How popular is the baby name Moshe 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 Moshe.

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Popularity of the baby name Moshe


Posts that mention the name Moshe

Popular baby names in New York City, 2015

Flag of New York
Flag of New York

According to data from New York City’s Department of Health, the most popular baby names in the metropolis last year were Olivia and Ethan.

Here are New York City’s top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names of 2015:

Girl names

  1. Olivia (given to 595 baby girls)
  2. Sophia
  3. Emma (tied)
  4. Mia (tied)
  5. Isabella
  6. Leah
  7. Emily
  8. Ava
  9. Chloe
  10. Madison

Boy names

  1. Ethan (given to 773 baby boys)
  2. Liam
  3. Noah
  4. Jacob
  5. Jayden
  6. Matthew
  7. David
  8. Daniel (tied)
  9. Dylan (tied)
  10. Aiden

In the girls’ top 10, Madison replaced Sofia.

In the boys’ top 10, Dylan and Aiden replaced Michael and Alexander.

The most popular baby names within specific ethnic/racial groups were…

Top girl namesTop boy names
Hispanic1. Isabella
2. Sophia
3. Mia
4. Emma
5. Camila		1. Liam
2. Dylan
3. Ethan
4. Matthew
5. Noah
Asian and Pacific Islander1. Olivia
2. Chloe
3. Sophia
4. Emily
5. Emma		1. Jayden
2. Ethan
3. Ryan
4. Muhammad
5. Aiden
Non-Hispanic White1. Emma
2. Olivia
3. Leah
4. Sarah
5. Esther		1. David
2. Joseph
3. Moshe
4. Jacob
5. Benjamin
Non-Hispanic Black1. Madison
2. Skylar
3. Ava
4. Olivia
5. Mia		1. Noah
2. Liam
3. Aiden
4. Jeremiah
5. Ethan/Josiah (tie)

Among the names given to just 10 babies each in NYC last year were the girl names Damaris, Eunice, and Shirin, and the boy names Dimitri, Immanuel, and Ousmane.

One year earlier, in 2014, NYC’s top names (overall) were Sophia and Ethan.

P.S. The news release also mentioned that NYC’s baby name data goes back as far back as 1898. That year, the top girl names were Mary, Catherine, and Margaret, and the top boy names were John, William, and Charles.

Source: Olivia and Ethan Top Health Department’s Annual Most Popular Baby Names For 2015 – NYC.gov

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

[Latest update: Nov. 2025]

Popular baby names in Israel, 2015

Flag of Israel
Flag of Israel

According to data released earlier this week by Israel’s Central Bureau for Statistics (CBS), the top three most popular baby names in the country overall in 2015 were:

  1. Mohammed
  2. Yosef (used for male babies — both Muslim and Jewish)
  3. Ariel (used for Jewish babies — both male and female)

The top baby names for Jewish babies specifically were Noa and Noam:

Girl names (Jewish)

1. Noa
2. Tamar
3. Maya
4. Avigayil/Avigail/Abigail
5. Talya/Talia
6. Adele
7. Shira
8. Ayala/Ayela
9. Yael
10. Sarah/Sara

Boy names (Jewish)

1. Noam
2. David
3. Ori/Uri
4. Ariel
5. Eitan
6. Yosef
7. Itai/Itay
8. Yonatan
9. Daniel
10. Moshe

The CBS also reported that the boy names Dror, Yagel/Yigal, and Alroi/Elroi/Elroy each saw a sharp rise in usage in 2015.

The top baby names for Muslim babies specifically were Maryam and Mohammad:

Girl names (Muslim)

1. Maryam/Miryam/Mariam
2. Sha’im
3. Jana/Janah
4. Lin
5. Lian/Layan
6. Alin/Aline
7. Sa’ara

Boy names (Muslim)

1. Mohammad
2. Ahmed
3. Yosef
4. Omar
5. Adam
6. Jud/Jod
7. Abed
8. Ali
9. Amir
10. Ibrahim

The 2012 rankings for Israel are pretty similar.

Update, Oct. 2017: Here’s an interesting fact about Israel’s 2014 rankings (which I never wrote a post about): “Eitan soared in popularity to No. 5 from 10th place in 2014, a surge attributed to that year’s war in Gaza dubbed Operation Protective Edge, or Mivtza Tzuk Eitan in Hebrew.” (Source: Times of Israel)

Sources:

Image: Adapted from Flag of Israel (public domain)

Top Jewish baby names in Israel, decade by decade

Flag of Israel
Flag of Israel

Israel’s Population and Immigration Authority recently released decade-by-decade lists of the most popular Jewish baby names in Israel since the establishment of the state (in mid-1948).

DecadeTop 3 Girl NamesTop 3 Boy Names
1950sEsther, Rachel, SarahMoshe, Yosef, Avraham
1960sRachel, Esther, RonitYosef, Moshe, Avraham
1970sMichal, Keren, MeravMoshe, David, Yosef
1980sMichal, Adi, MoranMoshe, David, Roei
1990sEden, Sapir, AdiDaniel, David, Moshe
2000sNoa, Shira, YaelDaniel, Itay, Uri
2010s so farShira, Noa, TamarItay, Uri, Noam

In 5775, the top names for Jewish babies in Israel were Tamar and Ori (aka Uri).

Source: Abebe, Adeno. “Israel’s most popular names by decade.” Ynetnews 25 Feb. 2016.

Image: Adapted from Flag of Israel (public domain)

What influenced the baby name Ovadia in Israel?

Rabbi Ovadia Yosef (1920-2013)
Rabbi Ovadia Yosef

According to Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics, the name Ovadia has become trendy in the Middle Eastern country.

Only 36 baby boys in Israel were named Ovadia in 2012. “However, following the death of spiritual leader Rabbi Ovadia Yosef in 2013, 117 babies were given this name and in 2014, 209 newborns were named after the rabbi.”

Influential cleric Ovadia Yosef, who founded the ultra-Orthodox Shas party in the mid-1980s, died in October of 2013 at the age of 93.

The baby name Ovadia — the Hebrew form of Obadiah — also saw a modest increase in usage in the United States during the same time frame:

  • 2015: 9 baby boys named Ovadia
  • 2014: 15 baby boys named Ovadia (6 born in NY)
  • 2013: 11 baby boys named Ovadia (9 born in NY)
  • 2012: unlisted
  • 2011: 5 baby boys named Ovadia (all born in NY)

Despite its trendiness, Ovadia wasn’t popular enough to rank among the top Jewish boy names in Israel in 2014:

Top boy names among JewsTop boy names among Muslims
Noam
Ori/Uri
David
Yosef
Eitan
Itay
Ariel
Daniel
Yonatan
Moshe		Muhammad
Yousef
Omar
Abed
Adam
Ali
Ibrahim
Mahmoud
Amir
Haled

And here are Israel’s top girl names:

Top girl names among JewsTop girl names among Muslims
Noa
Tamar
Shira
Maya
Yael
Adele
Talia
Avigail
Ayala
Sara		Miryam
Jana
Lian
Malak
Aline
Lyn
Nur

Of the 176,427 babies born in Israel in 2014, 136,000 (77.1%) were born into Jewish families and 40,427 (22.9%) were born into Arabic families.

Sources:

Image: Adapted from Nomination of the New Chief Rabbis by Dan Hadani collection/National Library of Israel/The Pritzker Family National Photography Collection under CC BY 4.0.

[Latest update: Nov. 2024]