How popular is the baby name Ocean 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 Ocean.

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Popularity of the baby name Ocean


Posts that mention the name Ocean

Celebrity baby name: True

American actor Forest Whitaker
Forest Whitaker

Actor Forest Whitaker and his late ex-wife, Keisha Nash, were the parents of four children:

  • Ocean, b. 1990 (Forest’s son from a previous relationship)
  • Autumn, b. 1991 (Keisha’s daughter from a previous relationship)
  • Sonnet, b. 1996 (daughter)
  • True, b. 1998 (daughter)

Their youngest, True Whitaker, was interviewed several days after the birth of Khloé Kardashian’s daughter True (in April of 2018). In the interview, she told the story behind her name:

Whitaker discovered that her parents originally planned to name her Truth before deciding on True, which was inspired by Lauryn Hill‘s version of “Can’t Take My Eyes off of You” by Frankie Valli. “I remember to this day my mother singing the lyrics ‘You’re just too good to be True’ to me in my little cradle.”

True Whitaker’s birth did not noticeably affect the usage of the baby name True in the late ’90s, but the birth of her older sister did give the rare name Sonnet a boost in 1997.

Sources:

Image: Adapted from Forest Whitaker by David Shankbone under CC BY 2.0.

Popular baby names in Ireland, 2023

Flag of Ireland
Flag of Ireland

Last year, the Republic of Ireland — which covers five-sixths of the island of Ireland — welcomed roughly 55,000 babies.

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

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

Girl Names

  1. Grace, 339 baby girls
  2. Fiadh (pronounced FEE-a), 300
  3. Emily, 297
  4. Sophie, 283
  5. Lily, 270
  6. Ellie, 252
  7. Mia, 242
  8. Amelia, 241 (tie)
  9. Éabha (pronounced EY-va), 241 (tie)
  10. Ella, 231
  11. Isla, 227
  12. Hannah, 226
  13. Sophia, 218
  14. Lucy, 214
  15. Ava, 207
  16. Sadie, 200
  17. Olivia, 199
  18. Freya, 188
  19. Emma, 183
  20. Chloe, 181
  21. Robyn, 180
  22. Molly, 176
  23. Anna, 166 (tie)
  24. Croía (pronounced KREE-a), 166 (tie)
  25. Evie, 165
  26. Caoimhe (pronounced KEE-va or KWEE-va), 158
  27. Saoirse (pronounced SEER-sha or SAYR-sha), 157 (tie)
  28. Cara, 157 (tie)
  29. Sofia, 156
  30. Millie, 150
  31. Aoife (pronounced EE-fa), 148
  32. Isabelle, 132
  33. Bonnie, 130
  34. Maya, 128 (tie)
  35. Ada, 128 (tie)
  36. Róisín (pronounced ROH-sheen), 127
  37. Ruby, 126
  38. Kate, 123 (tie)
  39. Alice, 123 (tie)
  40. Holly, 120 (3-way tie)
  41. Erin, 120 (3-way tie)
  42. Sadhbh (pronounced siev; rhymes with “5”), 120 (3-way tie)
  43. Leah, 119
  44. Isabella, 118 (3-way tie)
  45. Ailbhe (pronounced AL-va), 118 (3-way tie)
  46. Méabh (pronounced mayv), 118 (3-way tie)
  47. Zoe, 115
  48. Annie, 112
  49. Ivy, 111
  50. Willow, 110

Boy Names

  1. Jack, 561 baby boys
  2. Noah, 473
  3. James, 369
  4. Rían (pronounced REE-an), 339
  5. Oisín (pronounced UH-sheen or OH-sheen), 330
  6. Fionn (pronounced fyun or fyoon), 306
  7. Tadhg (pronounced tieg, like the first part of “tiger”), 301
  8. Liam, 289
  9. Cillian (pronounced KIL-ee-an), 275
  10. Daniel, 256
  11. Finn, 251
  12. Conor, 244 (tie)
  13. Charlie, 244 (tie)
  14. Seán (pronounced shawn), 240
  15. Michael, 239
  16. Leo, 237
  17. Theo, 233
  18. Thomas, 227
  19. Patrick, 221
  20. Luke, 215
  21. Tommy, 214
  22. Oliver, 211
  23. Adam, 201
  24. Harry, 198
  25. Luca, 197
  26. Darragh, 195
  27. Alex, 175
  28. Bobby, 157
  29. Cian (pronounced KEE-an or keen), 156
  30. Oscar, 154
  31. John, 152 (tie)
  32. Max, 152 (tie)
  33. Ryan, 151
  34. Páidí (pronounced PAW-dee), 150
  35. Jamie, 149
  36. Ben, 147
  37. Kai, 141 (tie)
  38. Ollie, 141 (tie)
  39. Tom, 135
  40. Matthew, 134
  41. Dylan, 132
  42. Callum, 131
  43. Sonny, 130
  44. Sam, 129
  45. Ethan, 127 (tie)
  46. Alfie, 127 (tie)
  47. David, 122
  48. Alexander, 118
  49. Mason, 116
  50. Caelan, 114

New to the girls’ top 100 were Lucia, Cadhla (pronounced KIE-la) and Síofra (pronounced SHEE-fra).

New to the boys’ top 100 were Caelan, Jude, Paddy, Éanna (pronounced EY-na) and Dáithí (pronounced DAH-hee).

The fastest-rising names in the top 100 in terms of numbers of babies were:

  • Éala (increased by 41 baby girls), Ailbhe (+40), Méabh (+36), Zara (+33), Croía (+26)
  • Caelan (increased by 58 baby boys), Páidí (+41), Arlo (+35), Tommy (+30), Mark (+28)

And the fastest-rising names in terms of rank were:

  • Síofra (rose 57 spots on the girls’ list), Lucia (+43), Éala (+38), Lottie (+36), Zara (+31)
  • Caelan (rose 58 spots on the boys’ list), Mark (+46), Ruairí (+41), Eoin (+37), Arlo (+31)
Map of the four provinces of Ireland
Ireland’s four provinces

Home to more than five million people, the Republic of Ireland is divided into four provinces. (One of these provinces, Ulster, lies largely within Northern Ireland, which is part of the UK.) The top baby names within each of the four provinces last year were…

Top Girl NameTop Boy Name
Leinster
(56% of the population)		GraceJack
Munster
(27% of pop.)		GraceJack
Connacht
(11% of pop.)		FiadhJack
Ulster [ROI portion]
(6% of pop.)		LilyJack

And what about the baby names at the other end of the spectrum?

Here’s a selection of the names that were given to just 3 babies each in Ireland last year:

Rare Girl NamesRare Boy Names
Adara, Brídín, Cushla, Dottie, Eilidh, Féile, Gillian, Hezlin, Iona, Jolene, Kalina, Lorna, Maliha, Natasha, Ocean, Philomena, Ríonach, Saffie, Tuiren, Vedika, Yasmine, ZadieAlby, Bram, Conal, Douglas, Elvis, Finnian, Gerald, Igor, Jonnie, Keenan, Lughaidh, Maitiú, Nathanael, Orin, Patryk, Rylan, Séadhna, Téidí, Ultán, Viktor, Wren, Yohan, Zachariah

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

Sources: Irish Babies’ Names – CSO (Irish Babies’ Names 2023), Births, Deaths and Marriages – CSO, Provinces of Ireland – Wikipedia

Image: Adapted from Flag of Ireland (public domain)
Map: Adapted from Provinces of Ireland location map by Ssolbergj under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Top unisex baby names of 2022

pink and blue cupcakes

Which unisex baby names were the most popular in 2022?

To figure this out, I did two things. First, I identified all the gender-neutral names in the latest batch of U.S. baby name data. (To qualify as gender-neutral, a name must be given to girls at least one-third of the time and to boys at least one-third of the time.) Second, I sorted those hundreds of gender-neutral names by total usage: male plus female.

The following names came out on top:

  1. Parker
  2. River
  3. Charlie
  4. Blake
  5. Emerson
  6. Finley
  7. Phoenix
  8. Remington
  9. Tatum
  10. Rory
  11. Dakota
  12. Ari
  13. Shiloh
  14. Alexis
  15. Armani
  16. Remy
  17. Salem
  18. Legacy
  19. Skyler
  20. Denver

The first four names — Parker, River, Charlie, and Blake — were also the top four in 2021.

The five names that entered the top 20 were Shiloh, Salem, Legacy, Skyler, and Denver. Four of the five qualified as unisex in 2021, but ranked lower on the list. Legacy, on the other hand, was slightly over two-thirds male in 2021.

The five names that dropped out of the top 20 were Hayden, Amari, Oakley, Reign, and Milan. All five failed to qualify as unisex in 2022. Hayden, Amari and Milan were given to too many boys; Oakley and Reign were given to too many girls.

Here are those top 20 names again, this time with total counts and gender percentages:

Number of babies*Percentage girlsPercentage boys
Parker6,24338.49%61.51%
River5,37935.55%64.45%
Charlie4,42052.53%47.47%
Blake3,01447.81%52.19%
Emerson2,97557.61%42.39%
Finley2,57152.74%47.26%
Phoenix2,33543.08%56.92%
Remington2,21735.14%64.86%
Tatum2,20252.32%47.68%
Rory2,18143.83%56.17%
Dakota2,13756.34%43.66%
Ari1,73641.24%58.76%
Shiloh1,54359.82%40.18%
Alexis1,53356.69%43.31%
Armani1,49646.86%53.14%
Remy1,41135.08%64.92%
Salem1,08763.75%36.25%
Legacy1,00065.00%35.00%
Skyler97358.38%41.62%
Denver96333.33%66.67%
*Male and female usage added together

So which names came next on the list?

The following, ranked 21st through 35th, all fell within both the girls’ top 1,000 and the boys’ top 1,000 in 2022:

  • Briar, 924 total babies
  • Azariah, 903
  • Drew, 896
  • Amiri, 880
  • Bellamy, 847
  • Ocean, 842
  • Jamie, 841
  • Sevyn, 792
  • Dior, 745
  • Chandler, 719
  • Tru, 710
  • Murphy, 709
  • Layne, 702
  • Justice, 643
  • Robin, 637

And here are the rest of the unisex names that had a combined usage of at least 200 babies (in descending order):

Quincy, Kingsley, Jessie, Sol, Khari, Ira, Landry, Joey, Campbell, Kacey, Arden, True, Yael, Jaylin, Shea, Harlem, Joan, Kodi, Hollis, Sidney, Shai, Jireh, Ripley, Laken, Bowie, Kit, Ever, Montana, Kasey, Kadence, Yuri, Jael, Azari, Gentry, Rain, Storm, Perry, Honor, Denim, Isa, Divine, Merritt, Dominique, Camdyn, Jelani, Cove, Ashtyn, Jean, Armoni, Jules, Brighton, Channing

Kacey was one of the few names that happened to hit 50/50 usage — exactly 202 baby girls and 202 baby boys — in 2022. Movie-fueled Marvel was another 50/50 name.

Source: SSA

Image: Adapted from Gallery 1 by Sarah Howells under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Popular and unique baby names in Sonoma County (California), 2022

Flag of California
Flag of California

Sonoma County, located north of San Francisco, is part of California’s famous Wine Country region.

Last year, Sonoma welcomed 4,583 babies. What were the most popular names among these babies? Camila and Mateo.

Here are Sonoma’s top 50+ girl names and top 50+ boy names of 2022:

Girl Names

  1. Camila, 28 baby girls
  2. Emma, 25
  3. Sofia, 22
  4. Isabella, 21 (tie)
  5. Mia, 21 (tie)
  6. Amelia, 20
  7. Luna, 18
  8. Elizabeth, 17 (tie)
  9. Olivia, 17 (tie)
  10. Charlotte, 15 (tie)
  11. Penelope, 15 (tie)
  12. Maya, 14
  13. Evelyn, 13 (4-way tie)
  14. Gianna, 13 (4-way tie)
  15. Natalie, 13 (4-way tie)
  16. Riley, 13 (4-way tie)
  17. Ella, 12 (6-way tie)
  18. Emily, 12 (6-way tie)
  19. Nora, 12 (6-way tie)
  20. Ruby, 12 (6-way tie)
  21. Samantha, 12 (6-way tie)
  22. Sophia, 12 (6-way tie)
  23. Aria, 11 (4-way tie)
  24. Mila, 11 (4-way tie)
  25. Scarlett, 11 (4-way tie)
  26. Zoey, 11 (4-way tie)
  27. Catalina, 10 (5-way tie)
  28. Victoria, 10 (5-way tie)
  29. Violet, 10 (5-way tie)
  30. Ximena, 10 (5-way tie)
  31. ???, 10 (5-way tie)
    • The dataset included a blank entry with 10 babies. Perhaps the name was accidentally deleted, or this entry represents 10 Sonoma babies that have yet to be named…?
  32. Abigail, 9 (6-way tie)
  33. Audrey, 9 (6-way tie)
  34. Ava, 9 (6-way tie)
  35. Avery, 9 (6-way tie)
  36. Hazel, 9 (6-way tie)
  37. Lucia, 9 (6-way tie)
  38. Chloe, 8 (5-way tie)
  39. Layla, 8 (5-way tie)
  40. Natalia, 8 (5-way tie)
  41. Piper, 8 (5-way tie)
  42. Zoe, 8 (5-way tie)
  43. Aaliyah, 7 (17-way tie)
  44. Alina, 7 (17-way tie)
  45. Athena, 7 (17-way tie)
  46. Bella, 7 (17-way tie)
  47. Cora, 7 (17-way tie)
  48. Daisy, 7 (17-way tie)
  49. Eleanor, 7 (17-way tie)
  50. Eliana, 7 (17-way tie)
  51. Ellie, 7 (17-way tie)
  52. Genesis, 7 (17-way tie)
  53. Harper, 7 (17-way tie)
  54. Isla, 7 (17-way tie)
  55. June, 7 (17-way tie)
  56. Kira, 7 (17-way tie)
  57. Madison, 7 (17-way tie)
  58. Sadie, 7 (17-way tie)
  59. Willow, 7 (17-way tie)

Boy Names

  1. Mateo, 26 baby boys
  2. Liam, 24
  3. Henry, 20 (3-way tie)
  4. Hudson, 20 (3-way tie)
  5. Santiago, 20 (3-way tie)
  6. Noah, 19 (tie)
  7. Sebastian, 19 (tie)
  8. Oliver, 17
  9. Aiden, 16 (3-way tie)
  10. Daniel, 16 (3-way tie)
  11. Lucas, 16 (3-way tie)
  12. James, 15 (4-way tie)
  13. Levi, 15 (4-way tie)
  14. Theodore, 15 (4-way tie)
  15. Wyatt, 15 (4-way tie)
  16. Angel, 14 (4-way tie)
  17. Isaac, 14 (4-way tie)
  18. Jack, 14 (4-way tie)
  19. Jackson, 14 (4-way tie)
  20. Damian, 13 (7-way tie)
  21. Emiliano, 13 (7-way tie)
  22. Emilio, 13 (7-way tie)
  23. Ian, 13( 7-way tie)
  24. Juan, 13 (7-way tie)
  25. Julian, 13 (7-way tie)
  26. Luca, 13 (7-way tie)
  27. Adrian, 12 (8-way tie)
  28. Adriel, 12 (8-way tie)
  29. Jayden, 12 (8-way tie)
  30. Jose, 12 (8-way tie)
  31. Leo, 12 (8-way tie)
  32. Mason, 12 (8-way tie)
  33. Theo, 12 (8-way tie)
  34. William, 12 (8-way tie)
  35. Aaron, 11 (6-way tie)
  36. Anthony, 11 (6-way tie)
  37. Cameron, 11 (6-way tie)
  38. Logan, 11 (6-way tie)
  39. Michael, 11 (6-way tie)
  40. Roman, 11 (6-way tie)
  41. Christopher, 10 (6-way tie)
  42. Kai, 10 (6-way tie)
  43. Lorenzo, 10 (6-way tie)
  44. Miguel, 10 (6-way tie)
  45. Owen, 10 (6-way tie)
  46. Quinn, 10 (6-way tie)
  47. Axel, 9 (9-way tie)
  48. Caleb, 9 (9-way tie)
  49. Dominic, 9 (9-way tie)
  50. Ezekiel, 9 (9-way tie)
  51. Felix, 9 (9-way tie)
  52. Gabriel, 9 (9-way tie)
  53. Maverick, 9 (9-way tie)
  54. Rowan, 9 (9-way tie)
  55. Samuel, 9 (9-way tie)

Lower down on the list, we find 3 boys named Oslo and 2 named Kawika (the Hawaiian form of David).

And here’s a sampling of the many names that were bestowed just once in Sonoma last year:

Unique Girl NamesUnique Boy Names
Alofa, Baylor, Calgary, Dechen, Etsai, Fleury, Gabbanelli, Heather, Inayaat, Josiebelle, Ka Iulani, Liska, Morelia, Nasira, Oa, Pejuta, Quetzal, Riviera, Salanieta, Tenley, Unity, Vylana, Wendy, Yubicela, ZoaAimeson, Braulio, Coatney, Daizel, Ekansh, Filberto, Gadiel, Helios, Iroh, Javelin, Kaleo, Lars, Mayaken, Nikolai, Osoleo, Pedro, Quentin, Reverand, Sterling, Torrello, Ulices, Voyager, Wolfie, Yonik, Zayjoun

Some possible explanations/influences for a few of the above:

  • Alofa means “love” in Samoan.
  • Dechen means “great bliss” in Tibetan.
  • Etsai means “devil” in Basque.
  • Iroh is a character from the animated TV series Avatar: The Last Airbender.
  • Javelin originally referred to a light spear used in hunting, but today it’s more closely linked to either the Olympic sport or the missile used by the military.
  • Ka Iulani could be a reference to Hawaii’s last heir apparent, Princess Ka’iulani.
  • Kaleo means “the voice” or “the sound” in Hawaiian. (It’s also the name of an Icelandic rock band.)
  • Pejuta means “medicine” in Lakota.
  • Quetzal refers to the quetzal bird.

P.S. Just for fun, here are some of the names that have only popped up a single time in Sonoma’s baby name data, which goes back to the 1800s.

  • 2013: Ethereal, Meadowlark
  • 2012: Six
  • 2011: Four, Aubergine
  • 2009: Limber, Nightlynn, Pepperwood
  • 2008: Honeymoon, Teancum
  • 2006: Luminescence, Memphis Dreamwolf, Ozomatli, Skylarshine
    • Ozomatli is the Nahuatl word for “monkey.” (It’s also the name of a Grammy-winning Latin Rock band from Los Angeles.)
  • 2000: Ocean Wind, Millennium, Millennium Christopher
  • 1999: Chrysler
  • 1997: Return
  • 1996: Riverwind
  • 1995: Brazil, Cedar River, Talisman
  • 1994: Namibia, Northern
  • 1993: Tiffani Amber, Vancouver
  • 1992: Sunwater
  • 1991: Modesto, Sparkles
  • 1988: Smokey
  • 1985: Juror, Redcloud
  • 1984: Little Fawn
  • 1982: Otineb
    • Otineb is “Benito” spelled backwards
  • 1981: Connemara
  • 1976: Sonrisa
  • 1975: Little Star
  • 1974: Buffalo, Evenstar, Kipkino
  • 1973: Apricot, Coriander, Summertime
  • 1970: Starfinder
  • 1965: Honey Bee
  • 1958: Zebra
  • 1951: Starlite
  • 1937: Grape
    • I appreciate that a baby born in a wine-making region was named “Grape” :)
  • 1921: Senator
  • 1915: Sequestre
  • 1914: Eldorado

Sonoma’s two-hit wonder names include Strawberry (1971, 1973) and Fairlight (1974, 1976).

Sources: Sonoma County Baby Names | Open Data | Sonoma County, Sonoma County Births by Year | Open Data | Sonoma County, Wiktionary, Online Nahuatl Dictionary

Image: Adapted from Flag of California (public domain)