How popular is the baby name Mark 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 Mark.

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Popularity of the baby name Mark


Posts that mention the name Mark

Popular baby names in Estonia, 2024 & 2023

Flag of Estonia
Flag of Estonia

Last year, the Baltic state of Estonia (which shares land borders with Latvia and Russia) welcomed 9,690 babies — 4,757 girls and 4,933 boys.

What were the most popular names among these babies? Sofia and Mark.

Here are the county’s top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names of 2024:

Girl names, 2024

  1. Sofia, 79 baby girls
  2. Mia, 62
  3. Emilia, 54 (tie)
  4. Olivia, 54 (tie)
  5. Saara, 49
  6. Emma, 46
  7. Eva, 45
  8. Arabella, 43 (tie)
  9. Nora, 43 (tie)
  10. Lenna, 37

Boy names, 2024

  1. Mark, 75 baby boys
  2. Hugo, 57 (tie)
  3. Oliver, 57 (tie)
  4. Sebastian, 51
  5. Robin, 46
  6. Aron, 44
  7. Leon, 42
  8. Oskar, 40
  9. David, 39
  10. Lukas, 35

The news release noted that Aaron is nearly as popular as Aron (#6), and that, if both spellings of the name had been counted together, Aron/Aaron “would have been the most popular boy’s name for the past seven years.”

It also mentioned that Nora’s “success story began with a sharp increase in popularity in 2017.” I wish it had revealed why Nora became trendy all of a sudden in 2017, though. (Does anyone out there have a theory?)

One year earlier, Estonia welcomed a total of 10,949 babies — 5,386 girls and 5,563 boys. Here are the country’s top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names of 2023:

Girl names, 2023

  1. Sofia, 112 baby girls
  2. Mia, 58
  3. Olivia, 54
  4. Emily, 52
  5. Emma, 51 (3-way tie)
  6. Eva, 51 (3-way tie)
  7. Lenna, 51 (3-way tie)
  8. Emilia, 50
  9. Amelia, 49
  10. Saara, 43

Boy names, 2023

  1. Mark, 90 baby boys
  2. Hugo, 62
  3. Miron, 54 (tie)
  4. Robin, 54 (tie)
  5. Oliver, 53
  6. Rasmus, 50
  7. Sebastian, 49
  8. David, 45
  9. Jasper, 44
  10. Daniel, 43

In 2022, the top names in Estonia were also Sofia and Mark. It 2021, they were Mia and Robin.

Sources (all from Eesti Statistika):

Image: Adapted from Flag of Estonia (public domain)

Popular baby names in Ukraine, 2023

Flag of Ukraine
Flag of Ukraine

The country of Ukraine is located in Eastern Europe. It shares a border with Russia, Belarus, Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, and Moldova.

According to Ukraine’s Ministry of Justice, the top baby names of 2023 in the center-west part of the country — the city of Kyiv plus five nearby oblasts (Kyiv, Vinnytsia, Khmelnytskyi, Zhytomyr, Cherkasy) — were Mariya (Maria) and Yeva (Eva) for girls and Mark and Oleksandr (Alexander) for boys.

Here’s a visual of the area:

Map of Ukraine
Map of Ukraine

Below you’ll find the top names for each of the six locations. Rankings weren’t specified, so, in the tables below, I’ve written the names in the order in which they appeared in the news release.

Kyiv (city)

Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital, has a population of over 2.9 million. Here are Kyiv’s top baby names of 2023:

Girl namesBoy names
City of KyivMariya
Solomiya
Yeva
Polina		Maksym
Mark
Tymofiy
Oleksandr
Danylo
Mykhaylo

The city’s rare names included…

  • Girls: Paulina, Oriyana, Yevdokiya, Klara, Vesna, Vedana, Dana, Astrid, Dzvinka-Iya, Sakhara, Oktaviya, Vohnena, Ariya, Afina-Penelopa, Yaruna, Dzvinka, Kylyna, Emmanuela, Ilariya, Mahda, Yustyna, Freya, Hlafira, Matilda, Iulianiya, Inha, Lili, Leonida, Zoreslava, Afina, Nefa
  • Boys: Zoreslav, Leslav, Yanislav, Veles, Ratmyr, Kyy, Lyutsyfer, Hraf, Korniy, Budymyr, Vir, Eney, Serafym, Yerofiy, Lyuksor, Elizar, Ioann, Harri, Adonis, Ares, Iliodor, Mars, Teo, Yan, Domian, Zevs, Hrey, Kay

Lyutsyfer and Lyuksor are the Ukrainian versions of Lucifer and Luxor, and Veles is the Slavic god of the underworld.

Kyiv Oblast

Kyiv Oblast has a population of over 1.7 million. Here are the region’s top baby names of 2023:

Girl namesBoy names
Kyiv OblastDaryna
Zlata
Polina
Sofiya
Yeva
Solomiya
Anna		Tymofiy
Tymur
Maksym
Mark
Bohdan
Oleksandr
Dmytro

The region’s rare names included…

  • Girls: Alisi, Luna, Snyezhka, Mane, Lisanna, Yesfir, Eluna, Virsaviya, Dominika, Roksana, Adel, Francheska, Armine, Slavyana, Yeremiya
  • Boys: Reyan, Leon, Karim, Sayan, Mikhey, Elman, Ruvim, Iliya, Teodor, Lavrin

Vinnytsia Oblast

Vinnytsia Oblast has a population of over 1.5 million. Here are the region’s top baby names of 2023:

Girl namesBoy names
Vinnytsia OblastMilana
Anna
Daryna
Alina
Anastasiya		Oleksandr
Dmytro
Tymofiy
Denys
Andriy
Maksym

The region’s rare names included…

  • Girls: Aviva-Svitantsvitayne, Infiniti-Marta, Nana, Ariella, Yesfir, Aya, Yevnika, Zarichna, Hloriya, Madonna, Vilena, Zhasmina, Daliya, Ayla, Dzhulyeta, Yustiniya, Liyel
  • Boys: Ruvym, Isaak, Kamil, Kimran, Yunus, Nikolos, Akim, Ernest, Ustym, Samuel, Vidar, Ilay, Ksavyer, Avel, Rozhden, Ioana

Svitantsvitayne appears to be an invented name based on the Ukrainian word svitanok, meaning “dawn.”

Khmelnytskyi Oblast

Khmelnytskyi Oblast has a population of over 1.27 million. Here are the region’s top baby names of 2023:

Girl namesBoy names
Khmelnytskyi OblastAnastasiya
Anna
Viktoriya
Yeva
Zlata
Oleksandra
Solomiya
Sofiya		Artem
Bohdan
Vladyslav
Danylo
Mark
Matviy
Myroslav
Tymofiy

The region’s rare names included…

  • Girls: Ayisha, Ameliya, Hoar, Eteri, Liliana, Miray, Tsvitana, Yaremiya
  • Boys: Bohomir, Yoan, Murat, Nektariy, Nikola, Nolan, Ovsiy, Radyslav

Zhytomyr Oblast

Zhytomyr Oblast has a population of over 1.21 million. Here are the region’s top baby names of 2023:

Girl namesBoy names
Zhytomyr OblastAnastasiya
Anhelina
Daryna
Yeva
Milana
Solomiya
Tetyana
Yuliya		Bohdan
Vladyslav
Danylo
Dmytro
Zakhar
Yevhen
Ivan
Roman
Taras
Yaroslav

Zakhar is a form of Zacharias, and Taras is based on the Ancient Greek name Tarasios.

The region’s rare names included…

  • Girls: Avreliya, Ahata, Ahnesa, Ahlaya, Ada-Mariya, Adel, Aymel, Alana, Aliche, Aliya, Amaliya, Ariel, Afina, Beatrysa, Versaviya, Vitsentina, Hnata, Ester, Zhasmin, Kamila-Rafaila, Kvitoslava, Laura, Nila-Ester, Samira, Teona, Tereza, Faustyna, Khafsa
  • Boys: Azmir, Alan, Artyom, Domyen, Elkhan, Ernest, Emmanuyil, Yehoriy, Zhdan, Ilay, Isa, Yonatan, Maverik, Matfyey, Monik, Myrolyub, Mukhammed Ali, Natan, Nikolas, Ostin, Ruvym, Savva

Myrolyub is made up of Slavic elements meaning “peace” and “love” — very good concepts to be focused on during wartime.

Cherkasy Oblast

Cherkasy Oblast has a population of close to 1.2 million. Here are the region’s top baby names of 2023:

Girl namesBoy names
Cherkasy OblastAnastasiya
Anna
Emiliya
Yeva
Zlata
Miya
Solomiya		Andriy
Bohdan
Zakhar
Maksym
Matviy
Oleksandr
Tymofiy

The region’s rare names included…

  • Girls: Alisiya, Vlastelina, Dinara, Elzara, Zakariya, Luana, Muna, Ruta, Teona
  • Boys: Alim, Vakula, Dobrynya, Edem, Yeseniy, Zlatan, Ilay, Remus, Samedin, Yarem

Vakula is the protagonist of the short story “Christmas Eve” (1832) by Ukrainian-born Russian writer Nikolai Gogol (Ukranian: Mykola Hohol).

P.S. Ukraine’s Ministry of Justice released the top baby names of 2022 for Kyiv and each of the five oblasts, but not for the center-west part of the country overall.

Sources:

Image: Adapted from Flag of Ukraine (public domain)
Map: Adapted from Ukraine (1991-2014) location map by NordNordWest under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Popular baby names in Finland, 2024

Flag of Finland
Flag of Finland

Last year, the Nordic country of Finland welcomed 43,720 babies.

What were the most popular names among these babies?

Well, it depends — Finland publishes three sets of baby name rankings: names used by Finnish speakers (84.1% of the population), names used by Swedish speakers (5.1%), and names used by speakers of any other language (such as Russian, Arabic, or Sami).

Finnish speakers

The most popular baby names among Finnish-speakers in Finland last year were Olivia and Oliver.

Here are the top 50 girl names and top 50 boy names:

Girl names (Finnish speakers)

  1. Olivia, 249 baby girls
  2. Aino, 231
  3. Linnea, 230
  4. Sofia, 227
  5. Isla, 219 (tie)
  6. Ellen, 219 (tie)
  7. Lilja, 218
  8. Eevi, 204
  9. Aava, 202 (tie)
  10. Helmi, 202 (tie)
  11. Viola, 193
  12. Hilla, 191
  13. Aada, 185
  14. Venla, 182
  15. Ella, 167
  16. Emma, 159
  17. Elli, 156
  18. Pihla, 151
  19. Emilia, 138
  20. Seela, 137
  21. Enni, 132
  22. Kerttu, 130
  23. Livia, 129
  24. Matilda, 128
  25. Alma, 121
  26. Elsi, 119
  27. Aurora, 116
  28. Hilda, 115 (tie)
  29. Elsa, 115 (tie)
  30. Minea, 114
  31. Ilona, 112
  32. Hilma, 111
  33. Frida, 110
  34. Alva, 105
  35. Mette, 102
  36. Amanda, 100 (tie)
  37. Selma, 100 (tie)
  38. Alisa, 99
  39. Vivian, 98
  40. Bea, 95
  41. Oona, 92
  42. Lumi, 90
  43. Nella, 88 (tie)
  44. Amelia, 88 (tie)
  45. Vilma, 86 (3-way tie)
  46. Alina, 86 (3-way tie)
  47. Ronja, 86 (3-way tie)
  48. Luna, 85
  49. Elea, 83 (tie)
  50. Lotta, 83 (tie)

Boy names (Finnish speakers)

  1. Oliver, 337 baby boys
  2. Eino, 303
  3. Väinö, 292
  4. Leo, 285
  5. Elias, 277
  6. Onni, 259
  7. Toivo, 225
  8. Oiva, 219
  9. Emil, 209 (tie)
  10. Vilho, 209 (tie)
  11. Hugo, 203 (tie)
  12. Aatos, 203 (tie) – means “thought” in Finnish
  13. Eeli, 202
  14. Leevi, 190
  15. Eemil, 185
  16. Noel, 184
  17. Alvar, 176
  18. Nooa, 173
  19. Aarni, 142
  20. Daniel, 139
  21. Edvin, 138
  22. Otso, 133 – means “bear” in Finnish
  23. Lenni, 131
  24. Joel, 130
  25. Leon, 129
  26. Milo, 128 (tie)
  27. Luka, 128 (tie)
  28. Viljami, 126
  29. Anton, 125
  30. Aaron, 122 (4-way tie)
  31. Max, 122 (4-way tie)
  32. Lukas, 122 (4-way tie)
  33. Eemi, 122 (4-way tie)
  34. Eelis, 120
  35. Mikael, 118
  36. Julius, 116
  37. Kasper, 112
  38. Samuel, 111
  39. Urho, 109 (3-way tie)
  40. Aapo, 109 (3-way tie)
  41. Eetu, 109 (3-way tie)
  42. Matias, 108
  43. Jooa, 106
  44. Olavi, 105
  45. Niilo, 104 (tie)
  46. Luukas, 104 (tie)
  47. Eliel, 101
  48. Mauno, 100 (tie)
  49. Viljo, 100 (tie)
  50. Lucas, 99

Swedish speakers

The most popular baby names among Swedish-speakers in Finland last year were Olivia and Edvin.

Here are the top 5+ girl names and top 5 boy names:

Girl names (Swedish speakers)Boy names (Swedish speakers)
1. Olivia, 30
2. Saga, 28
3. Ellen, 26
4. Alva, 24
5. Ebba, 23 (tie)
6. Ines, 23 (tie)		1. Edvin, 33
2. Emil, 29
3. Oliver, 25
4. Felix, 24
5. Leon, 23

Other languages

The most popular baby names among the speakers of other languages in Finland last year were Sofia and Muhammad.

Here are the top 5 girl names and top 5 boy names:

Girl names (other languages)Boy names (other languages)
1. Sofia, 48
2. Emilia, 29
3. Olivia, 28
4. Emma, 23
5. Milana, 22		1. Muhammad, 48
2. Elias, 41
3. Daniel, 36
4. Mark, 35
5. Adam, 32

Finally, here are Finland’s 2023 rankings, if you’d like to compare last year to the year before.

Sources:

Image: Adapted from Flag of Finland (public domain)

Where did the baby name Rhondda come from in 1946?

Rhondda Kelly, Miss Australia 1946
Rhondda Kelly

In December of 1945, the Miss Australia beauty pageant was held in Sydney.

The winner was 19-year-old university student Rhondda Kelly, the representative from Queensland (fittingly).

At least one Australian baby girl — born in March to Mr. and Mrs. Mark Fellows at the Lady Musgrave Maternity Hospital in Maryborough, Queensland — was named Rhondda in her honor.

But I don’t think this baby was her only namesake.

Why? Because, in mid-1946, Rhondda Kelly embarked upon a six-month round-the-world trip that included an east-to-west crossing of the U.S. and Canada during October. Photographs of Miss Australia 1946 were published in various U.S. papers (including the New York Times) that month.

Right on cue, the name Rhondda surfaced in the U.S. baby name data:

  • 1948: unlisted
  • 1947: 6 baby girls named Rhondda
  • 1946: 5 baby girls named Rhondda [debut]
  • 1945: unlisted
  • 1944: unlisted

It remained there for just one more year before falling back below the five-baby threshold.

(Actress Rhonda Fleming — who kicked off the mid-century rise of Rhonda in the late ’40s — wasn’t given a leading role in a movie until 1947.)

So, where does the rare name Rhondda come from?

A Welsh place name (of unknown etymology) that refers to both a river, Afon Rhondda, and a valley, Cwm Rhondda, in South Wales.

What are your thoughts on the name Rhondda? Do you like this spelling, or do you prefer Rhonda?

Sources:

Image: Adapted from Rhondda Kelly (1945)