How popular is the baby name Shem 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 Shem.

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Popularity of the baby name Shem


Posts that mention the name Shem

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)

Popular baby names in the Netherlands, 2015

Flag of the Netherlands
Flag of the Netherlands

According to data from Sociale Verzekeringsbank (SVB), the most popular baby names in the Netherlands in 2015 were Emma and Liam.

Here are the Netherlands’ top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names of 2015:

Baby Girl NamesBaby Boy Names
1. Emma
2. Julia
3. Sophie
4. Anna
5. Mila
6. Eva
7. Tess
8. Lotte
9. Sara
10. Zoë		1. Liam
2. Sem (a form of Shem)
3. Lucas
4. Luuk
5. Noah
6. Milan
7. Daan
8. Levi
9. Finn
10. Jesse

On the girls’ list, Lotte replaced Isa (which fell from 6th place to 20th).

On the boys’ list, Jesse replaced Bram (which fell from 2nd place to 13th).

Another significant mover of the boys’ list was Liam itself. Liam ranked 17th in 2013, then 9th in 2014, and finally 1st in 2015.

Other names bestowed last year in the Netherlands include Goodluck, Dikshit, Lovelace, Genius, Narbys-Lenay, Rooney, Amen, Islam, Jood, Godmother, Eh, and You.

The top names in 2014 were Sophie and Daan. In 2013, they were Tess and Sem.

Sources: Kindernamen top 20 – SVB, Emma and Liam are most popular Dutch kids names, but what about little Eh?

UPDATE, Nov. 2016: According to Amsterdam University researchers, who took combined spellings into account, the top names of 2015 were Sarah and Luuk. My source didn’t offer the researchers’ full top 10 lists, but here’s what I took from the article:

1. Sarah/Sara/Zara
2. Sophie/Sofie
3. Anne/Anna
4. Lisa/Lize/Lise/Liza

1. Luuk/Luc/Luke
2. Lucas/Lukas
[…]
10. Mohamed/Mohammed/Muhammed/Mohammad

Source: Sarah and Luuk are the most popular Dutch baby names, say university researchers

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

Names that mean “name”

Jheronimus signature

I love coming across personal names with definitions that refer to names. Some examples:

  • Behnam means “good name” in Persian.
  • Hieronymus, meaning “sacred name,” is based on the Greek words hieros, “sacred,” and onoma, “name.”
    • Jerome is the English form of Hieronymus.
      • Jerónimo is the Spanish form of Jerome.
    • Jheronimus was the form of Hieronymus used by Dutch painter Hieronymus Bosch (1450-1516).
  • Kainoa, meaning “the namesake,” is based on the Hawaiian words ka, “the” (singular), and inoa, “name.”
    • Kainoakupuna means “the namesake of one’s ancestor.”
  • Nainoa, meaning “the namesakes,” is based on the Hawaiian words na, “the” (plural), and inoa, “name.”
  • Nergüi means “no name” in Mongolian.
  • Shem means “name” in Hebrew. (The eldest of Noah’s three sons was called Shem.)
    • Sem is a variant form of Shem. (It’s popular in The Netherlands right now.)

Do you know of any others?

Image: Adapted from Jheronimus Bosch 006 central panel 03 detail 01 (public domain)

Popular baby names in the Netherlands, 2011

Flag of the Netherlands
Flag of the Netherlands

Last year, over 92,000 baby boys and nearly 88,000 baby girls were born in the Netherlands. The top baby names were…

Girl Names

  1. Emma
  2. Julia
  3. Sophie (2010’s #1)
  4. Lotte
  5. Isa
  6. Lisa
  7. Sara
  8. Lieke
  9. Eva
  10. Anna

Boy Names

  1. Daan
  2. Sem* (2010’s #1)
  3. Milan
  4. Levi
  5. Luuk
  6. Lucas
  7. Jayden
  8. Thomas
  9. Stijn
  10. Jesse

*Sem is a form of Shem, a biblical name meaning “name,” “fame,” or “renown” in Hebrew. Shem, Noah’s eldest son, was the ancestor of the Semitic peoples — hence the words “semite” and “semitic.”

Sources: Top 10 populairste kindernamen – De Telegraaf, Daan and Emma most popular Dutch baby names in 2011

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