Every week I am picking out and posting some of the names that were given to American babies in 2015 that were too rare to be in the top 1000 but common enough to appear in the Social Security Administration’s extended data. This week, Part 4, focuses on baby boys’ names that registered between 120 and 149 uses last year. Next week (Part 5) will zoom in on the girls’s names in the same range!
- 145-149: Bernard, Elmer, Murphy, Aubrey, Brighton, Ishmael, Zyon, Alton, Ever, Yitzchok, Archie, Cael, Clifford, Marcellus
- 140-144: Kruz, Noble, Andreas, Bastian, Destin, Elam, Amarion, Carver, Gray, Monroe, Nikola, Diesel, Eamon, Kaiser
- 135-139: Perry, Salem, Caius, Ewan, Idris, Ruger, Abdulrahman, Coy, Graeme, Johann, Sheldon, Torin, Lev, Lucius, Tzvi
- 130-134: Bear, Jakari, Atreyu, Avraham, Jarvis, Link, Wiley, Baron, Benicio, Boaz, Forest, Pranav, Rowdy, Cashton, Francesco, Xavi, Siddarth
- 125-129: Cordell, Ramsey, Eliyahu, Marshawn, Oren, Presley, Zakaria, Creed, Eleazar, Nova, Tobin, Emil, Massimo, Sebastien, Zephyr, Antony, Kaine, Yandel
- 120-124: Axle, Hoyt, Kiran, Nestor, Jeremih, Nikhil, Abdul, Azael, Kenji, Benaiah, Cillian, Eliel, Hans, Kurt, Watson, Reign
In this selection, I think you start to see some of the more unusual and interesting Bible names (Ishmael, for example), along with modern Hebrew or Jewish names (Tzvi). There are some noticeably German names (Bastian), and a plethora of Roman names (Lucius). There’s at least one weapon-name (Ruger). There also appear to be several names with Arabic (Abdul) or Sanskrit (Pranav) origins. Celtic names (Cillian) and distinctly American ethnic names (Marshawn) can also be found. I’ve also noticed a few Iberian or Latin American names (Xavi). This isn’t a group with many so-called ‘classic’ or ‘traditional’ English or American names, but this selection does, I think, somewhat represent a modern American naming style that is very diverse and self-aware of its naming freedom.
Previous posts:
- Below the top 1000, Part 1 (Girls)
- Below the top 1000, Part 2 (Boys)
- Below the Top 1000, Part 3 (Girls)
The Well-Informed Namer 