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Popular baby names in Poland, 2024

Flag of Poland
Flag of Poland

Last year, the European country of Poland welcomed approximately 252,000 babies.

What were the most popular names among these babies? Maja and Nikodem.

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

Girl names

  1. Maja, 4,640 baby girls
    • Maja ranked fifth for girls in 2023.
  2. Zofia, 4,470
  3. Zuzanna, 4,144
  4. Laura, 4,036
  5. Hanna, 3,916
  6. Julia, 3,482
  7. Oliwia, 3,420
  8. Pola, 3,166
  9. Alicja, 3,131
  10. Maria, 2,698
  11. Antonina, 2,666
  12. Emilia, 2563
  13. Amelia, 2,550
  14. Liliana, 2,417
  15. Michalina, 2,375
  16. Lena, 2,366
  17. Iga, 2,349
  18. Marcelina, 2,330
  19. Klara, 2,323
  20. Helena, 2,226 (tie)
  21. Wiktoria, 2,226 (tie)
  22. Lucja, 1,898
  23. Gabriela, 1,825
  24. Kornelia, 1,771
  25. Nela, 1,648
  26. Aleksandra, 1,522
  27. Rozalia, 1,487
  28. Blanka, 1,351
  29. Jagoda, 1,343
  30. Lilianna, 1,323
  31. Anna, 1,310
  32. Nadia, 1,238
  33. Róza, 1,186
  34. Mia, 1,181
  35. Natalia, 1,110
  36. Kaja, 1,094
  37. Aurelia, 1,024
  38. Aniela, 1,015
  39. Anastazja, 987
  40. Milena, 947
  41. Sara, 873
  42. Weronika, 821
  43. Nina, 795
  44. Matylda, 792
  45. Nikola, 771
  46. Barbara, 761
  47. Jasmina, 751
  48. Liwia, 734
  49. Adrianna, 609
  50. Eliza, 579

Boy names

  1. Nikodem, 6,388 baby boys
  2. Antoni, 5,404
  3. Jan, 5,277
  4. Aleksander, 5,170
  5. Leon, 4,669
  6. Franciszek, 4,574
  7. Ignacy, 4,229
  8. Jakub, 3,938
  9. Stanislaw, 3,715
  10. Mikolaj, 3,644
  11. Filip, 3,097
  12. Szymon, 2,722
  13. Adam, 2,628
  14. Maksymilian, 2,569
  15. Wojciech, 2,552
  16. Oliwier, 2,510
  17. Tymon, 2,478
  18. Marcel, 2,360
  19. Kacper, 2,199
  20. Wiktor, 1,993
  21. Michal, 1,891
  22. Julian, 1,853
  23. Gabriel, 1,720
  24. Oskar, 1,696
  25. Milosz, 1,678
  26. Igor, 1,638
  27. Tymoteusz, 1,555
  28. Piotr, 1,390
  29. Bruno, 1,089
  30. Hubert, 1,031 (tie)
  31. Dawid, 1,031 (tie)
  32. Tadeusz, 1,020
  33. Krzysztof, 969
  34. Natan, 928
  35. Teodor, 923
  36. Cezary, 911
  37. Henryk, 904
  38. Dominik, 884
  39. Milan, 835
  40. Karol, 779
  41. Bartosz, 774
  42. Mateusz, 732
  43. Ksawery, 755
  44. Artur, 701
  45. Alan, 684
  46. Fabian, 661
  47. Tomasz, 656
  48. Maciej, 650
  49. Leo, 608
  50. Daniel, 587

The news release made note of two names — Wieslawa (given to 2 baby girls) and Waclaw (given to 3 baby boys) — that were once quite popular, but today are “almost forgotten” (niemal zapomniane) in Poland.

P.S. The Polish letters L-with-a-stroke, Z-with-an-overdot, and S-with-an-accent don’t render properly on my site, so please imagine they exist in several of the above: the girl names Lucja, Róza, Jasmina, and Wieslawa, and the boy names Stanislaw, Mikolaj, Michal, Milosz, Waclaw.

Sources: Imiona nadawane dzieciom w Polsce – Otwarte Dane, Najpopularniejsze imiona nadawane dzieciom w 2024 roku – Ministerstwo Cyfryzacji – Portal Gov.pl, Annual births in Poland hit new postwar low as population decline accelerates – Notes from Poland

Image: Adapted from Flag of Poland (public domain)

How did “The Matrix” influence U.S. baby names?

The character Trinity from the movie "The Matrix" (1999)
Trinity from “The Matrix“

The Matrix — widely considered to be one of the greatest science-fiction movies of all time — was released in March of 1999. It was the fourth-highest-grossing film of the year, and went on to win four Oscars (including Best Visual Effects) in early 2000.

In The Matrix, the majority of humanity is unknowingly trapped inside a simulated reality created by sentient machines. This simulation is called “the Matrix” by the (relatively few) humans who live outside of it.

At the start of the story, a man living inside the simulation — a computer programmer named Thomas Anderson (who is also a hacker known as “Neo”) — becomes vaguely aware of the Matrix.

Neo (played by Keanu Reeves) is soon contacted by Morpheus (Laurence Fishburne) and Trinity (Carrie-Anne Moss) — two resistance fighters who have been freed from the Matrix. They offer him a chance to escape the simulation and join them in the war against the machines.

The character Neo from the movie "The Matrix" (1999)
Neo from “The Matrix“

So, how did The Matrix impact U.S. baby names?

Neo

After returning to U.S. baby name data in 1999, the name Neo more than quadrupled in usage in 2000:

  • 2001: 111 baby boys named Neo
  • 2000: 116 baby boys named Neo
  • 1999: 24 baby boys named Neo
  • 1998: unlisted
  • 1997: unlisted

Neo’s name is not only a match to the Greek prefix neo-, meaning “new,” but also an anagram of the word one, which is significant because Morpheus believes Neo is “the One” — the person who, according to prophecy, will destroy the Matrix and liberate mankind.

Morpheus

The rare name Morpheus debuted in the data in 2000:

  • 2001: unlisted
  • 2000: 5 baby boys named Morpheus
  • 1999: unlisted
  • 1998: unlisted
  • 1997: unlisted

The character’s name comes from the mythological figure of Morpheus, one of the dream-shaping sons of the Greek god of sleep, Hypnos. According to Ovid, Morpheus’ specialty was appearing in dreams as a human. (His bothers specialized in taking other forms.)

Trinity

Already being given to hundreds of baby girls per year, the name Trinity more than tripled in usage in 1999, then nearly tripled again (jumping straight into the girls’ top 100) in 2000:

  • 2001: 4,481 baby girls named Trinity [rank: 67th]
  • 2000: 4,284 baby girls named Trinity [rank: 74th]
  • 1999: 1,481 baby girls named Trinity [rank: 209th]
  • 1998: 481 baby girls named Trinity [rank: 525th]
  • 1997: 437 baby girls named Trinity [rank: 543rd]

The word trinity, which refers to a group of three, is strongly associated with the concept of the Holy Trinity in Christian theology.

(Another name based on a religious concept, Nevaeh, became trendy around the same time.)

Matrix

Like Neo, the name Matrix returned to the data in 1999:

  • 2001: unlisted
  • 2000: 6 baby boys named Matrix
  • 1999: 12 baby boys named Matrix (peak usage)
  • 1998: unlisted
  • 1997: unlisted

The word matrix refers to a place where something originates or takes form. Before the mid-16th century, it meant “uterus” specifically. In ancient Rome, the word referred to “a female animal kept for breeding.” It ultimately derives from mater, the Latin word for “mother.”

The character Niobe from the movie "The Matrix Reloaded" (2003)
Niobe from “The Matrix Reloaded“

The Matrix was followed by three sequels — not to mention three video games, several comic books, and more.

The first sequel, The Matrix Reloaded, and the first video game, Enter the Matrix, both came out in May of 2003. The second sequel, The Matrix Revolutions, was released six months later, in November.

Reloaded and Revolutions became the third- and the eighth-highest-grossing films of the year, respectively, and they (along with the game) featured a number of new characters, including…

Niobe

Noibe (played by Jada Pinkett Smith) was a Zion-born resistance fighter who captained the hovercraft Logos.

The name Niobe debuted in the data in 2003:

  • 2005: 20 baby girls named Niobe
  • 2004: 33 baby girls named Niobe
  • 2003: 21 baby girls named Niobe [debut]
  • 2002: unlisted
  • 2001: unlisted

The character’s name comes from the Greek mythological figure of Niobe, who was punished by the gods for her hubris.

Persephone

Persephone (played by Monica Bellucci) was a human-like computer program living inside the Matrix with her husband, the Merovingian.

Usage of the name Persephone more than doubled in 2003:

  • 2005: 47 baby girls named Persephone
  • 2004: 43 baby girls named Persephone
  • 2003: 45 baby girls named Persephone
  • 2002: 19 baby girls named Persephone
  • 2001: 22 baby girls named Persephone

The character’s name comes from the Greek mythological figure of Persephone, the wife of Hades and (thereby) the queen of the underworld.

Link

Link (played by Harold Perrineau) was the Zion-born operator of Morpheus’ hovercraft, the Nebuchadnezzar.

The name Link saw slightly elevated usage in 2003:

  • 2005: 7 baby boys named Link
  • 2004: 15 baby boys named Link
  • 2003: 13 baby boys named Link
  • 2002: 8 baby boys named Link
  • 2001: 6 baby boys named Link

Sati

Sati (played by Tanveer K. Atwal) was, like Persephone, a sentient computer program. Introduced in the second sequel, Sati was a little girl whose parents (also programs) had created her without a purpose, putting her at risk of deletion.

The rare name Sati returned to the data briefly in 2004:

  • 2006: unlisted
  • 2005: unlisted
  • 2004: 7 baby girls named Sati
  • 2003: unlisted
  • 2002: unlisted

The character’s name comes from the Hindu goddess Sati, whose name means “truthful” or “virtuous” in Sanskrit.

Zion

Zion wasn’t a character, but a place — the last human settlement on planet Earth. The vast underground city was depicted onscreen in both Reloaded and Revolutions (after having been only mentioned in the original film).

Usage of the name Zion, which had been declining for several years, began increasing again in 2003:

Boys named ZionGirls named Zion
20051,120 (rank: 293rd)248 (rank: 988th)
20041,008 (rank: 311th)212
2003879 (rank: 329th)137
2002828 (rank: 333rd)125
2001867 (rank: 324th)143

Of all the Matrix-related names above, which one would you be most likely to use in real life?

P.S. Blade Runner, Star Wars, and 2001: A Space Odyssey are also considered to be among the greatest science-fiction movies of all time.

Sources:

Images: Screenshots of The Matrix and The Matrix Reloaded

Baby name story: Wyatt

Actor Joel McCrea as Wyatt Earp in the movie "Wichita" (1955)
Joel McCrea as Wyatt Earp in “Wichita“

A few weeks ago, I spotted a news article about the Wichita premiere of the independent film Sod & Stubble, which tells the story of a pioneer family in Kansas in the late 1800s.

In the accompanying clip, it was mentioned that the grandfather of one the film’s actors, Wyatt McCrea, had also been an actor.

McCrae calls this a full-circle moment not just for his career, but for his life, as he was actually named Wyatt after the character his grandfather played in the movie Wichita.

Wyatt McCrea’s grandfather was actor Joel McCrea, best known for his work in Westerns. In Wichita, which came out in 1955, Joel McCrea portrayed frontiersman Wyatt Earp.

Source: Wray, Abby. “Kansas film ‘Sod and Stubble’ premieres at Wichita’s Orpheum Theater.” KAKE News 28 Mar. 2025.

Image: Screenshot of Wichita

Why did Nelly debut as a boy name in 2002?

Nelly in the music video for "Dilemma" (2002)
Nelly in a music video

In 2002, the name Nelly appeared as a boy name for the first time in the U.S. baby name data:

  • 2004: unlisted
  • 2003: 7 baby boys named Nelly
  • 2002: 5 baby boys named Nelly (gender-specific debut)
  • 2001: unlisted
  • 2000: unlisted

Why?

Because of St. Louis-based rapper and singer Nelly (birth name: Cornell Haynes, Jr.).

Nelly was particularly successful in 2002. He’d already scored a couple of top-ten hits — “Country Grammar” in 2000, and “Ride wit Me” in 2001 — but 2002 was the year that two of his songs spent a total of 17 weeks atop Billboard‘s Hot 100 chart.

  • “Hot in Herre” ranked #1 for seven weeks straight, from late June to mid-August. It was knocked out of the top spot by…
  • “Dilemma” (feat. Kelly Rowland), which also ranked #1 for seven weeks straight, from mid-August to late September. It regained the top position for another three weeks, from mid-October to early November, after being temporarily dislodged (by a different Kelly — recent American Idol winner Kelly Clarkson with her debut single “A Moment Like This”).

Both “Hot in Herre” and “Dilemma” went on to win Grammy Awards (for Best Male Rap Solo Performance and Best Rap/Sung Collaboration, respectively) in early 2003.

What are your thoughts on the name Nelly? Do you like it more as a boy name or as a girl name (à la Nelly Furtado)?

P.S. The song that “Hot in Herre” ousted in mid-2002 was “Foolish” by Ashanti. More than twenty years later, Nelly and Ashanti got married (in late 2023) and welcomed a baby boy (in mid-2024) named Kareem Kenkaide Haynes. His middle name is Ashanti’s father’s name.

Sources:

Image: Screenshot of the music video for “Dilemma”