How popular is the baby name Ted 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 Ted.

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Popularity of the baby name Ted


Posts that mention the name Ted

Popular and unique baby names in Sweden, 2024

Flag of Sweden
Flag of Sweden

Last year, the Scandinavian country of Sweden welcomed 98,451 babies.

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

Here are Sweden’s top 50 girl names and top 50+ boy names of 2024:

Girl names

  1. Alma, 568 baby girls
  2. Alice, 565
  3. Olivia, 552
  4. Elsa, 550
  5. Vera, 546
  6. Saga, 486
  7. Selma, 484
  8. Astrid, 473
  9. Ella, 472
  10. Signe, 458
  11. Freja, 455
  12. Ellie, 454
  13. Stella, 427
  14. Alba, 408
  15. Maja, 398
  16. Agnes, 373
  17. Alva, 367
  18. Leah, 350
  19. Hedda, 346
  20. Ebba, 340
  21. Mila, 322
  22. Luna, 319
  23. Lilly, 310
  24. Wilma, 303
  25. Iris, 300
  26. Ines, 291
  27. Juni, 290
  28. Alicia, 288
  29. Sigrid, 283
  30. Ellen, 254
  31. Ester, 251
  32. Leia, 248
  33. Nora, 244
  34. Majken, 242
  35. Lykke, 241
  36. Julia, 238
  37. Lily, 237 (tie)
  38. Molly, 237 (tie)
  39. Edith, 227
  40. Hilma, 224
  41. Elvira, 222
  42. Sally, 216
    • It’s so interesting to see Sally rising in Sweden. (It entered Sweden’s top 100 around 2013.) In the U.S., Sally has never made the top 50 — but it did come close in the late 1930s.
  43. Celine, 211
  44. Clara, 205
  45. Nova, 198
  46. Ingrid, 194
  47. Ilse, 190
  48. Livia, 189
  49. Bonnie, 185 (tie)
  50. Esther, 185 (tie)

Boy names

  1. Noah, 692 baby boys
  2. William, 574
  3. Hugo, 567
  4. Liam, 548
  5. Adam, 538 (tie)
  6. August, 538 (tie)
  7. Nils, 527
  8. Leo, 515
  9. Oliver, 514
  10. Otto, 491
  11. Sam, 490
  12. Alfred, 482
  13. Elias, 478
  14. Malte, 463
  15. Leon, 422
  16. Frans, 420
  17. Charlie, 404
  18. Ludvig, 396
  19. Ted, 377
  20. Theo, 376
  21. Valter, 375
  22. Olle, 371
  23. Gabriel, 347
  24. Arvid, 345
  25. Elliot, 343 (tie)
  26. Lucas, 343 (tie)
  27. Tage, 328
  28. Harry, 320
  29. Henry, 303 (tie)
  30. Theodor, 303 (tie)
  31. Björn, 291
  32. Ebbe, 285
  33. Vincent, 284
  34. Walter, 280
  35. Alexander, 277 (tie)
  36. Adrian, 277 (tie)
  37. Benjamin, 272
  38. Oscar, 264 (tie)
  39. Melker, 264 (tie)
  40. Elton, 260
  41. Jack, 259
  42. Noel, 258
  43. Axel, 251
  44. Kian, 244
  45. Viggo, 229
  46. Albin, 225
  47. Ivar, 224
  48. Lukas, 223
  49. Matteo, 218
  50. Julian, 217 (tie)
  51. Levi, 217 (tie)

In the girls’ top 10, Saga replaced Ellie.

In the boys’ top 10, Leo and Otto replaced Elias and Sam.

Four of the fastest-rising names were Celine and Junie (for girls) and Bo and Björn (for boys).

Lower down in the rankings I spotted…

  • Penny (65 girls)
    • Five more were named Pennie.
  • Tindra (23 girls) – means “to twinkle” in Swedish
  • Buster (10 boys)
  • Tintin (6 girls, 4 boys)
  • Texas (8 boys, 1 girl)
    • Three more boys were named Tex, Texan, and Texaz.
  • Grim (7 boys)
  • Tibelia (5 girls)
  • Fenrir (4 boys) – a giant wolf in Norse mythology
  • Figge (4 boys) – a nickname for Fredrik
  • Styrbjörn (3 boys)
  • Lioness (2 girls)
  • Valiant (2 boys)

And here’s a sampling of the thousands of names that were bestowed just once in Sweden last year:

Unique girl namesUnique boy names
Allikin, Borealis, Cindelle, Darshini, Eldfrid, Frigg, Gizi, Hafdís, Issoria, Javeline, Kiwi, Lupin, Majliss, Ninorta, Orchidée, Päivi, Ririka, Siglind, Tanangoo, Unnati, Vyllma, Wanyin, Yangkyi, ZeelineAlfrid, Brighter, Carwill, Dharav, Ejvind, Fafner, Gizmo, Hjälte, Imron, Jojje, Khangarid, Lindorm, Michigan, Nexus, Orchlon, Prodromos, Reijo, Sigsten, Thimmy, Ulve, Vigor, Wheffy, Yazn, Zirrar

Some definitions/explanations for a few of the above:

  • Allikin is the main character of the Swedish children’s book Allikin (1986) by Runo Lindskog.
  • Borealis is a Latin word meaning “northern.”
  • Frigg is a Norse goddess.
    • The word Friday comes from the Old English word frigedæg, meaning “Frigg’s day.”
  • Hafdís is an Icelandic name made up of elements meaning “sea” and “goddess.”
  • Hjälte means “hero” in Swedish.
  • Jojje is a diminutive of Georg, the Swedish form of George.
  • Khangarid is the Mongolian name for Garuda, a mythical bird-like deity in Hinduism and Buddhism.
    • The emblem of Mongolia’s capital, Ulaanbaatar, features a Khangarid.
  • Lindorm refers to a mythical snake-like creature in Nordic folklore.
  • Päivi is a diminutive of the Finnish name Päivikki, which is based on the word päivä, meaning “day.”
  • Prodromos is an Ancient Greek word meaning “forerunner.”
  • Unnati is a Sanskrit word meaning “ascending” or “advancement.”

Sources:

Image: Adapted from Flag of Sweden (public domain)

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 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 gave the baby name Dorinda a boost in 1944?

The character Dorinda from the movie "A Guy Named Joe" (1943)
Dorinda from “A Guy Named Joe“

According to the U.S. baby name data, the name Dorinda saw a sharp spike in usage in the mid-1940s:

  • 1946: 72 baby girls named Dorinda [rank: 989th]
  • 1945: 81 baby girls named Dorinda [rank: 841st]
  • 1944: 147 baby girls named Dorinda [rank: 607th]
  • 1943: 22 baby girls named Dorinda
  • 1942: 24 baby girls named Dorinda

It was the fastest-rising baby name of 1944, in fact.

Several Dorinda-like names got a boost around that time as well:

194319441945
Drenda.50†37
Drinda.22*20
Dorenda.11*5
Darenda.9*.
Derinda.7*6
Dirinda.7*.
Durinda.7*6
Derenda.7*6
Darinda..6*
*Debut, †Peak usage

(Dirinda was a one-hit wonder.)

The name Dorinda would have sounded fashionable in the 1940s — a decade during which names like Linda, Brenda, Glenda, and Wanda ranked inside the girls’ top 100. But its sudden trendiness can be traced back to a specific influence: a movie character.

The romance/fantasy film A Guy Named Joe (which did not feature any characters named Joe, incidentally) was released in March of 1944. It went on to become one of the highest-grossing films of the year.

The main character was WWII bomber pilot Pete Sandridge (played by Spencer Tracy). After being killed in action — and leaving behind his girlfriend Dorinda (played by Irene Dunne) — he found himself in the afterlife, where he was told to return to Earth as a guardian angel. His first assignment was a young military pilot named Ted (played by Van Johnson). Eventually, Ted happened to meet, and fall for, a grieving Dorinda — which made things complicated for Pete.

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

Sources: A Guy Named Joe – Wikipedia, A Guy Named Joe (1944) – Turner Classic Movies, 1944 in film – Wikipedia, SSA

Image: Screenshot of A Guy Named Joe