9BabyNames Baby names with meanings & US popularity data

19,862 names · meanings · origins · 2025 US data

Baby Names With Meanings, Origins & Popularity

Explore 19,862 baby names with meanings and recorded origins, then use pronunciation, popularity history, and practical shortlist tools to choose with more context.

Prefer to browse? Open the A–Z baby name dictionary or try the baby name generator.

Start With a Core Baby Name Collection

Browse by gender and style, then compare meanings, origins, pronunciation, popularity, and everyday fit.

Baby Boy Names

Browse boy names with meanings and use current US data, sound, initials, nicknames, and heritage to narrow the list.

Baby Girl Names

Explore girl names with meanings, origins, pronunciation, and practical checks for a lasting shortlist.

Unique Baby Names

Find distinctive ideas, then check exact-spelling usage, pronunciation, cultural context, and everyday wearability.

Gender-Neutral Baby Names

Compare names that appear for both boys and girls in the page’s US comparison year, grouped by their measured usage split.

Try the Quick Baby Name Finder

Combine real catalog fields and preview 12 names with meanings without leaving the homepage.

Open the full baby name generator »

Find a Name by What It Means

Already know the idea you want the name to carry? Use the reverse lookup to search the recorded meaning field instead of scanning every name alphabetically.

Popular starting ideas

Love Light Strength Bravery Hope Peace Joy Wisdom

Browse Baby Names Your Way

By Meaning
By Origin
By Style & Theme
By Starting Letter
By Name Length
By Popularity

Popular origin collections by catalog coverage

American Names 1,603 USA Baby Names 1,574 Hispanic Baby Names 1,229 Mexican Baby Names 1,159 Belgian Baby Names 1,036 French Boy Names 996 German Boy Names 915 German Girl Names 878 Spanish Girl Names 794 Muslim Baby Names 720 Old English Baby Names 718 Latina Girl Names 711

Popular Baby Names With Meanings: High-Ranking US Names of 2025

The highest-ranked names for each gender whose catalog records contain a clear, concise meaning and recorded origin.

Read the 2025 report »

Baby Girl Names

  1. Olivia #1 · 13,544 births
    Olive Tree · Romanian
  2. Charlotte #2 · 13,400 births
    Tiny And Feminine. Also Feminine Of Charles Meaning Manly · French
  3. Emma #3 · 12,754 births
    Whole: Complete. Universal · German
  4. Sophia #5 · 12,561 births
    Wise · Greek
  5. Mia #6 · 11,078 births
    Mine · Latin
  6. Evelyn #8 · 9,123 births
    Light · Celtic
  7. Sofia #9 · 8,252 births
    Wise · Spanish
  8. Eliana #10 · 8,191 births
    Jehovah Is God · Hebrew
  9. Ava #11 · 7,732 births
    Variant Of Medieval Given Names Avis And Aveline · English
  10. Eleanor #12 · 7,649 births
    Shining Light. Variant Of Helen. · French

Baby Boy Names

  1. Noah #2 · 20,358 births
    Comfort · Hebrew
  2. Theodore #4 · 13,355 births
    Gracious Gift · Greek
  3. Elijah #7 · 11,111 births
    Jehovah Is God · Hebrew
  4. Mateo #8 · 11,045 births
    God's Gift · Spanish
  5. Lucas #10 · 10,219 births
    Light · Gaelic
  6. Benjamin #11 · 9,762 births
    Son Of The Right Hand. In The Bible The Patriarch Jacob's Twelfth And... · Hebrew
  7. Levi #12 · 9,642 births
    United · Hebrew
  8. Elias #13 · 8,837 births
    My God Is Jehovah. Variant Of Hebrew Elijah. · Spanish
  9. Hudson #17 · 8,583 births
    Son Of The Hooded Man · English
  10. Samuel #18 · 8,334 births
    Asked Of God · Hebrew

How to Turn Baby Name Ideas Into a Shortlist

A meaning can start the search, but the final name also has to work aloud, on paper, and inside your family.

1. Start with different routesMix gender, origin, meaning, style, and popularity lists so one trend does not define the whole shortlist.
2. Check the individual recordReview the available meaning, recorded origin, pronunciation, variants, and popularity history rather than relying on a list label alone.
3. Say the full nameTest the first, middle, and last name at a normal pace. Check initials, likely nicknames, repeated sounds, and awkward seams.
4. Compare the finalistsSave serious candidates, compare them side by side, and use the tournament only after every name has passed the same checks.

Explore Every Part of the Name

Go beyond broad lists with focused guides for sound, spelling, symbolism, family pairing, and namesakes.

View the complete site index »

Names by First Letter

Open A–Z landing pages built from names in the latest US data.

Names by Ending

Compare names ending in -a, -n, -ie, -lyn, -son, -o, and more.

Names by Length

Browse short and long names by their exact number of letters.

Names by Syllable Count

Explore one-, two-, three-, and four-plus-syllable name groups.

Names With Double Letters

Find names with double L, N, T, E, S, M, R, D, or O.

Twin & Sibling Name Pairs

Compare coordinated names by theme, origin, letter, and gender pairing.

Names by Birthday

Use a meaningful date to explore notable people who share that birthday.

Birthstone Baby Names

Browse all twelve months with names inspired by each stone and its symbolism.

Zodiac Baby Names

Explore name ideas connected with each star sign, symbol, element, and planet.

Famous People by First Name

Browse biographies and continue into the underlying name meaning and origin.

Baby Name Tools for the Next Step

Move from discovery to comparison without starting over.

View all tools »

Baby Name Generator

Filter ideas by gender, origin, length, and starting letter.

Compare Two Names

Put two names beside each other with popularity histories and crossover years.

Shortlist Tournament

Turn two to sixteen finalists into a head-to-head bracket.

Sibling Name Match

Check sound, length, origin, and popularity-era compatibility.

Find Similar Names

Discover spelling, sound, origin, and meaning neighbors for a name you like.

My Shortlist

Save Love, Maybe, and Pass choices and add private notes.

Baby Name Reports & Data

Use measured popularity separately from editorial meanings and category labels.

Open the reports hub »
19,862name records
685active collections
799naming guides
2,999name biographies

Top Baby Names of 2025

Official latest-year ranks, birth counts, momentum, and state leaders.

Baby Names by US State

Explore state-level naming records and geographic differences.

Baby Names by Decade

Move through naming eras from the 1880s to the 2020s.

State of Baby Naming 2026

A long-range retrospective built from the site’s SSA history tables.

National popularity coverage spans 1880–2025 across 146 annual files. Review the methodology or create a citation-ready extract from Data Downloads.

Famous First Names With a Story

Six substantial biographies from 2,999 active entries, connected back to the name catalog where a matching record is available.

Browse all famous people »
Amelia Earhart Pilot · 1897 was the first American female aviator to fly across the Atlantic Ocean.
Maya Angelou Poet · 1928 was a famous writer, activist, singer, and actor, known best for her autobiography, ‘I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings’.
Rosa Parks Civil Rights Leader · 1913 was a famous African-American civil rights activist, also known as ‘the first lady of civil rights’ and ‘the mother of the freedom movement’.
Serena Williams Tennis Player · 1981 is an American professional tennis player, who has won more than two dozen major titles.
Albert Einstein Scientist · 1879 is popularly known as the Father of Modern Physics.
Leonardo da Vinci Painter · 1452 was a legendary Florentine painter, polymath, sculptor, architect and musician.

Explore six broad naming styles, then open the complete directory for hundreds of additional themes.

Nature Baby Names 221 names Nature baby names range from direct word names to botanical classics, weather and season names, animal...
Biblical Baby Names 135 names Biblical baby names carry stories, languages, translations, and living religious traditions—not just o...
Rare Baby Names 807 names Rare baby names need a definition before they need a list. On this page, “rare” is a discovery label f...
Modern Baby Names 200 names A modern baby name is not simply a name that appears near the top of a current chart. It may feel curr...
Vintage Baby Names 342 names A useful vintage-name search begins with historical evidence, not sepia styling. Some names were genui...
Strong Baby Names 1,123 names This Strong baby names collection is a broad discovery index. It includes names connected with literal...

Browse all baby name categories »

Best Baby Boy Names: Unique, Classic, and Trending Picks for Your Little One

Choosing a baby boy name is a lifelong gift, so this guide walks you through classic, trendy, unique, nature-inspired, international, and celebrity...

Best Unique Baby Names: A Data-Aware Guide to Distinctive, Wearable Choices

Unique is a family goal, not a promise that no other child shares a name. This rebuilt guide offers 50 active 9BabyNames candidates in five practic...

68 Unisex Baby Names: 2025 Usage, Balance, and Practical Tradeoffs

Unisex does not mean permanently or perfectly 50/50. This rebuilt guide checks all 68 longstanding candidates against the local U.S. Social Securit...

Read all naming guides »

What the 9BabyNames Catalog Contains

The current database contains 19,862 names. 19,457 records have a nonblank meaning, 19,862 have a recorded origin, and 11,361 include a pronunciation field. Coverage varies by record, so a missing field is left missing instead of being filled with an assumption.

Category labels are discovery aids, while popularity pages use separate US Social Security Administration tables. Meanings and origins can differ across languages and references, so culturally important claims should be checked against additional sources.

Review the data methodology, browse the complete A–Z dictionary, or download supported tables from Data Downloads.