How popular is the baby name Steve 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 Steve.

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Popularity of the baby name Steve


Posts that mention the name Steve

Popular and unique baby names in Scotland (UK), 2022

Flag of the United Kingdom
Flag of the United Kingdom

Scotland — the country that covers the northern third of the island of Great Britain (the largest island in Europe) — shares a border with only England.

Last year, Scotland welcomed nearly 47,000 babies. What were the most popular names among these babies? Olivia and Noah.

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

Girl Names

  1. Olivia, 309 baby girls
  2. Isla, 296
  3. Freya, 294
  4. Millie, 280
  5. Emily, 244
  6. Amelia, 234
  7. Grace, 233 (tie)
  8. Sophie, 233 (tie)
  9. Ava, 226 (tie)
  10. Ella, 226 (tie)
  11. Lily, 218
  12. Charlotte, 214
  13. Sophia, 184
  14. Aria, 177
  15. Harper, 169 (tie)
  16. Ivy, 169 (tie)
  17. Evie, 161
  18. Lucy, 158
  19. Mia, 156
  20. Rosie, 154
  21. Sofia, 149
  22. Eilidh, 146
  23. Orla, 144
  24. Maisie, 143
  25. Daisy, 134 (tie)
  26. Willow, 134 (tie)
  27. Jessica, 129
  28. Ruby, 127
  29. Ellie, 122
  30. Anna, 119 (tie)
  31. Bonnie, 119 (tie)
  32. Elsie, 116
  33. Esme, 115
  34. Maya, 113 (tie)
  35. Sienna, 113 (tie)
  36. Mila, 106
  37. Robyn, 105
  38. Isabella, 104
  39. Georgia, 101 (tie)
  40. Hannah, 101 (tie)
  41. Poppy, 100
  42. Eva, 98
  43. Ayla, 96
  44. Layla, 95
  45. Callie, 94 (tie)
  46. Skye, 94 (tie)
  47. Hallie, 93
  48. Holly, 92
  49. Maeve, 90
  50. Emma, 89

Boy Names

  1. Noah, 373 baby boys
  2. Jack, 342
  3. Leo, 310
  4. Harris, 274
  5. Luca, 273
  6. Oliver, 261
  7. Rory, 251
  8. Archie, 246
  9. Alfie, 243 (3-way tie)
  10. James, 243 (3-way tie)
  11. Theo, 243 (3-way tie)
  12. Finlay, 234 (tie)
  13. Lewis, 234 (tie)
  14. Alexander, 230
  15. Charlie, 226
  16. Brodie, 221
  17. Lucas, 203
  18. Finn, 201
  19. Logan, 195
  20. Thomas, 183
  21. Mason, 177
  22. Oscar, 164
  23. Max, 160 (tie)
  24. Muhammad, 160 (tie)
  25. Tommy, 159
  26. Freddie, 156
  27. Jacob, 147
  28. Cameron, 145
  29. Jude, 143
  30. Arthur, 140
  31. Daniel, 137
  32. Kai, 135
  33. Harry, 132
  34. Blake, 131
  35. Ollie, 129
  36. Harrison, 122 (3-way tie)
  37. Hunter, 122 (3-way tie)
  38. Roman, 122 (3-way tie)
  39. Adam, 118
  40. William, 117
  41. Arlo, 116
  42. Caleb, 115
  43. Reuben, 110
  44. Ethan, 105 (tie)
  45. Liam, 105 (tie)
  46. George, 103
  47. Sonny, 102
  48. Nathan, 101
  49. Angus, 100 (3-way tie)
  50. Jamie, 100 (3-way tie)
  51. Theodore, 100 (3-way tie)

The fastest-rising names in the girls’ top 100 were Nova, Maeva, Annie, and Nina.

The fastest-rising names in the boys’ top 100 were Teddy, Parker, Hudson, and Theodore.

Here are some of the names from lower down on the list:

  • 15 boys were named Reo, which is the first name of Japanese soccer player Reo Hatate, who joined Glasgow-based Celtic F.C. in early 2022. (Before this, the highest usage of Reo was 3 boys in a single year.)
  • 14 girls were named Vaila, which is the name of one of the Shetland Islands.
  • 7 girls were named Perrie, which is the first name of Perrie Edwards, member of the British girl-group Little Mix. (The name rose in usage during the 2010s, peaking in 2017 with 16 baby girls.)
    • Fun fact: Perrie Edwards’ name was inspired by Steve Perry of Journey.
      • Fun fact #2: Steve Perry’s father’s surname was originally Pereira. (Both of his parents immigrated from the Azores.)
  • 6 girls were named Sanna, which is the first name of Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin, who assumed office in late 2019. (Before this, the highest usage of Sanna was 3 girls in a single year.)
  • 5 boys were named Argyll, which is the name of a historical shire of Scotland.
  • 2 girls were named Kinvara, which is the name of a village in Ireland.

Baby names that were bestowed just once in Scotland last year include…

Unique Girl NamesUnique Boy Names
Athdara, Awilix, Bromwyn, Cadhla, Davilla, Ekklesia, Fillow, Fuchsia, Gigha, Hunter, Ianthe, Janada, Kyveli, Little, Mcgee, Newlana, Omnia, Phay, Qunoot, Rixt, Ryssa, Sunrise, Tianabelle, Uonaidh, Viosa, Xizhi, Yumo, ZerinAous, Bruar, Bruich, Cosanostra, Druie, Endrick, Fendt, Giric, Horatio, Iriah, Kenrong, Likhit, Moray, Normand, Ozan, Pacesetter, Perkunas, Qhawe, Ravine, Rubix, Scottie, Tearlach, Uisdean, Vania, Wudah, Xhambir, Yasiel, Zarrar

Possible explanations/associations for a few of the above:

  • Athdara – the Irish place name Áth Dara, meaning “ford of [the] oak.”
  • Awilix – the Mayan moon goddess Awilix.
  • Bruar – the Scottish place name and/or the Scottish clothing brand.
  • Bruich – the Scottish word bruich, meaning “cooked, boiled” and “ruddy-faced” (among other things).
  • Cadhla – the Irish word cadhla, meaning “beauty.”
  • Cosanostra – the Italian phrase cosa nostra, meaning “our thing, our affair.” Cosa Nostra is another name for the Sicilian Mafia.
  • Gigha – the Scottish island of Gigha (pronounced GHEE-ah).
  • Giric – the 9th-century Pictish king Giric mac Dúngail.
  • Kyveli – the modern Greek form of Cybele.
  • Likhit – the Nepali word likhit, meaning “written, textual.”
  • Moray – the historical province of Scotland.
  • Perkunas – the Lithuanian thunder god Perkunas.
  • Qhawe – the Xhosa and Zulu word qhawe, meaning “hero.”
  • Rubix – the Rubik’s cube, named after its Hungarian creator, Erno Rubik.
  • Tearlach – the Scottish name Teàrlach, which comes from the Old Irish name Tairdelbach.
  • Uisdean – the Scottish name Ùisdean, which comes from the Old Norse name Eysteinn.

Finally, here are Scotland’s 2021 rankings, if you’d like to compare last year to the year before.

Sources: Babies’ First Names 2022 – NRS, Babies’ First Names 2022, Report – NRS (PDF), Trends in baby names 2022 (PDF), Almost three deaths for every two births registered in 2022 – NRS, Behind the Name, Wiktionary, Inside Perrie Edwards’ rise to fame – Mirror Online, Steve Perry – Wikipedia

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

Where did the baby name Journey come from in the 1980s?

The Journey album "Escape" (1981)
Journey album

Back in 1981, Journey popped up for the first time in the U.S. baby name data:

Girls named JourneyBoys named Journey
198476
198356*
1982..
19817*.
1980..
1979..
*Debut

What gave the noun-name a boost that year?

My guess is the influence of the rock band Journey, which was fronted by vocalist Steve Perry during that era.

The group had been putting out music since 1973, but 1981 is the year Journey released its most successful album, Escape — the one with the hit singles “Who’s Crying Now,” “Don’t Stop Believin’,” and “Open Arms.”

And the album was promoted, of course, by an equally successful tour:

Full-page advertisement for Journey tour in the Los Angeles Times (Oct. 4, 1981)
Full-page newspaper ad, 1981

I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the name returned to the data in 1983, the year the band released its second most successful album, Frontiers — the one with the hit singles “Separate Ways”, “Faithfully”, and “Send Her My Love.”

What are your thoughts on Journey as a given name? Would you use it?

Sources: Escape (Journey album) – Wikipedia, Frontiers (Journey album) – Wikipedia, SSA

Where did the baby name Cymande come from in 1973?

Cymande's self-titled debut album (1972).
Cymande album

The unique name Cymande has shown up in the U.S. baby name data just once so far, in the early 1970s:

  • 1975: unlisted
  • 1974: unlisted
  • 1973: 9 baby boys named Cymande [debut]
  • 1972: unlisted
  • 1971: unlisted

Why?

Because of the influence of eclectic British funk band Cymande, made up of nine Caribbean-born, London-based musicians. The band “weld[ed] together the diverse strands of reggae and Rastafarian rhythms with funk, soul, R&B, jazz, rock, African music and West Indian folk.”

Their first album, the self-titled Cymande (1972), featured their biggest single: “The Message,” which reached 48th on Billboard‘s Hot 100 chart in March of 1973.

So where did the name “Cymande” come from?

Many sources repeat the claim that it was derived from a Calypso word meaning “dove” (the band’s emblem). That’s not quite the story, though. Two of the band members discussed the origin of the name with Rolling Stone in 2016:

[Steve] Scipio: The dove represents peace and love and for us, with our Caribbean heritage, it’s also connected with a very popular calypso song [“Dove and Pigeon”] that had a dove as a central character.

[Patrick] Paterson: The hook was “coo-coo-coo-coo-fan-cy-mandy.”

Scipio: “Fan-cy-mandy!” That’s where we got the name, Cymande from.

The song “Dove and Pigeon” [vid] was written by Tobagonian musician Lord Nelson and released in 1963. The line they’re referencing is hard to make out (one music blogger transcribed it “coo coo coo-coo bansimande”), but the last three syllables sound like see-mahn-dee.

At the start of the 1974 Cymande song “Promised Heights” [vid], one of the band members pronounces the band name sih-mahn-day (roughly).

What are your thoughts on the name Cymande?

Sources: Cymande, London’s Greatest Funk Band, on Return to Stage, Interview: British Funk Icons Cymande, Cymande “The Message” Chart History – Billboard, Dove and Pigeon (song) – Guanaguanare: The Laughing Gull

Where did the baby name Adlai come from in the 1890s?

Politician Adlai E. Stevenson I (1835-1914)
Adlai E. Stevenson I

The interesting name Adlai first appeared in the U.S. baby named data in the early 1890s:

  • 1893: 9 baby boys named Adlai (rank: 706th)
  • 1892: 17 baby boys named Adlai (rank: 480th)
  • 1891: 6 baby boys named Adlai (rank: 841st) [debut]
  • 1890: unlisted
  • 1889: unlisted

That 1892 spike in usage remained Adlai’s high-point until the 1950s.

But, because many people born before 1937 never applied for a Social Security card, the earliest decades of the SSA data tend to under-count actual usage. The following numbers, from the Social Security Death Index, should be more accurate:

  • 1893: 34 people named Adlai
  • 1892: 91 people named Adlai
  • 1891: 8 people named Adlai
  • 1890: 3 people named Adlai
  • 1889: 1 person named Adlai

So, what inspired this sudden interest in the name Adlai?

Adlai Ewing Stevenson, who served as the 23rd Vice President from 1893 to 1897 under President Grover Cleveland. (They were called “Cleve and Steve” during the campaign, adorably.)

He’d served as assistant postmaster general during Cleveland’s first term, and, before that, he’d served twice as a U.S. Representative from Illinois (1875-77; 1879-81).

The slightly elevated usage of “Adlai” in 1891 — a year before the campaign/election — could be due to the fact that many babies were not named at birth during that era. So, some 1891 babies likely weren’t given names until well into 1892.

Going through the records, I found dozens of people with the first-middle name combo “Adlai Stevenson.” Here are a few examples from 1892 specifically:

(The handful of older “Adlai Stevensons” I found were all born in Illinois in the 1870s and 1880s.)

Other folks got different versions of the name, such as Stevenson Adlai and Adlai Ewing.

Even better, I found a bunch of people named after the “Cleve and Steve” Democratic ticket, such as Adlai Cleveland, Adlai Grover, Cleveland Adlai, Cleveland Stevenson, Grover Adlai, and Grover Stevenson.

The name Adlai comes from the Bible, but no one knows for sure what it means. Guesses include “my witness; my ornament” (Hitchcock’s Bible Names Dictionary, 1869) and “lax, weary” (International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, 1939).

What are your thoughts on the name Adlai? Would you use it?

Sources: SSA, SSDI, Adlai Stevenson I – Wikipedia, Adlai Stevenson – Britannica