How popular is the baby name Markus 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 Markus.

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Popularity of the baby name Markus


Posts that mention the name Markus

Popular baby names in Estonia, 2013

Flag of Estonia
Flag of Estonia

Estonia’s top baby names of 2013 were published in the newspaper Postimees at the end of 2012.

The paper didn’t explicitly mention the source of the information (the Ministry of the Interior?) but reported that the country’s most popular names from January to November, 2013, were Maria and Rasmus.

Here are Estonia’s projected top 15 girl names and top 15 boy names of 2013:

Girl Names

  1. Maria*
  2. Sofia
  3. Laura
  4. Anna*
  5. Mia/Miia
  6. Milana
  7. Lisandra
  8. Mirtel
  9. Viktoria
  10. Liisa
  11. Arina
  12. Darja
  13. Aleksandra
  14. Sandra
  15. Adeele/Adele

Boy Names

  1. Rasmus
  2. Artjom*
  3. Martin
  4. Robin
  5. Oliver
  6. Markus
  7. Nikita*
  8. Romet
  9. Sebastian
  10. Sander
  11. Kristofer
  12. Robert
  13. Oskar
  14. Maksim
  15. Daniel

(The names with asterisks (*) are particularly popular among Russian-speakers in Estonia.)

Names that increased in popularity last year include Rasmus, Gregor and Mia.

Kevin, Kristjan and Kristina, on the other hand, decreased in popularity “significantly.”

Mirtel, 8th on the girls’ list, was rare until Estonian actress Mirtel Pohla came along.

The name Lenna was similarly uncommon until Estonian singer Lenna Kuurmaa hit the scene, and now Lenna is “quite popular,” though not in the top 15.

Robin, 4th on the boys’ list, is a curious one. It’s not an Estonian name, but simply the English male name Robin. And yet it’s trending in Estonia right now. (The last time Robin was trendy in the U.S. was a half century ago, and most of those baby Robins were female.) Could the inspiration be “Blurred Lines” singer Robin Thicke? I know it’s a long shot, but that’s all I can think of.

Postimees also published the following list of Estonia’s most popular baby names from 1992 to 2004. (They did say the Ministry of the Interior was the source for this one.)

Top Girl Names, 1992–2004Top Boy Names, 1992–2004
1. Anna
2. Laura
3. Kristina
4. Maria
5. Diana
6. Sandra
7. Anastassia
8. Jekaterina
9. Karina
10. Alina
11. Kristiina
12. Aleksandra
13. Viktoria
14. Darja
15. Liis
16. Anastasia
17. Kätlin
18. Julia
19. Valeria		1. Martin
2. Sander
3. Aleksandr
4. Kristjan
5. Kevin
6. Nikita
7. Markus
8. Artur
9. Maksim
10. Karl
11. Dmitri
12. Daniil
13. Siim
14. Rasmus
15. Aleksei
16. Andrei
17. Artjom
18. Mihkel
19. Ilja

I’m guessing 2004 was picked as an endpoint because Estonia enacted a name law in early 2005 that regulates baby name orthography (to start weeding out foreign letters such as x, y and c). The full list has 677 names; at the bottom are names like Sirje, Raina, Raneli and Patricia.

Sources: And This Year’s Most Popular Baby Names Are…, These are the days of Rasmus, Artjom, Maria and Sofia

Image: Adapted from Flag of Estonia (public domain)

Will the iPhone 4S give the name Siri a boost?

Time for another baby name prediction!

Apple introduced the iPhone 4S earlier this month, and the first shipments should be arriving any day now.

The phone’s Siri voice recognition/dictation software has got people talking — literally. Because Siri allows you to have a verbal conversation with your iPhone. So far the software has received positive reviews, like this one from Engadget:

The most impressive part was the demo of Siri, the new assistant that lets you do just about anything you can do on your phone — but with your voice. We tried to psych it out with a bunch of random requests, including the history of Chester, Vermont (a lovely town) and the best Ramen places in San Francisco. Siri never faltered, never missed a beat.

Siri was developed by a company called, logically, Siri. The company was a spin-off of SRI International, so I initially guessed that “Siri” might be based upon the acronym SRI (“Stanford Research Institute”). I was wrong, though — it came from Siri’s Norwegian-American co-founder Dag Kittlaus, who explained:

I worked with a lady named Siri in Norway and wanted to name my daughter Siri and the domain was available. And also consumer companies need to focus on the fact that the name is easy to spell, is easy to say…

(The Norwegian name Siri is a short form of Sigrid, which can be traced back to Old Norse elements meaning “victory” and “beautiful.”)

When Dag didn’t end up using the name for a baby — his first child was a boy, named Markus — he decided to use it for a company instead.

Apple acquired Siri in April of 2010, and the rest is history.

The fact that a highly coveted Apple product now features software named “Siri” could be a game-changer for the baby name Siri, which was already on the upswing:

  • 2010: 111 baby girls named Siri [ranked 1,831st]
  • 2009: 120 baby girls named Siri
  • 2008: 115 baby girls named Siri
  • 2007: 108 baby girls named Siri
  • 2006: 105 baby girls named Siri
  • 2005: 72 baby girls named Siri
  • 2004: 55 baby girls named Siri
  • 2003: 44 baby girls named Siri
  • 2002: 36 baby girls named Siri
  • 2001: 29 baby girls named Siri

Do you think the iPhone will give the name Siri a boost? Perhaps nudge it into the top 1,000? (The cut-off in 2010 was 249 baby girls.)

Why or why not?

Update, 10/2020: Looks like the iPhone definitely influenced the baby name Siri — but not in a positive direction! Here are the latest numbers for Siri…

  • 2019: 13 baby girls names Siri
  • 2018: 20 baby girls names Siri
  • 2017: 20 baby girls names Siri
  • 2016: 24 baby girls names Siri
  • 2015: 25 baby girls names Siri
  • 2014: 39 baby girls names Siri
  • 2013: 42 baby girls names Siri
  • 2012: 108 baby girls names Siri
  • 2011: 103 baby girls names Siri

Turns out 2009 was Siri’s best year in terms of usage and ranking (1,806th).

Sources: Steve Jobs wasn’t a fan of the Siri name, Meet Dag Kittlaus, the guy who made Siri and became a millionaire following a personal phone call from Steve Jobs, Siri – Behind the Name

Popular baby names in Norway, 2010

Flag of Norway
Flag of Norway

The top baby girl and baby boy names in Norway last year were Emma and Lukas — the same as in 2009.

Here are the top ten girl names:

  1. Emma (465 baby girls)
  2. Linnea/Linea (452)
  3. Sara/Sahra/Sarah (426)
  4. Sofie/Sophie (423)
  5. Nora/Norah (411)
  6. Ingrid/Ingerid/Ingri (399)
  7. Thea/Tea (389)
  8. Emilie (387)
  9. Ida (381)
  10. Maja/Maia/Maya (353)

And here are the top ten boy names:

  1. Lukas/Lucas (552 baby boys)
  2. Emil (492)
  3. Mathias/Matias (491)
  4. William (443)
  5. Magnus (435)
  6. Markus/Marcus (428)
  7. Jonas (423)
  8. Kristian/Christian (400)
  9. Oliver (384)
  10. Alexander/Aleksander (380)

And here are a few other interesting facts:

  • 52% of the girls born in 2010 have names that end with -a or -ah.
  • 20% of the boys born in 2010 have biblical names.
  • Mohammad was the most popular baby boy name in Oslo.
  • Norwegian parents seem to be “avoiding names involving the uniquely Norwegian letters of æ, ø and å, which often cause problems and confusion in e-mail addresses and other aspects of a globalized society.”

That last point is particularly interesting. On the one hand, it’s cool that parents are gravitating toward names that will make their children’s lives simpler. On the other, names featuring Scandinavian letters like æ, ø and å represent Norway’s heritage, and it would a shame to see cultural gems like Bjørn and Jørgen fall by the wayside. (Though perhaps it’s inevitable…?)

Sources: Statistics Norway, ‘Emma’ and ‘Lukas’ most popular baby names

Image: Adapted from Flag of Norway (public domain)