Top 10 Unisex Baby Names in 2014

Last month we discovered which names were most favored by America in 2014. As you know, Emma and Noah were ranked at #1.  Have you ever wondered which unisex names are the most popular?

The SSA doesn't make a separate list for unisex names. It's up to us to determine which names are used for both boys and girls.

If you saw my previous article regarding the boy-to-girl ratios of every unisex name within the Top 1000, you'll see that some names are used more often for one gender than the other, yet some names are very evenly used.

So how can we determine which unisex names are the most popular based on this information?

Since there are two genders, it's a bit complicated to determine the exact popularity, especially since I was taking into account the boy-to-girl ratios of the names, the number of births for each gender, and the rank assigned to the names by the Social Security Administration..

While determining which unisex names are the most popular across the genders, my dilemma was whether or not to include the barely-unisex names like Logan (94% male) or Harper (97% female). In the end, I did include those.

I ranked the Top 10 Unisex Names of 2014 based on the list of names and their data from my previous article. All data ultimately came straight from the SSA's list.

There was much debate and number crunching, but I chose to simplify things by averaging the sum of boy/girl ranks with the "most popular" names having the smallest numbers. Here's the top 10 that I came up with:

1. Avery
In every data crunching method that I toyed with, Avery was without a doubt the most-used unisex name by both genders. At #13 for girls and #186 for boys, Avery is definitely popular. It comes from a surname that may have been derived from either Alberich or Alfred, both names having a meaning related to elves. Because of that, Avery is generally said to mean "Elf Ruler".

2. Riley
Our second most popular unisex name is Riley which also comes from a surname. It actually has two origins. As an Irish surname, it's a variant of Reilly whose meaning is unknown; and as an English surname, it comes from a place name that refers to a "rye clearing". In 2014, Riley ranked at #47 for girls and #173 for boys.

3. Peyton
Between Peyton and Payton, this name is getting a lot of usage for girls. However, the boys still like it too. Peyton in particular is 71% girl but when you average both ranks, it becomes our #3 unisex name.  It came in at #56 for girls and #210 for boys which are respectable ranks! Peyton comes from an English surname which came from a place name meaning "Paega's town".

4. Jordan
Both Jordan and Jordyn have usage as unisex names within the Top 1000. While Jordyn is 91% girl, Jordan is 84% boy. Since we are only considering Jordan here as our #4 unisex name, it's interesting to note that it ranked at #55 for boys and #247 for girls. This name is generally based on the Jordan River near Israel.

5. Parker
This one surprised me a bit. It feels very masculine but it is being given to girls with increased frequency now. 20% of all Parkers born in 2014 were female, which is up from 17% in 2013. It ranked at #73 for boys and #235 for girls last year!  Parker is an English occupational surname that refers to a "keeper of the park".

6. Hayden
From an English surname, Hayden is derived from place names meaning "hay valley" or "hay hill". This name has a decent split of 63% boy and 37% girl. It ranks at #142 for boys and #199 for girls which makes them both reasonably popular. That's why this name is our #6 unisex name for 2014!

7. Angel
Following closely behind Hayden in terms of the rank averages, Angel is well used for both genders primarily in the Hispanic community.  It's more popular for a boy with 84% of all Angels being male. It ranks at #67 for boys and #275 for girls in 2014. The name is based on the heavenly creatures and means "messenger" in Greek.

8. Alexis
From a Greek name meaning "defender", Alexis is our 8th most popular unisex name in 2014. It ranks higher for girls at #64 but the boys hold their own at #302. The boys actually gained 2% from 2013 in the boy-to-girl ratio of usage.

9. Logan
This name is predominantly used by boys and ranked at #13 in 2014 with over 13 thousand births. However, it also ranked at #391 for girls which is actually quite high despite there being only 828 female births. Logan is unisex even though it has a 94/6 boy-to-girl ratio.  It is a surname meaning "little hollow" which relates to a place in Scotland.

10. Dylan
Similar to Logan, this name has a 93/7 boy-to-girl ratio. Dylan came in at #29 for boys in 2014 while it ranked #394 for girls. In the end, there were over 10 thousand male Dylans and just over 800 females.  This Welsh name meaning "great tide" ranks at #10 on this list!

What do you think of my top 10 list? Would you have crunched the numbers differently? If so, share your methods in the comments below! 

Your Ultimate Guide to Unisex Names: Boy-to-Girl Ratios in 2014

Welcome to our annual list of unisex names. This is where we analyze the gender ratios of each name. Some of these may not truly classify as a true "unisex name" because they will swing very heavily to one side or the other.

I chose to include some names like that because it is worth mentioning, especially if it ranked at 3% last year and now ranks at 5%. That means the name is beginning to gain more popularity for the minority gender.

Over time, it could continue to change and become more of a 20/80 thing and perhaps later a 40/60 thing. Wouldn't you like to be able to guess these things in advance if its a name you're pondering for a future child?

There have been many cases where a name was traditionally male and it was then slowly taken over by the girls. Some of those formerly male names are now considered completely female. Names evolve. If we can catch them in the act, well, I think it would be exciting.

I'm only mentioning all of this because last year I got comments regarding my monitoring of names like Ryan that were only given to 3% of girls. Yes, that does not mean that Ryan is a unisex name through and through. BUT it means that Ryan could potentially gain more usage for females over time and end up becoming a true unisex name.

Take a look at the current trend in Hollywood.  It seems like every other week we're hearing about a new celebrity baby girl being given a masculine name. While it may or may not catch on with mainstream parents right now, it could happen eventually. Things seem to be moving that way already and you never know what the future of naming might bring!

Here are some more examples of celebrity baby girls who were given traditionally masculine names:

Wyatt (Mila Kunis & Ashton Kutcher)
Lincoln (Kristin Bell & Dax Shepherd)
James (Blake Lively & Ryan Reynolds)
Ryan (Haylie Duff)
Maxwell (Jessica Simpson)
Hunter (Kevin Rahm)
Casper (Jason Lee)
Mason & Spencer (Kelsey Grammer)

There are likely many more examples of these. Now we are going to take a look at all of the potentially unisex names in the Top 1000.

Mostly Female Usage:

First, the following are the names that swing more toward the female side, meaning they have 60% or more usage for girls with 40% or less for boys.

Harper: 3% boy / 97% girl                   Boy: 327 births (#728) Girl: 9,564 births (#11) Avery: 19% boy / 81% girl Boy: 2,269 births (#186) Girl: 9,517 births (#13) Riley: 34% boy / 66% girl Boy: 2,429 births (#173) Girl: 4,761 births (#47) Skylar: 8% boy / 92% girl Boy: 409 births (#637) Girl: 4,732  births (#48) Peyton: 29% boy / 71% girl Boy: 1,828 births (#210) Girl: 4,426 births (#56) Alexis: 22% boy / 78% girl Boy: 1,172 births (#302) Girl: 4,188 births (#64) Taylor: 15% boy / 85% girl Boy: 691 births (#435) Girl: 3,782 births (#77) London: 12% boy / 88% girl Boy: 433 births (#611) Girl: 3,264 births (#93) Morgan: 12% boy / 88% girl Boy: 402 births (#650) Girl: 2,984 births (#101) Reagan: 7% boy / 93% girl Boy: 205 births (#999) Girl: 2,882 births (#106) Rylee: 8% boy / 92% girl Boy: 247 births (#877) Girl: 2,753 births (#113) Quinn: 25% boy / 75% girl Boy: 868 births (#363) Girl: 2,539 births (#126) Jordyn: 9% boy / 91% girl Boy: 239 births (#895) Girl: 2,533 births (#127) Kendall: 11% boy / 89% girl Boy: 310 births (#754) Girl: 2,432 births (#131) Ariel: 12% boy / 88% girl Boy: 319 births (#738) Girl: 2,419 births (#133) Payton: 14% boy / 86% girl Boy: 406 births (#644) Girl: 2,397 births (#134)

Eden: 17% boy / 83% girl Boy: 447 births (#601) Girl: 2,117 births (#151) Emery: 15% boy / 85% girl Boy: 361 births (#687) Girl: 2,026 births (#161) Reese: 17% boy / 83% girl Boy: 403 births (#648) Girl: 1,960 births (#165) Emerson: 39% boy / 61% girl Boy: 1,048 births (#324) Girl: 1,670 births (#196) Marley: 14% boy / 86% girl Boy: 273 births (#821) Girl: 1,643 births (#202) Finley: 36% boy / 64% girl Boy: 829 births (#374) Girl: 1,498 births (#223) Teagan: 14% boy / 86% girl Boy: 212 births (#979) Girl: 1,272 births (#253) Lyric: 17% boy / 83% girl Boy: 255 births (#860) Girl: 1,210 births (#271) Harley: 30% boy / 70% girl Boy: 407 births (#641) Girl: 940 births (#349) Kamryn: 20% boy / 80% girl Boy: 216 births (#967) Girl: 850 births (#380) Sage: 32% boy / 68% girl Boy: 399 births (#654) Girl: 834 births (#388) Tatum: 36% boy / 64% girl Boy: 462 births (#592) Girl: 828 births (#392) Jamie: 32% boy / 68% girl Boy: 292 births (#786) Girl: 633 births (#489) Leighton: 30% boy / 70% girl Boy: 240 births (#893) Girl: 568 births (#540) Jessie: 36% boy / 64% girl Boy: 280 births (#809) Girl: 504 births (#587) Emory: 40% boy / 60% girl Boy: 252 births (#868) Girl: 373 births (#743)

The most popular unisex name, meaning the name with the most usage across both genders, is Avery with over 9 thousand births for girls and 2 thousand for boys. This means they both rank well at #13 and #186 respectively.  Both Skylar and Skyler are gaining for the girls whereas Tatum, Finley, Alexis  Kendall, and Morgan have shifted toward the boys' side.

If you would like to make more comparisons from 2013 to 2014, take a look at our previous article featuring the Boy-to-Girl Ratios of Unisex Names in 2013.

Most Evenly Used for Both Genders:

Now let's look at the names that are very evenly matched for boys and girls. These names are the ones that come the closest to being truly gender neutral. The names on this list range from a 50/50 split to a 59/41 or 41/59 split.  In other words, these have the tightest ratios:

Charlie: 54% boy / 46% girl                Boy: 1,670 births (#225) Girl: 1,432 births (#229) Dakota: 43% boy / 57% girl Boy: 876 births (#360) Girl: 1,136 births (#285) Skyler: 46% boy / 54% girl Boy: 911 births (#352) Girl: 1,070 births (#302) Justice: 41% boy / 59% girl Boy: 518 births (#531) Girl: 756 births (#421) Phoenix: 59% boy / 41% girl Boy: 901 births (#355) Girl: 629 births (#494)

Armani: 57% boy / 43% girl Boy: 570 births (#489) Girl: 422 births (#671) Lennon: 47% boy / 53% girl Boy: 358 births (#691) Girl: 399 births (#699) Oakley: 52% boy / 48% girl Boy: 394 births (#657) Girl: 362 births (#768) Landry: 50% boy / 50% girl Boy: 270 births (#829) Girl: 269 births (#981) Azariah: 49% boy / 51% girl Boy: 264 births (#838) Girl: 278 births (#954)

The name that is officially most unisex for the year 2014 is Landry. There was only a difference of one birth between the genders which makes it a [rounded up] 50/50 split! It's the closest I've ever seen two names come to being equally used for both genders!  

The next closest name is Azariah with a 49/51 split which is very close!  Justice gained 4 percentage points for the girls over 2013.  One name was a big mover in particular this year: Skyler jumped 10 points in favor of the girls in 2014. 

Mostly Male Usage:

The following names lean more toward the male side but are still used for females too. These have a range of 60% or more for boys with 40% or less for girls. 

Logan: 94% boy / 6% girl                    Boy: 13,579 births (#13) Girl: 828 births (#391) Jayden: 96% boy / 4% girl Boy: 12,878 births (#15) Girl: 569 births (#539) Carter: 97% boy / 3% girl Boy: 10,599 births (#27) Girl: 355 births (#785) Dylan: 93% boy / 7% girl Boy: 10,350 births (#29) Girl: 822 births (#394) Ryan: 94% boy / 6% girl Boy: 9,026 births (#37) Girl: 603 births (#510) Hunter: 96% boy / 4% girl Boy: 8,759 births (#40) Girl: 362 births (#766) Cameron: 93% boy / 7% girl Boy: 7,013 births (#53) Girl: 524 births (#578) Jordan: 84% boy / 16% girl Boy: 6,810 births (#55) Girl: 1,300 births (#247) Angel: 84% boy / 16% girl Boy: 6,255 births (#67) Girl: 1,179 births (#275) Parker: 80% boy / 20% girl Boy: 5,677 births (#73) Girl: 1,386 births (#235) Blake: 89% boy / 11% girl Boy: 4,913 births (#84) Girl: 589 births (#499) Kayden: 92% boy / 8% girl Boy: 4,691 births (#90) Girl: 391 births (#712) Micah: 93% boy / 7% girl Boy: 3,612 births (#109) Girl: 264 births (#994) Sawyer: 79% boy / 21% girl Boy: 3,571 births (#110) Girl: 955 births (#344) Hayden: 63% boy / 37% girl Boy: 2,851 births (#142) Girl: 1,656 births (#199)

Kai: 90% boy / 10% girl Boy: 2,387 births (#177) Girl: 262 births (#1000) Karter: 89% boy / 11% girl Boy: 2,103 births (#194) Girl: 273 births (#968) Elliot: 83% boy / 17% girl Boy: 1,750 births (#217) Girl: 367 births (#756) Rylan: 84% boy / 16% girl Boy: 1,726 births (#219) Girl: 339 births (#812) Elliott: 83% boy / 17% girl Boy: 1,574 births (#233) Girl: 329 births (#833) Rowan: 67% boy / 33% girl Boy: 1,531 births (#239) Girl: 770 births (#412) Zion: 83% boy / 17% girl Boy: 1,471 births (#255) Girl: 295 births (#911) Dallas: 72% boy / 28% girl Boy: 1,359 births (#268) Girl: 522 births (#580) River: 64% boy / 36% girl Boy: 1,223 births (#287) Girl: 703 births (#453) Remington: 73% boy / 27% girl Boy: 1,101 births (#313) Girl: 410 births (#685) Amari: 62% boy / 38% girl Boy: 970 births (#340) Girl: 585 births (#524) Milan: 64% boy / 36% girl Boy: 748 births (#411) Girl: 424 births (#670) Rory: 69% boy / 31% girl Boy: 741 births (#416) Girl: 326 births (#840) Casey: 60% boy / 40% girl Boy: 519 births (#530) Girl: 352 births (#792) Remy: 60% boy / 40% girl Boy: 424 births (#621) Girl: 278 births (#956)

There are several names in the 90th percentile range that most people today would generally consider to just be boy names, but since they do get a handful of feminine usage, it's wise to keep an eye on the changes from year to year. 

For instance, a few of those names that ranked very-masculine (in the 90s) have had some changes from 2013 to 2014. Logan gained more female births and lost some male births. It was 95% boy in 2013 and is now 94%.  Ryan had more female births in 2014 which made the males lose 2%. Similarly, Hunter also had more female usage resulting in a lost of 1% for the boys.

Interestingly, spelling makes a difference. Out of all the Carters born in 2014, only 3% of them were female, however, 11% of all Karters were female.  Ryan is mostly masculine since only 6% of them were girls, but add the ever-popular letter L to the mix and suddenly 16% of all Rylans are female.

If you would like to make more comparisons from 2013 to 2014, take a look at our previous article featuring the Boy-to-Girl Ratios of Unisex Names in 2013.

What do you think of these stats? Can you point out anything interesting that I missed? What are your favorite unisex names?

Juno

While everyone will have differing opinions about which are The Very Best J Names for Boys and Girls, I'm sure many can agree that Juno is an interesting and unique choice!

The feminine name Juno is very mythological. The ancient Roman goddess was a daughter of Saturn, the wife (and sister!) of the Jupiter and the mother of Mars and Vulcan. She was the goddess of marriage and childbirth and often looked after the women of Rome. Juno was also the Queen of the Gods, known as "Regina" which means Queen. Her Greek equivalent is the goddess Hera.

The meaning of the name Juno is generally thought to be unknown but some speculate that it is related to an Indo-European root word that means "youth".  Juno is a variation of the Roman name Iuno. Other related names are Iunius, Junius, Iunia, and Junia.

As a name, Juno isn't very used in the US. It randomly charted way back in 1919 with 6 births and it wasn't heard from again until 1996.

This name really wasn't on anyone's radar until the popular Indie film Juno came out in 2007. There were only 7 girls with this name in 2006, but because of the film, 11 girls were given the name Juno in 2007 and 33 in 2008.

It has continued to slowly inch up the charts after that with a peak of 61 births in 2011. As of 2014, though, the name Juno has declined a bit to only 49 births for the year.

Interestingly, this name is also being used for boys despite the strong association with the goddess. It actually had more births in 2007 for a boy than for a girl but it didn't get a usage boost after that. It wasn't given to boys at all in 2010 but the year 2014 had 15 boys named Juno.

While I've seen this name get thrown around the baby naming community quite a bit, it has yet to catch on with mainstream America. However, that's probably a good thing because Juno can continue to remain a rare gem for the time being. If you are interested in using this unranked and unusual name, your child will be one of a kind in their school.

Here are some ideas for sibling names and middle names for Juno:

Sibling Name Ideas:
Sisters: Aurora, Diana, Iris, Maren, Portia, Viola
Brothers: Antony, Damon, Fabian, Lucian, Marcus, Theon

Middle Name Ideas:
Juno Cecily
Juno Cordelia
Juno Eleanor
Juno Harper
Juno Violet

As a Middle Name:
Amelia Juno
Evelyn Juno
Liliana Juno
Michaela Juno
Victoria Juno

What do you think of Juno as a name? Would you use it for a boy? What middle name would you pair with it? Share your thoughts in the comments! 

Photo credit: "Juno sospita pushkin" by shakko - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons

The Very Best J Names for Boys and Girls

There seems to be such a plethora of choices for the letter J that it was difficult to narrow them down. Do you agree? Perhaps this was just a tough letter for me.

Throughout this alphabetical name series, have you come across a letter that gave you a hard time narrowing down the names to just 25 for girls and 25 for boys?

The opposite can be true, too, if a letter doesn't have nearly enough lovely choices to fill up the list. What are your problem letters?

I hope you'll enjoy this compilation of the very best names that start with the letter J. Do you agree with the ones that I chose? If not, which would you remove and what would you replace them with?

Jacqueline                 Jade Jane Jasmine Jayla Jeanne Jemima Jenna Jennifer Jessica Jillian Joan Jocelyn Joelle Johanna Jolie Jordan Josephine Joy Judith Juliana Juliet June Juniper Juno

Jack Jacob James Jared Jason Jasper Jayden Jeffrey Jeremiah Jesse Joaquin Joel Johannes John Jonah Jonathan Jordan Joseph Joshua Josiah Jovan Judah Jude Julian Justin

How do you like these J names? Share all of your thoughts in the comments below! And don't forget to click the links at the bottom for more alphabetical names!

<-- The Very Best I Names for Boys and Girls ||| The Very Best K Names for Boys and Girls -->

Two Whole Years at The Art Of Naming!

Today marks 2 years since I began writing about names on The Art of Naming! I want to thank you all for accompanying me on my journey!

I have had a wonderful time researching and writing about names to share with you! I can assure you that I have plenty more to write about and I hope you will continue to come visit me here on my little blog and share your comments and thoughts with me when you can!

For those of you kind enough to follow me on my social media accounts as well (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Tumblr, Google Plus...) I want to give you a huge thank you!

It is the more interactive moments that I love the most! When you share your thoughts or your favorite names with me on my various posts, it brightens my day and gives me more motivation to continue researching and writing!

If you ever have a request, a suggestion, a question or even a complaint, feel free to reach out to me either on one of the above platforms or by email.  If you just feel like chatting about names with me, I'm always here to make a new name-nerd friend!

Thanks for the good times! I look forward to the year to come!

-Kara @ The Art Of Naming

To Honor or Not to Honor: 7 Instances When You Should NOT Use a Family Name

For many years all around the world, it was the norm to hand names down generation after generation. In many cultures, it was traditional to use family names. Sometimes there were even patterns laid out for determining which child gets which relative's name.

Times have changed a bit but even modern parents find themselves considering whether or not they'll honor a relative.

There are times when the honoree is a wonderful role model for the child and passing down their name is natural for the parents. The child gets the chance to feel a connection to their family's past and no doubt that honored relative is thrilled!

However, there are other instances when honoring someone just doesn't feel right. How do you know when you should and when you shouldn't honor a relative? It isn't easy when familial pressure sets in, especially when there are traditions in place that you're expected to follow like if your husband is the fourth, do you have to make your son the fifth or could you break tradition?

I previously described how you could honor a relative even if you hate their name, but this article will help you figure out if you should even bother trying to honor someone at all.

Here are a few reasons why you should NOT use a family name for your child:

Because... it's just... ugly...

You've tried to find a way to twist your relative's terrible name around to become something beautiful but no matter what you try, you still cannot find something that you love that would still honor that person. Now what?

Well, there are some names that are just too odd, unattractive or out-of-fashion to consider. It isn't a bad thing to dislike them. Some names may end up being burdensome on a modern child. It is okay to avoid those ones even if it means that you won't be honoring anyone.

If you were to really discuss this with your relatives, you may be surprised to find that they may agree with your decision to skip using Grandma Bertha's name. Don't fret!

Because they don't even like it...

Imagine that you've decided to name your daughter after your mother. When you tell her about it, you're surprised at her negative reaction and she urges you not to do that because she has always hated her own name. You try to explain your reasons but she stands firmly against having a namesake.

Ouch. What can you do?  Since you clearly don't have her blessing on using her name, it may be best to respect her wishes and find another name.  Perhaps mom has a few good ideas and you can involve her in the naming process another way.

Because you only like the one...

You've always loved your grandmother Alice's name and for as long as you can remember you've planned on naming a daughter after her. However, your other grandmother's name is Eunice and your husband's grandmothers are Alberta and Gladys. You love these women just as much as Grandma Alice but you don't quite love their names as much.

Is it better to skip using Alice in order to avoid feeling obligated to consider the names of the other grandmothers? After all, you only love that one name and you don't want to hurt anyone's feelings by seemingly choosing favorites.

Think about how your family would react. If they wouldn't mind that you only use the one name, great! If aunts and uncles start casting in votes for their own names too, perhaps it's time to reconsider.

Because you don't... get along...

Typically when you decide to use a family name, it is because you love and respect that relative and want to honor them in this special way. Unfortunately, some families just don't get along due to private issues like dysfunction or various painful circumstances.

It stands to reason that if you've never been very close to your family, you probably wouldn't consider naming a child after them.  If this is the case, it's probably best to avoid using an honor name and choose something that would instead bring love and happiness to your new little family.

Because it's hard to be fair... 

You crave symmetry and fairness. If you use a name from your side, you feel obligated to use a name from your partner's side for the next child. You've had your heart set on naming your first son after your grandfather but when you began to ponder names for a future baby #2, you realized that your partner's side of the family doesn't have any decent options that aren't already taken.

The only name you could see yourself settling for belongs to a relative that really gets on your nerves and you don't want your child named after them.  You've searched through middle names, nicknames, maiden names and still you're coming up short.  At this point, it might be better to avoid family names altogether so there are no hurt feelings on either side and you won't end up settling.

Because you want to choose what you want to choose...

There comes a point when relatives begin to offer their ideas about what the baby should be called. There may be old family traditions in place that you're expected to follow and these are never easy to sidestep. It doesn't help that your sister already gave in and named her daughter after your grandmother. Now all eyes are on you.

You wrestle with the idea but you really don't want to follow suit. This is your baby and you want to name it whatever you want! It may be hard to take a stand against tradition and familial expectations but you'll regret it more if you don't.

Because it just doesn't feel right...

You've somehow ended up agreeing on making your son a junior after your husband. At the time, you were happy that your husband was happy but now you're not so sure. Something about it just doesn't feel right. You feel like you're just clicking copy and paste rather than actually giving a name to your child.

Now is the time to speak up. If the name that has been chosen doesn't settle right with you, you can absolutely say something and work toward a compromise that will make you and your partner happy. It is your child! You deserve to love the name you choose!

--

Have you encountered any issues during your own naming processes? Were you expected to honor a relative? Why did you decide against it? Share your experiences in the comments below!

Ignatius

The list of The Very Best I Names for Boys and Girls offered plenty of interesting choices.  This week is the boys turn for a featured name and the options were hard to choose from. In the end, Ignatius was the victor.

The name Ignatius comes from the Roman family name Egnatius. Originally, Egnatius had an unknown meaning from the ancient Etruscan origin. As time went on, the spelling was altered so it would be similar to the Latin word ignis which means "fire". Because of this, the Etruscan Egnatius became the Latin Ignatius and inherited itself a meaning.

There were several saints named Ignatius. The most well-known St. Ignatius of Loyola (1491-1556) was the founder of the Jesuits. Interestingly, his birth name was Íñigo which is sometimes regarded as a form of Ignatius, but it is probably just because of its association with this saint.  (Inigo was also one of our featured I names that I nearly chose. It is Spanish but comes from the name Eneko which is derived from Basque elements. It doesn't seem to actually relate to Ignatius.) Inigo is a great alternative, though, if you like Ignatius but think it is a bit too big of a name for your tastes.

Now that Ignatius means fire, it is certainly a red-hot choice for bold namers. It has several variants in other languages including the Spanish Ignacio, the Italian Ignazio, the German Ignatz, the Portuguese Inácio, the Dutch Ignaas, the Russian Ignatiy and more.  Iggy, Nate or Natius (nay-shus) seem to be popular nicknames for Ignatius while the Spanish Ignacios can sometimes be called Nacio or Nacho for short.  There's also Ignacia for a girl who could potentially go by Nancy.

How does this international name rank in the US? Ignatius has been steadily in use since 1885.  It had the most usage in terms of births per year in 1920 when the name was given to 97 boys. It declined in usage after that, not even ranking in 1980 at all.

However, Ignatius is slowly climbing back up the charts, possibly receiving a tiny revival along with other more popular Latin -us names like Atticus or Maximus. Ignatius was given to 40 boys in 2014 for a ranking of #2896. So it isn't in the Top 1000 names but it is being used. It would be a unique choice for a modern boy!

What do you think of this name? Do you like Ignatius or one of the variants better?  If you're considering this name, here are some ideas for siblings and middle names:

Sibling Name Ideas:
Sisters: Aurelia, Clementina, Juliana, Olympia, Serena, Sybil, Valentina
Brothers: Augustus, Casimir, Dominic, Florian, Octavian, Roman, Virgil

Middle Name Ideas:
Ignatius Benedict
Ignatius Joseph
Ignatius Matthew
Ignatius Vincent

As a Middle Name:
Arlo Ignatius
Henry Ignatius
Jonathan Ignatius
Robert Ignatius

This name is a bit difficult to pair up but it seems to work best as a middle name with a 2 syllable more-traditional first name. Henry Ignatius and Robert Ignatius are my favorites. However I couldn't resist going with Ignatius Benedict despite how very saint/pope it is. What would you pair Ignatius with?  Share your thoughts below!