How popular is the baby name Rihanna 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 Rihanna.

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Popularity of the baby name Rihanna


Posts that mention the name Rihanna

Pop culture baby name game, 2016

pop culture baby name game, 2016

It’s December 2 — the doubly momentous day on which Britney Spears celebrates her birthday and on which we start another round of the annual Pop Culture Baby Name Game.

Which baby names will see significant movement on the charts in 2016 thanks to popular culture (TV, movies, music, sports, politics, products, current events, video games, etc.)? Below are some possibilities. Leave a comment with the names you’d add — and don’t forget to mention the pop culture influence.

  • Addison – Chicago Cubs winning season
  • Adonis – movie Creed (suggested by Becca)
  • Ajax – movie Deadpool (suggested by Elizabeth)
  • Alessia – singer Alessia Cara (suggested by Ebony)
  • Ali – death of Muhammad Ali
  • Angel (f) – movie Deadpool (suggested by Elizabeth)
  • Angel Dust – movie Deadpool (suggested by Elizabeth)
  • Aroldis – Chicago Cubs winning season/World Series
  • Auli’i – movie Moana
  • Barron – son of president-elect Donald Trump (suggested by Andrea)
  • Bebe – singer Bleta “Bebe” Rexha (suggested by Ebony)
  • Bernie – presidential candidate Bernie Sanders (suggested by elbowin)
  • Bison – new national mammal & Dakota Access pipeline protests
  • Boomer – son of Michael Phelps
  • Bowie – musician David Bowie
  • Broncs – son of Mackenzie McKee (late suggestion by me)
  • Camila – singer Camila Cabello (suggested by Ebony)
  • Canaan – son of Oprah Winfrey
  • Chyna – pro-wrestler Chyna (late suggestion by me)
  • Clark – Chicago Cubs winning season
  • Cohen – death of Leonard Cohen
  • Creed – movie Creed (suggested by Julie and Becca)
  • Cub – Chicago Cubs winning season
  • Cubby – Chicago Cubs winning season
  • Cyrus – TV miniseries Roots
  • Curiosity – Mars rover (suggested by elbowin)
  • Dak – NFL player Rayne Dakota “Dak” Prescott (late suggestion by me)
  • Daya – singer Daya (suggested by Ebony)
  • Dexter – Chicago Cubs winning season/World Series
  • Dopinder – movie Deadpool (suggested by Elizabeth)
  • Doris – movie Hello, My Name Is Doris
  • Dory – movie Finding Dory (suggested by Randi)
  • Draymond – NBA player Draymond Green (late suggestion by me)
  • Dream – latest Kardashian baby (late suggestion by me)
  • Eleven – TV show Stranger Things (late suggestion by me)
  • Elle – singer Elle King (suggested by Ebony)
  • Emayatzy – TV miniseries Roots
  • E’myri – TV miniseries Roots
  • Esperanto – number of speakers (suggested by elbowin)
  • Francis – movie Deadpool (suggested by Elizabeth)
  • Greyson – son of JWoww
  • Halsey – singer Halsey (suggested by Ebony)
  • Hamilton – musical Hamilton
  • Harriet – Harriet Tubman, chosen to appear on $20 bill
  • Hermine – Hurricane Hermine (late suggestion by me)
  • Hillary – presidential candidate Hillary Clinton
  • Ingwen – Tsai Ing-wen, president of Taiwan (suggested by elbowin)
  • Ivanka – daughter of president-elect Donald Trump (suggested by elbowin)
  • Jikan – death of Leonard Cohen (suggested by elbowin)
  • Jonbenet – anniversary of the death of JonBenet Ramsey
  • Juno – NASA space probe
  • Jupiter – NASA space probe
  • Lorca – death of Leonard Cohen (suggested by elbowin)
  • Luna – daughter of John Legend & Chrissy Teigen
  • Keanu – Key & Peele movie Keanu
  • Kehlani – musician Kehlani (late suggestion by me)
  • Kizzy – TV miniseries Roots
  • Kunta – TV miniseries Roots
  • Laremy – NFL player Laremy Tunsil (late suggestion by me)
  • Linmanuel – actor/playwright Lin-Manuel Miranda (late suggestion by me)
  • Lyanna – TV show Game of Thrones
  • Maga – Trump hashtag #MAGA (late suggestion by me)
  • Maisa – Brazilian child actress Maisa da Silva Andrade (late suggestion by me)
  • Malachi – TV miniseries Roots
  • Maui – movie Moana
  • MacGyver – TV show MacGyver (late suggestion by me)
  • Melania – wife of president-elect Donald Trump (suggested by elbowin)
  • Merrick – judge Merrick Garland, former Supreme Court nominee (late suggestion by me)
  • Miesha – UFC fighter Miesha Tate (late suggestion by me)
  • Moana – movie Moana
  • Monica – Puerto Rican Olympian Monica Puig (I’m curious about the rankings in Puerto Rico specifically; Monica fell out of the top 100 in PR after 2002.)
  • Mountain – daughter of actress Jena Malone
  • Moushumi – TV show The Voice (late suggestion by me)
  • Mowgli – movie The Jungle Book
  • Muhammad – death of Muhammad Ali
  • Murray – Chicago Cubs winning season/World Series
  • Ode – daughter of actress Jena Malone
  • Omran – Syrian boy Omran Daqneesh
  • Onyx – daughter of Alanis Morissette
  • Phiona – movie Queen of Katwe
  • Paisley – death of Prince
  • Prince – death of Prince (suggested by elbowin)
  • Queen – TV show Queen Sugar & movie Queen of Katwe
  • Regé-Jean – TV miniseries Roots
  • Rihanna – singer Rihanna (suggested by Ebony)
  • Rio – location of the 2016 Summer Olympics
  • Rykiel – death of Sonia Rykiel (suggested by elbowin)
  • Sanders – presidential candidate Bernie Sanders
  • Simone – gymnast Simone Biles & daughter of John Legend & Chrissy Teigen
  • Solace – daughter of Alanis Morissette
  • Sully – movie Sully
  • Teresa – canonization of Mother Teresa
  • Teyana – musician Teyana Taylor (late suggestion by me)
  • Tiffany – daughter of president-elect Donald Trump (suggested by elbowin)
  • Trump – president-elect Donald Trump
  • Tulip – movie Storks
  • Usain – runner Usain Bolt (late suggestion by me)
  • Valor – son of JWoww
  • Vanessa – movie Deadpool (suggested by Elizabeth)
  • Voltron – web TV show Voltron: Legendary Defender (late suggestion by me)
  • Wade – movie Deadpool (suggested by Elizabeth)
  • Wilder – death of Gene Wilder (suggested by m4yb3_daijirou)
  • Wilson – movie Deadpool (suggested by Elizabeth)
  • Wrigley – Chicago Cubs winning season
  • Zephyr – U.S. House of Rep. (NY) candidate Zephyr Teachout, who was endorsed by Bernie Sanders. (She was born in Washington state, where Zephyr is particularly popular.)
  • Zobrist – Chicago Cubs winning season/World Series

I’ll post the results next May, when the SSA releases the 2016 baby name data. If you don’t want to miss the results post, please subscribe!

Previous rounds of the Pop Culture Baby Name Game: 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011: #1 & #2, 2010.

Biggest changes in girl name popularity, 2014

Which girl names increased and decreased the most in popularity from 2013 to 2014?

Below are two versions of each list. My version looks at raw number differences and takes all 19,067 girl names on the 2014 list into account. The SSA’s version looks at ranking differences and covers the top 1,000 girl names (roughly).

Biggest Increases

Raw Numbers (Nancy’s list)Rankings (SSA’s list)
  1. Olivia, +1,308 babies (18,366 to 19,674)
  2. Harper, +1,296 (8,268 to 9,564)
  3. Nora, +1,206 (3,502 to 4,708)
  4. Ariana, +1,065 (4,396 to 5,461)
  5. Evelyn, +1,045 (7,647 to 8,692)
  6. Everly, +1,042 (812 to 1,854)
  7. Daleyza, +976 (485 to 1,461)
  8. Skylar, +957 (3,775 to 4,732)
  9. Scarlett, +918 (5,047 to 5,965)
  10. Paisley, +878 (3,595 to 4,473)
  1. Aranza, +3,625 spots (4,232nd to 607th)
  2. Montserrat, +582 (1,153rd to 571st)
  3. Monserrat, +571 (1,162nd to 591st)
  4. Maisie, +462 (1,120th to 658th)
  5. Zendaya, +420 (1,312nd to 892nd)
  6. Karter, +415 (1,383rd to 968th)
  7. Ariadne, +411 (1,212th to 801st)
  8. Daleyza, +358 (585th to 227th)
  9. Thea, +358 (1,134th to 776th)
  10. Remington, +351 (1,036th to 685th)

Here’s what the SSA says about the rise of Aranza: “The Latin soap opera “Por siempre mi amor” was aired on Univision from 2013 to 2015. The show featured a young lead character named Aranza, and obviously had its effect on naming trends last year.” (Aransa was on the 2014 debut list.)

The SSA also noted that Montserrat was the name of “the lead character in a very popular Latin soap opera” — “Lo que la vida me robó,” which aired from 2013 to 2014.

Biggest Decreases

Raw Numbers (Nancy’s list)Rankings (SSA’s list)
  1. Sophia, -2,657 babies (21,147 to 18,490)
  2. Nicole, -827 (3,338 to 2,511)
  3. Samantha, -810 (6,490 to 5,680)
  4. Addison, -762 (7,712 to 6,950)
  5. Hannah, -748 (7,260 to 6,512)
  6. Makayla, -711 (3,270 to 2,559)
  7. Isabella, -623 (17,573 to 16,950)
  8. Alexia, -607 (1,820 to 1,213)
  9. Kaylee, -588 (5,101 to 4,513)
  10. Alexis, -568 (4,756 to 4,188)
  1. Miley, -405 spots (388th to 793rd)
  2. Karly, -330 (991st to 1321st)
  3. Britney, -315 (839th to 1,154th)
  4. Kaya, -244 (760th to 1,004th)
  5. Nahla, -241 (969th to 1,210th)
  6. Rihanna, -233 (956th to 1,189th)
  7. Kaylyn, -227 (982nd to 1,209th)
  8. Makena, -227 (993rd to 1,220th)
  9. Karissa, -224 (968th to 1,192nd)
  10. Sherlyn, -217 (672nd to 889th)

I see at least 3 pop star names (Miley, Rihanna, Britney) on the rankings side.

Finally, here are the big winners and losers from the last few years:

  • 2013: Sadie/Daleyza (biggest increases) and Isabella/Litzy (biggest decreases)
  • 2012: Harper/Arya (biggest increases) and Chloe/Dulce (biggest decreases)
  • 2011: Harper (biggest increase) and Isabella (biggest decrease)
  • 2010: Sophia (biggest increase) and Madison (biggest decrease)

Sources: Change in Popularity from 2013 to 2014, Noah and Emma Top Social Security’s List of Most Popular Baby Names for 2014

U.S. Baby Names 2014: Most popular names, Top girl-name debuts, Top boy-name debuts, Biggest girl-name changes, Biggest boy-name changes, Top first letters, Top lengths

Pop culture baby name game results, 2013

Here are the results of the 2013 pop culture baby name game!

But I’m writing them up a bit differently this year — I’m only focusing on 20 big winners.

How did I choose these 20? First, I eliminated all the names that didn’t see increased usage in 2013. Then I eliminated the names that saw relatively small increases in usage. Then I eliminated the names that saw more or less expected increases in usage, given their trajectories.

That left me with about 20 names that became more popular in 2013 due mainly (in some cases entirely) to pop culture influence.

The links will take you to popularity graphs.

1. Jace

  • Increase: +1,649 baby boys (4,692 to 6,341) and +8 baby girls (36 to 44).
  • Inspiration: “Duck Dynasty” character Jason “Jase” Robertson.
  • Even more impressive, the name Jase increased +3,410 and +13.

2. Lincoln

  • Increase: +1,112 baby boys (2,898 to 4,010) and +28 baby girls (33 to 61).
  • Inspiration: The film Lincoln (2012).

3. Ariana

  • Increase: +816 baby girls (3,568 to 4,384).
  • Inspiration: Singer/actress Ariana Grande.
  • 4,384 baby girls is a new all-time high for Ariana. The previous high was 4,322 baby girls in 2007.

4. Everly

  • Increase: +517 baby girls (287 to 804).
  • Inspiration: Celebrity baby Everly, daughter of Channing Tatum and Jenna Dewan.

5. Kendrick

  • Increase: +472 baby boys (570 to 1,042).
  • Inspiration: Rapper Kendrick Lamar.
  • 1,042 baby boys is a new all-time high for Kendrick. The previous high was 763 baby boys in 1991.

6. Milan

  • Increase: +333 baby boys (151 to 484) and +89 baby girls (382 to 471).
  • Inspiration: Celebrity baby Milan, son of Shakira and Gerard Pique.

7. George

  • Increase: +194 baby boys (2,328 to 2,522).
  • Inspiration: Royal baby George, son of Prince William and Kate Middleton.

8. Francis

  • Increase: +101 baby boys (429 to 530) and +13 baby girls (44 to 57).
  • Inspiration: The election of Pope Francis.
  • Even more impressive, the name Francisco increased +125.

9. Bruno

  • Increase: +91 baby boys (284 to 375).
  • Inspiration: Singer Bruno Mars.
  • 375 baby boys is a new all-time high for Bruno. The previous high was 353 in 1916.

10. Paul

  • Increase: +78 baby boys (1,939 to 2,017).
  • Inspiration: The death of actor Paul Walker.
  • Walker saw an even bigger increase (+128) but I thought Paul’s rise was more compelling as it went against a decades-long decline in usage.

11. Robin

  • Increase: +48 baby boys (104 to 152).
  • Inspiration: Singer Robin Thicke.

12. Diamond

  • Increase: +41 baby girls (345 to 386).
  • Inspiration: Rihanna song “Diamonds” (2012).

13. Wendy

  • Increase: +37 baby girls (357 to 394).
  • Inspiration: Texas politician Wendy Davis.
  • I’m dying to see how much of Wendy’s increase can be attributed to Texas specifically. The SSA’s state lists haven’t been updated yet, though.

14. Nori

  • Increase: +18 baby girls (11 to 29).
  • Inspiration: Celebrity baby “Nori” (North), daughter of Kim Kardashian and Kanye West.
  • 29 baby girls is a new high for Nori. The previous high was 20 in 2009.

15. Primrose

  • Increase: +17 baby girls (17 to 34).
  • Inspiration: Hunger Games (2012) character Primrose Everdeen.
  • Prim, a nickname for Primrose, debuted with 7 baby girls.

16. Marnie

  • Increase: +14 baby girls (13 to 27).
  • Inspiration: “Girls” character Marnie Michaels.

17. Rainbow

  • Increase: +9 baby girls (7 to 16).
  • Inspiration: Celebrity baby Rainbow, daughter of Holly Madison and Pasquale Rotella.

18. Kitai

  • Debuted with 16 baby boys.
  • Inspiration: After Earth (2013) character Kitai Raige.
  • Cypher, the name of another After Earth character, increased +4.

19. Sansa

  • Debuted with 11 baby girls.
  • Inspiration: “Game of Thrones” character Sansa Stark.

20. Malala

  • Debuted with 9 baby girls.
  • Inspiration: Pakistani activist Malala Yousafzai.

Did any of the above surprise you?

Past PCBNG results: 2012, 2011, 2010.

Popular baby names in Jamaica, 2011

Flag of Jamaica
Flag of Jamaica

According to Jamaica’s Registrar General’s Department (RGD), the top baby names in Jamaica in 2011 were Gabrielle and Jayden.

Here are the top 5 girl names and top 5 boy names:

Girl names

  1. Gabrielle
  2. Amelia
  3. Tianna
  4. Brianna
  5. Jada

Boy names

  1. Jayden
  2. Daniel
  3. Joshua
  4. Justin
  5. Jaden & Ajani (tie)

And here are a few extra facts:

  • While Jayden remained the top boy name, usage decreased nearly 13% from 2010 to 2011.
  • Ajani rose to 5th place (2011) from 8th place (2010).
  • Jada rose to 5th place (2011) from 9th place (2010).
  • The top middle names were Anthony (same as in 2010) and Abigail (beating 2010’s Amanda).

Interestingly, according to a 2011 pamphlet called All About Baby (PDF), the top 10 names per gender “registered at the RGD” (during some unspecified previous year?) were…

  • Girl names: Brianna, Rihanna, Gabrielle, Ashley, Jada, Tiana, Abigail, Amelia, Kayla, Danielle
  • Boy names: Daniel, Jayden, Joshua, Jordan, Ricardo, Anthony, Nathan, Michael, Alex, Malik

These lists seem more similar to Jamaica’s 2008 rankings, which were topped by Brihanna and Daniel.

Source: “Jayden, Gabrielle most popular Jamaican baby names.” Jamaica Observer 11 Jun. 2012.

Image: Adapted from Flag of Jamaica (public domain)