How popular is the baby name Roger 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 Roger.

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Popularity of the baby name Roger


Posts that mention the name Roger

Popular baby names in Belgium, 2024

Flag of Belgium
Flag of Belgium

Last year, the European country of Belgium welcomed 108,150 babies.

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

Here are Belgium’s top 50 girl names and top 50 boy names of 2024:

Girl names

  1. Olivia, 531 baby girls
  2. Emma, 455
  3. Louise, 432
  4. Lina, 354
  5. Sofia, 345
  6. Eva, 335
  7. Mila, 327
  8. Alice, 323
  9. Juliette, 305
  10. Mia, 298
  11. Anna, 289
  12. Nora, 284
  13. Inaya, 266
  14. Lucie, 258
  15. Elena, 257
  16. Jade, 251
  17. Julia, 243
  18. Alba, 242
  19. Ella, 239
  20. Nina, 228
  21. Luna, 225
  22. Noor, 221
  23. Victoria, 220
  24. Ellie, 219 (tie)
  25. Marie, 219 (tie)
  26. Giulia, 218
  27. Mona, 198
  28. Léa, 195
  29. Renée, 183
  30. Liv, 182
  31. Lou, 181
  32. Chloé, 179
  33. Billie, 174
  34. Livia, 173
  35. Nour, 172
  36. Jeanne, 170
  37. Amélie, 163
  38. Lily, 162
  39. Amira, 161
  40. Lena, 158
  41. Emilia, 157
  42. Rose, 156 (tie)
  43. Zoé, 156 (tie)
  44. Camille, 153
  45. Maryam, 149 (tie)
  46. Romy, 149 (tie)
  47. Alix, 148
  48. Aya, 145
  49. Ambre, 142 (tie)
  50. Lara, 142 (tie)

Boy names

  1. Noah, 582 baby boys
  2. Arthur, 559
  3. Jules, 478
  4. Louis, 476
  5. Liam, 461
  6. Adam, 439
  7. Gabriel, 413
  8. Victor, 340
  9. Lucas, 322
  10. Leon, 295
  11. Oscar, 287
  12. Mohamed, 263
  13. Matteo, 259
  14. Luca, 253
  15. Léon, 248
  16. Lewis, 244
  17. Finn, 227
  18. Rayan, 210
  19. Théo, 209
  20. Mathis, 207
  21. Raphaël, 203
  22. Elias, 201
  23. Hugo, 200
  24. Amir, 199 (tie)
  25. Otis, 199 (tie)
  26. Achille, 197
  27. Léo, 192
  28. Sacha, 187
  29. Marcel, 185
  30. Felix, 174 (tie)
  31. Theo, 174 (tie)
  32. Leo, 168
  33. Emile, 166
  34. Henri, 160 (3-way tie)
  35. Ibrahim, 160 (3-way tie)
  36. Lou, 160 (3-way tie)
  37. Eden, 159
  38. Emiel, 158
  39. Naël, 155
  40. Basile, 152
  41. Maël, 151
  42. César, 150 (3-way tie)
  43. Lio, 150 (3-way tie)
  44. Oliver, 150 (3-way tie)
  45. Charles, 149 (tie)
  46. Isaac, 149 (tie)
  47. David, 148 (4-way tie)
  48. Milo, 148 (4-way tie)
  49. Mohammed, 148 (4-way tie)
  50. Nathan, 148 (4-way tie)

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

Rare girl namesRare boy names
Afia, Bitania, Cézan, Dima, Ecaterina, Femke, Gioïa, Hatice, Inês, Jinthe, Kiki, Lies, Maëlyne, Nine, Ombeline, Rho, Suus, Tenzin, Vanina, Yumi, ZelihaAkim, Brieuc, Camil, Deen, Edzio, Foss, Giacomo, Hektor, Ibe, Jimmy, Kenji, Lowenn, Mélyo, Nawfel, Orso, Roger, Stefano, Taïm, Vasile, Yoel, Zeger

Lies (pronounced LEES) is a Dutch diminutive of Elisabeth, Nine (pronounced NEE-nah) is a Frisian short form of Katherine, and Suus is a palindromic Dutch short form of Susanna.

Brieuc may be a reference to the French city of Saint-Brieuc, which was named after a 5th-century Welsh monk called Brioc.

Finally, here are Belgium’s 2023 rankings, if you’d like to compare last year to the year before.

Sources: First names for boys and girls – STATBEL, Births 5.0% lower in 2024 than the average for 2020-2023 – Statbel, Behind the Name

Image: Adapted from Flag of Belgium (public domain)

Where did the baby name Syriana come from in 2005?

Movie poster for "Syriana" (2005)
“Syriana” poster

The name Syriana first appeared in the U.S. baby named data in 2005:

  • 2007 62 baby girls named Syriana
  • 2006 119 baby girls named Syriana [peak usage]
  • 2005 16 baby girls named Syriana [debut]
  • 2004: unlisted
  • 2003: unlisted

A year later, Syriana reach peak usage and the spellings Syrianna and Cyriana both debuted in the data.

What was inspiring parents to name their daughters Syriana in the mid-aughts?

The geopolitical thriller Syriana, which came out in theaters in November of 2005.

The movie’s complicated plot wove together numerous storylines and characters, “from the players brokering back-room deals in Washington to the men toiling in the oil fields of the Persian Gulf.” Film critic Roger Ebert described Syriana as being “about oil and money, America and China, traders and spies, the Gulf States and Texas, reform and revenge, bribery and betrayal.”

The ensemble cast included actors George Clooney (who played a veteran CIA officer) and Matt Damon (who played an energy analyst based in Switzerland).

How did the movie come to be named Syriana? Here’s how writer and director Stephen Gaghan explained it:

While ‘Syriana’ is a very real term used by Washington think-tanks to describe a hypothetical reshaping of the Middle East, as our title it is used more abstractly. ‘Syriana,’ the concept – the fallacious dream that you can successfully remake nation-states in your own image – is a mirage. Syriana is a fitting title for a film that could exist at any time and be about any set of circumstances that deal with man’s unchecked ambition, hubris, and the fantasy of empire.

What are your thoughts on Syriana as a baby name?

Sources:

Image: Movie poster for Syriana

What gave the baby name Vance a boost in 1969?

Roger Miller's self-titled album (1969)
Roger Miller album

According to the U.S. baby name data, the name Vance saw a spike in usage in 1969:

  • 1971: 339 baby boys named Vance [rank: 446th]
  • 1970: 407 baby boys named Vance [rank: 398th]
  • 1969: 555 baby boys named Vance [rank: 328th] (peak usage)
  • 1968: 331 baby boys named Vance [rank: 424th]
  • 1967: 288 baby boys named Vance [rank: 446th]

What gave the name a boost that year?

The country song “Vance” by Roger Miller. It was released in late 1968 and reached #15 on the Billboard‘s Hot Country Singles chart in early 1969. (It also appeared on Billboard‘s Hot 100 chart for several weeks, ranking as high as 80th.)

“Vance” is a rambling, spoken-word song in which the narrator talks about his son, Vance. Here’s how it starts:

He was born one mornin’, it was cold and it was snowin’,
And from the start he never had a chance.
And though the doctors said he couldn’t live, his mama had some faith to give,
And they brought him to her and his mama named him Vance.

Here’s how it sounds:

What are your thoughts on the name Vance?

P.S. A couple of years later, another song about a son, “Watching Scotty Grow,” also influenced both the music charts and the baby name charts…

Sources: Roger Miller discography – Wikipedia, SSA

What popularized the baby name Jonah in the mid-1990s?

The character Jonah Baldwin from the movie "Sleepless in Seattle" (1993)
Jonah Baldwin from “Sleepless in Seattle“

The name Jonah saw a sharp increase in usage during the 1990s, according to the U.S. baby name data:

  • 1996: 1,569 baby boys named Jonah [rank: 197th]
  • 1995: 1,370 baby boys named Jonah [rank: 215th]
  • 1994: 1,178 baby boys named Jonah [rank: 245th]
  • 1993: 449 baby boys named Jonah [rank: 469th]
  • 1992: 225 baby boys named Jonah [rank: 693rd]
  • 1991: 246 baby boys named Jonah [rank: 649th]

What was behind the rise?

My guess is a young character from the classic rom-com Sleepless in Seattle, which was released in June of 1993.

In the movie, Jonah Baldwin (played by Ross Malinger) was the 8-year-old son of widowed Sam Baldwin (played by Tom Hanks) of Seattle.

On Christmas Eve, Jonah called in to a radio talk show and told the host that he wished his father could find a new partner. Minutes later, Sam joined Jonah on the line and talked to the host — who dubbed him ‘Sleepless in Seattle’ — about how much he missed his late wife. (“She made everything beautiful.”)

Meanwhile, on the other side of the country, Baltimore Sun reporter Annie Reed (played by Meg Ryan) happened to hear the radio show while driving. Annie, despite having a fiancé, became captivated by Sam and set out to find him. (“What if this man is my destiny and I never meet him?”)

After some sleuthing, Annie found Sam’s address and wrote him a letter proposing that they meet atop the Empire State Building on Valentine’s Day. (Hundreds of other women had also written letters to Sam [via the radio show], but Jonah liked Annie’s letter best because it mentioned Baltimore baseball player Brooks Robinson.)

I won’t divulge the rest of the plot, but, as film critic Roger Ebert noted in his review, Sleepless in Seattle was essentially “about two people who are destined for one another.”

It was also the eighth-highest-grossing movie of 1993. (In tenth place that year was The Pelican Brief.)

The biblical name Jonah is derived from the Hebrew word yona, which means “dove.” (The similar name Jonas has the same origin.)

What are your thoughts on the name Jonah?

P.S. Sleepless in Seattle also managed to nudge the usage of the rare name Seattle above the SSA’s five-baby threshold for the first time ever in 1994.

Sources:

Image: Screenshot of Sleepless in Seattle