How popular is the baby name Me 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 Me.

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Popularity of the baby name Me


Posts that mention the name Me

How did Hmong immigration influence U.S. baby names?

Hmong girls in Laos (in 1973)
Hmong girls in Laos

A large number of the Laotian immigrants entering the U.S. in the 1970s and ’80s were members of the Hmong ethnic minority.

The Hmong made up the bulk of the Laotian soldiers who, since the early 1960s, had been recruited, trained, and armed by the CIA to fight against pro-communist forces in Laos. When the Pathet Lao gained control in 1975, tens of thousands of Hmong, fearing retribution, fled the country. About 90% of them were eventually resettled in the United States.

Did the arrival of Hmong immigrants have an impact on U.S. baby names?

Yes — Hmong names began showing up in the SSA data in the late 1970s:

197719781979
Pang.5 girls*10 girls
Pa..10 girls*
Cheng..9 boys*
Kong..9 boys*
Kou..6 boys*
See..6 girls*
Keng..5 boys*
Meng..5 boys*
Nou..5 girls*
Pao.5 boys*
*Debut

Dozens of other Hmong names debuted during the 1980s. Here’s what I’ve spotted so far:

Notably, Tou, Kao and Teng were among the top boy-name debuts of 1980. Tou was the highest-debuting boy name of the year, in fact.

Names that had previously appeared in the data — names like Bao, Cha, Chia, Chang, Chong, Fong, Ka, Mai, Mee, Phong, Sai, Tong, Vang, and Yee — were also used by the Hmong. These particular names all saw higher usage in the ’80s in either Wisconsin or Minnesota — two states with relatively large Hmong populations.

Interestingly, almost all of the Hmong names above are English transliterations of Hmong words. Blong, for instance, is based on nplooj, meaning “leaf.” (Nplooj is written in the Latin-based Hmong RPA.) Two of the non-transliterated names are Nkauj and Hli, which come directly from nkauj, meaning “girl” or “song,” and hli, meaning “moon.”

Sources:

Image: Adapted from Hmong girls in Laos 1973 2 by grjenkins under CC BY 2.0.

Interesting one-hit wonder names in the U.S. baby name data

single flower

They came, they went, and they never came back!

These baby names are one-hit wonders in the U.S. baby name data. That is, they’ve only popped up once, ever, in the entire dataset of U.S. baby names (which accounts for all names given to at least 5 U.S. babies per year since 1880).

There are thousands of one-hit wonders in the dataset, but the names below have interesting stories behind their single appearance, so these are the one-hits I’m writing specific posts about. Just click on a name to read more.

2020s

2010s

2000s

1990s

1980s

1970s

1960s

1950s

1940s

1930s

1920s

1910s

1900s

  • (none yet)

1890s

As I discover (and write about) more one-hit wonders in the data, I’ll add the names/links to this page. In the meanwhile, do you have any favorite one-hit wonder baby names?

Image: Adapted from Solitary Poppy by Andy Beecroft under CC BY-SA 2.0.

[Latest update: Apr. 2024]