How popular is the baby name Sam 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 Sam.

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Popularity of the baby name Sam


Posts that mention the name Sam

Popular baby names in the Netherlands, 2024

Flag of the Netherlands
Flag of the Netherlands

Last year, from January to November, the Netherlands welcomed 165,594 babies — 80,604 girls and 84,990 boys.

What were the most popular names among these babies? Emma and Noah.

Here are the Netherlands’ top 50 girl names and top 50 boy names of 2024:

Girl names

  1. Emma, 657 baby girls
  2. Olivia, 634
  3. Nora, 614
  4. Julia, 607
  5. Sophie, 581
  6. Mila, 579
  7. Noor, 547
  8. Yara, 539
  9. Sara, 492
  10. Zoë, 487
  11. Tess, 459
  12. Elin, 457
  13. Luna, 450
  14. Maeve, 447 (tie)
  15. Milou, 447 (tie)
  16. Nina, 443
  17. Saar, 425 – short form of Sarah
  18. Evi, 418
  19. Eva, 407
  20. Mia, 403
  21. Lotte, 400
  22. Liv, 382
  23. Maud, 378
  24. Sofia, 373
  25. Anna, 369
  26. Emily, 368
  27. Ella, 354
  28. Lauren, 348
  29. Lina, 347
  30. Lynn, 341
  31. Sophia, 333
  32. Sofie, 332
  33. Noa, 319
  34. Julie, 316
  35. Lily, 313
  36. Fleur, 311
  37. Loïs, 310
  38. Hailey, 308
  39. Lieke, 306 – diminutive form of several names (such as Angelique)
  40. Livia, 302
  41. Hannah, 298
  42. Fenna, 288 – feminine form of Fen, a Frisian short form of Ferdinand
  43. Nova, 287
  44. Noé, 284 (tie)
  45. Sarah, 284 (tie)
  46. Fien, 260 – short form of Josefien, the Dutch form of Josephine
  47. Jasmijn, 252
  48. Isa, 250 (3-way tie)
  49. Isabella, 250 (3-way tie)
  50. Romée, 250 (3-way tie) – French feminine form of Romeo

Boy names

  1. Noah, 922 baby boys
  2. Luca, 755
  3. Lucas, 730
  4. Liam, 660
  5. Sem, 618 – Dutch form of Shem
  6. Mees, 606 – short form of Bartholomeus, the Dutch form of Bartholomew
  7. Noud, 582 – short form of Arnoud, the Dutch form of Arnold
  8. Levi, 579
  9. James, 557
  10. Adam, 538
  11. Finn, 529
  12. Daan, 519
  13. Sam, 514
  14. Milan, 506
  15. Luuk, 473
  16. Guus, 468
  17. Zayn, 461
  18. Mats, 436
  19. Mason, 424
  20. Bram, 397
  21. Siem, 377 – short form of Simon
  22. Boaz, 373
  23. Oliver, 364
  24. Olivier, 355
  25. Benjamin, 353
  26. Gijs, 347 – short form of Gijsbert
  27. Floris, 334
  28. Jesse, 330
  29. Joep, 315
  30. Teun, 312 – short form of Antonius
  31. Otis, 311
  32. Jake, 310 (3-way tie)
  33. Lio, 310 (3-way tie)
  34. Morris, 310 (3-way tie)
  35. Moos, 303 – short form of Mozes, the Dutch form of Moses
  36. Jens, 300
  37. Ties, 293 – diminutive form of several names (such as Matthijs and Diederik)
  38. Elias, 286
  39. Abel, 284
  40. Owen, 280
  41. Thomas, 275
  42. Ted, 272
  43. Max, 268
  44. David, 263 (tie)
  45. Julian, 263 (tie)
  46. Jan, 262
  47. Mohammed, 255
  48. Jurre, 252 (tie) – short form of Jurryt, the Frisian form of Gerard
  49. Tobias, 252 (tie)
  50. Kai, 246

The girls’ top 100 included Bo (53rd), Puck (58th), Feline (tied for 82nd), and Benthe (98th).

The boys’ top 100 included Melle (59th), Loek (63rd), Stijn (70th), and Wout (tied for 85th).

And what about gender-neutral names? According to the Dutch SVB, the top three were Charlie (given to 156 girls & 156 boys last year), Robin (68 girls & 64 boys), and Sammy (11 girls & 10 boys).

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

Sources: Kindernamen home | Kindernamen | SVB, Emma en Noah de populairste kindernamen van 2024, Behind the Name

Image: Adapted from Flag of the Netherlands (public domain)

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

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)

Popular baby names in Gibraltar, 2023

Flag of Gibraltar
Flag of Gibraltar

The British overseas territory of Gibraltar — located at the southern tip of Europe’s Iberian Peninsula, just a few miles away from Northern Africa — is home to roughly 32,700 people

Last year, Gibraltar welcomed 319 babies — 149 baby girls, and 170 baby boys. (My source article said the final tally was 318, but the full list [PDF] included an extra name.)

What were the most popular names among these babies? Ava/Lucia (tie) and Luca.

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

Girl names

  1. Ava and Lucia, 4 baby girls each (tie)
  2. Evie, Lily, Olivia, and Sienna, 3 each (4-way tie)
  3. Alba, Arabella, Brielle, Emma, Esme, Indie, Lena, Luna, Madison, Mia, Noa, Sofia, Sophia, Sophie, Talia, and Valentina, 2 each (16-way tie)

Boy names

  1. Luca, 5 baby boys
  2. Jack, Leon, and Liam, 4 each (3-way tie)
  3. James, Noah, Theo, and William, 3 each (4-way tie)
  4. Aiden, Alexander, Axel, Daniel, Dylan, Evan, Hugo, Jackson, Jake, Joey, Julian, Karim, Leo, Leonardo, Lucas, Matthew, Michael, Mohamed, Rafael, Robin, and Ryan, 2 each (21-way tie)

The rest of the names were each bestowed once. (Except for Reign, which was bestowed twice overall — once for each gender.)

Unique girl names (97)Unique boy names (99)
Aasiyah, Abigail, Adrianna, Alexandra, Alma, Amelia, Amiah, Anastasia, Anoushka, Anya, Aria, Arianna, Arianne, Arna, Avery, Bassma, Blossom, Carla, Charlotte, Chloe, Cole, Cora, Daisy, Daniella, Deborah, Devorah, Eadie, Eleanor, Elena, Eliana, Elie, Ella, Elodie, Elouisa, Elsie, Emilia, Emilie, Emily, Faith, Farah, Gia, Giselle, Grace, Gracie-Rae, Hallie, Hannah, Holly, Irene, Isabella, Isadora, Jawhara, Joudia, Julietta, Kaila, Kylie, Layan, Lia, Lilijana, Lilya, Lorena, Lucie, Lucy, Luella, Maram, Matilda, Maya, Mila, Miral, Molly, Niah, Niv, Nora, Nylah, Ottilie, Paige, Penelope, Reign, Rhea, Ria, Riley-Mae, Rina, Rivka, Ruth, Sabrina, Sage, Sara, Scarlett, Sia, Skye, Souhaila, Sydney, Tania, Teresa, Tillia, Vivienne, Yashu, ZainabAaron, Adonis, Alejandro, Alfei, Anthon, Aries, Ashton, August, Ayaan, Ayman, Brooke, Caleb, Charles, Christian, Cody, Colby, Cory, Elai, Eliyahu, Elliott, Eneko, Eoin, Etienne, Evren, Ezio, Finley, Frederick, Gino, Godred, Grayson, Harvey, Hayden, Hiyaan, Ilan, Indra, Jai, Jamie, Jayce, Jayme, Jesse, Johar, Joseph, Joshua, Jovan, Justin, Kai, Keenan, Kobe, Koen, Laurence, Lawson, Lee, Logan, Louay, Louie, Luke, Mael, Mason, Matteo, Max, Milan, Musa, Nasir, Nate, Nathan, Nathaniel, Nial, Nicholas, Nicolas, Nikolai, Nolan, Nyle, Oliver, Ori, Owen, Ramy, Raphael, Ray, Refael, Reign, Rex, Rian, Ricardo, River, Romeo, Roux, Ruben, Rylee, Salman, Sam, Samuel, Scott, Stefan, Theodore, Thiago, Yaakov, Yisroel, Zachary, Ziggy

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

Sources:

Image: Adapted from Flag of Gibraltar (public domain)