How popular is the baby name Nevaeh 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 Nevaeh.

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Popularity of the baby name Nevaeh


Posts that mention the name Nevaeh

Where did the baby name Neleh come from in 2002?

Survivor contestant Neleh Dennis
Neleh Dennis

The name Neleh first appeared in the U.S. baby name data in 2002:

  • 2004: 7 baby girls named Neleh
  • 2003: 6 baby girls named Neleh
  • 2002: 26 baby girls named Neleh [debut]
  • 2001: unlisted
  • 2000: unlisted

Where did it come from?

Neleh [pronounced nuh-LEE-uh] Dennis, a 21-year-old from Utah who was featured on the competitive reality TV show Survivor: Marquesas during the first half of 2002.

She had a “charming, sunny disposition” and was known for her frequent use of the Utah Mormon expression “Oh my heck.” Neleh made it all the way to the final episode, but ended up losing the title of Sole Survivor to fellow contestant Vecepia “Vee” Towery.

Neleh’s first name was Helen — the name of her maternal grandmother — spelled backwards. (The similar name Nevaeh, a backwards spelling of Heaven, was extremely trendy in the early 2000s.)

Following her success on Survivor, Neleh Dennis worked as a morning news reporter at Utah television station KUTV. After that, she became a stay-at-home mom. (She has two sons named Kai and River and a daughter named McKay.)

What are your thoughts on the name Neleh? How would you pronounce it?

Sources:

Image: Screenshot of Survivor: Marquesas

Where did the baby name Anavrin come from in 2020?

The grocery store Anavrin from the Netflix series "You" (2018-).
Anavrin from “You

The curious word Anavrin — which is Nirvana, spelled backwards — debuted as a girl name in the U.S. baby name data in 2020:

  • 2022 7 baby girls named Anavrin
  • 2021 5 baby girls named Anavrin
  • 2020 6 baby girls named Anavrin [debut]
  • 2019: unlisted
  • 2018: unlisted

Why?

My guess is the Netflix series You, a psychological thriller that began airing in late 2018.

At the start of the show’s second season — which was released in its entirety on December 26, 2019 — the main character moved to Los Angeles and began working at an upscale organic grocery store called Anavrin.

Season two of You proved so popular that, just a few days later (on Dec. 30), it was declared the fifth-most-popular Netflix series of 2019.

Around the same time, articles at various media outlets (including Cosmopolitan, Oprah Daily, and The Hollywood Reporter) drew even more attention to the word Anavrin with articles positing that the fictional grocery store had been inspired by a real one: L.A.’s trendy Erewhon Market. (Erewhon is an anagram of “nowhere.”)

What are your thoughts on Anavrin as a baby name? (Do you like it more or less than Nevaeh?)

Sources:

Image: Screenshot of You

Where did the baby name Zoejane come from in 2004?

Zoe Jane Lewis, daughter of Aaron Lewis, lead singer of the band Staind
Zoe Jane Lewis (born in 2002)

The compound name Zoejane first appeared in the U.S. baby name data in 2004:

  • 2006: 8 baby girls named Zoejane
  • 2005: 15 baby girls named Zoejane
  • 2004: 6 baby girls named Zoejane [debut]
  • 2003: unlisted
  • 2002: unlisted

(Most of these babies were probably named Zoe Jane or Zoe-Jane, but the SSA ignores/omits things like spaces, hyphens, and mid-name capitals.)

Beyond the general trendiness of the name Zoe at the time, what was the specific influence behind the debut of Zoejane?

My guess is the rock ballad “Zoe Jane” (2003) by post-grunge band Staind.

Though it failed to chart as a single, “Zoe Jane” was included on Staind’s album 14 Shades of Grey, which reached #1 on the Billboard 200 chart in June.

Here’s the song:

The song was written by Staind singer Aaron Lewis for his first child, Zoe Jane Lewis, who was born on April 5, 2002 — the same day that Layne Staley, one of the lead singers of the grunge band Alice in Chains, died of a drug overdose.

Fate works in strange ways. Not only was Alice in Chains one of Staind’s biggest influences, but when Lewis was growing up Staley was his major source of inspiration, which is why Lewis felt compelled to write “Layne,” a tribute to Staley.

The lyrics of the song “Layne,” which was also on 14 Shades of Grey, mentions this coincidence:

And on that day, a child was born
To someone who you helped along

Lewis and his wife went on to have two more daughters, Nyla Rae and Indie Shay, over the next few years.

What are your thoughts on the name Zoe Jane?

P.S. Another rock band frontman’s firstborn daughter, Nevaeh, also had an influence on U.S. baby names in the early 2000s…

P.P.S. The unrelated book Fifty Shades of Grey came out eight years after (and offered 36 more shades of grey than) the Staind album 14 Shades of Grey.

Sources:

Image: Screenshot of Zoe Jane Lewis from the music video for “So Far Away” by Staind

Popular baby names in Northern Ireland (UK), 2022

Flag of the United Kingdom
Flag of the United Kingdom

Northern Ireland may be located on the island of Ireland, but it’s been part of the United Kingdom (along with Scotland, England, and Wales — all of which are located on the next-door island of Great Britain) since 1921.

Last year, Northern Ireland welcomed 20,929 babies — 10,242 girls and 10,687 boys.

What were the most popular names among these babies? Grace and James.

Here are the Northern Ireland’s top 50+ girl names and top 50 boy names of 2022:

Girl Names

  1. Grace, 168 baby girls
  2. Emily, 152
  3. Fiadh, 148 – pronounced FEE-a
  4. Olivia, 141
  5. Isla, 118
  6. Aoife, 113 – pronounced EE-fa
  7. Lily, 110
  8. Annie, 97
  9. Evie, 94 (tie)
  10. Freya, 94 (tie)
  11. Amelia, 91
  12. Ella, 88
  13. Charlotte, 87
  14. Ava, 84 (tie)
  15. Sophia, 84 (tie)
  16. Anna, 80 (tie)
  17. Erin, 80 (tie)
  18. Eabha, 74 – pronounced EY-va
  19. Katie, 72 (tie)
  20. Ruby, 72 (tie)
  21. Maisie, 71 (tie)
  22. Sophie, 71 (tie)
  23. Lucy, 70
  24. Ellie, 69
  25. Aria, 65
  26. Niamh, 64 – pronounced neev or NEE-iv
  27. Molly, 59 (tie)
  28. Rosie, 59 (tie)
  29. Clodagh, 57 (tie) – pronounced KLOH-da
  30. Mia, 57 (tie)
  31. Hannah, 56
  32. Meabh, 55 (tie) – pronounced mayv
  33. Willow, 55 (tie)
  34. Elsie, 54
  35. Cora, 52 (tie)
  36. Phoebe, 52 (tie)
  37. Ada, 51
  38. Bonnie, 49 (tie)
  39. Isabella, 49 (tie)
  40. Eva, 48 (4-way tie)
  41. Georgia, 48 (4-way tie)
  42. Ivy, 48 (4-way tie)
  43. Sadie, 48 (4-way tie)
  44. Cara, 47 (tie)
  45. Harper, 47 (tie)
  46. Emma, 46 (tie)
  47. Zara, 46 (tie)
  48. Chloe, 45 (tie)
  49. Rose, 45 (tie)
  50. Poppy, 44 (tie)
  51. Saoirse, 44 (tie) – pronounced SEER-sha or SAYR-sha

Boy Names

  1. James, 175 baby boys
  2. Jack, 169
  3. Noah, 146
  4. Theo, 132
  5. Charlie, 131
  6. Oliver, 123
  7. Oisin, 119 – pronounced UH-sheen or OH-sheen
  8. Harry, 118
  9. Cillian, 111 – pronounced KIL-ee-an
  10. Thomas, 107
  11. Leo, 106
  12. Finn, 98
  13. Tommy, 97
  14. Daniel, 90
  15. Alfie, 87
  16. Luca, 83
  17. Freddie, 81
  18. Arthur, 80
  19. Jacob, 79
  20. Jude, 77
  21. Luke, 74 (tie)
  22. Ollie, 74 (tie)
  23. Caleb, 72 (tie)
  24. Ronan, 72 (tie)
  25. Ethan, 69
  26. Darragh, 67
  27. Shea, 65
  28. Rory, 64
  29. Archie, 63 (tie)
  30. Joshua, 63 (tie)
  31. Adam, 62 (3-way tie)
  32. Jonah, 62 (3-way tie)
  33. Matthew, 62 (3-way tie)
  34. Daithi, 61 – pronounced DAH-hee
  35. Ezra, 60 (3-way tie)
  36. Michael, 60 (3-way tie)
  37. Odhran, 60 (3-way tie) – pronounced OH-rawn
  38. George, 59
  39. Reuben, 58
  40. Henry, 57 (4-way tie)
  41. Isaac, 57 (4-way tie)
  42. Logan, 57 (4-way tie)
  43. Teddy, 57 (4-way tie)
  44. Jake, 55 (tie)
  45. Max, 55 (tie)
  46. Mason, 54
  47. Alexander, 53
  48. Conan, 52 (3-way tie)
  49. Conor, 52 (3-way tie)
  50. Joseph, 52 (3-way tie)

The fastest-rising names in the girls’ top 100 were Pippa, Nevaeh, Lucia, Croia, and Maeve.

The fastest-rising names in the boy’s top 100 were Hugo, Luca, Hudson, Rian, and Nathan.

Northern Ireland’s data technically only goes down to names given to 3 babies, but it also includes all the other names — they just aren’t labeled with a “2” or a “1.” In the data for 2020 and 2021, these rare names were separated into two alphabetized lists, so I could guess which list contained the single-use names. In the data for 2022, however, the double- and single-use names were mixed together. So, this time around, I can only offer you a selection of the country’s uncommon (as opposed to unique) baby names:

Rare Girl NamesRare Boy Names
Aeza, Banba/Banbha, Brilliana, Cobhlaith, Della, Eilish, Faoiltiarna, Glencia, Hetty, Israella, Jersey, Kevia, Lilium, Marcy, Neansai, Orlaithi, Prim, Rhaenyra, Simona, Tiggy, Una, Yvonne, ZuzuAlvie, Bonyo, Caolach, Dubhaltach, Evenezer, Fazza, Ghyth, Hamish, Igor, Jivko, Kylian, Lughaidh, Maui, Norrin, Olcan, Plunkett, Rupert, Selkie, Tuathal, Ugnius, Vivaan, Windsor, Yaurik, Zeki

Some explanations/associations for a few of the above…

  • Banba – a goddess in Irish mythology.
    • Banbha – the modern spelling of Banba.
  • Faoiltiarna – an Irish name made up of the elements faol, “wolf,” and tighearna, “lord.”
  • Olcan – a 5th-century Irish saint associated with the village of Armoy in County Antrim.
  • Rhaenyra – a character from the TV series House of the Dragon (a prequel to Game of Thrones).
  • Selkie – a seal/human shapeshifter in Celtic (as well as Norse) mythology.

Finally, let’s take a look at middle names. About 86% of the girls and 89% of the boys born in Northern Ireland last year were given at least one middle name. The middles chosen most often were…

  • Rose, Grace, Elizabeth, Mary, and Marie (for girls), and
  • James, John, Patrick, Michael, and Thomas (for boys).

P.S. If you’re interested in seeing more Irish name pronunciations, just click that link.

Sources: Baby Names 2022 | Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency, Northern Ireland – Wikipedia, Faoiltiarna – Oxford Reference

Image: Adapted from Flag of the United Kingdom (public domain)