Popular Girls’ Names that Rose or Fell 100+ Ranks within the U.S. Top 1000 (2023)

It’s the Tuesday after Mother’s Day, which means it’s also the Tuesday after Data Release Day! The Social Security Administration released brand new American baby name data on Friday. We’ve already talked about the Top 10 and the Top 100, but what about names within the Top 1000? It’s worth looking at the names whose popularity changed drastically within the Top 1000 because many of those names describe ongoing trends. So, mainly out of curiosity, I’ve compiled a list of baby girls’ names whose popularity changed by at least 100 ranks between 2022 and 2023 in either direction! I will post a list of the boys’ names later. For these lists, I’m *not* including the names that entered or left the top 1000 (with one notable exception, which you’ll see in my notes); like the boys’ list, the new and exiting names will be part of a separate post.

Girls’ Names that Rose at least 100 Ranks within the U.S. Top 1000 from 2022 to 2023:

Name	2023 Rank	2022 Rank	Rank Change
Scottie	617	923	+306
Miley	452	703	+251
Inaya	736	971	+235
Halo	567	770	+203
Maisy	791	987	+196
Lakelynn	778	967	+189
Elowyn	693	880	+187
Tallulah*	817	999	+182
Lottie	775	950	+175
Lenora	763	931	+168
Jaylani	599	766	+167
Sariyah	577	733	+156
Whitley	733	885	+152
Antonella	287	436	+149
Murphy	519	667	+148
Sunny	406	553	+147
Giana	749	895	+146
Jovie	588	732	+144
Arlet	604	741	+137
Cielo	859	996	+137
Itzel	364	498	+134
Goldie	685	815	+130
Wrenlee	584	712	+128
Lainey	54	174	+120
Navy	363	483	+120
Amirah	458	577	+119
Aurelia	371	488	+117
Lacey	759	877	+118
Alanna	453	567	+114
Marigold	714	828	+114
Georgina	770	881	+111
Nyomi	811	922	+111
Aitana	217	327	+110
Emberlynn	798	908	+110
Wrenley	175	284	+109
Meilani	845	952	+107
Kaiya	797	903	+106
Mallory	429	533	+104
Anahi	462	565	+103
Araceli	803	905	+102
Emory	366	468	+102
Florence	580	623	+102
Kataleya	672	774	+102
Maxine	513	615	+102
Amoura	633	734	+101
Maddie	839	940	+101
Birdie	701	801	+100
Luz	843	943	+100

Honorable mentions go to Aliza, Calliope, Chana, Kaliyah, Paula, Taytum, Winona, and Xiomara for rising over 90 places!

So, what’s especially interesting to me are the names that rose at least 200 places: Scottie, Miley, Inaya, and Halo. Scottie has never been popular as a girls’ name until a few years ago, though it has some literary-adjacent cred as the nickname of F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald’s daughter Frances Scott Fitzgerald. Miley’s popularity is volatile because it’s already dipped out of the Top 1000 once since the initial Miley Cyrus/Hannah Montana craze and has a tendency to spike usage in either direction. Inaya is an international favorite originating from Arabic and Urdu, meaning “care” or “concern.” Halo has been trending upwards ever since the 2008 Beyonce song, though lately popularity is more tied to celebrity baby names (Nick Cannon and Halle Bailey both have young children named Halo).

Trendwise, I’m seeing a few different things here. International hits like Inaya, Amirah, and Antonella. Spanish-language and indigenous Latin-American names as a subcategory or adjacent to international names, i.e. Arlet, Araceli, Itzel, Aitana, Anahi, Luz. Sunny, golden, and generally happy-vibe names: Sunny, Goldie, Luz, Miley, Aurelia, Marigold, Jovie all fit. Vintage choices like Maxine, Goldie, Florence, Lenora, Lottie, and Birdie. Standalone nicknames with “ie” or similar endings: Scottie, Birdie, Lottie, Goldie, Maddie, Lainey, and Maisy. What I’m *not* seeing is as many names ending in “-Lynn,” an older trend that may be on its way downwards; Emberlynn and Lakelynn are two of the newest options in that category, but they’re late to the party.

Do keep in mind that names closer to the top of the charts are even trendier with significant rises than ones much lower in the charts, so names like Lainey, Aitana, Antonella, and Aurelia within the top 500 are trending harder than Maddie, Meilani, and Nyomi closer to the bottom.

Other notes:

• Regarding Tallulah: SSA data edits made this new to the 2022 Top 1000, yet many namers on the web and social media (myself included) had Tallulah in their predictions for 2023. When SSA published the 2022 list last year, Tallulah wasn’t on there.
• Arlet didn’t rise alone; variants Arlette and Arleth also grew more popular in between 2022 and 2023.
• In conjunction with Itzel’s rise, Alitzel was new to the Top 1000 in 2023.
• Maisy grew because Maisie got more popular; another spelling, Mazie, returned to the Top 1000 in 2023.
• Lainey is likely the hottest name of 2023 thanks to country singer Lainey Wilson. It’s highly unusual for names to jump over 100 places into the Top 100!

What about the girls’ names that fell more than 100 spots between 2022 and 2023?

Girls’ Names that Fell at least 100 Ranks from 2022 to 2023 (and Stayed in the U.S. Top 1000):

Name	2023 Rank	2022 Rank	Rank Change
Marleigh	924	711	-213
Jayleen	788	610	-178
Addilyn	746	574	-172
Malaysia	776	608	-168
Madilynn	727	566	-161
Angelique	998	842	-156
Natasha	986	833	-153
Zendaya	834	681	–153
Joelle	936	785	–151
Kai	940	789	-151
Bria	910	760	–150
Kensley	755	614	–141
Hayley	972	832	–140
Malaya	847	708	-139
Kassidy	962	824	-138
Royalty	562	427	–135
Allyson	979	845	–134
Ashlynn	921	787	-134
Liberty	891	761	-130
Mikaela	819	689	–130
Malayah	969	839	–130
Waverly	880	751	-129
Ailani	593	467	-126
Scout	821	695	-126
Annika	956	835	–121
Avianna	561	441	–120
Ezra	762	643	–119
Zaylee	831	713	-118
Adley	765	648	-117
Jolie	906	792	–114
Elliot	898	786	-112
Nola	739	627	–112
Estella	610	499	–111
Bellamy	828	718	-110
Kimber	884	775	–109
Rylie	554	447	-107
Roselyn	926	821	–105
Cheyenne	790	686	-104
Anika	928	825	-103
Izabella	483	381	-102
Kayleigh	631	529	-102
Dani	779	678	-101

Names that fell between 90 and 100 places include Ainsley, Araya, Belen, Braelynn, Cadence, Raegan, Ryan, and Sariah.

The names that fell at least 100 ranks are a bit harder to classify within trend categories, though as I mentioned before I think we are starting to see the downturn of a lot of “-Lynn” names (Addilyn, Ashlynn, Roselyn) and some of the “-Leigh” names too (Kayleigh, Kensley, Marleigh, Zaylee). I think it’s interesting that Ezra fell so far on the girls’ side considering it jumped 10 places within the Top 25 on the boys’ side. Similarly, there’s no reason Ailani should have dropped because two of the newest entries to the Top 1000 are Ailany and Aylani, which are different spellings of that name.

What do you think of these names? What are some trends you’re seeing? Let me know and keep an eye out for the boys’ list!