How popular is the baby name Matthew 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 Matthew.

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Popularity of the baby name Matthew


Posts that mention the name Matthew

Most popular first letters for baby names, 2016

What were the most popular first letters for baby names in 2016?

Here’s a chart showing the first letter breakdown for girl names:

first letter, girl names, baby names, 2016, chart

For girls, the most-used first letter was A, followed by M and E. The least-used first letter was U.

The three most-used girl names per letter last year were…

A: Ava, Abigail, Amelia
B: Brooklyn, Bella, Brianna
C: Charlotte, Chloe, Camila
D: Delilah, Daisy, Daniela
E: Emma, Emily, Evelyn
F: Faith, Finley, Fiona
G: Grace, Genesis, Gabriella
H: Harper, Hannah, Hazel
I: Isabella, Isabelle, Ivy
J: Julia, Josephine, Jade
K: Kennedy, Kaylee, Kylie
L: Lily, Lillian, Layla
M: Mia, Madison, Mila
N: Natalie, Nora, Naomi
O: Olivia, Olive, Oakley
P: Penelope, Paisley, Piper
Q: Quinn, Queen, Quincy
R: Riley, Ruby, Reagan
S: Sophia, Sofia, Scarlett
T: Taylor, Trinity, Teagan
U: Unique, Uma, Una
V: Victoria, Violet, Vivian
W: Willow, Willa, Winter
X: Ximena, Xiomara, Xena
Y: Yaretzi, Yareli, Yamileth
Z: Zoey, Zoe, Zara

Here’s the breakdown for boy names:

first letter, boy names, baby names, 2016, chart

For boys, the most-used first letter was J, followed by A and C. The least-used letter was U.

The three most-used boy names per letter last year were…

A: Alexander, Aiden, Anthony
B: Benjamin, Brayden, Bryson
C: Carter, Christopher, Caleb
D: Daniel, David, Dylan
E: Elijah, Ethan, Eli
F: Finn, Felix, Francisco
G: Gabriel, Grayson, Gavin
H: Henry, Hunter, Hudson
I: Isaac, Isaiah, Ian
J: James, Jacob, Jackson
K: Kevin, Kayden, Kingston
L: Liam, Lucas, Logan
M: Mason, Michael, Matthew
N: Noah, Nathan, Nicholas
O: Oliver, Owen, Oscar
P: Parker, Patrick, Preston
Q: Quinn, Quentin, Quincy
R: Ryan, Robert, Roman
S: Samuel, Sebastian, Sawyer
T: Thomas, Theodore, Tyler
U: Uriel, Uriah, Ulises
V: Vincent, Victor, Valentino
W: William, Wyatt, Wesley
X: Xavier, Xander, Xzavier
Y: Yusuf, Yosef, Yahir
Z: Zachary, Zayden, Zane

Finally, here are both genders side-by-side:

first letter, baby names, 2016, chart

Overall, the top first letter was A, followed by J and M. And the least popular letter was, of course, U.

Here’s last year’s post on the most and least popular first letters of 2015.

Most popular lengths for baby names, 2016

The long and short of it is that U.S. parents don’t choose long and short baby names as often as they choose mid-length baby names. The most popular lengths for baby names in 2016? 6 letters, followed by 5 letters, followed by 7 letters…yet again.

Here’s a chart showing the length breakdown for girl names:

lengths, girl names, baby names, 2016, chart

The most-used girl names per length (from 2 to 10 letters) last year were…

And here’s the breakdown for boy names:

lengths, boy names, baby names, 2016, chart

The most-used boy names per length (from 2 to 10 letters) were…

Finally, here are both genders on the same chart:

lengths, boy names, baby names, girl names, 2016, chart

Here’s last year’s post on the top name lengths of 2015, if you’d like to compare.

Popular baby names in Northern Ireland (UK), 2016

Flag of the United Kingdom
Flag of the United Kingdom

According to data released on April 27 by the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA), the most popular baby names in Northern Ireland in 2016 were Emily and James.

Here are the country’s top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names of 2016:

Girl Names
1. Emily, 237 baby girls
2. Grace, 198
3. Olivia, 191
4. Anna, 164
5. Sophie, 155
6. Lily, 151
7. Amelia, 150
8. Ella, 142
9. Ava, 136
10. Sophia, 135

Boy Names
1. James, 254 baby boys
2. Jack, 243
3. Oliver, 207
4. Charlie, 204
5. Noah, 201
6. Harry, 188
7. Jacob, 173
8. Daniel, 159
9. Matthew, 142
10. Alfie, 139

In the girls’ top ten, Lily and Sophia replaced Aoife and Lucy. In the boys’ top ten, Jacob and Alfie replaced Thomas and Jake.

The top names in the Republic of Ireland in 2016 were also Emily and James.

Here are the 2015 rankings for Northern Ireland.

Source: Baby Names – NISRA

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

Popular baby names in Moldova, 2016

Flag of Moldova
Flag of Moldova

According to an article published in late January by Moldovan news site Publika TV, the most popular baby names in Moldova in 2016 were Sofia and David.

The article was hard to interpret, but here’s my guess at Moldova’s top girl names and top boy names of 2016:

Girl Names
1. Sofia
2. Anastasia
3. Daria
4. Victoria
5. Alexandra
6. Evelina
7. Amelia
8. Andrea
9. Valeria
10. Gabriela

Boy Names
1. David
2. Maxim
3. Alexandru
4. Artiom (…which is based on the name of Greek goddess Artemis)
5. Ion (…looks molecular, but it’s actually a form of John)
6. Bogdan
7. Daniel
8. Matthew
9. Nikita
10. Michael

The top names in 2014 were Sofia and Maxim.

Source: Most popular baby names chosen by Moldovans in 2016

Image: Adapted from Flag of Moldova (public domain)