How popular is the baby name Nathan 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 Nathan.

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Popularity of the Baby Name Nathan


Posts that Mention the Name Nathan

Popular baby names in Canada, 2021

Canadian flag

Canada might be the second-largest country in terms of area, but it isn’t very large in terms of population. In fact, it’s one of the least densely populated places in the world.

In 2021, Canada (excluding Yukon) welcomed over 367,684 babies. By comparison, the U.S. state of Texas recorded 373,340 births the same year.

What were the most popular names among Canada’s 2021 babies?

Well…we don’t know for sure. Because Canada doesn’t release baby name rankings that cover the entire country.

map of Canada

I’d love to give you the next-best thing — sets of regional Canadian rankings representing Canada’s ten provinces and three territories — but, as of right now, two of the provinces and all three territories have not released rankings for 2021. (Yukon hasn’t even reported an official number of births yet.)

So I’ll give you the third-best thing: Eight sets of provincial Canadian rankings, all gathered into a single post, followed by a guess about the country’s top five names per gender.

Here are the rankings, ordered by total number of births per region (highest to lowest):

Ontario

In 2021, Ontario welcomed 141,766 babies. Here are Ontario’s top baby names of 2021:

Girl Names, Ont.Boy Names, Ont.
1. Olivia
2. Emma
3. Charlotte
4. Amelia
5. Ava
6. Sophia
7. Isla
8. Evelyn
9. Mia
10. Ella		1. Noah
2. Liam
3. Oliver
4. Jack
5. Benjamin
6. Theodore
7. Lucas
8. William
9. Ethan
10. Leo

In 2020, the top names in Ontario were also Olivia and Noah.

Quebec

In 2021, Quebec welcomed 83,335 babies. Here are Quebec’s top baby names of 2021:

Girl Names, Que.Boy Names, Que.
1. Emma, 521 baby girls
2. Olivia, 519
3. Alice, 508
4. Florence, 498
5. Charlie, 488
6. Livia, 473
7. Charlotte, 465
8. Léa, 462
9. Romy, 357
10. Zoe, 344		1. Noah, 717 baby boys
2. William, 709
3. Thomas, 645
4. Léo, 622
5. Liam, 618
6. Jacob, 529
7. Nathan, 519
8. Arthur, 508
9. Édouard, 499
10. Félix, 484

(Here’s more on Quebec’s top names of 2021.)

In 2020, the top names in Quebec were Olivia and Liam.

Alberta

In 2021, Alberta welcomed 49,779 babies. Here are Alberta’s top baby names of 2021:

Girl Names, Alb.Boy Names, Alb.
1. Olivia, 210 baby girls
2. Charlotte, 166
3. Ava, 165
4. Emma, 164
5. Amelia, 161
6. Sophia, 137
7. Isla, 135
8. Abigail, 120 (tie)
9. Chloe, 120 (tie)
10. Evelyn, 119		1. Noah, 274 baby boys
2. Jack, 220
3. Oliver, 208
4. Liam, 198
5. Theodore, 191
6. William, 174
7. Ethan, 162
8. Levi, 148
9. Benjamin, 147 (tie)
10. Henry, 147 (tie)

(Here’s more on Alberta’s top names of 2021.)

In 2020, the top names in Alberta were also Olivia and Noah.

British Columbia

In 2021, British Columbia welcomed 43,999 babies. Here are B.C.’s top baby names of 2021:

Girl Names, B.C.Boy Names, B.C.
1. Olivia, 238 baby girls
2. Emma, 205
3. Charlotte, 182
4. Ava, 161
5. Isla, 157
6. Amelia, 151
7. Sophia, 143
8. Chloe, 127
9. Mia, 126 (tie)
10. Mila, 126 (tie)		1. Liam, 229 baby boys
2. Noah, 223
3. Jack, 201
4. Theodore, 191
5. Benjamin, 183
6. Oliver, 181
7. Owen, 159
8. Leo, 150
9. Ethan, 146
10. Logan, 142

In 2020, the top names in B.C. were also Olivia and Liam.

Manitoba

In 2021, Manitoba welcomed 14,552 babies. Manitoba’s top baby names of 2021, however, haven’t been released yet.

In 2020, the top two names in Manitoba were Olivia and Liam.

Saskatchewan

In 2021, Saskatchewan welcomed 14,509 babies. Here are Saskatchewan’s top baby names of 2021:

Girl Names, Sask.Boy Names, Sask.
1. Olivia, 57 baby girls
2. Sophia, 47
3. Emma, 43
4. Willow, 41
5. Ava, 39
6. Isla, 34
7. Abigail, 32
8. Amelia/Charlotte/Ellie/Harper/Hazel/Lily/Scarlett, 31 each (7-way tie)		1. Noah, 65 baby boys
2. Liam, 61
3. Theodore, 59
4. Oliver, 58
5. William, 53
6. Hudson, 50 (3-way tie)
7. Levi, 50 (3-way tie)
8. Lincoln, 50 (3-way tie)
9. Grayson, 41 (tie)
10. Jackson, 41 (tie)

In 2020, the top two names in Saskatchewan were Olivia and Liam.

Nova Scotia

In 2021, Nova Scotia welcomed 7,021 babies. Here are N.S.’s top baby names of 2021:

Girl Names, N.S.Boy Names, N.S.
1. Olivia, 56 baby girls
2. Ava, 41
3. Ellie, 37
4. Isla, 35
5. Amelia, 33 (tie)
6. Ivy, 33 (tie)
7. Evelyn, 31 (tie)
8. Violet, 31 (tie)
9. Charlotte, 29 (tie)
10. Harper, 29 (tie)		1. Jack, 52 baby boys
2. Noah, 49
3. Oliver, 47
4. Owen, 46
5. Levi, 45
6. Benjamin, 41 (3-way tie)
7. Henry, 41 (3-way tie)
8. William, 41 (3-way tie)
9. Lucas, 39
10. Liam, 38

In 2020, the top two names in N.S. were Olivia and Oliver.

New Brunswick

In 2021, New Brunswick welcomed 6,353 babies. Here are N.B.’s top baby names of 2021:

Girl Names, N.B.Boy Names, N.B.
1. Charlotte
2. Olivia
3. Sophia
4. Ellie
5. Paisley
6. Sophie
7. Willow
8. Isla
9. Emma
10. Ella		1. Liam
2. William
3. Oliver
4. Benjamin
5. Noah
6. Owen
7. Levi
8. Thomas
9. Jackson
10. Henry

In 2020, the top two names in N.B. were Olivia and Liam.

Newfoundland and Labrador

In 2021, Newfoundland and Labrador welcomed 3,833 babies. N.L.’s top baby names of 2021, however, haven’t been released yet.

In 2020, the top two names in N.L. were Amelia and Jaxson.

Prince Edward Island

In 2021, Prince Edward Island welcomed 1,447 babies. Here are P.E.I.’s top baby names of 2021:

Girl Names, P.E.I.Boy Names, P.E.I.
1. Alice, 9 baby girls
2. Scarlett, 8
3. Grace, 6 (3-way tie)
4. Isla, 6 (3-way tie)
5. Ivy, 6 (3-way tie)
6. Amelia/Anna/Annie/Ava/Charlotte/Ella/Ellie/Everly/Isabella/Lexi/Lucy/Maeve/Olivia/Sophia/Sophie/Willow, 5 each (16-way tie)		1. Oliver, 13 baby boys
2. Jack, 11 (tie)
3. Theo, 11 (tie)
4. Liam, 9
5. Austin, 8 (5-way tie)
6. Ezra, 8 (5-way tie)
7. Jackson, 8 (5-way tie)
8. Leo, 8 (5-way tie)
9. Noah, 8 (5-way tie)
10. Benjamin/Emmett/Ethan/Lucas/Theodore, 7 each (5-way tie)

In 2020, the top two names in P.E.I. were Nora/Charlotte (tie) and Hudson.

Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Yukon

In 2021, N.W.T. and Nunavut welcomed 628 babies and 462 babies, respectively. (Yukon likely welcomed a few hundred babies as well.)

None of the territories have released baby name rankings for 2021.

Canada

Using the data we have from the first, second, third, fourth, and sixth most populous provinces — which, together, welcomed over 90% of the country’s 2021 babies — we can make a guess about Canada’s top baby names overall:

Possible Top Girl NamesPossible Top Boy Names
1. Olivia
2. Emma
3. Charlotte
4. Amelia
5. Ava		1. Noah
2. Liam
3. Benjamin
4. Oliver
5. Jack

I’m only moderately confident about these guesses, primarily because the most populous province, Ontario, didn’t include raw numbers with its rankings.

I placed Benjamin higher than both Oliver and Jack because it was the only one of the three to reach the top 50 in Quebec, Canada’s second-most-populous province. (Benjamin even ranked slightly higher than Olivier, the French form of Oliver, in Quebec.)

If Manitoba, Newfoundland, or any of the territories release 2021 rankings in the coming months, I’ll come back and revise this post.

What are your thoughts on Canada’s top baby names of 2021?

Sources:

Image by Ali Kazal on Unsplash. Map adapted from Canada location map 2 by MapGrid under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Popular baby names in Italy, 2021

Italy

The Southern European country of Italy — that boot-shaped peninsula that juts out into the Mediterranean Sea — shares land borders with France, Switzerland, Austria, and Slovenia.

Last year, Italy welcomed 400,249 babies.

What were the most popular names among these babies? Sofia and Leonardo.

Here are Italy’s top 50 girl names and top 50 boy names of 2021:

Girl Names

  1. Sofia, 5,578 baby girls (2.86%)
  2. Aurora, 4,991
  3. Giulia, 4,616
  4. Ginevra, 3,803
  5. Beatrice, 3,647
  6. Alice, 3,392
  7. Vittoria, 3,202
  8. Emma, 2,876
  9. Ludovica, 2,813
  10. Matilde, 2,633
  11. Giorgia, 2,359
  12. Camilla, 2,343
  13. Chiara, 2,320
  14. Anna, 2,291
  15. Bianca, 2,201
  16. Nicole, 2,169
  17. Gaia, 2,088
  18. Martina, 2,069
  19. Greta, 2,052
  20. Azzurra, 1,673
  21. Sara, 1,651
  22. Arianna, 1,647
  23. Noemi, 1,639
  24. Rebecca, 1,533
  25. Mia, 1,494
  26. Isabel, 1,422
  27. Adele, 1,349
  28. Chloe, 1,317
  29. Elena, 1,298
  30. Francesca, 1,260
  31. Gioia, 1,202
  32. Ambra, 1,171
  33. Viola, 1,152
  34. Carlotta, 1,149
  35. Cecilia, 1,144
  36. Diana, 1,117
  37. Alessia, 1,101
  38. Elisa, 1,086
  39. Emily, 1,070
  40. Marta, 1,066
  41. Maria, 989
  42. Margherita, 988
  43. Anita, 978
  44. Giada, 972
  45. Eleonora, 926
  46. Nina, 856
  47. Miriam, 842
  48. Asia, 823
  49. Amelia, 805
  50. Diletta, 804 – means “beloved” in Italian.

Boy Names

  1. Leonardo, 8,448 baby boys (4.12%)
  2. Alessandro, 4,975
  3. Tommaso, 4,973
  4. Francesco, 4,924
  5. Lorenzo, 4,642
  6. Edoardo, 4,369
  7. Mattia, 4,215
  8. Riccardo, 3,992
  9. Gabriele, 3,944
  10. Andrea, 3,860
  11. Diego, 2,946
  12. Matteo, 2,867
  13. Nicolò, 2,847
  14. Giuseppe, 2,740
  15. Antonio, 2,598
  16. Federico, 2,546
  17. Pietro, 2,247
  18. Samuele, 2,225
  19. Giovanni, 2,211
  20. Filippo, 2,113
  21. Enea, 1,963 – form of Aeneas.
    • According to Greek mythology, the Trojan hero Aeneas was an ancestor of twins Romulus and Remus, the legendary founders of Rome. One ancient source associates Aeneas’ name with the Greek adjective ainos, meaning “unspeakable, causing nervousness, fear, terror.”
  22. Davide, 1,925
  23. Christian, 1,738
  24. Gioele, 1,722
  25. Giulio, 1,713
  26. Michele, 1,685
  27. Marco, 1,541
  28. Gabriel, 1,439
  29. Elia, 1,403
  30. Luca, 1,400
  31. Salvatore, 1,374
  32. Vincenzo, 1,333
  33. Emanuele, 1,326
  34. Thomas, 1,322
  35. Alessio, 1,251
  36. Giacomo, 1,197
  37. Nathan, 1,192
  38. Liam, 1,174
  39. Simone, 1,166
  40. Samuel, 1,133
  41. Jacopo, 1,129
  42. Noah, 1,097
  43. Daniele, 1,050
  44. Giorgio, 1,025
  45. Ettore, 1,002 – form of Hector.
  46. Luigi, 996
  47. Daniel, 946
  48. Manuel, 936
  49. Nicola, 859
  50. Damiano, 830

Leonardo is still the clear favorite for baby boys, while Azzurra — no doubt inspired by Italy’s national soccer team gli Azzurri, “the Blues” — continues its rise among baby girls:

Graph of the popularity of the baby name Azzurra in Italy from 1999 to 2021.
Popularity of Azzurra in Italy, 1999-2021

Here are Italy’s 2020 rankings, if you’d like to compare last year to the year before.

Sources: How many babies are named…? – Istat, Istat Statistics, Behind the Name, Homeric Hymn to Aphrodite (transl. by Gregory Nagy)

Popular baby names in Liechtenstein, 2021

liechtenstein

Liechtenstein, one of the smallest countries in Europe, is located in the Alps (sandwiched between Austria and Switzerland).

Last year, Liechtenstein welcomed 375 babies — 181 girls and 194 boys.

What were the most popular names among these babies? Emilia/Frida/Mia (3-way tie) and Elias.

Here are Liechtenstein’s top girl names and top boy names of 2021:

Girl Names

  1. Emilia, Frida/Frieda, and Mia, 4 baby girls each (3-way tie)
  2. Emma, Melina, and Sophia/Sofia, 3 each (3-way tie)
  3. Alicia, Alina, Anna, Aria, Ariana/Arianna, Aurora, Chiara, Elea, Elin, Emily, Hannah, Helena, Jana, Ladina, Leonie, Lina, Mara, Maria, Milena, Mina, and Noelia, 2 each (21-way tie)

Boy Names

  1. Elias/Elyas, 7 baby boys
  2. Louis/Luis, 6
  3. Leo, 5
  4. Noah and Paul, 4 each (tie)
  5. Leano, Luca, Mattia, Nelio, Raphael/Rafael, and Valentin, 3 each (6-way tie)
  6. Benedict/Benedikt, Benjamin, Eliah/Elijah, Eric/Erik, Gion, James, Janik, Julian, Lenny, Levin, Lionel, Lucas/Lukas, Mael, Matteo, Maximilian, Nicklas/Niklas, Oliver, and Ömer, 2 each (18-way tie)

The rest of the names were bestowed just once:

Unique girl names (118)Unique boy names (114)
Ada, Adora, Aflah, Aida, Aileen, Akila, Alessia, Alexandra, Alia, Alizée, Alma, Amalia, Ambra, Amela, Amélie, Amina, Amra, Ana, Aniko, Anila, Anina, Annika, Antonia, Asalia, Ava, Aynara, Calissa, Carla, Carmen, Catalina, Cecilia, Céline, Charlotte, Clea, Darja, Désirée, Diana, Diona, Dorothea, Dua-Lea, Ela, Elena, Elenia, Eleonora, Elif, Elina, Eline, Elise, Ena, Evi, Finja, Gabriella, Gea, Grace, Hailey, Haley, Hava, Heidi, Hindiya, Hylkije, Ina, Jara, Johanna, Josepa, Josephine, Julia, Juliana, Juna, Künkyi, Lailah, Lanah, Lara, Lea, Leila, Lelle, Lena, Leni, Lia, Liara, Lillia, Lily, Lorena, Lounah, Luisa, Malea, Marie, Maya, Mayte, Medina, Mejra, Melissa, Meryem, Mila, Mirella, Mona, Nadine, Naima, Nayla, Nevia, Niva, Nóra, Nurcan, Patrizia, Romina, Ronja, Rosa, Ruby, Sarah, Saskia, Serena, Siena, Svea, Theresia, Yara, Ylvie, Zana, Zeyneb, ZoeAaron, Adrian, Ajan, Akira, Alessio, Alexis, Ali, Alparslan, Alvaro, Ammar, Anton, Arion, Arjen, Aron, Arthur, Aurel, Aurelio, Ayman, Azad, Benno, Björn, Byron, Conradin, Dario, Dayan, Din, Eddie, Ediz, Elliot, Elvis, Emanuel, Emiel, Emil, Emilian, Erlis, Felix, Finn, Florian, Francesco, Gabriel, Gael, Grégory, Gustav, Henrik, Henry, Jakob, Jan, Jari, Jemin, Jonas, Joris, Julius, Juri, Justin, Karl, Kenan, Kian, Korab, Kunga, Laurin, Leandro, Leon, Levi, Liam, Lian, Liano, Linard, Lino, Lio, Louie, Luar, Mailo, Maleo, Malik, Marcelo, Matin, Matti, Mauro, Max, Metehan, Mikkel, Milo, Miro, Musab, Nathan, Neo, Nevio, Nils, Noam, Noar, Noel, Norden, Quentin, Richard, Rocco, Romeo, Rron, Samuel, Sandro, Santiago, Sava, Tenzin, Theo, Tiago, Tim, Timéo, Timo, Tobia, Vinzenz, Vitus, Xaver, Yakari, Yannick, Yannis

Some thoughts on a few of the above…

  • Künkyi and Tenzin are Tibetan.
  • Nevia and Nevio are Italian. They derive from the Roman family name Naevius, which was based on the Latin word naevus, meaning “birthmark” or “mole (on the body).”
  • Rron is an Albanian. It was created from the word rronj, a dialectal form of rroj, which means “to live, to survive.”

Finally, here’s a link to Liechtenstein’s 2020 rankings, if you’d like to compare last year to the year before.

Source: Neugeborenennamen 2021 – Statistikportal Liechtenstein

Popular baby names in France, 2021

france

Did you know that France is the most-visited tourist destination in the world?

Last year, the country welcomed about 738,000 babies. The most popular names among these babies were Jade (pronounced zhahd) and Gabriel.

Here are France’s top 50 girl names and top 50 boy names of 2021:

Girl Names

  1. Jade, 3,802 baby girls
  2. Louise, 3,768
  3. Emma, 3,202
  4. Ambre, 3,017
  5. Alice, 2,769
  6. Rose, 2,703
  7. Anna, 2,515
  8. Alba, 2,504
  9. Romy, 2,446
  10. Mia, 2,430
  11. Lina, 2,366
  12. Lou, 2,222
  13. Julia, 2,212
  14. Chloé, 2,210
  15. Léna, 2,093
  16. Léa, 2,039
  17. Agathe, 2,020
  18. Iris, 2,006
  19. Nina, 1,896
  20. Juliette, 1,870
  21. Inaya, 1,867 – an Urdu name derived from the Arabic word inayah, meaning “care, concern.”
  22. Zoé, 1,840
  23. Jeanne, 1,727
  24. Léonie, 1,726
  25. Charlie, 1,725
  26. Eva, 1,709
  27. Mila, 1,706
  28. Luna, 1,686
  29. Adèle, 1,661
  30. Victoire, 1,648
  31. Inès, 1,594
  32. Olivia, 1,594
  33. Lola, 1,547
  34. Victoria, 1,537
  35. Lucie, 1,493
  36. Margaux, 1,472
  37. Romane, 1,458
  38. Giulia, 1,454
  39. Camille, 1,428
  40. Sofia, 1,381
  41. Charlotte, 1,352
  42. Alix, 1,349
  43. Nour, 1,274
  44. Lyana, 1,237
  45. Margot, 1,225
  46. Sarah, 1,214
  47. Louna, 1,209 – likely based on Luna (#28).
  48. Mya, 1,182
  49. Manon, 1,177
  50. Lya, 1,158

Boy Names

  1. Gabriel, 4,974 baby boys
  2. Léo, 4,358
  3. Raphaël, 3,957
  4. Louis, 3,715
  5. Arthur, 3,598
  6. Jules, 3,594
  7. Maël, 3,438
  8. Noah, 3,384
  9. Adam, 3,148
  10. Lucas, 3,054
  11. Hugo, 2,905
  12. Gabin, 2,719 – based on the Latin name Gabinus, which might have referred to the ancient city of Gabii (located in what is now central Italy).
  13. Liam, 2,672
  14. Sacha, 2,628
  15. Aaron, 2,496
  16. Léon, 2,362
  17. Isaac, 2,322
  18. Paul, 2,291
  19. Nathan, 2,286
  20. Noé, 2,276
  21. Eden, 2,260
  22. Mohamed, 2,183
  23. Ethan, 2,104
  24. Tom, 1,995
  25. Malo, 1,935 – a Breton name probably derived from the Old Breton elements mach, meaning “pledge, hostage,” and lou, meaning “luminous; beautiful.”
  26. Naël, 1,919
  27. Théo, 1,902
  28. Marius, 1,868
  29. Nino, 1,838
  30. Marceau, 1,834
  31. Mathis, 1,801
  32. Victor, 1,768
  33. Ayden, 1,753
  34. Milo, 1,723
  35. Martin, 1,712
  36. Tiago, 1,658
  37. Robin, 1,657
  38. Axel, 1,571
  39. Timéo, 1,541
  40. Eliott, 1,538 (tie)
  41. Lyam, 1,538 (tie)
  42. Enzo, 1,503
  43. Antoine, 1,445
  44. Nolan, 1,439
  45. Augustin, 1,430
  46. Gaspard, 1,379
  47. Valentin, 1,362
  48. Amir, 1,309
  49. Samuel, 1,301
  50. Côme, 1,300 – (pronounced kohm, as in the brand name Lancôme) the French form of Cosmas, ultimately derived from the ancient Greek word kosmos, meaning “order.”

The girls’ top 100 included Capucine (52nd), Apolline (65th), Thaïs (82nd), and Garance (98th).

The boys’ top 100 included Sohan (55th), Kaïs (58th), Soan (66th), and Livio (81st).

Soan, a variant spelling of Sohan, has been popularized recently by French singer/songwriter Soan (born Julien Decroix).

Also on the boys’ list, Charly (#78) pulled ahead of Charlie (#90) after the names saw nearly identical levels of usage in 2020. I wonder if this means that Charly is emerging as the preferred male spelling of the name…?

Gabriel also topped the rankings for the capital city of Paris last year. Jade, on the other hand, didn’t even make the top 10 — it was way down in 32nd place.

Finally, here are France’s 2020 rankings, if you’d like to compare last year to the year before.

Sources: Classement des prénoms en France depuis 1900 – Insee, Demography report 2021 – Insee, World Tourism rankings – Wikipedia, Behind the Name, Malo (saint) – Wikipeda