How popular is the baby name Zoe 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 Zoe.

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Popularity of the baby name Zoe


Posts that mention the name Zoe

Popular baby names in Hungary, 2016

Flag of Hungary
Flag of Hungary

According to data from the Hungary’s Ministry of the Interior (Belügyminisztérium), the most popular baby names in Hungary in 2016 were Hanna and Bence.

Here are Hungary’s top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names of 2016:

Girl Names
1. Hanna, 1,669 baby girls
2. Anna, 1,206
3. Jázmin, 866
4. Zsófia, 856
5. Zoé, 833
6. Lili, 764
7. Boglárka, 762 – Boglárka is Hungarian for “buttercup.”
8. Luca, 760
9. Emma, 742
10. Léna, 697

Boy Names
1. Bence, 1,800 baby boys – Bence is a form of Vincent.
2. Máté, 1,321
3. Levente, 1,280 – Levente might be based on the Hungarian verb lesz, meaning “will be.”
4. Dominik, 1,173
5. Marcell, 1,146
6. Dávid, 1,123
7. Ádám, 1,117
8. Noel, 1,071
9. Dániel, 1,054
10. Milán, 1,037

In the girls’ top 10, Léna replaced Nóra.

In the boys’ top 10, Noel replaced Áron.

(Interestingly, the two “replaced” names — if we ignore diacritical marks — are anagrams of one another. They’re palindromic, in fact.)

And how is the name Attila faring in Hungary these days? Here’s the data for the last few years:

  • 2016: Attila ranked 27th (569 baby boys)
  • 2015: Attila ranked 25th (568 baby boys)
  • 2014: Attila ranked 26th (560 baby boys)
  • 2013: Attila ranked 26th (552 baby boys)

Source: Statistics – Hungary’s Deputy State Secretariat for the Administration of the Ministry of the Interior (via Maybe It Is Daijiro)

Image: Adapted from Flag of Hungary (public domain)

Popular baby names in New South Wales (Australia), 2016

According to data released in April by the NSW Registry of Births, Deaths & Marriages, the most popular baby names in New South Wales, Australia, in 2016 were Olivia and Oliver.

Here are NSW’s top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names of 2016:

Girl Names
1. Olivia, 629 baby girls
2. Charlotte, 561
3. Amelia, 471
4. Ava, 451
5. Mia, 430
6. Chloe, 427
7. Emily, 387
8. Grace, 346 (tie)
9. Isla, 346 (tie)
10. Ruby, 341

Boy Names
1. Oliver, 668 baby boys
2. William, 557
3. Jack, 511
4. Noah, 499
5. Lucas, 453
6. James, 439
7. Ethan, 424
8. Thomas, 411
9. Alexander, 372
10. Leo, 359

In the girls’ top 10, Isla and Ruby replaced Zoe (now 12th) and Sophia (now 13th).

In the boys’ top 10, Leo replaced Isaac (now 14th).

In 2014, the two top names were the same. In between, in 2015, the #1 girl name was Charlotte instead of Olivia.

Interestingly, the girls’ top 100 includes both Maddison and Madison — and the double-d version ranks considerably higher than the single-d version (45th vs. 68th). In contrast, in the U.S., Maddison ranks 338th and Madison 15th.

Source: Facts & Statistics – BDM – NSW Government

Popular and unique baby names in Quebec (Canada), 2016

Flag of Quebec
Flag of Quebec

According to data released recently by Retraite Québec, the most popular baby names in Quebec in 2016 were Emma and William.

Here are the province’s top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names of 2016:

Girl Names
1. Emma, 632 baby girls
2. Lea, 514
3. Olivia, 507
4. Alice, 489
5. Florence, 470
6. Zoe, 416
7. Rosalie, 406
8. Charlotte, 400
9. Charlie, 387
10. Beatrice, 378

Boy Names
1. William, 791 baby boys
2. Thomas, 697
3. Liam, 654
4. Nathan, 614
5. Felix, 603
6. Jacob, 597
7. Noah, 590
8. Logan, 580
9. Alexis, 532
10. Gabriel, 530

In the girls’ top 10, Charlie returned and ousted Chloe.

In the boys’ top 10, Gabriel replaced Samuel.

Some of the baby names used just once last year include:

  • Girls: Aucelia, Augia, Denasada, Eulogia, Flechere, Haydence, Juridielle, Luotta, Mavericka, Nermine, Omica, Saranella, Sydra, Tuleen, Waapikun, Zealy, Zoralie
  • Boys: Bienvenu, Brinx, Clouthier, Danevick, Dyberry, Endrick, Holiday, Knochlan, Luzolo, Naulaq, Ozroy, Rockwell, Syphax, Tchaz, Tunu, Vinicius, Zabian

A CBC News article about how Quebec’s baby names are evolving to reflect the province’s changing values mentioned several name trends observed from the 1980s to today:

  • Compound names (Anne-Marie, Jean-François) are falling out of style.
  • Once-taboo English names (Elliot, Mia) are seeing new acceptance.
  • Similarly, French names are flipping languages (Anne to Anna, Guillaume to William).
  • Names are also flipping gender (Ariel, Noa).
  • Pop culture is influencing names (Shania, Logan).
  • Unique names are on the rise.

Speaking of unique names, sociologist Laurence Charton of the INRS (Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique) suggested that the rise of unique names starting in the early 1980s was fueled in part by a 1981 change in Quebec’s Civil Code that loosened restrictions on babies’ surnames.

rare baby names, quebec baby names, baby name graph

This claim makes me wish the article had included data from the ’60s and ’70s. I don’t doubt that parents felt liberated by the law change, but I do suspect that unique names were already on the rise by 1981.

Here are Quebec’s 2015 rankings.

Source: List of Baby Names – Retraite Québec

Image: Adapted from Flag of Quebec (public domain)

Most popular first letters for baby names, 2016

What were the most popular first letters for baby names in 2016?

Here’s a chart showing the first letter breakdown for girl names:

first letter, girl names, baby names, 2016, chart

For girls, the most-used first letter was A, followed by M and E. The least-used first letter was U.

The three most-used girl names per letter last year were…

A: Ava, Abigail, Amelia
B: Brooklyn, Bella, Brianna
C: Charlotte, Chloe, Camila
D: Delilah, Daisy, Daniela
E: Emma, Emily, Evelyn
F: Faith, Finley, Fiona
G: Grace, Genesis, Gabriella
H: Harper, Hannah, Hazel
I: Isabella, Isabelle, Ivy
J: Julia, Josephine, Jade
K: Kennedy, Kaylee, Kylie
L: Lily, Lillian, Layla
M: Mia, Madison, Mila
N: Natalie, Nora, Naomi
O: Olivia, Olive, Oakley
P: Penelope, Paisley, Piper
Q: Quinn, Queen, Quincy
R: Riley, Ruby, Reagan
S: Sophia, Sofia, Scarlett
T: Taylor, Trinity, Teagan
U: Unique, Uma, Una
V: Victoria, Violet, Vivian
W: Willow, Willa, Winter
X: Ximena, Xiomara, Xena
Y: Yaretzi, Yareli, Yamileth
Z: Zoey, Zoe, Zara

Here’s the breakdown for boy names:

first letter, boy names, baby names, 2016, chart

For boys, the most-used first letter was J, followed by A and C. The least-used letter was U.

The three most-used boy names per letter last year were…

A: Alexander, Aiden, Anthony
B: Benjamin, Brayden, Bryson
C: Carter, Christopher, Caleb
D: Daniel, David, Dylan
E: Elijah, Ethan, Eli
F: Finn, Felix, Francisco
G: Gabriel, Grayson, Gavin
H: Henry, Hunter, Hudson
I: Isaac, Isaiah, Ian
J: James, Jacob, Jackson
K: Kevin, Kayden, Kingston
L: Liam, Lucas, Logan
M: Mason, Michael, Matthew
N: Noah, Nathan, Nicholas
O: Oliver, Owen, Oscar
P: Parker, Patrick, Preston
Q: Quinn, Quentin, Quincy
R: Ryan, Robert, Roman
S: Samuel, Sebastian, Sawyer
T: Thomas, Theodore, Tyler
U: Uriel, Uriah, Ulises
V: Vincent, Victor, Valentino
W: William, Wyatt, Wesley
X: Xavier, Xander, Xzavier
Y: Yusuf, Yosef, Yahir
Z: Zachary, Zayden, Zane

Finally, here are both genders side-by-side:

first letter, baby names, 2016, chart

Overall, the top first letter was A, followed by J and M. And the least popular letter was, of course, U.

Here’s last year’s post on the most and least popular first letters of 2015.