How popular is the baby name Nathan 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 Nathan.

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Popularity of the baby name Nathan


Posts that mention the name Nathan

Popular baby names in Philadelphia, 2005-2016

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Flag of Pennsylvania

Did you know that you can find old vital statistics reports for the City of Philadelphia on the city’s website? And that most of these reports include baby name rankings?

I don’t want you to have to comb through a bunch of PDFs to find Philly’s historical top-ten lists, though, so — just as with New York City and Austin — I gathered all of them into a single blog post.

I was able to track down eleven sets of rankings — six covering 2005 to 2010, five covering 2012 to 2016. Eight of them also happen to include total numbers of babies.

2016

The most popular baby names in Philadelphia in 2016.

Top girl names (Philly, 2016)Top boy names (Philly, 2016)
1. Ava, 92 baby girls
2. Sophia, 80
3. Isabella, 69 (tie)
4. Riley, 69 (tie)
5. Mia, 67
6. Olivia, 66
7. Emma, 62
8. Emily, 61
9. Madison, 54
10. Aubrey, 52		1. Noah, 143 baby boys
2. Mason, 104
3. Liam, 100
4. Elijah, 83 (tie)
5. Michael, 83 (tie)
6. James, 76
7. Alexander, 75 (3-way tie)
8. Ethan, 75 (3-way tie)
9. Ryan, 75 (3-way tie)
10. Aiden, 70

2015

The most popular baby names in Philadelphia in 2015.

Top girl names (Philly, 2015)Top boy names (Philly, 2015)
1. Ava, 110 baby girls
2. Olivia, 101
3. Isabella, 95
4. Mia, 82
5. Madison, 70
6. Sophia, 69
7. Emma, 64
8. Aubrey, 62
9. Skylar, 54 (tie)
10. Sofia, 54 (tie)		1. Noah, 138 baby boys
2. Mason, 129
3. Michael, 101
4. Liam, 100
5. Daniel, 95
6. Jayden, 94
7. Elijah, 88
8. Aiden, 82
9. Ethan, 78
10. James, 73

2014

The most popular baby names in Philadelphia in 2014.

Top girl names (Philly, 2014)Top boy names (Philly, 2014)
1. Olivia, 91 baby girls
2. Ava, 89
3. Isabella, 77 (tie)
4. Madison, 77 (tie)
5. Mia, 73
6. Emma, 71 (tie)
7. Sophia, 71 (tie)
8. Aubrey, 58
9. Emily, 55
10. Skylar, 52		1. Mason, 133 baby boys
2. Noah, 124
3. Ethan, 104
4. Daniel, 96 (tie)
5. Liam, 96 (tie)
6. Jayden, 93
7. Michael, 88
8. James, 87
9. Aiden, 82 (tie)
10. Logan, 82 (tie)

2013

The most popular baby names in Philadelphia in 2013.

Top girl names (Philly, 2013)Top boy names (Philly, 2013)
1. Isabella, 95 baby girls
2. Sophia, 92
3. Ava, 85
4. Madison, 76
5. Olivia, 71
6. Emma, 66
7. Aubrey, 63
8. Mia, 54
9. Layla, 53
10. Abigail, 45		1. Jayden, 117 baby boys
2. Noah, 111
3. Michael, 108
4. Mason, 107
5. Liam, 94
6. Jacob, 88
7. Aiden, 86
8. Ryan, 82
9. Ethan, 81 (tie)
10. James, 81 (tie)

2012

The most popular baby names in Philadelphia in 2012.

Top girl names (Philly, 2012)Top boy names (Philly, 2012)
1. Sophia, 105 baby girls
2. Isabella, 97
3. Ava, 90
4. Olivia, 84
5. Madison, 79
6. Emma, 69
7. Mia, 55
8. Peyton, 50 (tie)
9. Layla, 50 (tie)
10. Zoe, 49		1. Jayden, 138 baby boys
2. Michael, 110
3. Aiden, 108
4. Mason, 104
5. James, 95 (tie)
6. Elijah, 95 (tie)
7. Noah, 92
8. Ethan, 90
9. Jacob, 87
10. Liam, 86

2010

The most popular baby names in Philadelphia in 2010.

Top girl names (Philly, 2010)Top boy names (Philly, 2010)
1. Isabella
2. Madison
3. Sophia
4. Ava
5. London
6. Kayla
7. Mia
8. Makayla
9. Nevaeh
10. Emma		1. Jayden
2. Michael
3. Anthony
4. Joshua
5. Elijah
6. Joseph
7. Ryan
8. Aiden
9. Christopher
10. Jacob

2009

The most popular baby names in Philadelphia in 2009.

Top girl names (Philly, 2009)Top boy names (Philly, 2009)
1. Sophia
2. Isabella
3. Kayla
4. Olivia
5. Nevaeh
6. Makayla
7. Layla
8. London
9. Madison
10. Ava		1. Jayden
2. Michael
3. Anthony
4. Joshua
5. Daniel
6. Joseph
7. Christopher
8. Christian
9. Nathan
10. Elijah

2008

The most popular baby names in Philadelphia in 2008.

Top girl names (Philly, 2008)Top boy names (Philly, 2008)
1. Kayla
2. Isabella
3. Ava
4. Sophia
5. Madison
6. Olivia
7. Destiny
8. Emily
9. Mia
10. London		1. Jayden
2. Michael
3. Anthony
4. Christopher
5. Daniel
6. Joshua
7. Ryan
8. Joseph
9. Nicholas
10. Ethan

2007

The most popular baby names in Philadelphia in 2007.

Top girl names (Philly, 2007)Top boy names (Philly, 2007)
1. Kayla, 101 baby girls
2. Ava, 74 (tie)
3. Sophia, 74 (tie)
4. Olivia, 71
5. Madison, 62
6. Emily, 53 (tie)
7. Isabella, 53 (tie)
8. Mia, 52
9. Aniyah, 51 (tie)
10. Gianna, 51 (tie)		1. Anthony, 151 baby boys
2. Michael, 150
3. Jayden, 144
4. Christopher, 116
5. Joseph, 112
6. Ryan, 103
7. Joshua, 101
8. William, 92
9. Daniel, 89
10. David, 87

2006

The most popular baby names in Philadelphia in 2006.

Top girl names (Philly, 2006)Top boy names (Philly, 2006)
1. Kayla, 105 baby girls
2. Isabella, 69
3. Destiny, 66
4. Emily, 64
5. Gianna, 62
6. Jayla, 61
7. Ava, 60
8. Sophia, 54
9. Alyssa, 53 (tie)
10. Brianna, 53 (tie)		1. Michael, 156 baby boys
2. Anthony, 153
3. Christopher, 120
4. Joseph, 111
5. Joshua, 104
6. Elijah, 91
7. Isaiah, 89
8. Daniel, 88 (3-way tie)
9. David, 88 (3-way tie)
10. William, 88 (3-way tie)

2005

The most popular baby names in Philadelphia in 2005.

Top girl names (Philly, 2005)Top boy names (Philly, 2005)
1. Kayla, 93 baby girls
2. Destiny, 79
3. Emily, 69
4. Madison, 61
5. Samantha, 53
6. Angelina, 52
7. Ava, 50 (tie)
8. Brianna, 50 (tie)
9. Makayla, 49
10. Olivia, 48		1. Michael, 156 baby boys
2. Anthony, 140
3. Christopher, 125
4. Joseph, 123
5. Joshua, 102
6. Daniel, 101
7. Nicholas, 99
8. Matthew, 97
9. John, 84
10. Isaiah, 82

Finally, because Philadelphia and New York City are relatively close to one another, I thought I’d compare/contrast the rankings above with the NYC rankings for the same years (2005 to 2016, excluding 2011).

Parents in both cities often liked the same names, but not always at the same time, or to the same degree. During the years that Kayla ranked #1 in Philly, for instance, it was already on the decline in NYC.

Here are all the names that reached the top 10 at least twice in one city, but zero times in the other city:

Girl namesBoy names
Top-10 in Philly only
(2+ instances)		Aubrey, Destiny, Gianna, Layla, London, Makayla, Nevaeh, SkylarElijah, Isaiah, James, Mason, William
Top-10 in NYC only
(2+ instances)		Ashley, Chloe, Leah, Sarah, RachelDylan, Justin

Any thoughts on these differences?

Sources: Philadelphia‘s Vital Statistics Reports for 2016 (pdf), 2015 (pdf), 2014 (pdf), 2013 (pdf), 2012 (pdf), 2010 (pdf), 2009 (pdf), 2008 (pdf), 2007 (pdf), 2006 (pdf), 2005 (pdf)

Image: Adapted from Flag of Pennsylvania (public domain)

Popular baby names in Italy, 2023

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Flag of Italy

In 2023, the Southern European country of Italy welcomed 379,890 babies — 184,514 girls and 195,376 boys.

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

Here are Italy’s top 50 girl names and top 50 boy names of 2023:

Girl names

  1. Sofia, 4,971 baby girls
  2. Aurora, 4,648
  3. Ginevra, 4,274
  4. Vittoria, 4,194
  5. Giulia, 3,732
  6. Beatrice, 3,425 – pronounced beh-a-TREE-cheh
  7. Ludovica, 3,157
  8. Alice, 3,014 – pronounced a-LEE-cheh
  9. Emma, 2,529
  10. Matilde, 2,465
  11. Anna, 2,128
  12. Camilla, 2,091
  13. Bianca, 1,992
  14. Azzurra, 1,922
  15. Chiara, 1,914 – pronounced KYAH-rah
  16. Nicole, 1,792
  17. Giorgia, 1,780
  18. Isabel, 1,667
  19. Greta, 1,635
  20. Noemi, 1,439
  21. Martina, 1,392
  22. Arianna, 1,389
  23. Gaia, 1,370
  24. Sara, 1,368
  25. Rebecca, 1,328
  26. Viola, 1,325
  27. Elena, 1,270
  28. Ambra, 1,257
  29. Chloe, 1,196 (tie)
  30. Diana, 1,196 (tie)
  31. Adele, 1,194
  32. Mia, 1,192
  33. Margherita, 1,095
  34. Sole, 1,088 – pronounced SOH-leh
  35. Francesca, 1,082
  36. Cecilia, 1,060
  37. Gioia, 1,018
  38. Emily, 1,017
  39. Marta, 964
  40. Elisa, 953
  41. Nina, 929
  42. Lavinia, 912
  43. Anita, 875
  44. Amelia, 870
  45. Eleonora, 853
  46. Carlotta, 833
  47. Maria, 803
  48. Celeste, 788
  49. Eva, 751
  50. Giada, 735

Boy names

  1. Leonardo, 7,096 baby boys
  2. Edoardo, 5,603
  3. Tommaso, 4,687
  4. Francesco, 4,534
  5. Alessandro, 4,383
  6. Mattia, 4,349
  7. Lorenzo, 4,006
  8. Gabriele, 3,954
  9. Riccardo, 3,600
  10. Andrea, 3,333
  11. Diego, 2,722
  12. Giuseppe, 2,661
  13. Matteo, 2,648
  14. Enea, 2,564
  15. Nicolò, 2,444
  16. Antonio, 2,424
  17. Federico, 2,313
  18. Giovanni, 2,093
  19. Filippo, 2,046
  20. Samuele, 2,041
  21. Pietro, 1,993
  22. Giulio, 1,749
  23. Gioele, 1,641 – pronounced jo-EH-leh
  24. Davide, 1,597
  25. Michele, 1,590
  26. Christian, 1,541
  27. Elia, 1,522
  28. Gabriel, 1,497
  29. Noah, 1,386
  30. Marco, 1,353
  31. Salvatore, 1,324
  32. Liam, 1,236
  33. Luca, 1,230
  34. Vincenzo, 1,211
  35. Thomas, 1,146
  36. Emanuele, 1,100
  37. Alessio, 1,056
  38. Nathan, 1,007
  39. Giorgio, 1,006
  40. Samuel, 1,005
  41. Jacopo, 1,002
  42. Giacomo, 1,000
  43. Ettore, 970
  44. Raffael, 900
  45. Daniele, 899
  46. Simone, 892
  47. Luigi, 886
  48. Damiano, 830
  49. Domenico, 818
  50. Santiago, 798

The girls’ top 100 included Anastasia (57th), Sveva (75th), Mariasole (83rd), and Letizia (97th).

The boys’ top 100 included Ludovico (56th), Niccolò (66th), Brando (73rd), and Ciro (94th).

The girl name Azzurra (which is associated with Italy’s national soccer team gli Azzurri, “the Blues”) ranked 20th in both 2022 and 2021 before jumping to 12th place last year.

Speaking of soccer…I recently learned that Italian soccer star Francesco Totti (who played for AS Roma from 1993 to 2017) influenced baby names in Italy via the names of his three children:

  • The usage of Cristian rose after his son Cristian was born in November of 2005:
    • 2006: 3,028 boys named Cristian (rank: 25th)
    • 2005: 1,619 boys named Cristian (rank: 39th)
    • 2004: 1,616 boys named Cristian (rank: 38th)
  • The usage of Chanel rose after his daughter Chanel was born in May of 2007:
    • 2008: 158 girls named Chanel (rank: 189th)
    • 2007: 63 girls named Chanel (rank: 314th)
    • 2006: fewer than five girls named Chanel
  • The usage of Isabel rose after his daughter Isabel was born in March of 2016:
    • 2017: 1,218 girls named Isabel (rank: 36th)
    • 2016: 910 girls named Isabel (rank: 50th)
    • 2015: 570 girls named Isabel (rank: 69th)

Sources: Contanomi – Quante bambine e quanti bambini si chiamano…? – Istat, Leonardo e Sofia “tengono”, risale Francesco – Istat (Jan. 2024), IstatData

Image: Adapted from Flag of Italy (public domain)

Popular baby names in Canada, 2023

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Flag of Canada

In June of 2023, the population of Canada finally reached 40 million.

Included in that count were roughly half of the 351,477* babies born in Canada last year.

And what were the most popular names among those newborns? Olivia and Noah, yet again.

Here are Canada’s top 50 girl names and top 50 boy names of 2023:

Girl names

  1. Olivia, 1,650 baby girls
  2. Emma, 1,416
  3. Charlotte, 1,412
  4. Amelia, 1,102
  5. Sophia, 1,051
  6. Mia, 924
  7. Chloe, 920
  8. Mila, 915
  9. Sofia, 887
  10. Alice, 793
  11. Ava, 772
  12. Lily, 766
  13. Isla, 759
  14. Ellie, 700
  15. Evelyn, 698
  16. Zoe, 697
  17. Nora, 681
  18. Sophie, 675
  19. Maya, 667
  20. Charlie, 647
  21. Violet, 626
  22. Aria, 613
  23. Florence, 611 (tie)
  24. Isabella, 611 (tie)
  25. Abigail, 608
  26. Ella, 599
  27. Emily, 588
  28. Hannah, 578 (tie)
  29. Hazel, 578 (tie)
  30. Elizabeth, 571
  31. Clara, 562
  32. Rose, 540
  33. Ivy, 533 (tie)
  34. Luna, 533 (tie)
  35. Eva, 527
  36. Eleanor, 503
  37. Harper, 487
  38. Aurora, 475
  39. Avery, 468
  40. Maeve, 462
  41. Victoria, 461
  42. Scarlett, 449
  43. Grace, 447
  44. Emilia, 440
  45. Layla, 432 (tie)
  46. Zoey, 432 (tie)
  47. Elena, 423
  48. Sarah, 419
  49. Livia, 416
  50. Julia, 415

Boy names

  1. Noah, 2,162 baby boys
  2. Liam, 1,813
  3. Theodore, 1,484
  4. Leo, 1,416
  5. William, 1,341
  6. Oliver, 1,245
  7. Lucas, 1,184
  8. Thomas, 1,154
  9. Benjamin, 1,134
  10. Jack, 1,132
  11. James, 1,122
  12. Jacob, 1,086
  13. Ethan, 1,012
  14. Nathan, 1,009
  15. Adam, 969
  16. Henry, 943
  17. Theo, 900
  18. Logan, 891
  19. Owen, 852
  20. Arthur, 818
  21. Levi, 816
  22. Jackson, 767
  23. Luca, 753
  24. Gabriel, 710
  25. Felix, 683
  26. Hudson 659
  27. Charles, 657
  28. Maverick, 649
  29. Daniel, 635
  30. Louis, 623
  31. Muhammad, 619
  32. Samuel, 614
  33. Elijah, 596
  34. Alexander, 588
  35. Caleb, 578
  36. Mason, 566
  37. Nolan, 552
  38. Isaac, 545
  39. Jayden, 531
  40. Aiden, 514
  41. Ryan, 512
  42. Edouard, 502
  43. Mateo, 496
  44. Miles, 490
  45. Michael, 485
  46. Luke, 481
  47. David, 477
  48. Matteo, 474
  49. Bennett, 469 (tie)
  50. Elliot, 469 (tie)

(The #1 names were the same in Alberta, but not in Quebec.)

Among Canada’s fastest-rising baby names were the girl names Sofia, Lainey, and Maeve and the boy names Zorawar, Myles, and Henry.

And what about the names at the other end of the spectrum? Here’s a selection of the baby names that were given to just 5 babies each in Canada last year:

Rare girl namesRare boy names
Audelie, Brie, Celestia, Dasha, Evaluna, Fawn, Gretchen, Harseerat, Icelynn, Jaylah, Kismet, Leony, Melona, Nimar, Ozalee, Philomene, Richelle, Scotia, Twila, Vedika, Walker, Yi, ZirwaAeson, Banner, Chesky, Deedar, Eloic, Fitzroy, Gohan, Huck, Ilay, Jibrael, Kebron, Lemmy, Masten, Noble, Omid, Poyraz, Rantegh, Scottie, Tao, Veeran, Willard, Yichen, Zuhair

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

*Total excludes babies born in Yukon.

Sources: First names at birth by sex at birth, selected indicators – Statistics Canada, Canada’s population reaches 40 million – Statistics Canada, The Daily – Births and stillbirths, 2023 – Statistics Canada

Image: Adapted from Flag of Canada (public domain)

Popular baby names in Belgium, 2023

Flag of Belgium
Flag of Belgium

Last year, the European country of Belgium welcomed 110,400 babies.

What were the most popular names among these babies? Olivia and Noah.

Here are Belgium’s top 50 girl names and top 50 boy names of 2023:

Girl names

  1. Olivia, 587 baby girls
  2. Emma, 429
  3. Louise, 365
  4. Lina, 362 (tie)
  5. Sofia, 362 (tie)
  6. Alice, 356
  7. Eva, 352
  8. Anna, 351
  9. Mila, 331
  10. Juliette, 325
  11. Nora, 293
  12. Lucie, 275
  13. Ella, 273
  14. Mia, 271
  15. Elena, 266
  16. Inaya, 263
  17. Camille, 261
  18. Luna, 246
  19. Victoria, 244
  20. Alba, 242
  21. Jade, 240
  22. Julia, 234
  23. Lou, 227
  24. Giulia, 223
  25. Léa, 222
  26. Nina, 214
  27. Marie, 213
  28. Liv, 212
  29. Lily, 206
  30. Mona, 204 (tie)
  31. Noor, 204 (tie)
  32. Renée, 203
  33. Lena, 198
  34. Ellie, 186
  35. Billie, 185 (tie)
  36. Chloé, 185 (tie)
  37. Elise, 178
  38. Zoé, 170
  39. Alix, 167
  40. Livia, 163
  41. Amélie, 162
  42. Nour, 157
  43. Aya, 156
  44. Sara, 150
  45. Amira, 149 (tie)
  46. Rose, 149 (tie)
  47. Ambre, 148
  48. Jeanne, 147
  49. Clara, 144
  50. Manon, 142

Boy names

  1. Noah, 589 baby boys
  2. Arthur, 577
  3. Liam, 498
  4. Adam, 472
  5. Louis, 463
  6. Jules, 456
  7. Lucas, 394
  8. Gabriel, 378
  9. Victor, 336
  10. Matteo, 297
  11. Oscar, 286
  12. Leon, 275 (tie)
  13. Mohamed, 275 (tie)
  14. Léon, 244
  15. Finn, 241
  16. Lewis, 238
  17. Mathis, 236
  18. Luca, 232
  19. Raphaël, 223
  20. Hugo, 221
  21. Elias, 215
  22. Théo, 210
  23. Amir, 209
  24. Achille, 207
  25. Nathan, 206
  26. Rayan, 203
  27. Otis, 187
  28. Eden, 185
  29. Milo, 183
  30. Marcel, 182
  31. Maurice, 181
  32. Léo, 180 (tie)
  33. Yanis, 180 (tie)
  34. Isaac, 179
  35. David, 172
  36. Gaston, 171
  37. Basile, 170
  38. Lou, 163
  39. Charles, 162 (tie)
  40. Noé, 162 (tie)
  41. Maël, 161
  42. Naël, 160
  43. Ibrahim, 159
  44. Georges, 157
  45. Ayden, 155 (tie)
  46. Henri, 155 (tie)
  47. Aaron, 153 (3-way tie)
  48. Sacha, 153 (3-way tie)
  49. Vic, 153 (3-way tie)
  50. Emiel, 150

The six girl names that entered the girls’ top 100 last year were Florence, Millie, Estelle, Ayla, Aria, and Fatima.

The nine boy names that entered the boy’s top 100 last year were Andrea, Daniel, Eliott, Haroun, James, Julien, Mil, Thomas, and Warre.

The fastest-rising girl names were Eva (+70 baby girls) and Lou (+63), while the fastest-rising boy names were Ayden (+42 baby boys) and Matteo (+35).

Map of the three regions of Belgium
Belgium’s three regions

The top baby names within each of Belgium’s three regions were…

Girl namesBoy names
Flanders (in the north)
57.6% of the population
Language: Dutch		1. Olivia, 346
2. Anna, 222
3. Mila, 219
4. Nora, 216
5. Ella, 207		1. Noah, 359
2. Arthur, 349
3. Liam, 282
4. Jules, 262
5. Leon, 257
Wallonia (in the south)
31.8% of pop.
Languages: French & German		1. Eva, 201
2. Olivia, 191
3. Emma, 171
4. Alba, 166
5. Alice, 165		1. Gabriel, 240
2. Arthur, 195
3. Louis, 184
4. Jules, 177
5. Noah, 175
Brussels (the capital region)
10.6% of pop.
Languages: Dutch & French		1. Sofia, 75
2. Nour, 60
3. Emma, 58
4. Olivia, 50
5. Lina, 49		1. Adam, 93
2. Mohamed, 87
3. Gabriel, 65
4. Yanis, 58
5. Noah, 55

And here’s a selection of names from the other end of the spectrum — the names that were given to just 5 babies each in Belgium last year:

Rare girl namesRare boy names
Asmae, Blanche, Carlota, Deborah, Elli, Frie, Gigi, Hilona, Isabeau, Jinan, Kimya, Lente, Marcelle, Nika, Ozanne, Puck, Renske, Sibylle, Trixie, Violet, Wissal, Yarah, ZélyaAdar, Brenn, Camiel, Dylano, Ézéchiel, Finley, Gerard, Haider, Illan, Jelle, Kas, Largo, Merijn, Naé, Ole, Pharell, Rakan, Soann, Tijn, Virgil, Wasim, Yvar, Zacharie

In Dutch, the word lente refers to the season of spring.

I didn’t post about Belgium’s top baby names of 2022, but here are Belgium’s 2021 rankings.

Sources: First names for boys and girls – STATBEL, 4.5% decrease in births in 2023 compared to the average for 2019-2022 – Statbel, Demographics of Belgium – Wikipedia

Image: Adapted from Flag of Belgium (public domain)
Map: Adapted from Regions of Belgium by Ssolbergj under CC BY 3.0.