How popular is the baby name Martin 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 Martin.

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Popularity of the baby name Martin


Posts that mention the name Martin

Chicago quadruplets: Sheena, Shawna, Sherry, Shannon

Dolores Harris holding quadruplet Sheena
Delores holding baby Sheena

On June 30, 1963, rare identical quadruplets were born to Delores and Bernard Harris of Chicago, Illinois.

The four baby girls were named:

  • Sheena Alice
  • Shawna Denyce
  • Sherry Julienne
  • Shannon Nellie

Delores gave them first names starting with “Sh” because she and Bernard already had a 15-month-old son named Shawn.

The first three middle names (Alice, Denyce, and Julienne) honored of staff members at Michael Reese Hospital, where the quadruplets were born. The fourth (Nellie) honored Delores’ mother.

The Harris quadruplets with mother Delores Harris and maternal grandmother Nellie Smith.
Delores and Nellie holding the quads

The quads made headlines across the country as soon as they were born. The Harris family was also featured in a long article (and over a dozen photographs) in the November 1963 issue* of Ebony magazine.

All this attention may have influenced the usage of their first names, though it’s hard to tell. Here’s the data:

Girls named
Sheena		Girls named
Shawna		Girls named
Sherry		Girls named
Shannon
1965775527,3832,569
19641005898,4922,299
19631014589,0642,052
1962852959,229†1,394
1961722808,3561,235
†Peak usage

The name Sherry had just begun declining in usage in 1963, and Shawna and Shannon were already on the rise (though it does look like they rose a bit faster the year the quads were born…?). I think the strongest case can be made for Sheena, which saw a discernible uptick in 1963-1964.

What are your thoughts on these names? Which one do you like best?

*Incidentally, the same issue covered the late August civil rights demonstration during which Martin Luther King, Jr., delivered his renowned “I Have a Dream” speech.

Sources:

Images: © 1963 Ebony

Popular baby names in Finland, 2022

Flag of Finland
Flag of Finland

The sauna-loving country of Finland is located in Northern Europe and shares a border with three other countries: Sweden, Norway, and Russia.

Most of the people in Finland speak Finnish (85.9%), but the rest of the population speaks Swedish (5.2%), Sami (0.04%), or some other language (8.9%) such as Russian, Estonian, or Arabic.

Last year, Finland welcomed 46,809 babies. At the time the country released its baby name data (in mid-April), 46,486 of these babies — 22,742 girls and 23,744 boys — had been named.

What were the most popular names overall? Olivia and Leo.

Finland’s baby name data is broken down by language group, so let’s kick things off with the Finnish speakers…

Finnish speakers

Of the 37,365 (named) babies born to Finnish speakers in Finland last year, 18,261 were girls and 19,104 were boys. Here are the top 50 girl names and top 50 boy names of 2022:

Girl Names

  1. Olivia, 276 baby girls
  2. Aino, 256
  3. Aada, 248
  4. Lilja, 238
  5. Eevi, 235
  6. Isla, 232
  7. Helmi, 227
  8. Venla, 219
  9. Sofia, 212
  10. Ellen, 210
  11. Aava, 209
  12. Hilla, 200
  13. Emma, 199
  14. Linnea, 194
  15. Pihla, 193
  16. Viola, 191 (tie)
  17. Kerttu, 191 (tie)
  18. Ella, 188
  19. Emilia, 156 (tie)
  20. Elli, 156 (tie)
  21. Enni, 148
  22. Seela, 136
  23. Hilma, 134 (tie)
  24. Hilda, 134 (tie)
  25. Elsa, 133
  26. Livia, 132
  27. Alisa, 131
  28. Alma, 128
  29. Oona, 124
  30. Ilona, 121
  31. Mila, 119
  32. Alina, 118
  33. Frida, 115
  34. Elsi, 114
  35. Matilda, 113
  36. Minea, 111
  37. Vilma, 108
  38. Mette, 105
  39. Aurora, 102
  40. Hertta, 101 (tie)
  41. Lumi, 101 (tie)
  42. Amanda, 100 (tie)
  43. Selma, 100 (tie)
  44. Viivi, 98
  45. Nella, 95
  46. Bea, 93
  47. Saimi, 89 (tie)
  48. Vivian, 89 (tie)
  49. Siiri, 87
  50. Stella, 86

Boy Names

  1. Leo, 376 baby boys
  2. Väinö, 364
  3. Eino, 349
  4. Oliver, 342
  5. Elias, 316
  6. Onni, 313
  7. Emil, 239
  8. Eeli, 225
  9. Toivo, 216
  10. Leevi, 210
  11. Noel, 199
  12. Hugo, 186
  13. Joel, 185
  14. Aatos, 184 (tie)
  15. Vilho, 184 (tie)
  16. Alvar, 181
  17. Eemil, 172
  18. Oiva, 169
  19. Otso, 159
  20. Nooa, 156
  21. Mikael, 154
  22. Aarni, 153 (tie)
  23. Viljami, 153 (tie)
  24. Niilo, 149
  25. Lenni, 148
  26. Luka, 144
  27. Daniel, 139
  28. Benjamin, 137
  29. Anton, 135
  30. Kasper, 132
  31. Edvin, 129
  32. Aaron, 128
  33. Viljo, 126
  34. Jooa, 121
  35. Julius, 120 (tie)
  36. Eetu, 120 (tie)
  37. Olavi, 119
  38. Aapo, 118
  39. Milo, 115
  40. Eelis, 114
  41. Lukas, 113
  42. Eemi, 112
  43. Leon, 111
  44. Matias, 105
  45. Urho, 104
  46. Rasmus, 101 (tie)
  47. Max, 101 (tie)
  48. Samuel, 99 (tie)
  49. Luukas, 99 (tie)
  50. Iivo, 97

Swedish speakers

Of the 3,157 (named) babies born to Swedish speakers in Finland last year, 1,552 were girls and 1,605 were boys. Here are the top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names:

Girl NamesBoy Names
1. Saga, 29
2. Ellen, 23
3. Alva, 20
4. Emma, 19
5. Stella, 17
6. Edith, 16 (4-way tie)
7. Olivia, 16 (4-way tie)
8. Astrid, 16 (4-way tie)
9. Alma, 16 (4-way tie)
10. Elsa, 15		1. Oliver, 33
2. William, 28
3. Liam, 23
4. Anton, 21 (tie)
5. Emil, 21 (tie)
6. Edvin, 20 (tie)
7. Max, 20 (tie)
8. Hugo, 19 (tie)
9. Benjamin, 19 (tie)
10. Felix/Leon, 18 each (tie)

Other languages

Of the 5,964 (named) babies born in Finland last year to parents who speak something other than Finnish or Swedish, 2,929 were girls and 3,035 were boys. Here are the top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names:

Girl NamesBoy Names
1. Sofia, 36
2. Maria, 26
3. Olivia, 22
4. Eva, 21
5. Emilia, 19
6. Mia, 18
7. Aurora, 17
8. Alisa, 16
9. Emma, 15
10. Aisha/Anna/Mira/Sara, 14 each (4-way tie)		1. Adam, 46
2. Elias, 30 (tie)
3. Muhammad, 30 (tie)
4. Mark, 29
5. Leo 28
6. Daniel, 25
7. Ali, 22
8. Mohamed, 18 (tie)
9. Noah, 18 (tie)
10. Liam/Martin/Oliver, 16 each (3-way tie)

Finally, here are Finland’s 2021 rankings, if you’d like to compare last year to the year before.

Sources: Most popular children’s names – Digital and Population Data Services Agency, Olivia and Leo are still the most popular children’s names in Finland, Population and Society – Statistics Finland

Image: Adapted from Flag of Finland (public domain)

Where did the baby names Juandalynn and Donzaleigh come from in 1970?

Donzaleigh and Juandalynn Abernathy with parents (Ralph and Juanita) and brother (Ralph), circa 1969
Donzaleigh and Juandalynn Abernathy with family

The names Donzaleigh and Juandalynn were both one-hit wonders in the U.S. baby name data in 1970:

Girls named JuandalynnGirls named Donzaleigh
1972..
1971..
197013*9*
1969..
1968..
*Debut

Where did they come from?

Juandalynn and Donzaleigh Abernathy — the daughters of civil rights activist and Baptist minister Ralph Abernathy (1926-1990).

Ralph Abernathy and Martin Luther King, Jr., co-founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in the late 1950s, following the Montgomery bus boycott (which they helped organize). King was the first president of the SCLC, but Abernathy assumed the role after King was assassinated in April of 1968.

In 1969 and 1970 — when Abernathy was in the spotlight as the new SCLC president — African American magazines like Jet and Ebony ran photos of the Abernathy family, which included Ralph, his wife Juanita, and their middle three children:

  • Juandalynn Ralpheda (b. 1954)
  • Donzaleigh Avis (b. 1957)
  • Ralph David III (b. 1959)

(Their oldest, Ralph David Jr., had died two days after birth in 1953. Their youngest, Kwame Luthuli, wasn’t born until the early 1970s.)

Juandalynn’s first and middle names were clearly inspired by her parents’ names, but I don’t know how Donzaleigh’s name was coined.

What are your thoughts on the names Juandalynn and Donzaleigh? Which one do you like more?

Sources:

Image: © 1970 Ebony

Popular baby names in France, 2022

Flag of France
Flag of France

The country of France — which was the most populous country in Europe from the Middle Ages until the early 19th century, and still ranks within the top five today — shares land borders with eight other countries: Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Monaco, Andorra, and Spain.

Last year, France welcomed about 723,000 babies.

What were the most popular names among these babies? Jade (pronounced zhahd) and Gabriel.

Here are France’s top 50 girl names and top 50 boy names of 2022:

Girl Names

  1. Jade, 3,420 baby girls
  2. Louise, 3,412
  3. Ambre, 3,380
  4. Alba, 3,280
  5. Emma, 3,158
  6. Rose, 2,692
  7. Alice, 2,520
  8. Romy, 2,409
  9. Anna, 2,380
  10. Lina, 2,355
  11. Léna, 2,266
  12. Mia, 2,173
  13. Lou, 2,114
  14. Julia, 2,056
  15. Chloé, 2,004
  16. Alma, 1,974
  17. Agathe, 1,958
  18. Iris, 1,904
  19. Inaya, 1,875
  20. Charlie, 1,834
  21. Juliette, 1,802
  22. Léa, 1,791
  23. Victoire, 1,772
  24. Luna, 1,751
  25. Giulia, 1,745
  26. Adèle, 1,718
  27. Jeanne, 1,699
  28. Nina, 1,669
  29. Eva, 1,630
  30. Olivia, 1,546
  31. Zoé, 1,523
  32. Léonie, 1,511
  33. Romane, 1,481
  34. Victoria, 1,452
  35. Nour, 1,372
  36. Inès, 1,284 (tie)
  37. Lya, 1,284 (tie)
  38. Lucie, 1,261
  39. Lyana, 1,235
  40. Lola, 1,205
  41. Alix, 1,182
  42. Charlotte, 1,176
  43. Mila, 1,173
  44. Sofia, 1,168
  45. Louna, 1,163
  46. Ava, 1,153 (tie)
  47. Margaux, 1,153 (tie)
  48. Elena, 1,149
  49. Emy, 1,118
  50. Mya, 1,115

Boy Names

  1. Gabriel, 4,889 baby boys
  2. Léo, 4,078
  3. Raphaël, 3,798
  4. Maël, 3,571
  5. Louis, 3,560
  6. Noah, 3,325
  7. Jules, 3,308
  8. Arthur, 3,284
  9. Adam, 3,212
  10. Lucas, 2,774
  11. Liam, 2,715
  12. Sacha, 2,613
  13. Isaac, 2,590
  14. Gabin, 2,561
  15. Eden, 2,460
  16. Hugo, 2,447
  17. Naël, 2,325
  18. Aaron, 2,287
  19. Mohamed, 2,237
  20. Léon, 2,203
  21. Paul, 2,200
  22. Noé, 2,154
  23. Marceau, 1,970
  24. Ethan, 1,963
  25. Nathan, 1,899
  26. Théo, 1,872
  27. Tom, 1,843
  28. Nino, 1,825
  29. Marius, 1,751
  30. Ayden, 1,717
  31. Malo, 1,715
  32. Mathis, 1,636
  33. Gaspard, 1,606
  34. Martin, 1,559
  35. Lyam, 1,549
  36. Victor, 1,537
  37. Rayan, 1,484
  38. Elio, 1,432
  39. Timéo, 1,424
  40. Eliott, 1,420
  41. Milo, 1,416
  42. Robin, 1,393
  43. Tiago, 1,383
  44. Valentin, 1,378
  45. Ibrahim, 1,359
  46. Axel, 1,350
  47. Augustin, 1,317
  48. Amir, 1,305
  49. Enzo, 1,270
  50. Imran, 1,246

The girls’ top 100 included Alya (53rd), Diane (81st), Maddy (90th), and Suzanne (97th).

The boys’ top 100 included Camille (61st), Mahé (66th), Basile (78th), and Andrea (91st).

Charlie is still rising on the girls’ side — which could explain why the parents of baby boys slightly prefer the spelling Charly (73rd) over the spelling Charlie (80th) these days.

In the capital city of Paris last year, the top boy name was also Gabriel, but the top girl name was Alma instead of Jade. (Jade was tied with Léa for 10th/11th place in Paris.)

Finally, here are France’s 2021 rankings, if you’d like to compare last year to the year before.

Sources: Classement des prénoms en France depuis 1900 – Insee, Demographic report 2022 – Insee, Demographics of France – Wikipedia

Image: Adapted from Flag of France (public domain)