How popular is the baby name Moon in the United States right now? How popular was it historically? Find out using the graph below! Plus, check out all the blog posts that mention the name Moon.
The graph will take a few moments to load. (Don't worry, it shouldn't take 9 months!) If it's taking too long, try reloading the page.
In 1985, the usage of the baby name Soleil — which is pronounced soh-lay, roughly — nearly quintupled:
1987: 18 baby girls named Soleil
1986: 19 baby girls named Soleil
1985: 29 baby girls named Soleil
1984: 6 baby girls named Soleil
1983: unlisted
Why?
Because of young actress Soleil Moon Frye.
She was the star of the memorable children’s TV series Punky Brewster, which began airing on NBC in September of 1984.
The show was about a feisty, colorfully-dressed young girl named Penelope “Punky” Brewster. After being abandoned by her parents, Punky was begrudgingly taken in by a cranky widower named Henry Warnimont (played by George Gaynes). Henry eventually warmed to Punky and, in the penultimate* episode of the second season, he legally adopted her.
In mid-1985, the Washington Post called Soleil Moon Frye’s name “peculiar” and offered this explanation:
Soleil’s mother said her daughter was scheduled for a July birthday. When she showed up in August, Frye said she picked “Soleil” (French for “sun”) because “August was the month of the sun” and “Moon” because she liked the lyrics from a song in “Annie Get Your Gun”: “I’ve got the sun in the morning and the moon at night.”
Recently, Frye was quoted as saying: “I love having a unique name.”
Indeed, she’s continued the tradition with her own four children: daughters Poet and Jagger, and sons Lyric and Story.
Looking for baby names that feature the letter-pair OO?
I’ve collected oodles of OO names for you in this post!
Before we get to the names, though, let’s get one big question out of the way…
What sound does OO make?
In today’s English, OO commonly makes the sound you hear in the words boot, food, and moon. But it can also make other sounds, such as the ones you hear in the words blood, or door, or good.
Why all this diversity?
A lot of it has to do with the Great Vowel Shift, which lasted from the late 14th century until about 1700. The GVS was a major factor in the transition from Middle English to Modern English.
In Middle English, OO tended to make a “long o” sound. (As one of my sources explained, “scribes often indicated a long vowel sound by doubling the vowel letter.”) So, in Middle English, the words boot, food, and moon sounded more like “boat,” “foad,” and “moan.”
During the Great Vowel Shift, the pronunciation of most long vowel sounds inexplicably shifted “upward” in the mouth, and the words boot, food, and moon acquired their present-day pronunciations.
But it’s not quite as simple as that. Because some words underwent multiple pronunciation changes during the GVS, while others didn’t undergo any change at all.
And this resulted in OO having a variety of pronunciations in Modern English.
Now, back to the names!
Top baby names with OO
Let’s begin with the most popular names with OO:
Top girl names with OO
Top boy names with OO
Brooklyn Brooke Brooklynn Noor Cooper Oona Rooney Brooks Hoorain Moon
Cooper Brooks Boone Kooper Booker Woodrow Haroon Woods Brooklyn Elwood
Now here are the same names again, but this time around I’ve added some details (including definitions, rankings, and popularity graphs).
Booker
The English surname Booker, which is derived from the Middle English word bokere, originally referred to someone who worked with books (such as a scribe, or a book binder).
Usage of the baby name Booker
Booker is currently the 1,204th most popular boy name in the nation.
Boone
The Anglo-Norman surname Boone has several potential origins, one of which is the Old French word bon, meaning “good.”
Usage of the baby name Boone
Boone is currently the 573rd most popular boy name in the U.S.
Brooke + Brooks
The English surname Brooke is a variant of the surname Brook, which originally referred to someone who lived either near a brook or a stream, or in one of the various English villages called Brook/Brooke.
Brooks is currently the 77th most popular boy name in the nation, whereas Brooke ranks 259th for girls.
The name Brooks is also sometimes spelled Brookes or Broox.
Brooklyn + Brooklynn
The name Brooklyn comes from the name of the New York City borough, which was founded by Dutch settlers in the 17th century and named after the Dutch town of Breukelen. The town name (originally “Broecklede”) can be traced back to the Middle Dutch words broec, meaning “marshland,” and lede, which referred to a dug watercourse (as opposed to a natural one).
Usage of the baby name Brooklyn
Brooklynn is a variant of Brooklyn (likely influenced by the name Lynn).
Usage of the baby name Brooklynn
Brooklyn is currently the 63rd most popular girl name in the U.S., and Brooklynn ranks 314th. Brooklyn is also the 2,515th most popular name for boys.
Other spellings of the name include Brooklynne, Brookelyn/Brookelynn/Brookelynne, Brooklin/Brooklinn, and Brooklen/Brooklenn.
Cooper + Kooper
The English surname Cooper, which is derived from the Middle English word couper, originally referred to someone who made or repaired wooden vessels (such as casks, tubs, and buckets).
Cooper is currently the 68th most popular boy name in the nation, and Kooper ranks 1,090th. Cooper is also the 1,597th most popular name for girls.
Elwood
The English surname Elwood is ultimately derived from the Anglo-Saxon personal name Ælfweald, which was comprised of the Old English words ælf, meaning “elf,” and weald, meaning “rule.”
Usage of the baby name Elwood
Elwood is currently the 2,582nd most popular boy name in the U.S.
The name is also sometimes spelled Ellwood.
Haroon
The name Haroon is the Urdu form of the Arabic name Harun, which is derived from the Biblical name Aaron (of unknown origin).
Usage of the baby name Haroon
Haroon is currently the 2,033rd most popular boy name in the nation.
Hoorain
The name Hoorain seems to be an Urdu name based on the Quranic phrase hoorun’een, which refers to maidens with beautiful eyes.
Usage of the baby name Hoorain
Hoorain is currently the 3,396th most popular girl name in the U.S.
Moon
The name Moon refers, of course, to the moon — the round object that circles the Earth once a month and shines at night (because it reflects light from the sun). The English word moon can be traced back to the Old English word mona.
Usage of the baby name Moon
Moon is currently the 3,455th most popular girl name in the nation.
Noor
The name Noor is a transcription of the Arabic word meaning “light.”
Usage of the baby name Noor
Noor is currently the 857th most popular girl name in the U.S.
Oona
The name Oona is an Anglicized form of the Irish name Úna, which may be derived from the Old Irish word úan, meaning “lamb.”
Usage of the baby name Oona
Oona is currently the 2,288th most popular girl name nation.
The name is also sometimes spelled Oonagh.
Rooney
The Irish surname Rooney is ultimately derived from the Irish word ruanaidh, meaning “champion, hero.”
Usage of the baby name Rooney
Rooney is currently the 2,552nd most popular girl name in the U.S.
Woodrow
The English surname Woodrow originally referred to someone who lived either by a row of trees, by a row of houses in a wood, or in one of the various English villages called Woodrow/Wood Row.
Usage of the baby name Woodrow
Woodrow is currently the 1,752nd most popular boy name in the nation.
Woods
The English surname Woods, a variant of Wood, originally referred to someone who lived in or near a wood. It’s ultimately based on the Middle English word wode, meaning “wood.”
Usage of the baby name Woods
Woods is currently the 2,205th most popular boy name in the U.S.
More names with OO
So, what other names have OO in them?
Here are some less-common choices (that are still seeing usage in the U.S. these days):
Ajooni
Alanood
Anoop
Aroosh
Avnoor
Aynoor
Batool
Bloom
Boomer
Booth
Brooker
Brooklee, Brookley, Brookleigh
Brookson
Brookston
Cooke
Dawood
Eastwood
Eknoor
Farooq
Goodness
Gurnoor
Ha-Joon
Harnoor
Haywood
Hooper
Hoor
Hooria, Hooriya
Htoo
Japnoor
Jasnoor
Ji-Hoo
Ji-Soo
Jood
Joon
Joory
Kohinoor
Kulsoom
Leeloo
Linwood
Lynwood
Mahmood
Mahnoor
Manroop
Mansoor
Masooma
Maysoon
Moo
Moosa
Nooh
Noomi
Noora, Noorah
Nooreh
Noori
Nooria, Nooriyah
Noorseen
Noorulain
Prabhnoor
Poorna
Roo
Roohi
Rook
Roop
Roosevelt
Rooster
Sherwood
Shooter
Sookie
Sun-Woo
Taimoor
Tooba
Trooper
Wood
Woodensley
Woodland
Woodley
Woodlyn
Woodson
Woody, Woodie
Woo-Jin
Yaqoob
Yaqoot
Yoona
Zaroon
Zooey
So far we’ve seen two presidential names: Woodrow and Roosevelt. Did you know that a total of five U.S. presidents had OO names, and that all five served during the first half of the 20th century?
(The surnames Coolidge and Hoover have been used as first names as well — just not recently.)
We’ve also seen a number of names that include the English words “wood,” “good,” and “brook.” So I combed through the earlier SSA data to find more names with these words:
Finally, if you’d like something even more uncommon (in the U.S.) than the names above, you can look to any of the various languages around the world known to feature the letter-pair OO in personal names. Examples include:
Dutch (e.g., Noortje, Joost)
Finnish (e.g., Auroora, Roope)
Estonian (e.g., Loore, Toomas)
Arabic (e.g., Hooda, Maqsood)
Persian (e.g., Afsoon, Behrooz)
Hindi (e.g., Poornima, Saroo)
Korean (e.g., Kyung-Sook, Sung-Hoon)
(The Middle Eastern and Asian names — because they’re being transcribed from non-Latin scripts — can also be spelled other ways, such as “Behrouz” and “Purnima.”)
Which of the OO names above to do you like most? (Can you think of any that I missed?) Let me know in the comments!
P.S. If you’d like to see popularity graphs for any of the more common names in this post, just check below for the long list of tags. Each tag is a name, so find the name you’re interested in and click through. The graph will take a moment to load — it’s grabbing a lot of data — but it will allow you to see at a glance the name’s current and historical U.S. usage.
According to the National Records of Scotland (NRS), the most popular baby names in the country last year were Olivia and Jack.
Here are Scotland’s top 50 girl names and top 50 boy names of 2021:
Girl Names
Olivia, 349 baby girls
Emily, 318
Isla, 317
Freya, 270
Ella, 259
Amelia, 257
Ava, 241
Sophie, 238
Grace, 235
Millie, 216
Lily, 205
Sophia, 200
Charlotte, 196
Rosie, 190
Aria, 183
Evie, 181
Maisie, 165
Lucy, 164 (tie)
Mia, 164 (tie)
Eilidh, 160
Ellie, 159 (3-way tie)
Ivy, 159 (3-way tie)
Orla, 159 (3-way tie)
Jessica, 150
Harper, 144
Maya, 134 (tie)
Willow, 134 (tie)
Georgia, 126
Daisy, 123 (tie)
Sofia, 123 (tie)
Mila, 122
Isabella, 121 (tie)
Ruby, 121 (tie)
Hannah, 119
Skye, 118
Sienna, 116
Molly, 113
Hallie, 111
Bonnie, 108 (tie)
Poppy, 108 (tie)
Eva, 106
Esme, 104
Anna, 102 (3-way tie)
Ayla, 102 (3-way tie)
Erin, 102 (3-way tie)
Callie, 98
Zara, 92
Layla, 91
Emma, 90 (tie)
Robyn, 90 (tie)
Boy Names
Jack, 382 baby boys
Noah, 337
Leo, 289
Oliver, 284
Harris, 273
Finlay, 255
Lewis, 254
James, 252
Rory, 247
Alexander, 240
Brodie, 236
Alfie, 224
Charlie, 220
Theo, 219
Archie, 217
Lucas, 214
Mason, 205
Finn, 197
Thomas, 193
Freddie, 192
Max, 190
Logan, 187
Harry, 181
Jacob, 176
Blake, 159 (tie)
Luca, 159 (tie)
Oscar, 157
Jude, 155
William, 146
Caleb, 140
Roman, 138
Cameron, 136
Jaxon, 133
Adam, 131
Joshua, 130
Ollie, 129 (tie)
Tommy, 129 (tie)
Daniel, 125 (tie)
Ethan, 125 (tie)
Harrison, 124
Luke, 122
Arthur, 121
Muhammad, 120
Jamie, 118 (tie)
Liam, 118 (tie)
Reuben, 112
Arlo, 110
Grayson, 103 (3-way tie)
Hunter, 103 (3-way tie)
Kai, 103 (3-way tie)
The fastest-rising names in the girls’ top 100 were Lyla, Blake, and Rowan.
The fastest-rising names in the boys’ top 100 were Carson, Struan, and Myles.
Other names that have seen higher usage recently include Maeva (influenced by Made in Chelsea actress Maeva D’Ascanio) and Connell (influenced by Normal People character Connell Waldron).
And what about the unique names?
Almost 12% of baby girls were given a name that no other girl was registered with in 2021. Almost 9% of boys had unique names for births last year.
Baby names bestowed just once in Scotland last year include…
We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies.
This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.
Cookie
Duration
Description
cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics
11 months
This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional
11 months
The cookie is set by GDPR cookie consent to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary
11 months
This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-others
11 months
This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Other.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance
11 months
This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Performance".
viewed_cookie_policy
11 months
The cookie is set by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin and is used to store whether or not user has consented to the use of cookies. It does not store any personal data.
Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.
Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.
Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.
Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.