How popular is the baby name Sally 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 Sally.

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Popularity of the baby name Sally


Posts that mention the name Sally

Popular and unique baby names in Sweden, 2023

Flag of Sweden
Flag of Sweden

Sweden tricked us, you guys.

Last year, Statistics Sweden ominously announced that it would “stop producing name statistics.”

It neglected to mention that the country’s baby name data would continue coming out every year — that the names were simply going to be handled by a different government agency (the Swedish Tax Agency) going forward.

I wanted to be annoyed about this deception, but my annoyance evaporated after I learned that the Swedish Tax Agency had released all of the country’s 2023 baby name data — meaning that we could finally check out Sweden’s rare and unique names (yay!).

So, without further ado, let’s take a look…

Sweden welcomed 100,051 babies in 2023. What were the most popular names among these babies? Vera and Noah.

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

Girl names

  1. Vera, 608 baby girls
  2. Elsa, 603
  3. Alma, 597
  4. Selma, 538
  5. Alice, 512
  6. Signe, 494
  7. Ellie, 490
  8. Olivia, 488
  9. Astrid, 470
  10. Ella, 467
  11. Stella, 447
  12. Maja, 442
  13. Freja, 434
  14. Saga, 426
  15. Alva, 415
  16. Agnes, 392
  17. Ebba, 381
  18. Leah, 375
  19. Alba, 365
  20. Hedda, 362
  21. Iris, 344
  22. Wilma, 341
  23. Ines, 339
  24. Alicia, 335
  25. Mila, 332
  26. Luna, 304
  27. Lilly, 292
  28. Sigrid, 288
  29. Elvira, 286
  30. Leia, 280
  31. Juni, 274
  32. Julia, 258
  33. Hilma, 256
  34. Clara, 253
  35. Majken, 242 (tie)
  36. Molly, 242 (tie)
  37. Ellen, 241
  38. Ester, 238 (tie)
  39. Lykke, 238 (tie)
  40. Lily, 236
  41. Nora, 232
  42. Ingrid, 226
  43. Nova, 223
  44. Edith, 205
  45. Livia, 204
  46. Sally, 203
  47. Lea, 198
  48. Tyra, 194
  49. Liv, 193
  50. Esther, 192

Boy names

  1. Noah, 687 baby boys
  2. Hugo, 652
  3. William, 565
  4. Liam, 558
  5. Nils, 536
  6. Oliver, 517
  7. Elias, 516
  8. Adam, 507
  9. August, 506
  10. Sam, 504
  11. Alfred, 485
  12. Otto, 479
  13. Leo, 463
  14. Leon, 415
  15. Frans, 414
  16. Charlie, 388
  17. Olle, 372
  18. Theo, 366
  19. Harry, 362
  20. Arvid, 351
  21. Ludvig, 350
  22. Malte, 345
  23. Ebbe, 338 (tie)
  24. Lucas, 338 (tie)
  25. Tage, 330
  26. Elliot, 327
  27. Henry, 326
  28. Adrian, 322
  29. Gabriel, 319
  30. Elton, 318
  31. Ted, 317
  32. Walter, 314
  33. Vincent, 296
  34. Alexander, 294 (tie)
  35. Oscar, 294 (tie)
  36. Valter, 293
  37. Benjamin, 282
  38. Noel, 274 (tie)
  39. Theodor, 274 (tie)
  40. Jack, 268 (tie)
  41. Viggo, 268 (tie)
  42. Axel, 264
  43. Albin, 256
  44. Melker, 251
  45. Levi, 240
  46. Isak, 236
  47. Dante, 233
  48. Lukas, 230
  49. Matteo, 226
  50. Hjalmar, 225

The top names of 2022, Astrid and William, dropped to ninth place and third place, respectively.

The boys’ top 100 included Ture (53rd), Vidar (55th), Loke (71st), and Bill (97th).

The girls’ top 100 included Tuva (66th), Stina (75th), Lo (78th), and Eira (81st).

Farther down on the girls’ list I spotted Madicken, which was given to 15 babies last year. Swedish author Astrid Lindgren featured a fictional 7-year-old girl named Margareta “Madicken” Engström in several of her children’s books. (Lindgren had named the character after a childhood friend, Anne-Marie, whose nickname was Madicken.)

And what about the names at the other end of the spectrum? Here’s a sampling of the more than 8,000 names that were bestowed just once in Sweden last year:

Unique girl namesUnique boy names
Älva, Bergþóra, Cyrine, Dahlina, Elfie, Frigga, Glittra, Holland, Iseline, Jinjin, Källa, Lavendel, Minélle, Neoliva, Ornina, Pommelinn, Qellie, Rauline, Sigunn, Thaïs, Undin, Virvla, Winta, Xanne, Yrja, ZtellaAsterix, Bornwell, Casbian, Delton, Ejnar, Frenne, Grimm, Hälge, Ingemund, Jingda, Kasjan, Lillebror, Mjalton, Nille, Öivind, Palomino, Qingfeng, Robiel, Skjómi, Toste, Uzeer, Villie, Williott, Xanto, Yosia, Zillas

Some definitions/associations for a few of the above:

  • Glittra means “to glitter” in Swedish.
  • Källa means “source” in Swedish. (Originally it referred to a source of water, such as a spring or a well.)
  • Lavendel means “lavender” in Swedish (and several other languages).
  • Lillebror means “little brother” in Swedish.
  • Mjalton refers to Mjältön, an island in Sweden.
  • Skjómi, an Old Norse word meaning “a flickering light,” was used metaphorically in Skaldic poetry to refer to a drawn sword.
  • Virvla means “to whirl” in Swedish. (The related noun virvel means “vortex.”)

Sources: Elsa och Noah populäraste namnen hos nyfödda – Skatteverket, Namn på nyfödda – Skatteverket, Population statistics – Statistics Sweden, Madicken (Mardie) – Astrid Lindgren, Wiktionary, skjómi – Lexicon Poeticum, skjómi – Old Norse Dictionary

Image: Adapted from Flag of Sweden (public domain)

What popularized the baby name Shelby in the early 1990s?

The character Shelby Eatenton from the movie "Steel Magnolias" (1989)
Shelby from “Steel Magnolias“

According to the U.S. baby name data, usage of the name Shelby increased sharply among baby girls (and moderately among baby boys) from 1989 to 1991:

Girls named ShelbyBoys named Shelby
19929,396 [rank: 34th]453 [rank: 474th]
199110,219† [rank: 33rd]524† [rank: 427th]
19903,517 [rank: 100th]354 [rank: 525th]
19891,203 [rank: 229th]205 [rank: 694th]
1988881 [rank: 284th]184 [rank: 691st]
1987898 [rank: 273rd]176 [rank: 686th]
†Peak usage

That surge of over 6,700 baby girls from 1990 to 1991 was the biggest raw-number increase of the year. (The next-biggest jump was made by Mariah.)

Here’s the popularity graph:

Graph of the usage of the baby name Shelby in the U.S. since 1880
Usage of the baby name Shelby

Usage was strongest (relatively speaking) in rural western states. In 1991, Shelby ranked 5th among baby girls in Montana, 6th in Oklahoma and Wyoming, 8th in Kansas, 11th in Nebraska, 12th in both of the Dakotas as well as Alaska, and 13th in Utah.

What made the name Shelby so trendy all of a sudden?

I think the answer is a combination of two different influences: a movie character, and a country singer.

The first influence was character Shelby Eatenton from the movie Steel Magnolias, which was released in November of 1989.

Steel Magnolias, set in small-town Louisiana, focused on a group of Southern women — two of whom were Mary Lynn “M’Lynn” Eatenton (played by Sally Field) and her adult daughter Shelby (played by Julia Roberts).

Over the course of the film, Shelby married lawyer Jackson Latcherie and — despite the medical risks posed by her type 1 diabetes — decided to have a child. The baby, a boy, was also named Jackson.

The role earned Roberts her first Academy Award nomination (for Best Supporting Actress).

Steel Magnolias (which also gave boosts to the names Jackson and Mlynn) was adapted from the 1987 stage play of the same name by Robert Harling, who wrote it just months after his sister, Susan, had died of complications from type 1 diabetes.

Harling didn’t want to use real names, so (…) Susan became Shelby, after one of his mother’s cousins. “It’s that Southern thing of using a family name as a first name,” Harling says.

Shelby Lynne album "Sunrise" (1989)
Shelby Lynne album

The second influence was country singer Shelby Lynne, who was born in 1968 (as Shelby Lynn Moorer) and raised in Alabama.

Ten of her singles made Billboard‘s Hot Country Songs chart. The most successful, “Things Are Tough All Over” [vid], peaked at #23 in January of 1991. Several months later, at the 26th Academy of Country Music Awards, she won the title of “Top New Female Vocalist” over fellow nominees Matraca Berg and Carlene Carter.

The names Shelbylynn and Shelbylyn both debuted in 1991, but, curiously, “Shelbylynne” never popped up in the data.

In an interview she gave toward the beginning of her career, Shelby Lynne was asked about the origin of her first name, which she described as “a guy’s name.” She answered,

I don’t know. My Daddy came up with it. Driving through Shelby County, I think, at one time or another, going through Birmingham or somewhere down there. Who knows, I’m just glad I got the name. There’s not many of us.

(Alabama is one of nine U.S. states with a Shelby County. All nine of these counties were named in honor of early American soldier and politician Isaac Shelby.)

What are your thoughts on the name Shelby? Do you like it better as a boy name or as a girl name?

Sources:

Top image: Screenshot of the trailer for Steel Magnolias

[Latest update: May 2025]

Where did the baby name Klisha come from in 1983?

New Jersey high school student Klisha Buell (in 1983)
Klisha Buell, with ant colony

In 1983, the curious name Klisha was a one-hit wonder in the U.S. baby name data:

  • 1985: unlisted
  • 1984: unlisted
  • 1983: 6 baby girls named Klisha [debut]
  • 1982: unlisted
  • 1981: unlisted

Where did it come from?

High school student Klisha Buell, who helped who develop a science experiment that involved sending a colony of ants into space aboard the Challenger in June of 1983.

Hundreds of students at two predominantly African-American high schools in Camden, New Jersey, worked together over several years to design and create all the components of the research project, which had two main objectives: to study the effects of weightlessness on ants, and (more broadly) to get minority students interested in science.

Students in science classes, doing research in entomology and astrophysics, designed the experiment. Students in drafting classes drew blueprints, and those in metal, wood and electrical shop classes put it together. Students developed flow charts and programs for the microprocessor that controlled cameras and the student-designed regulators for light and temperature. Journalism classes wrote newsletters and press releases. Art students painted murals of space scenes in the hallways.

Dozens of students attended the launch of the space shuttle Challenger at Cape Canaveral on June 18th. (It was the Challenger‘s second-ever mission. Not only was the ant colony on board, but so was America’s first female astronaut, Sally Ride.)

After the space shuttle returned, the ant colony and equipment were retrieved by several students. One of those students was Klisha Buell, who was often quoted in articles about the experiment. Her name was mentioned, for instance, in Ebony, in Jet, and on the front page of the New York Times.

Unfortunately, none the ants — including the queen, named Norma — survived the journey.

But the experiment was still considered a success. All of the student-designed equipment functioned perfectly over the course of the mission, and both schools saw evidence that their students had become more interested in science. One teacher mentioned that “enrollment in our science classes has gone up 50 percent.”

What are your thoughts on the name Klisha?

P.S. Sally Ride was the third woman in space; the first was Valentina Tereshkova. The Challenger went on to complete seven more missions before the tragic tenth mission, which involved high school teacher Christa McAuliffe.

Sources:

Image: Clipping from Jet magazine (1 Aug. 1983)

Popular baby names in Sweden, 2022

Flag of Sweden
Flag of Sweden

Sweden, home to over 10 million people, is easily the most populous of the five Nordic countries. (Denmark, Finland, and Norway each contain between 5 and 6 million people; Iceland contains fewer than half a million.)

Last year, Sweden welcomed 104,734 babies. What were the most popular names among these babies? Astrid and William.

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

Girl Names

  1. Astrid, 603 baby girls
  2. Maja, 601
  3. Alma, 596
  4. Vera, 592
  5. Freja, 584
  6. Leah, 570
  7. Ella, 563
  8. Alice, 552
  9. Selma, 540
  10. Lilly, 530
  11. Elsa, 528
  12. Ellie, 513
  13. Ines, 512
  14. Olivia, 504
  15. Stella, 482
  16. Wilma, 474
  17. Signe, 456
  18. Ebba, 453
  19. Ester, 433
  20. Clara, 429
  21. Saga, 412
  22. Alva, 403
  23. Agnes, 402
  24. Alicia, 383
  25. Mila, 378
  26. Juni, 364
  27. Molly, 354
  28. Leia, 349 (tie)
  29. Luna, 349 (tie)
  30. Iris, 348
  31. Hedda, 339
  32. Julia, 321
  33. Alba, 320
  34. Ellen, 302
  35. Sigrid, 292
  36. Elvira, 289
  37. Nora, 283
  38. Edith, 276 (tie)
  39. Sara, 276 (tie)
  40. Meja, 273
  41. Celine, 256
  42. Nellie, 253
  43. Lova, 252
  44. Livia, 251 (tie)
  45. Nova, 251 (tie)
  46. Lykke, 250
  47. Rut, 248
  48. Elise, 244 (tie)
  49. Lo, 244 (tie)
  50. Sofia, 235

Boy Names

  1. William, 690 baby boys
  2. Liam, 679
  3. Noah, 677
  4. Hugo, 643
  5. Oliver, 629
  6. Lucas, 616
  7. Nils, 579
  8. Matteo, 571
  9. Valter, 566
  10. August, 565
  11. Elias, 559 (tie)
  12. Leon, 559 (tie)
  13. Adam, 556
  14. Leo, 545
  15. Ludvig, 507
  16. Alfred, 502
  17. Oscar, 490
  18. Sam, 488
  19. Theo, 474
  20. Otto, 469
  21. Arvid, 450
  22. Harry, 436
  23. Frans, 429
  24. Charlie, 424
  25. Elliot, 407 (tie)
  26. Isak, 407 (tie)
  27. Malte, 401
  28. Theodor, 395
  29. Vincent, 383
  30. Elton, 371
  31. Olle, 366
  32. Louie, 363
  33. Benjamin, 358
  34. Gabriel, 351
  35. Ebbe, 343
  36. Alexander, 338
  37. Adrian, 337 (tie)
  38. Axel, 337 (tie)
  39. Love, 328
  40. Henry, 325
  41. Tage, 317
  42. Filip, 315 (tie)
  43. Ted, 315 (tie)
  44. Noel, 310
  45. Josef, 300
  46. Mohammed, 298
  47. Melvin, 297
  48. Jack, 287
  49. Aron, 286
  50. Viggo, 281

Astrid and William rose from 9th place and 2nd place (respectively) in 2021 to dethrone former #1 names Alice and Noah in 2022.

The girls’ top 100 included Sally (53rd), Tuva (65th), Idun (86th), and Eira (98th).

The boys’ top 100 included Sixten (67th), Vide (81st), Folke (86th), and Algot (90th).

The names in Sweden’s top 100 that rose the fastest from 2021 to 2022 were Ronja and Ture. Ture’s rise was particularly impressive:

  • 2022: 251 baby boys named Ture in Sweden [rank: 58th]
  • 2021: 163 baby boys named Ture in Sweden [rank: 84th]
  • 2020: 175 baby boys named Ture in Sweden [rank: 81st]
  • 2019: 171 baby boys named Ture in Sweden [rank: 84th]

The names that saw the steepest drops in usage were Emilia and Sigge.

Finally, some strange news:

Statistics Sweden will stop producing name statistics as of 2024. The reason for this is that Statistics Sweden will prioritize the production of other statistics.

So, will these 2022 rankings be the last set of Swedish rankings we see for a while? (Perhaps a long while?)

How interesting that, not long after Canada decides to begin releasing national rankings, Sweden decides to stop releasing national rankings…

Sources: Name statistics – Statistics Sweden, Population statistics – Statistics Sweden, Nordic Countries – Wikipedia

Image: Adapted from Flag of Sweden (public domain)