How popular is the baby name Miriam 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 Miriam.

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Popularity of the baby name Miriam


Posts that mention the name Miriam

Baby girl gets 139 names: Tracy Mariclaire Lisa…

John and Margaret Nelson of Chesterfield, England, welcomed a baby girl at the very end of 1985. They named their daughter Tracy, but that’s not all they named her. This is Tracy’s full name:

Tracy Mariclaire Lisa Tammy Samantha Christine Alexandra Candy Bonnie Ursala Zoe Nichola Patricia Lynda Kate Jean Sandra Karren Julie Jane Elizabeth Felicity Gabriella Jackie Corina Constance Arabella Clara Honor Geraldine Fiona Erika Fillippa Anabel Elsie Amanda Cheryl Alanna Louisa Angie Beth Crystal Dawn Debbie Eileen Grace Susan Rebecca Valerie Kay Lena Margaret Anna Amy Carol Bella Avril Ava Audry Andrea Daphne Donna Cynthia Cassie Christabel Vivien Wendy Moira Jennifer Abbie Adelaide Carrissa Carla Anne Astrid Barbara Charissa Catalina Bonny Dee Hazel Iris Anthea Clarinda Bernadette Cara Alison Carrie Angela Beryl Caroline Emma Dana Vanessa Zara Violet Lynn Maggie Pamela Rosemary Ruth Cathlene Alexandrina Annette Hilary Diana Angelina Carrinna Victoria Sara Mandy Annabella Beverly Bridget Cecilia Catherine Brenda Jessica Isbella Delilah Camila Candace Helen Connie Charmaine Dorothy Melinda Nancy Mariam Vicki Selina Miriam Norma Pauline Toni Penny Shari Zsa-zsa Queenie Nelson

That’s 139 given names and 1 surname.

Why did John and Margaret do this to their daughter? According to John, “We just wanted to give her something for when she grows up.”

A reason that makes complete sense, of course.

Speaking of things that make sense, let’s pick out some of the needless repetition:

  • Alexandra (#7) and Alexandrina (#103)
  • Amanda (#36) and Mandy (#111)
  • Angela (#89), Angie (#40) and Angelina (#107)
  • Anna (#33), Anne (#74) and Annette (#104)
  • Bella (#56), Annabella (#112), Arabella (#27) and Isbella (#119)
  • Bonnie (#9) and Bonny (#79)
  • Candace (#122) and Candy (#8)
  • Carrissa (#72) and Charissa (#77)
  • Clara (#28) and Clarinda (#84)
  • Constance (#26) and Connie (#124)
  • Corina (#25) and Carrinna (#108)
  • Elizabeth (#21) and Beth (#41)
  • Margaret (#52) and Maggie (#98)
  • Mariam (#129) and Miriam (#131)
  • Victoria (#109) and Vicki (#130)
  • Zara (#95) and Sara (#110)

If you could go back in time and rename this baby, which two names (out of the 139) would you choose as her first and middle names?

Source: “Tracy for short.” Reading Eagle 24 Jan 1986: 1.

Old names vs. new names in Plymouth, Mass.

In the comment section of last week’s post on old & new French names, Bridgett came up with a great idea: Why not do the same thing for a U.S. city?

I checked the online editions of 8 or 9 U.S. city newspapers. Some had birth announcements, others had obits/death notices, the rest had neither. So I gave up on cities, switched to towns, and soon found some useful information for Plymouth, Massachusetts:

Male Births Male Deaths Female Births Female Deaths
Aidan
Alexander
Calvin
Connor
Jayden
John
Levon
Oliver
Patrick
Souheil
William
Zachary 		Albert
Alfred
Carl
David
James
Joseph
Joseph
Paul
Steven 		Ashlynn
Brianna
Grace
Isobel
Ivy
Kealyn
Leila
Lila
Marlee
Molly 		Alice
Barbara
Beatrice
Deanna
Elizabeth
Elsie
Karin
Lorraine
Marilyn
Mirandy
Miriam
Rose
Virginia
Virginia

I couldn’t list two of the babies — Skyler Reece and Riley Paige — because I’m not sure about the gender in either case. (I would guess they’re both female, but who knows.)

Also, I should mention that the average age of those listed in the death announcements is 78.

Now it’s your turn: Which set do you prefer, the “old” names or the “new” names?

Also, if you know of a city newspaper that publishes both birth and death announcements online, I’d appreciate it if you would shoot me an e-mail. Thanks!

Popular baby names in New York City, 2007

Flag of New York
Flag of New York

According to New York City’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene, the most popular baby names in the city last year were Isabella/Sophia (tied) and Daniel.

Here are New York City’s top 50+ girl names and top 50+ boy names of 2007:

Girl names

  1. Isabella, 539 baby girls (tie)
  2. Sophia, 539 (tie)
  3. Emily, 525
  4. Ashley, 480
  5. Sarah, 425
  6. Kayla, 414
  7. Mia, 381
  8. Olivia, 375
  9. Samantha, 368
  10. Rachel, 359
  11. Madison, 345
  12. Ava, 330
  13. Brianna, 316
  14. Emma, 286
  15. Sofia, 276
  16. Abigail, 272 (tie)
  17. Chloe, 272 (tie)
  18. Angelina, 265 (tie)
  19. Victoria, 265 (tie)
  20. Elizabeth, 261 (tie)
  21. Leah, 261 (tie)
  22. Nicole, 250
  23. Julia, 249
  24. Alexandra, 247
  25. Esther, 244
  26. Michelle, 234 (tie)
  27. Sara, 234 (tie)
  28. Alyssa, 231
  29. Maya, 227
  30. Gabriella, 223
  31. Jessica, 216
  32. Hannah, 202
  33. Arianna, 186
  34. Chaya, 184
  35. Ella, 182
  36. Anna, 179
  37. Katherine, 177
  38. Melanie, 176
  39. Natalie, 175
  40. Jada, 174
  41. Jasmine, 169 (tie)
  42. Sophie, 169 (tie)
  43. Miriam, 168
  44. Jennifer, 167
  45. Amanda, 164
  46. Grace, 160
  47. Zoe, 158
  48. Alexa, 156 (tie)
  49. Hailey, 156 (tie)
  50. Ariana, 154 (tie)
  51. Maria, 154 (tie)

Boy names

  1. Daniel, 865 baby boys
  2. Jayden, 846
  3. Michael, 801
  4. Matthew, 778
  5. Justin, 738
  6. Joshua, 719
  7. David, 705
  8. Anthony, 664
  9. Christopher, 652
  10. Joseph, 617
  11. Ryan, 576
  12. Ethan, 524
  13. Alexander, 503
  14. Kevin, 496
  15. Jacob, 474
  16. Brandon, 463
  17. Nicholas, 458
  18. Jonathan, 452
  19. John, 448
  20. Christian, 445
  21. William, 435
  22. Andrew, 424
  23. Jason, 414
  24. James, 377
  25. Elijah, 359
  26. Angel, 357
  27. Benjamin, 350
  28. Dylan, 347
  29. Samuel, 343
  30. Aaron, 334
  31. Gabriel, 327
  32. Eric, 301 (tie)
  33. Jaden, 301 (tie)
  34. Brian, 283
  35. Jack, 282
  36. Tyler, 276
  37. Noah, 269
  38. Jordan, 265
  39. Luis, 264
  40. Sebastian, 260
  41. Jose, 249
  42. Sean, 247
  43. Adam, 243
  44. Jeremiah, 242
  45. Henry, 239
  46. Isaiah, 238
  47. Thomas, 234
  48. Xavier, 232
  49. Bryan, 230
  50. Aidan, 228 (tie)
  51. Aiden, 228 (tie)

Jayden jumped from 10th place in 2006 to 2nd place in 2007, impressively.

If all the different spellings of Jayden (e.g., Jaden, Jaiden, Jadon, Jaeden, Jaydon, Jaidyn, Jaydan, Jaydin) had been counted together, in fact, the entire name-group would have easily overtaken Daniel with a grand total of more than 1,340 baby boys.

The top baby names within specific ethnic/racial groups were…

Top girl nameTop boy name
HispanicAshleyJayden
AsianSophiaRyan
Non-Hispanic WhiteSarahMichael
Non-Hispanic BlackMadisonJayden

Among the names given to just 10 babies each in NYC last year were the girl names Binta, Djeneba, Fraida, Rowan, and Suki, and the boy names Aditya, Karim, Milton, Shimshon, and Wolf.

One year earlier, NYC’s top names (overall) were Ashley and Michael.

Source: Popular Baby Names – NYC.gov (pdf)

Image: Adapted from Flag of New York (public domain)

[Latest update: Nov. 2025]

Canadian family with 18 children

kinderfest

Alexandru and Livia Ionce of British Columbia welcomed their 18th child last week. They now have 10 girls and 8 boys:

  1. Ioana, 23 years old
  2. Alexandra, 22
  3. Anca, 21
  4. Adrian, 19
  5. Raluca, 18
  6. Alex, 15
  7. Lidia, 14
  8. Timothy, 13
  9. Sefora, 11
  10. Otniel, 10
  11. Miriam, 9
  12. Simion, 8
  13. David, 7
  14. Aaron, 6
  15. Naomi, 5
  16. Filip, 4
  17. Paula, 23 months old
  18. Abigail, 6 days old

The parents, originally from Romania, immigrated to Canada in 1990. They’ve been married 24 years.

I think they chose some great names for their kids. I do wonder, though, if things ever got confusing for Alexandru (father), Alexandra (child #2) and Alex (child #6).

Source: Parents proud of record 18th baby

Image: Ein Kinderfest (1868) by Ludwig Knaus