How popular is the baby name Mario 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 Mario.

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Popularity of the baby name Mario


Posts that mention the name Mario

The name Francesco gets a boost in Italy

Pope Francis (in 2020)
Pope Francis

Italian name researcher Enzo Caffarelli recently implied that the name Francesco suddenly became the top boy name in Italy after the election of Pope Francis in March of 2013.

“The name ‘Francesco’ is the most popular name for newborns in Italy so far in 2013, and it is evident that the impact of the former Jose Mario Bergoglio is the main contributing factor to the name’s new popularity,” Caffarelli said.

“New popularity”? Hm… I’m not sure I would have worded it that way.

Why? Because Francesco has been the #1 name for baby boys in Italy since 2001.

I mean, it’s possible that the Pope has given the name a boost numerically. Rankings-wise, though, it’s already at the top. Can’t go any higher.

Update, Dec. 2022: Pope Francis did indeed give Italy’s #1 boy name Francesco an added boost in 2013. Here’s the data:

  • 2015: 8,763 baby boys named Francesco in Italy
  • 2014: 10,316 baby boys named Francesco in Italy
  • 2013: 10,553 baby boys named Francesco in Italy
  • 2012: 7,978 baby boys named Francesco in Italy
  • 2011: 8,505 baby boys named Francesco in Italy

And here’s a visual:

Francesco remained the top boy name in Italy until 2017. In 2018, it was ousted by Leonardo.

Sources: The Pope Francis effect: ‘Francesco’ now Italy’s most popular baby name, How many babies are named…? – Istat

Baby names that debuted most impressively in the U.S. data, 1881 to today

lotus bud

Though most of the baby names in the SSA’s annual datasets are repeats, each dataset does contain a handful of brand-new names.

Below are the most popular debut names for every single year on record, after the first.

Why bother with an analysis like this? Because debut names often have cool stories behind them, and high-hitting debuts are especially likely to have intriguing explanations tied to historical people/events. So this is more than a list of names — it’s also a list of stories.

Here’s the format: “Girl name(s), number of baby girls; Boy name(s), number of baby boys.” Keep in mind that the raw numbers aren’t too trustworthy for about the first six decades, though. (More on that in a minute.)

1880s

  • 1881: Adell & Celeste, 14; Brown & Newell, 14
  • 1882: Verda, 14; Cleve, 13
  • 1883: Laurel, 12; Brady, Festus, Jewell, Odell & Rosco, 8
  • 1884: Crystal & Rubie, 11; Benjamen, Jens, Oakley & Whitney, 9
  • 1885: Clotilde, 13; Arley & Terence, 9
  • 1886: Manuelita, 10; Terrence, 10
  • 1887: Verlie, 13; Myles, 11
  • 1888: Ebba, 18; Carlisle, Hughie & Orvel, 9
  • 1889: Garnett, 12; Doyle, 9

1890s

  • 1890: Verena, 11; Eduardo & Maggie, 10
  • 1891: Gayle, Idabelle & Zenia, 9; Sheridan, 14
  • 1892: Astrid, Dallas & Jennett, 9; Corbett, 23
  • 1893: Elmyra, 12; Estel, Mayo, Shelley & Thorwald, 8
  • 1894: Beatriz, Carola & Marrie, 9; Arvel, Erby & Floy, 8
  • 1895: Trilby, 12; Roosevelt, 12
  • 1896: Lotus, 11; Hazen, 11
  • 1897: Dewey, 13; Bryon, Frankie, Mario & Rhoda, 7
  • 1898: Manilla, 35; Hobson, 38
  • 1899: Ardis & Irva, 19; Haven, 9

1900s

  • 1900: Luciel, 14; Rosevelt, 20
  • 1901: Venita, 11; Eino, 9
  • 1902: Mercie, 10; Clarnce, 9
  • 1903: Estela, 11; Lenon & Porfirio, 7
  • 1904: Magdaline, 9; Adrain, Arbie, Betty, Desmond, Domenic, Duard, Raul & Severo, 8
  • 1905: Oliver, 9; Eliot & Tyree, 9
  • 1906: Nedra, 11; Domenico & Ryan, 10
  • 1907: Theta, 20; Taft, 16
  • 1908: Pasqualina, 10; Robley, 12
  • 1909: Wilmoth, 9; Randal & Vidal, 9

1910s

1920s

  • 1920: Dardanella, 23; Steele, 11
  • 1921: Marilynne, 13; Norberto, 14
  • 1922: Evelean, 14; Daren, 35
  • 1923: Nalda, 15; Clinard & Dorland, 9
  • 1924: Charis, 14; Melquiades, 13
  • 1925: Irmalee, 37; Wayburn, 11
  • 1926: Narice, 13; Bibb, 14
  • 1927: Sunya, 14; Bidwell, 14
  • 1928: Joreen, 22; Alfread & Brevard, 9
  • 1929: Jeannene, 25; Donnald, Edsol, Rhys & Wolfgang, 8

1930s

(From the SSA: “Note that many people born before 1937 never applied for a Social Security card, so their names are not included in our data.”)

1940s

1950s

1960s

1970s

1980s

1990s

2000s

  • 2000: Kelis, 108; Rithik, 22
  • 2001: Yaire, 184; Jahiem, 155
  • 2002: Kaydence, 70; Omarian, 31
  • 2003: Trenyce, 88; Pharrell, 67
  • 2004: Eshal, 38; Jkwon, 100
  • 2005: Yarisbel, 30; Jayceon, 48
  • 2006: Lizania, 35; Balian, 24
  • 2007: Leilene, 81; Yurem, 206
  • 2008: Aideliz, 91; Yosgart, 72
  • 2009: Greidys, 186; Jeremih, 87

2010s

2020s

I’ve already written about some of the names above, and I plan to write about all the others as well…eventually. In the meanwhile, if you want to beat me to it and leave a comment about why Maverick hit in 1957, or why Moesha hit in 1996, feel free!

Source: U.S. SSA

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

[Latest update: May 2025]

Baby name story: Rex Oxton

Canadian couple Andy Georgiades and Vivian Ng welcomed a son named Rex Oxton in September of 2009.

Tradition dictated that the baby be named after Andy’s late father, Mario, but Andy didn’t feel comfortable passing down his dad’s name. Instead, he came up with the idea of naming the baby Rex in honor of the family business, Rex Travel Agency.

Did it seem odd to name a child after a travel agency? “On the surface, that’s what it is but, really, it’s more of a tribute to my parents and the hard work that they did. They were immigrants, they came to Canada with nothing and managed to build a business which is responsible for giving us all that we have today.”

They’d originally wanted to give the baby a Chinese middle name, but couldn’t find one they liked. Instead they used Oxton, because the baby was born during the year of the ox.

I like the way this couple thought about names. The family name didn’t work out, the Chinese name didn’t work out…but they found symbolic substitutes for both.

Source: Rushowy, Kristin. “Baby name ‘Rex’ honours grandparents’ hard work.” Toronto Star 6 Feb. 2010.

Alanis Morissette’s baby boy named Ever Imre

Alanis Morissette and husband Mario “Souleye” Treadway had their first child, a baby boy, on December 25. They named him Ever Imre.

They haven’t explained the significance behind the name yet, though I’m sure they will soon. (For what it’s worth, Imre, pronounced eem-reh, is a Hungarian name derived from Emmerich.)

In the meanwhile, let’s talk about a possible trend alert. After all, this is the second celebrity baby I know of named Ever. The first was Ever Gabo, Milla Jovovitch’s daughter, born in late 2007.

Here’s how frequently the baby name Ever has been used over the last decade:

Boys named EverGirls named EverTotal
200914669215
200817539214
200715517172
200614827175
200514810158
200412623149
200311722139
20029716113
20011028110
200080787

So there’s already an upward trajectory, and now not one but two celebs have jumped on the bandwagon. How high will the name go? Will it crack the top 1,000 for either gender, do you think?

Update, Mar. 2024: Alanis Morissette was recently on the PBS program “Finding Your Roots” [vid], and one of the ancestors she discussed with host Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr., was her maternal grandfather Imre Feuerstein. So that explains the significance behind the middle name Imre.

Source: Rovzar, Chris. “Alanis Morissette Has Baby, Names It ‘Ever Imre’.” New York Magazine 27 Dec. 2010.