How popular is the baby name Michael 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 Michael.

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Popularity of the baby name Michael


Posts that mention the name Michael

Most popular baby boy names (letter by letter) in the U.S. in 2023

First letter usage for baby boy names in the U.S. in 2023

Going letter by letter, what were last year’s most popular baby boy names?

Before we get to the lists, a few quick facts:

  • The most common first letter for boy names in 2023 was J (used 10.98% of the time), followed by A (10.51%) and M (7.60%).
  • The least common first letter for boy names in 2023 was U (used 0.15% of the time), followed by Q (0.16%) and X (0.40%).
  • The first letter that increased the most in usage for boy names (from 2022 to 2023) was T.
  • The first letter that decreased the most in usage for boy names (from 2022 to 2023) was J.

Top boy names starting with A:

  1. Alexander, 7,875 baby boys
  2. Asher, 7,853
  3. Aiden, 6,675
  4. Anthony, 6,237
  5. Angel, 4,865
  6. Andrew, 4,781
  7. Adrian, 4,646
  8. Aaron, 4,551
  9. Axel, 4,498
  10. Amir, 3,620

Top boy names starting with B:

  1. Benjamin, 10,172 baby boys
  2. Brooks, 4,469
  3. Bennett, 4,411
  4. Beau, 4,090
  5. Bryson, 2,434
  6. Brayden, 2,274
  7. Braxton, 2,128
  8. Bentley, 1,906
  9. Beckett, 1,865
  10. Beckham, 1,829

Top boy names starting with C:

  1. Carter, 5,847 baby boys
  2. Caleb, 5,488
  3. Cooper, 5,425
  4. Charles, 5,395
  5. Christopher, 5,171
  6. Cameron, 5,069
  7. Christian, 4,125
  8. Colton, 3,696
  9. Carson, 3,200
  10. Connor, 2,855

Top boy names starting with D:

  1. Daniel, 8,356 baby boys
  2. David, 7,354
  3. Dylan, 7,054
  4. Dominic, 3,395
  5. Damian, 3,281
  6. Declan, 2,799
  7. Diego, 2,734
  8. Dawson, 2,439
  9. Dean, 2,281
  10. Dallas, 1,375

Top boy names starting with E:

  1. Elijah, 11,452 baby boys
  2. Ezra, 8,437
  3. Ethan, 7,763
  4. Elias, 6,980
  5. Ezekiel, 5,569
  6. Eli, 4,081
  7. Everett, 3,808
  8. Enzo, 3,796
  9. Easton, 3,637
  10. Emmett, 3,061

Top boy names starting with F:

  1. Finn, 1,907 baby boys
  2. Felix, 1,894
  3. Finley, 1,171
  4. Francisco, 1,121
  5. Fernando, 967
  6. Franklin, 776
  7. Forrest, 737
  8. Francis, 670
  9. Fabian, 656
  10. Frank, 646

Top boy names starting with G:

  1. Gabriel, 6,745 baby boys
  2. Grayson, 6,449
  3. Gael, 3,616
  4. Greyson, 3,065
  5. Giovanni, 2,911
  6. George, 2,689
  7. Graham, 2,533
  8. Griffin, 1,722
  9. Grant, 1,539
  10. Gavin, 1,512

Top boy names starting with H:

  1. Henry, 10,941 baby boys
  2. Hudson, 7,935
  3. Hunter, 3,110
  4. Harrison, 3,060
  5. Hayden, 2,219
  6. Hayes, 1,746
  7. Holden, 1,171
  8. Hendrix, 1,084
  9. Harvey, 1,022
  10. Hector, 828

Top boy names starting with I:

  1. Isaac, 6,581 baby boys
  2. Isaiah, 5,121
  3. Ian, 4,538
  4. Ivan, 2,384
  5. Israel, 1,530
  6. Ismael, 1,421
  7. Iker, 915
  8. Ibrahim, 774
  9. Isaias, 700
  10. Izaiah, 491

Top boy names starting with J:

  1. James, 11,670 baby boys
  2. Jack, 8,683
  3. John, 7,750
  4. Jackson, 7,284
  5. Joseph, 7,237
  6. Julian, 7,078
  7. Jacob, 6,976
  8. Jayden, 5,627
  9. Josiah, 5,404
  10. Joshua, 5,035

Top boy names starting with K:

  1. Kai, 4,946 baby boys
  2. Kayden, 3,120
  3. Kingston, 2,511
  4. Kaiden, 2,126
  5. Kevin, 1,914
  6. Knox, 1,770
  7. Karter, 1,590
  8. Kairo, 1,484
  9. Kyrie, 1,474
  10. Kash, 1,316

Top boy names starting with L:

  1. Liam, 20,802 baby boys
  2. Lucas, 10,842
  3. Levi, 9,347
  4. Leo, 8,120
  5. Luca, 7,770
  6. Luke, 7,217
  7. Logan, 6,686
  8. Lincoln, 4,842
  9. Leonardo, 4,012
  10. Luka, 3,650

Top boy names starting with M:

  1. Mateo, 11,229 baby boys
  2. Michael, 8,383
  3. Mason, 7,237
  4. Matthew, 7,190
  5. Maverick, 6,962
  6. Miles, 6,558
  7. Micah, 3,875
  8. Myles, 3,399
  9. Milo, 2,950
  10. Matteo, 2,503

Top boy names starting with N:

  1. Noah, 18,995 baby boys
  2. Nolan, 5,112
  3. Nathan, 5,049
  4. Nicholas, 3,242
  5. Nathaniel, 2,507
  6. Nicolas, 1,886
  7. Nico, 1,462
  8. Nash, 1,328
  9. Niko, 1,033
  10. Nasir, 739

Top boy names starting with O:

  1. Oliver, 14,741 baby boys
  2. Owen, 7,985
  3. Oscar, 1,693
  4. Omar, 1,306
  5. Otto, 1,191
  6. Onyx, 1,069
  7. Odin, 897
  8. Orion, 861
  9. Oakley, 799
  10. Ozzy, 526

Top boy names starting with P:

  1. Parker, 3,792 baby boys
  2. Peter, 1,738
  3. Patrick, 1,596
  4. Paul, 1,351 (tie)
  5. Paxton, 1,351 (tie)
  6. Phoenix, 1,243
  7. Preston, 1,228
  8. Prince, 885
  9. Pablo, 850
  10. Pedro, 753

Top boy names starting with Q:

  1. Quinn, 685 baby boys
  2. Quincy, 401
  3. Quentin, 334
  4. Quinton, 301
  5. Quintin, 120
  6. Quinten, 88
  7. Quest, 84
  8. Quadir, 70
  9. Quade, 53
  10. Qasim, 51

Top boy names starting with R:

  1. Roman, 4,777 baby boys
  2. Rowan, 4,195
  3. Ryan, 4,020
  4. Robert, 3,807
  5. River, 3,084
  6. Ryder, 2,822
  7. Rhett, 2,183
  8. Ryker, 1,976
  9. Richard, 1,638
  10. Riley, 1,627

Top boy names starting with S:

  1. Sebastian, 8,865 baby boys
  2. Samuel, 7,973
  3. Santiago, 6,328
  4. Silas, 4,070
  5. Sawyer, 2,833
  6. Stetson, 1,987
  7. Simon, 1,398
  8. Steven, 1,387
  9. Saint, 1,059
  10. Sonny, 924

Top boy names starting with T:

  1. Theodore, 11,041 baby boys
  2. Thomas, 6,598
  3. Thiago, 4,505
  4. Theo, 4,122
  5. Tyler, 2,064
  6. Tate, 1,845
  7. Tucker, 1,802
  8. Timothy, 1,733
  9. Tatum, 1,492
  10. Tristan, 1,373

Top boy names starting with U:

  1. Uriel, 606 baby boys
  2. Uriah, 378
  3. Ulises, 221
  4. Ulysses, 169
  5. Umar, 152
  6. Uziel, 111
  7. Usman, 86
  8. Unknown, 67
  9. Uzziah, 65
  10. Uri, 60

Top boy names starting with V:

  1. Vincent, 2,982 baby boys
  2. Victor, 1,687
  3. Valentino, 575
  4. Vicente, 441
  5. Valentin, 372
  6. Vincenzo, 352
  7. Vihaan, 280
  8. Van, 252
  9. Vance, 236
  10. Veer, 224

Top boy names starting with W:

  1. William, 10,598 baby boys
  2. Wyatt, 6,237
  3. Waylon, 4,881
  4. Wesley, 4,539
  5. Weston, 4,356
  6. Walker, 4,006
  7. Walter, 1,272
  8. Warren, 1,080
  9. Wade, 971
  10. Winston, 797

Top boy names starting with X:

  1. Xavier, 3,413 baby boys
  2. Xander, 1,700
  3. Xzavier, 153
  4. Xavi, 118
  5. Xavion, 111
  6. Xaiden, 101
  7. Xavien, 94
  8. Xavian, 91
  9. Xion, 85
  10. Xayden, 65

Top boy names starting with Y:

  1. Yusuf, 610 baby boys
  2. Yosef, 444
  3. Yael, 328
  4. Yehuda, 318
  5. Yousef, 297
  6. Yahir, 290
  7. Yahya, 263
  8. Yadiel, 242
  9. Yaakov, 231
  10. Yisroel, 228

Top boy names starting with Z:

  1. Zion, 2,867 baby boys
  2. Zachary, 2,112
  3. Zayden, 1,898
  4. Zayn, 1,413
  5. Zane, 1,220
  6. Zyaire, 1,029
  7. Zander, 924
  8. Zayne, 717
  9. Zaire, 654
  10. Zaiden, 567

Source: SSA

Popular baby names in the United States, 2023

Flag of the United States
Flag of the United States

The new rankings have arrived!

Earlier today, the SSA released the 2023 U.S. baby name data. The top two names in the nation are again Olivia and Liam.

Here are the new top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names:

Girl names

  1. Olivia, 15,270 baby girls
  2. Emma, 13,527
  3. Charlotte, 12,596
  4. Amelia, 12,311
  5. Sophia, 11,944
  6. Mia, 11,359
  7. Isabella, 10,808
  8. Ava, 9,682
  9. Evelyn, 9,082
  10. Luna, 7,811

Boy names

  1. Liam, 20,802 baby boys
  2. Noah, 18,995
  3. Oliver, 14,741
  4. James, 11,670
  5. Elijah, 11,452
  6. Mateo, 11,229
  7. Theodore, 11,041
  8. Henry, 10,941
  9. Lucas, 10,842
  10. William, 10,598

The girls’ top 10 consists of the same ten names, nearly in the same order — only Mia, Isabella, and Ava have switched places.

In the boys’ top 10, Mateo (which jumped from 11th place in 2022 to 6th place last year!) replaced Benjamin.

Here are the rest of the names in the top 50 (for both genders):

RankGirl namesBoy names
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50		Harper
Sofia
Camila
Eleanor
Elizabeth
Violet
Scarlett
Emily
Hazel
Lily
Gianna
Aurora
Penelope
Aria
Nora
Chloe
Ellie
Mila
Avery
Layla
Abigail
Ella
Isla
Eliana
Nova
Madison
Zoe
Ivy
Grace
Lucy
Willow
Emilia
Riley
Naomi
Victoria
Stella
Elena
Hannah
Valentina
Maya		Benjamin
Levi
Sebastian
Jack
Ezra
Michael
Daniel
Leo
Owen
Samuel
Hudson
Alexander
Asher
Luca
Ethan
John
David
Jackson
Joseph
Mason
Luke
Matthew
Julian
Dylan
Elias
Jacob
Maverick
Gabriel
Logan
Aiden
Thomas
Isaac
Miles
Grayson
Santiago
Anthony
Wyatt
Carter
Jayden
Ezekiel

Here’s more from the SSA’s news release:

It’s clear that social media stars had a major influence on new parents in 2023. The fastest rising girl’s name, Kaeli, went viral in 2023, rising a whopping 1,692 spots. Parents must have really smashed the ‘like’ button for YouTube and TikTok star Kaeli McEwen (also known as Kaeli Mae), who routinely promotes a clean, tidy, and neutral-aesthetic lifestyle. On the boy’s side, trending in third place as the boy’s fastest riser, is Eiden – perhaps it was TikTok creator Wyatt Eiden’s 1.6 billion views and over 3 million followers that prompted this name’s meteoric rise.

Powerful names also proved very attractive to parents in 2023. Emryn made her debut in the Top 1000 baby names after moving up 1,287 spots – Ryn translates to “ruler,” so it is no shock to see Emryn becoming a leader amongst the girls. Meanwhile Chozen, the second fastest rising boy’s name, fought up to number 813 in 2023. The character Chozen becomes a hero in the latest season of the hit Netflix show, Cobra Kai – wax on, wax off!

More posts on the new names coming soon!

Sources: Popular Baby Names – SSA, Olivia and Liam Reign Supreme – SSA

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

Where did the baby name Jheri come from in the 1980s?

Michael Jackson's Jheri curl hairstyle on the cover of the 1982 album "Thriller"
Michael Jackson’s Jheri curl

The Jerry-like name Jheri appeared regularly in the U.S. baby name data from 1980 until the mid-1990s:

  • 1996: unlisted
  • 1995: 7 baby girls named Jheri
  • 1994: 11 baby girls named Jheri
  • 1993: 10 baby girls named Jheri
  • 1992: 8 baby girls named Jheri
  • 1991: 12 baby girls named Jheri
  • 1990 9 baby girls named Jheri
  • 1989: 8 baby girls named Jheri
  • 1988 10 baby girls named Jheri
  • 1987 12 baby girls named Jheri
  • 1986: 9 baby girls named Jheri
  • 1985: 13 baby girls named Jheri (peak usage)
  • 1984: 8 baby girls named Jheri
  • 1982: 12 baby girls named Jheri
  • 1981: 8 baby girls named Jheri
  • 1980: 6 baby girls named Jheri (debut)
  • 1979: unlisted

Why?

Because of the Jheri curl, a hairstyle featuring loose, glossy curls that was trendy among African-Americans primarily during the 1980s. Michael Jackson, Lionel Richie, Rick James, and other famous men and women of the era sported Jheri-curled hair.

Where did the style come from?

The “curl” originated with hairdresser/entrepreneur Jheri Redding, who developed a chemical process to make straight hair curly. Salons started offering the Jheri Kurl (as it was often spelled in advertisements) in the early 1970s.

Then, African-American hairdresser/entrepreneur Willie Lee Morrow adapted the process for African-American hair. His two-step method involved straightening the hair before adding a looser curl. (He also introduced “curl activator” to add moisture to the style.) Salons began offering Morrow’s California Curl in the late 1970s.

Some salons, in fact, offered both perms:

Newspaper advertisement for California Curl and Jheri Kurl (Feb. 1979)
(Feb. 1979)

Finally, African-American entrepreneur Comer Cottrell made Morrow’s perm both less expensive and more widely available by developing the do-it-yourself Curly Kit.

His kits were advertised heavily in Jet magazine throughout 1980:

Magazine advertisement for Curly Kit (Aug. 1980)
(Aug. 1980)

In mid-1981, Forbes magazine declared the Curly Kit “the biggest single product ever to hit the black cosmetics market.” Numerous copycat kits (with names like Classy Curl, S-Curl, and Super Curl) soon followed.

Despite the crucial contributions of Morrow and Cottrell, though, it was Jheri Reddings’s distinctive first name — associated with the curl since the start — that became the generic term for the style.

So, where did “Jheri” come from?

Redding coined it himself.

He was born Robert William Redding on a farm in Illinois in 1907. He became a licensed cosmetologist after noticing, during the Depression, that hairdressers were still being paid well.

Redding was an innovative marketer — he introduced the concept of “pH balanced” shampoos, for instance — and he created the eye-catching name for himself at some point before 1950, because he’s listed as “Jheri R Redding” on the 1950 U.S. Census:

Jheri Redding on 1950 U.S. Census

He launched his first company, Jheri Redding Products, six years later.

What are your thoughts on the baby name Jheri?

Sources:

  • Johnston, David Cay. “Jheri Redding Is Dead at 91; A Hair Products Entrepreneur.” New York Times 21 Mar. 1998: A-13.
  • Folkart, Burt A. “Jheri Redding; Beauty Products Pioneer.” Los Angeles Times 18 Mar. 1998.
  • Mack, Toni. “Caution + Daring = 82% Returns.” Forbes 8 Jun. 1981: 101-103.
  • Byrd, Ayana and Lori Tharps. Hair Story: Untangling the Roots of Black Hair in America. NY: St. Martin’s Press, 2002.
  • Ford, Tanisha C. Dressed in Dreams: A Black Girl’s Love Letter to the Power of Fashion. NY: St. Martin’s Press, 2019.
  • Moore, Jennifer Grayer. Fashion Fads Through American History: Fitting Clothes Into Context. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2015.
  • SSA

Images: Clipping from Chula Vista Star-News (25 Feb. 1979); clipping from Jet magazine (14 Aug. 1980); clipping of the 1950 U.S. Census

Popular baby names in Gibraltar, 2023

Flag of Gibraltar
Flag of Gibraltar

The British overseas territory of Gibraltar — located at the southern tip of Europe’s Iberian Peninsula, just a few miles away from Northern Africa — is home to roughly 32,700 people

Last year, Gibraltar welcomed 319 babies — 149 baby girls, and 170 baby boys. (My source article said the final tally was 318, but the full list [PDF] included an extra name.)

What were the most popular names among these babies? Ava/Lucia (tie) and Luca.

Here are Gibraltar’s top girl names and top boy names of 2023:

Girl names

  1. Ava and Lucia, 4 baby girls each (tie)
  2. Evie, Lily, Olivia, and Sienna, 3 each (4-way tie)
  3. Alba, Arabella, Brielle, Emma, Esme, Indie, Lena, Luna, Madison, Mia, Noa, Sofia, Sophia, Sophie, Talia, and Valentina, 2 each (16-way tie)

Boy names

  1. Luca, 5 baby boys
  2. Jack, Leon, and Liam, 4 each (3-way tie)
  3. James, Noah, Theo, and William, 3 each (4-way tie)
  4. Aiden, Alexander, Axel, Daniel, Dylan, Evan, Hugo, Jackson, Jake, Joey, Julian, Karim, Leo, Leonardo, Lucas, Matthew, Michael, Mohamed, Rafael, Robin, and Ryan, 2 each (21-way tie)

The rest of the names were each bestowed once. (Except for Reign, which was bestowed twice overall — once for each gender.)

Unique girl names (97)Unique boy names (99)
Aasiyah, Abigail, Adrianna, Alexandra, Alma, Amelia, Amiah, Anastasia, Anoushka, Anya, Aria, Arianna, Arianne, Arna, Avery, Bassma, Blossom, Carla, Charlotte, Chloe, Cole, Cora, Daisy, Daniella, Deborah, Devorah, Eadie, Eleanor, Elena, Eliana, Elie, Ella, Elodie, Elouisa, Elsie, Emilia, Emilie, Emily, Faith, Farah, Gia, Giselle, Grace, Gracie-Rae, Hallie, Hannah, Holly, Irene, Isabella, Isadora, Jawhara, Joudia, Julietta, Kaila, Kylie, Layan, Lia, Lilijana, Lilya, Lorena, Lucie, Lucy, Luella, Maram, Matilda, Maya, Mila, Miral, Molly, Niah, Niv, Nora, Nylah, Ottilie, Paige, Penelope, Reign, Rhea, Ria, Riley-Mae, Rina, Rivka, Ruth, Sabrina, Sage, Sara, Scarlett, Sia, Skye, Souhaila, Sydney, Tania, Teresa, Tillia, Vivienne, Yashu, ZainabAaron, Adonis, Alejandro, Alfei, Anthon, Aries, Ashton, August, Ayaan, Ayman, Brooke, Caleb, Charles, Christian, Cody, Colby, Cory, Elai, Eliyahu, Elliott, Eneko, Eoin, Etienne, Evren, Ezio, Finley, Frederick, Gino, Godred, Grayson, Harvey, Hayden, Hiyaan, Ilan, Indra, Jai, Jamie, Jayce, Jayme, Jesse, Johar, Joseph, Joshua, Jovan, Justin, Kai, Keenan, Kobe, Koen, Laurence, Lawson, Lee, Logan, Louay, Louie, Luke, Mael, Mason, Matteo, Max, Milan, Musa, Nasir, Nate, Nathan, Nathaniel, Nial, Nicholas, Nicolas, Nikolai, Nolan, Nyle, Oliver, Ori, Owen, Ramy, Raphael, Ray, Refael, Reign, Rex, Rian, Ricardo, River, Romeo, Roux, Ruben, Rylee, Salman, Sam, Samuel, Scott, Stefan, Theodore, Thiago, Yaakov, Yisroel, Zachary, Ziggy

Finally, here are Gibraltar’s 2022 rankings, if you’d like to compare last year to the year before.

Sources:

Image: Adapted from Flag of Gibraltar (public domain)