9530
34. Landon, 9296
35. Jonathan, 9253
36. Carter, 9202
37. Luke, 8922
38. Owen, 8630
39. Brayden, 8451
40. Gavin, 8203
41. Wyatt, 8159
42. Isaiah, 8044
43. Henry, 8006
44. Eli, 7998
45. Hunter, 7967
46. Jack, 7877
47. Evan, 7851
48. Jordan, 7734
49. Nicholas, 7653
50. Tyler, 7628		1. Sophia, 22158
2. Emma, 20791
3. Isabella, 18931
4. Olivia, 17147
5. Ava, 15418
6. Emily, 13550
7. Abigail, 12583
8. Mia, 11940
9. Madison, 11319
10. Elizabeth, 9596
11. Chloe, 9595
12. Ella, 9115
13. Avery, 8272
14. Addison, 8122
15. Aubrey, 8006
16. Lily, 7889
17. Natalie, 7852
18. Sofia, 7767
19. Charlotte, 7418
20. Zoey, 7411
21. Grace, 7304
22. Hannah, 7202
23. Amelia, 7191
24. Harper, 7154
25. Lillian, 7100
26. Samantha, 6874
27. Evelyn, 6837
28. Victoria, 6814
29. Brooklyn, 6728
30. Zoe, 6383
31. Layla, 6227
32. Hailey, 5878
33. Leah, 5724
34. Kaylee, 5571
35. Anna, 5552
36. Aaliyah, 5471
37. Gabriella, 5461
38. Allison, 5387
39. Nevaeh, 5317
40. Alexis, 5306
41. Audrey, 5266
42. Savannah, 5143
43. Sarah, 5107
44. Alyssa, 5054
45. Claire, 4915
46. Taylor, 4825
47. Riley, 4786
48. Camila, 4776
49. Arianna, 4685
50. Ashley, 4678

Liam enters the top 10! 15th last year, 6th this year.

Michael just keeps getting lower and lower.

Avery, on the other hand, keeps rising on the girls’ side — 18th last year, 13th this year.

See any other interesting rises/drops so far?

Update: More from the SSA press release:

Many pop-culture naming trends appear in a popular feature of Social Security’s baby names website–the “change in popularity” page. This year’s winners for biggest jump in popularity in the Top 500 are Major and Arya. .

The fastest riser on the girls’ list may have been influenced by the popular cable TV series “Game of Thrones.” Arya is the daughter of a leader of one of the Seven Kingdoms. She also is an expert sword fighter, so doubt her influence on the popular names list at your own risk.

For the boys, parents may associate Major with the military title. Acting Commissioner Colvin added “I have no doubt Major’s rising popularity as a boy’s name is in tribute to the brave members of the U.S. military, and maybe we’ll see more boys named General in the future.” You also might trace Major’s increase in popularity to a cable TV show. “Home by Novogratz” is a popular home design show featuring Major Novogratz, the youngest son of designers Robert and Cortney.

The second fastest riser for boys was Gael, and for girls, Perla. Both names most likely are on the rise due to the increase in the Spanish-speaking population in the United States. Perla is the Latinized version of Pearl and is popular among Hispanic-Americans. Gael’s popularity could be tied to Mexican actor Gael Garcia Bernal.

Here is last year’s list.

Source: SSA

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