Name News

Registration Opens: ANS Name of the Year 2025 Discussion and Vote (Virtual, 8 January 2026)

ANS Name of the Year 2025 Discussion and Vote

Thursday, January 8, 2026 on Zoom, 12 – 2pm PST

REGISTRATION is now open! Click here to register for the discussion and vote.

Join us for our annual Name of the Year discussion! We will be nominating, discussing, and voting on eligible names in the following categories:

  • Personal Names: Names of groups or individuals, including nicknames, given names, surnames, or a combination of these.
  • Place Names: Names or nicknames of any real geographical locations (e.g., rivers, lakes, mountains, streets, buildings, regions, countries, etc.).
  • Brand Names: Names of commercial products, companies, organizations, and businesses (both for-profit and non-profit). This category includes personal names used as brands for commerce.
  • Artistic/Literary Names: Names of fictional persons, places, or institutions, in any written, oral, or visual medium (e.g., titles of art or musical works, books, plays, tv programs, movies, games, etc.).
  • E-Names: Names of online platforms, websites, and movements, as well as hashtags, usernames, etc.
  • Miscellaneous Names: Names that do not fit in any of the above five categories.

The discussion will be conducted by Laurel Sutton, Name of the Year Coordinator.

You can nominate names via this form

Advance nominations must be received no later than December 31st, 2025, at midnight Pacific.

Tickets to this event are free!

The URL to our Zoom room will be sent to everyone who registers for this event.

Please review previous Name of the Year reports, to better understand the type of names that will be accepted:

Name of the Year Report 2024 (PDF)

Name of the Year Report 2023 (PDF)

Name of the Year Report 2022 (PDF)

About Names: Dr. Cleveland Evans on the name “Chester”

Dr. Cleveland Evans writes about names for the Omaha World-Herald. In his October 5th column, he discusses the name “Chester”.

 

Chester A. Arthur became president in 1881 after James Garfield’s assassination.
Chester A. Arthur (1829-1886) was born 196 years ago today. Elected vice president in 1884, he became president on Sept. 19, 1881 after James Garfield’s assassination.

Chester Arthur was a protégé of Roscoe Conkling’s corrupt New York Republican machine. He surprised many by supporting civil service reform and trying to maintain the rights of freed slaves and Chinese immigrants. Often thought one of the worst presidents a century ago, today he’s risen to about midpoint on historians’ rankings.
Chester is an English place name from Old English “caestrum,” meaning “Roman city,” itself from Latin “castrum” (“fort”). In medieval times it became a surname, showing one’s ancestor came from a place called Chester.

When the custom of turning surnames into first names began in the 18th century, boys named Chester appeared in Britain and America. Britain’s 1851 Census found 197 men with the first name Chester. The 1850 U.S. Census, when the two countries had about equal populations, included 5,478.

Why Chester was more than 27 times more common in the United States is a bit mysterious. Its American popularity began in New England. 42 of the 44 American-born Chesters over age 70 in 1850 were born in New England or upstate New York. The two others were Black men born in Maryland, where slave owners sometimes turned place names into first names.

Chester Waterman (1760-1856), the oldest 1850 example, was probably named after his father’s sister’s husband, Jonathan Chester, descended from well-off ship’s captains in New London. Younger examples may have honored John Chester (1749-1809), a Revolutionary war colonel who became speaker of the Connecticut House of Representatives and a judge on Connecticut’s Supreme Court.

 

Want to learn more? Read on to learn more about the name “Chester”!

NAME NEWS- Bobby: A Lost Name?

By General Artists Corporation (management)/photographer: “Bruno of Hollywood” – eBay itemphoto frontphoto back, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=18229272

A recent NPR article explores the rise, and fall, of the name Bobby in America. From an explosion in popularity in the post-war period, particularly among music stars, the name suddenly dropped out of popularity by the 1970s.

You can read the full article here.

About Names: Dr. Cleveland Evans on the name “Frank”

Dr. Cleveland Evans writes about names for the Omaha World-Herald. In his July 27th column, he discusses the name “Frank”.

Between the 11th and 14th centuries, Frank was common as a boys’ name in England. Like many medieval names, it then largely disappeared.

Frank came back as a nickname for Francis, English form of Italian Francesco, “a Frenchman,” when the fame of St. Francis of Assisi (1181-1226) spread his name across Europe.

It’s hard to tell exactly when Frank started being used separately from Francis again, but this started by 1800. Jane Austen’s 1815 novel “Emma,” featuring handsome genial wealthy Frank Churchill, helped spread the name.

The 1850 United States census, first listing all free residents by name, found 17,228 male Franks, along with 71,733 Francises and 37,257 Franklins. English surname Franklin (“freeman”) became an American given name in honor of founding father Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790).

A decade later the 1860 census found 88,681 Francises, 57,854 Franklins and 106,459 Franks. Some Franks were officially Francis or Franklin, though it’s difficult to know how many. Still, the over six-fold increase in Franks shows the name was skyrocketing in use.

In 1880, when Social Security’s yearly baby name lists begin, 2.738% of boys were named Frank, ranking it sixth. That was Frank’s peak. The percentage of boys named Frank has declined almost every year since — but it’s done so extremely slowly. Frank was among the top ten names until 1923, the top fifty until 1971 and the top hundred until 1989.

Want to learn more? Read on to learn more about the name “Frank”!

Name News: Trump on Military Base Names

Shared under Upsplash licence

Trump plans to reinstate the names of Confederate generals for army bases, according to a recent NYT article,

‘In a statement, the Army said it would “take immediate action” to restore the old names of the bases originally honoring Confederates, but the base names would instead honor other American soldiers with similar names and initials.’

Name News: Changing Names after Marriage?

A recent Washington Post article explores the declining adoption of the spouse’s surname after marriage: ‘Americans in their 20s are about half as likely to adopt their spouses’ names as were their octogenarian grandparents’.

There is some variation by political leaning: ‘registered Democrats are more than twice as likely as registered Republicans to be in couples that kept their names after marriage’

About Names: Dr. Cleveland Evans on the name “Luke”

Dr. Cleveland Evans writes about names for the Omaha World-Herald. In his May 4th column, he discusses the name “Luke”.

Since 1979 fans of “Star Wars” have celebrated May 4, punning “May the fourth” with catch phrase “May the Force be with you.” Though it’s now usually called “Star Wars Day,” earlier it was often “Luke Skywalker Day” after the young hero (played by Mark Hamill) who battles the evil empire in a galaxy far, far away.

Luke’s the English form of Greek Loukas, meaning “man from Lucania.” Lucania was a region in-between the “toe” and “boot” of the Italian peninsula. “Lucania” derives from an ancient Oscan word for “light” or “sunrise”, being east of the original Oscan homeland.

Saint Luke, a physician who traveled with the Apostle Paul, wrote both the New Testament’s Gospel of Luke and Acts of the Apostles. 28 churches in medieval England were dedicated to him, and in 1379 the name Luke ranked 34th for Englishmen.

The 1850 United States census found 4,552 Lukes, while the 1851 British census found 7,639, when the two countries had similar total populations. Some American Protestants may have avoided Luke because it was well-used by Catholic immigrants. 16.6% of 1850’s Lukes were Irish-born.

When Social Security’s yearly baby name lists start in 1880, Luke ranked 252nd. Its use slowly fell, bottoming out at 597th in 1942.

Want to learn more? Read on to learn more about the name “Luke”!

About Names: Dr. Cleveland Evans on the Top Baby Names of 2024

Dr. Cleveland Evans writes about names for the Omaha World-Herald. In his May 18th column, he discusses the top baby names of 2024.

Sophia, Liam, and Noah continued their reign as top baby names in 2024, while the Hawaiian derived “Ailany” had one of the biggest and most mysterious booms ever.

On May 9, the Social Security Administration released the United States’ top baby names of 2024.

On SSA’s lists, Liam and Olivia have been No. 1 since 2019.

SSA counts every spelling separately. I add together spellings pronounced the same, creating lists I think show popularity more accurately.

When alternative spellings like Jaxon were added, Jackson was first on my list from 2013 through 2020. Jackson’s now swiftly declining, ranking only fifth in 2024. Liam, Noah, and Oliver are the top three on both my “combined spellings” list and Social Security’s single spelling version.

Liam rose 6.7% and Noah 7.4% last year, despite the total number of births only increasing 0.3%.

Noah’s an international star. Latest figures show it’s No. 1 in Australia, Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Northern Ireland, Norway, Scotland, Sweden, Switzerland, and both French and English speaking Canada. Noah is also among the top ten in Austria, Denmark, England, France, Ireland, Lithuania, Puerto Rico and the Philippines. One wonders if young parents are unconsciously preparing sons to deal with climate change caused floods.

The latter seven of my 2024 boys top ten were Mateo, Jackson, Luca, Lucas, Elijah, Theodore and James. Theodore rose 8.5% to replace Aiden. Aiden, No. 1 between 2006 and 2012, dropped to 13th.

Want to learn more? Read on to learn more about the top baby names of 2024!