EN

Baby name trends

How first names changed since 1900 across 13 countries: shorter names, -a and -o endings, compound names, diversity and countries converging.

Name length

Average number of letters, weighted by births.

In France, the average girl's name had 7.4 letters in 1950 and 5.4 in 2025.

In the United States, the average girl's name had 5.9 letters in 1950 and 5.9 in 2025.

Diversity: the end of dominant names

Share of births given one of the 10 most common names.

In the United States, the 10 most common girl names covered 24% of births in 1950 and only 7% in 2025.

In France, the 10 most common girl names covered 31% of births in 1950 and only 9% in 2025.

How many names cover half of all babies?

Latest year. 'Effective number' = 1/Σp², the diversity you actually meet.

CountryYearsNames for 50%Effective number
🇫🇷 France · Girls2025180427
🇫🇷 France · Boys2025134339
🇺🇸 United States · Girls2025275643
🇺🇸 United States · Boys2025178467
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 England & Wales · Girls2025161428
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 England & Wales · Boys2025107264
🇪🇸 Catalonia · Girls202554149
🇪🇸 Catalonia · Boys202556152
🇨🇦 Québec · Girls202575197
🇨🇦 Québec · Boys202559160
🇮🇪 Ireland · Girls202572207
🇮🇪 Ireland · Boys202563170
🇨🇭 Switzerland · Girls2025124343
🇨🇭 Switzerland · Boys2025146376
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Scotland · Girls202572204
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Scotland · Boys202569190
🇨🇦 Ontario · Girls2024187449
🇨🇦 Ontario · Boys2024150382
🇬🇧 Northern Ireland · Girls202559163
🇬🇧 Northern Ireland · Boys202558155
🇨🇦 British Columbia · Girls2023113291
🇨🇦 British Columbia · Boys2023101261
🇦🇺 South Australia · Girls201750139
🇦🇺 South Australia · Boys201753149
🇰🇿 Kazakhstan · Girls202543109
🇰🇿 Kazakhstan · Boys202576198

Sounds and endings

Share of births whose name has the selected feature.

Ends in -a · Girls · France: 7% (1960) → 50% (2025)

Ends in -o · Boys · France: 3% (1960) → 13% (2025)

Ends in -eo (Léo, Mathéo) · Boys · Québec: 0% (1980) → 5% (2025)

Rhymes with Aiden (-ayden) · Boys · British Columbia: 0% (1960) → 3% (2023)

Compound names

Hyphenated or two-word first names, where the register keeps them.

France: compound boy names (Jean-Pierre, Pierre-Louis…) peaked in 1956 at 11% of births, down to 0.3% in 2025.

Fashionable initials

The three most common initials, first vs latest year.

CountryThenNow
🇫🇷 France · Girls1900: M 33% A 11% J 10%2025: A 19% L 14% M 10%
🇫🇷 France · Boys1900: J 16% A 14% L 9%2025: A 15% M 13% L 10%
🇺🇸 United States · Girls1880: M 22% E 13% A 10%2025: A 16% E 10% M 9%
🇺🇸 United States · Boys1880: J 20% W 13% C 9%2025: J 10% A 10% L 7%
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 England & Wales · Girls1996: S 11% A 11% C 9%2025: A 16% M 11% E 10%
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 England & Wales · Boys1996: J 20% A 9% C 8%2025: A 13% M 9% R 9%
🇪🇸 Catalonia · Girls1997: A 19% M 18% L 10%2025: A 18% M 10% L 9%
🇪🇸 Catalonia · Boys1997: A 20% J 14% M 11%2025: A 17% M 14% L 8%
🇨🇦 Québec · Girls1980: M 21% C 12% J 10%2025: A 14% L 14% E 13%
🇨🇦 Québec · Boys1980: J 15% M 13% S 12%2025: L 15% A 13% E 11%
🇮🇪 Ireland · Girls1964: M 22% C 12% A 11%2025: A 14% E 13% M 10%
🇮🇪 Ireland · Boys1964: J 20% P 15% M 11%2025: C 10% J 9% L 8%
🇨🇭 Switzerland · Girls2000: L 14% A 12% S 12%2025: A 18% L 16% E 12%
🇨🇭 Switzerland · Boys2000: M 12% A 10% L 10%2025: L 17% A 12% M 11%
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Scotland · Girls1974: L 13% S 10% A 10%2025: A 14% M 12% E 11%
🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 Scotland · Boys1974: S 13% J 11% D 10%2025: A 11% L 10% R 10%
🇨🇦 Ontario · Girls1917: M 20% E 13% A 8%2024: A 19% M 10% E 9%
🇨🇦 Ontario · Boys1917: J 15% W 11% R 8%2024: A 13% M 9% J 8%
🇬🇧 Northern Ireland · Girls1997: C 15% S 11% A 11%2025: E 14% A 13% M 10%
🇬🇧 Northern Ireland · Boys1997: J 17% C 13% M 9%2025: C 12% J 11% R 9%
🇨🇦 British Columbia · Girls1924: M 20% E 12% D 8%2023: A 17% E 11% M 10%
🇨🇦 British Columbia · Boys1924: J 16% R 13% W 10%2023: A 10% L 9% J 9%
🇦🇺 South Australia · Girls1944: J 17% M 14% P 8%2017: A 17% E 13% M 10%
🇦🇺 South Australia · Boys1944: R 17% D 11% J 10%2017: J 12% A 11% L 9%
🇰🇿 Kazakhstan · Girls1990: A 29% Z 9% M 9%2025: A 45% M 10% K 8%
🇰🇿 Kazakhstan · Boys1990: A 23% D 8% E 8%2025: A 36% M 15% K 6%

Are countries choosing the same names?

Cosine similarity of name-family distributions: a Victoire in Paris and a Victoria in London count as the same choice.

Québec and Scotland converged the most: 32% similar in 2001, 55% in 2025.

Who starts the fashions?

Peak year (since 1996) of today's shared favourite families, by country.

Name family🇫🇷 France🇺🇸 United States🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 England & Wales🇪🇸 Catalonia🇨🇦 Québec🇮🇪 Ireland🇨🇭 SwitzerlandFirst to peak
Sophia2025201219962024202520142013🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 England & Wales
Olivia2025201419992025202020242025🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 England & Wales
Emily1996199919992024199620152016🇨🇦 Québec
Amelia1998202120122025199620132025🇨🇦 Québec
Lily2011201120112024202520112025🇫🇷 France
Mia2020201520122021200920122016🇨🇦 Québec
Emma2005200319962017201720032018🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 England & Wales
Claire2005199920252025202419982004🇮🇪 Ireland
Charlotte1996202519962025202420162017🇫🇷 France
Isabella1996201020102025199620102011🇨🇦 Québec
Alyssa2015199820161999201820162010🇺🇸 United States
Lucy1998202520002006202520102010🇫🇷 France
Luke2002202520232025201020252000🇨🇭 Switzerland
Noah2008202520222025202520242024🇫🇷 France
Léo2019202520222019202520252023🇪🇸 Catalonia
Matthew2004199619972024199620072021🇨🇦 Québec
Liam2016202419962023202020252023🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 England & Wales
Oliver1996202420102020200020182001🇫🇷 France
Théo2001202320222023202420242024🇫🇷 France
James2025199619971997202419992023🇺🇸 United States
Elijah2025202520252025202420252025🇨🇦 Québec
John1996199619962008200419962000🇫🇷 France
Jack2021200519962021202320012015🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 England & Wales
Arthur2019202520202024202520242025🇫🇷 France