How popular is the baby name Ryan 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 Ryan.

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Popularity of the baby name Ryan


Posts that mention the name Ryan

Popular baby names in the United States, 2012

Flag of the United States
Flag of the United States

The #1 names in the nation are still Jacob and Sophia!

Here are the full top 50 lists:

Boy NamesGirl Names
1. Jacob, 18899
2. Mason, 18856
3. Ethan, 17547
4. Noah, 17201
5. William, 16726
6. Liam, 16687
7. Jayden, 16013
8. Michael, 15996
9. Alexander, 15105
10. Aiden, 14779
11. Daniel, 14143
12. Matthew, 13834
13. Elijah, 13719
14. James, 13271
15. Anthony, 13105
16. Benjamin, 12695
17. Joshua, 12522
18. Andrew, 12501
19. David, 12422
20. Joseph, 12404
21. Logan, 12390
22. Jackson, 12388
23. Christopher, 11777
24. Gabriel, 11442
25. Samuel, 11290
26. Ryan, 10863
27. Lucas, 10616
28. John, 10505
29. Nathan, 10357
30. Isaac, 9928
31. Dylan, 9920
32. Caleb, 9867
33. Christian, 9530
34. Landon, 9296
35. Jonathan, 9253
36. Carter, 9202
37. Luke, 8922
38. Owen, 8630
39. Brayden, 8451
40. Gavin, 8203
41. Wyatt, 8159
42. Isaiah, 8044
43. Henry, 8006
44. Eli, 7998
45. Hunter, 7967
46. Jack, 7877
47. Evan, 7851
48. Jordan, 7734
49. Nicholas, 7653
50. Tyler, 7628
1. Sophia, 22158
2. Emma, 20791
3. Isabella, 18931
4. Olivia, 17147
5. Ava, 15418
6. Emily, 13550
7. Abigail, 12583
8. Mia, 11940
9. Madison, 11319
10. Elizabeth, 9596
11. Chloe, 9595
12. Ella, 9115
13. Avery, 8272
14. Addison, 8122
15. Aubrey, 8006
16. Lily, 7889
17. Natalie, 7852
18. Sofia, 7767
19. Charlotte, 7418
20. Zoey, 7411
21. Grace, 7304
22. Hannah, 7202
23. Amelia, 7191
24. Harper, 7154
25. Lillian, 7100
26. Samantha, 6874
27. Evelyn, 6837
28. Victoria, 6814
29. Brooklyn, 6728
30. Zoe, 6383
31. Layla, 6227
32. Hailey, 5878
33. Leah, 5724
34. Kaylee, 5571
35. Anna, 5552
36. Aaliyah, 5471
37. Gabriella, 5461
38. Allison, 5387
39. Nevaeh, 5317
40. Alexis, 5306
41. Audrey, 5266
42. Savannah, 5143
43. Sarah, 5107
44. Alyssa, 5054
45. Claire, 4915
46. Taylor, 4825
47. Riley, 4786
48. Camila, 4776
49. Arianna, 4685
50. Ashley, 4678

Liam enters the top 10! 15th last year, 6th this year.

Michael just keeps getting lower and lower.

Avery, on the other hand, keeps rising on the girls’ side — 18th last year, 13th this year.

See any other interesting rises/drops so far?

Update: Here’s more from the SSA’s news release:

Many pop-culture naming trends appear in a popular feature of Social Security’s baby names website–the “change in popularity” page. This year’s winners for biggest jump in popularity in the Top 500 are Major and Arya.

The fastest riser on the girls’ list may have been influenced by the popular cable TV series “Game of Thrones.” Arya is the daughter of a leader of one of the Seven Kingdoms. She also is an expert sword fighter, so doubt her influence on the popular names list at your own risk.

For the boys, parents may associate Major with the military title. Acting Commissioner Colvin added “I have no doubt Major’s rising popularity as a boy’s name is in tribute to the brave members of the U.S. military, and maybe we’ll see more boys named General in the future.” You also might trace Major’s increase in popularity to a cable TV show. “Home by Novogratz” is a popular home design show featuring Major Novogratz, the youngest son of designers Robert and Cortney.

The second fastest riser for boys was Gael, and for girls, Perla. Both names most likely are on the rise due to the increase in the Spanish-speaking population in the United States. Perla is the Latinized version of Pearl and is popular among Hispanic-Americans. Gael’s popularity could be tied to Mexican actor Gael Garcia Bernal.

Here is last year’s list.

Sources: SSA, Jacob and Sophia Repeat atop Social Security’s Most Popular Baby Names List – SSA

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

English family with 13 children

kinderfest

Recently I’ve written about the 16-child Radford family and the 14-child Watson family.

Here’s one more for you: the 13-child Shaw family, “the largest [family] in the UK where all the kids have the same parents and are in the same home.”

Tom and Stacy Shaw live in Nottingham with their 13 kids, named…

  1. Shannon, 16
  2. Adam, 15
  3. Ryan, 14
  4. Kelsey, 13
  5. Franky, 11
  6. Leo, 10
  7. Laura, 9
  8. Keenan, 8
  9. Cody, 7
  10. Madison, 6
  11. Kaydn, 5
  12. Tyler, 3
  13. Keavy, 2

Which of the 13 names is your favorite?

Source: Meet Britain’s Biggest Family

Image: Ein Kinderfest (1868) by Ludwig Knaus

Popular baby names in New Zealand, 2012

Flag of New Zealand
Flag of New Zealand

The most popular baby names in New Zealand were announced the other day.

According to the NZ Department of Internal Affairs, New Zealand’s top names last year were Olivia and Jack.

Here are New Zealand’s top 25 girl names and top 25 boy names of 2012:

Girl Names

  1. Olivia
  2. Sophie
  3. Emily
  4. Charlotte
  5. Ruby
  6. Isabella
  7. Ella
  8. Amelia
  9. Sophia
  10. Ava
  11. Chloe
  12. Isla
  13. Emma
  14. Mia
  15. Lily
  16. Grace
  17. Zoe
  18. Lucy
  19. Eva
  20. Paige
  21. Hannah
  22. Georgia
  23. Jessica
  24. Mila
  25. Sienna

Boy Names

  1. Jack
  2. Oliver
  3. William
  4. Liam
  5. Mason
  6. Samuel
  7. Jacob
  8. Lucas
  9. Ethan
  10. Noah
  11. James
  12. Cooper
  13. Daniel
  14. Blake
  15. Benjamin
  16. Joshua
  17. Max
  18. Thomas
  19. Ryan
  20. Charlie
  21. Jayden
  22. Hunter
  23. Leo
  24. Tyler
  25. Alexander

The name Jack has followed an interesting path in the NZ rankings. It was #1 from 2005 until 2009, sank to 4th in 2010, to 10th in 2011, and is now back in first place.

Sources: Olivia, Jack top baby names, Most Popular Male and Female First Names

Image: Adapted from Flag of New Zealand (public domain)

Popular baby names in Scotland (UK), 2012

Flag of the United Kingdom
Flag of the United Kingdom

The most popular baby names in Scotland were announced last week.

According to the General Register Office, the preliminary winners were Jack for boys and Sophie for girls. Jack has been #1 for five years in a row, and Sophie for eight years in a row.

Here are Scotland’s top 20 girl names and top 20 boy names of January-November, 2012:

Baby Girl NamesBaby Boy Names
1. Sophie
2. Emily
3. Olivia
4. Ava
5. Lucy
6. Isla
7. Lily
8. Jessica
9. Amelia
10. Mia
11. Millie
12. Eva
13. Ellie
14. Chloe
15. Freya
16. Sophia
17. Grace
18. Emma
19. Hannah
20. Holly
1. Jack
2. Lewis
3. Riley
4. James
5. Logan
6. Daniel
7. Ethan
8. Harry
9. Alexander
10. Oliver
11. Max
12. Tyler
13. Aaron & Charlie [tie]
15. Adam
16. Finlay
17. Alfie
18. Mason
19. Ryan
20. Liam & Lucas [tie]

Some of the names that increased in popularity from 2011 to 2012:

Lola (up 24 places to #63)
Mollie (up 24 places to #68)
Amelia (up 20 places to #9)
Orla (up 19 places to #36)
Hollie (up 18 places to #39)
Georgia (up 13 places to #58)
Lexi (up 12 places to #38)
Lacey (up 12 places to #41)
Poppy (up 11 places to #34)
Harris (up 20 places to #29)
Harrison (up 20 places to #53)
Tyler (up 20 places to #12)
Brodie (up 17 places to #54)
Max (up 15 places to #11)
Mason (up 13 places to #18)
Finn (up 13 places to #66)
Riley (up 11 places to #3)

New to the top 100 are Bella, Darcy, Emelia, Lois, Scarlett and Willow (for girls) and Alex, Blake, Calvin, George, Olly, Sebastian, Shay and Zac (for boys).

Among the names moving downward are Abigail, Chloe, Jasmine and Phoebe (for girls) and Aiden, Jayden and Mohammed for boys. (Aiden is down 16 places to #36; Jayden down 10 places to #40.)

To compare, here’s last year’s post on the top baby names in Scotland.

Scotland’s official rankings will be out after the year ends.

Sources: Jack and Sophie are Scotland’s top baby names, Jack and Sophie top Scots baby names list in 2012, Scotland’s favourite baby names revealed

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