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 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

What gave the baby name Kermit a boost in 1901?

Presidential son Kermit Roosevelt (1889-1943)
Kermit Roosevelt (in 1902)

In November of 1900, Republican William McKinley defeated Democrat William Jennings Bryan in the U.S. presidential election.

In September of 1901, less than a year later, President McKinley was assassinated and succeeded by his vice president, Theodore Roosevelt.

Roosevelt’s second son, Kermit, had turned 11 a month before the election, and was still 11 when his father became president of the United States.

His rare first name, Kermit, debuted in the U.S. baby name data in 1900 and saw a sizeable boost in usage the very next year. In fact, Kermit was the fastest-rising baby name of 1901 (in terms of relative increase).

  • 1903: 12 baby boys named Kermit [rank: 679th]
  • 1902: 16 baby boys named Kermit [rank: 547th]
  • 1901: 17 baby boys named Kermit [rank: 481st]
  • 1900: 6 baby boys named Kermit
  • 1899: unlisted
  • 1898: unlisted

The earliest decades of the SSA data tend to under-count actual usage, so, for comparison, here’s data from the Social Security Death Index (SSDI) for the same period of time:

  • 1903: 107 people with the first name Kermit
  • 1902: 118 people with the first name Kermit
  • 1901: 64 people with the first name Kermit
  • 1900: 12 people with the first name Kermit
  • 1899: 1 person
  • 1898: 2 people

But there’s more to the story than that, because later spikes in the name’s usage also seem to line up with events in Kermit Roosevelt’s life.

Graph of the usage of the baby name Kermit in the U.S. since 1880
Usage of the baby name Kermit (SSA data)

From March 1909 to June 1910, Kermit accompanied his father on an expedition to Africa. Various photos of Kermit (including the one below) ran in the newspapers both before and during the trip. The SSA data indicates that the name ranked 175th and 193rd, respectively, in 1909 and 1910 — the only two times it’s ever placed inside the boys’ top 200.

Kermit Roosevelt's photo in a newspaper (Sept. 1908)
Newspaper photo of Kermit (Sept. 1908)

In June of 1914, Kermit married Belle Wyatt Willard, the daughter of the U.S. Ambassador to Spain. (Kermit and his father had also just returned from a perilous five-month trip to the Amazon basin, but the newspapers didn’t seem as interested in the second expedition as they were in the wedding.) The same year, the name nearly doubled in usage.

In July of 1918, Kermit’s youngest brother, Quentin, was killed in combat during WWI. Months later, in January of 1919, his famous father died suddenly in his sleep. The name Kermit saw a steep rise in usage in 1918, followed by peak usage (in terms of absolute numbers of babies) in 1919.

(Incidentally, dozens of baby boys were named either “Quentin Kermit” or, more often, “Kermit Quentin” during the first decades of the 1900s. One example: Kermit Quentin Turner, born in Oklahoma in 1919.)

For seven months during 1925, Kermit and his eldest brother, Ted, went on an expedition to the Himalayas. The newspapers (again) seemed only moderately interested in the trip, but the name Kermit did see slightly higher usage in the mid-1920s.

And it saw another uptick in 1943, the year that Kermit Roosevelt — who, during the 1930s, had been hit hard by the Great Depression and also became an alcoholic — committed suicide in Alaska after being medically discharged from the U.S. Army.

Kermit’s name — which was also the middle name of his mother, Edith Kermit Carow — ultimately honored Edith’s uncle, merchant and shipowner Robert Kermit.

The surname Kermit is an Anglicized form of the Manx surname Kermode, which in turn is a form of the Irish surname Mac Diarmada. The Irish surname is derived from the Irish personal name Diarmaid, which is of unknown etymology.

What are your thoughts on the name Kermit?

Sources:

Images: Kermit Roosevelt and Jack, the dog (LOC); “Kermit Roosevelt” in the Warren Sheaf (Sept. 3, 1908)