Popular and Unique Names
Popular names for births in 1923-2022 list the most popular male and female names over the last 100 years, though names have ranked differently over time. For example, the name James has ranked as low as number 19 for males. Similarly, the most popular female name Mary has ranked as low as 136.
Top 10 Baby Names of 2019
What are the most loved names? The top 10 baby names in 2019 were:
| Rank | Male name | Female name |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Global Name Trends
Popular male names globally include: Ahmed – Middle East, Alessandro – Italy, Alexander – Iceland/Russia, and Ali – Middle East. Trending globally in 2023 are Ambrose and Amias for boys. Popular 2023 girl names in the UK include Sofia, Olivia, Emma, Ava, and Isabella.
Surnames and Ancestry
The most common last name is Wang, shared by about 92.8 million people in China, representing 15% of the population. Wang means "king" in Mandarin. Other common last names worldwide are Smith, Devi, Nguyen, Garcia, Hernandez, Li, Zhang, Liu, Chen, Lee, Gomez, Kim, and Martinez.
Historical and Unique Names
The longest personal name contains 747 characters and belongs to Hubert Blaine Wolfeschlegelsteinhausenbergerdorff Sr. of Germany, who passed in 1997.
Fascinating Name Facts
It is estimated over 150 million men bear the name Muhammad, relating to the Islamic prophet Muhammad.
Oldest Known Name
What is the world best name? The number one is more special than a prime! It is the only perfect nth power. Researchers agree Kushim is the oldest known name, dating to 3400-3000 BCE. Kushim was an accountant, not a ruler.
Cultural Significance
In summary, while baby names come in and out of fashion, traditional favorites like Mary/Maria remain consistently popular over decades. Islamic names like Mohammad and Ali also rank highly worldwide. The distribution of surnames highlights shared ancestry within regions.
John – The Common Name
John: John is a popular male given name in the English language that is derived from Hebrew. Various languages; they were once often simply translated as “John” in English, but are increasingly being left in their original forms. Most common last name in the world.
Generation Alpha Names
Gen Alpha is the generation following Gen Z and currently includes all children born in or after 2010—the same year the iPad was born. The majority of this demographic is under 12 years of age, but the oldest of them will become teens in 2022.
Name Popularity Insights
Check out the list of the top 1,000 baby girl names. While top baby boy names like Liam, Noah, William and James have remained among the most popular for the past few years, other boy names are on the rise. Oliver, for example, jumped from number 88 in 2010 to number five in 2018.
Global Naming Trends
On this page you will find lists of the most popular given names in various regions of the world. Typically the information is compiled by a national statistics agency, though in some cases it comes from another source. Usually the information is based on the names parents register for their babies, however there are differences in the way some lists have been assembled. The source and any other relevant details are noted at the top of each list.