by Pamela Redmond Satran
When we published our exclusive lists of most popular urban baby names around the world a few months ago, you cheered….and complained.
You loved knowing which names were most popular among Nameberry readers in our cities with the most visitors, from London to Los Angeles, Chicago to Sydney.
But you wanted more. You were curious about name popularity in not just Anglophone cities, but in a diverse range of metropolises on every continent from a variety of cultures.
So we analyzed the most-visited names of the past year in a far-flung collection of 23 cities. We tried to balance traffic numbers and city size and diversity. Sure, we have more visitors from Houston and Manchester than we do from Berlin and Lagos, but we wanted to include more cities where English was not the primarily language. And yes, Mexico City and Lima are much larger cities than Kingston, but we have twice as many visitors from the Jamaican capital.
A few observations: A handful of names such as Olivia, Cora, and Amara for girls, various forms of Alexander and Jack for boys are favored in such a wide range of cities that they can truly be considered international favorites.
Other names that rank highly in one city do so for understandable reasons: Of course parents in Tel Aviv search for Israeli favorite Noa while Dublin parents choose the Irish Laoise and Donnacha, while parents in Lagos like Desmond after African human rights activist tutu and parents in Kingston favor Kymani, the name of a son of Bob Marley, along with place-name Kingston.
And then there are those names whose popularity can be understood only by a native. Why is Antonious a top boys’ name in Berlin, for instance, while Parisians love the Welsh girls’ name Sian? What makes Celestine a favorite for girls in Manila while in Nairobi parents favor Byron? Please, enlighten us!!
Amsterdam
Charlotte
Olivia
Jolie
Lilou
Sadie
Soren
Casper
Flint
Oskar
Riley
Auckland
Eleanor
Charlotte
Cora
Maeve
Violet
Charlie
Thomas
Arthur
Asher
Cohen
Bangkok
Amara
Nara
Alice
Claire
Fleur
Atticus
Chad
Quincy
Theodore
Wyatt
Beijing
Arianna
Audrey
Amara
Claire
Layla
Ace
Allegro
Amory
Davis
Jack
Bengaluru
Alizeh
Asha
Kannika
Elsa
Jerusha
Aryan
Aarav
Revel
Alfie
Anson
Berlin
Sienna
Aura
Fenna
Myra
Sebastia
Bastian
Beckett
Jasper
Antonious
Aro
Calgary
Amelia
Esme
Emilia
Isabella
Aurelia
Angus
Atticus
Axel
Bodhi
Felix
Cape Town
Aurora
Leah
Amelia
Caitlin
Keziah
Jasper
Matthew
Thomas
Xavier
Austin
Dubai
Alizeh
Mary
Amara
Ava
Olivia
Atticus
Alec
Alexander
Aryan
Christian
Dublin
Isla
Sadie
Evie
Laoise
Maisie
Jack
Donnacha
Charlie
Harry
Ruadhan
Hong Kong
Charlotte
Olivia
Hailey
Hazel
Audrey
Axel
Jack
Xavier
Adrian
Anson
Istanbul
Alisa
Arabella
Aurora
Caia
Talia
John
Lucian
William
Adam
Alan
Kingston
Adelaide
Jade
Milani
Talia
Tiana
Kingston
Kymani
Lliam
Merrick
Zachary
Lagos
Mirabel
Annabel
Isabella
Juliet
Christabel
Desmond
Henry
Nathaniel
Charles
Oscar
Manila
Athena
Mae
Kathleen
Olivia
Celestine
Axel
Xavier
Atticus
Caius
Kian
Nairobi
Lucy
Olivia
Ivy
Jasmine
Juliet
Jayden
Calvin
Asher
Byron
Judah
Paris
Anouk
Astrid
Maeva
Millicent
Sian
Julian
Albert
Joaquin
Roman
Saul
Sao Paolo
Olivia
Beatrice
Eleanor
Mia
Rae
Alex
Oliver
Henrique
Maverick
Piers
Seoul
Leah
Olivia
Anais
Elsie
Eva
Daniel
Leonardo
Rory
Rufus
Ulysses
Singapore
Giselle
Cora
Eleanor
Isabella
Kyra
Jasper
Xavier
Ezekiel
Raphael
Ryker
Stockholm
Olivia
Alba
Seraphina
Sienna
Amara
Otis
Benjamin
Finn
Jack
Julian
Tel-Aviv-Yafo
Naya
Noa
Cora
Elisheva
Evangeline
Adam
Ariel
Ido
James
Lenny
Warsaw
Apollonia
Cleo
Mila
Selene
Tallulah
Theodore
Amadeus
Flynn
Gui
Joachin