The Letter X in Modern Baby Names
February 15, 2021
Did you know that Jaxon was the 42nd most popular name for baby boys in the U.S. in 2019?
It's not the only "X" name to gain popularity in recent years. As you can see from the chart below, names with an X in them have steadily increased in popularity since about 1980.
What were the most popular baby names containing an X in 2019?
1. Alexander
11,253 births; 99.8% male
2. Jaxon
7,243 births; 99.7% male
Alternate spelling of Jackson, which is itself a pretty newfangled name.
3. Axel
4,487 births; 99.8% male
When Guns 'n Roses groupies grow up and start a family...
Aging rocker Axl Rose. The spelling Axl has also gained popularity recently.
4. Jaxson
4,480 births; 99.8% male
5. Xavier
4,167 births; 99.9% male
6. Braxton
3,014 births; 99.6% male
7. Max
2,763 births; 99.0% male
I personally intend to name my first child Max Danger Power.
8. Maxwell
2,673 births; 97.9% male
9. Maddox
2,570 births; 95.8% male
10. Alex
2,525 births; 94.1% male
11. Phoenix
2,416 births; 57.9% male
Phoenix really took off after the death of actor River Phoenix in 1993. River has seen a very similar trend.
The mythical Phoenix, rising from its own ashes.
12. Xander
2,331 births; 99.7% male
13. Ximena
2,180 births; 100% female
Ximena is a female Basque variant of the name Simon. Ximena Sariñana and Ximena Navarrete are Mexican celebrities who have contributed to the recent popularity of the name.
Ximena Navarrete won the Miss Universe beauty pageant in 2010.
14. Alexandra
2,122 births; 100% female
15. Alexa
2,000 births; 99.8% female
If all the Alexa's in the world banded together and filed a class-action lawsuit against Amazon, I would support them.
16. Alexis
1,983 births; 66.5% female
Alexis was the 3rd most popular name for baby girls in 1999, explaining the bump on our graph above.
17. Felix
1,696 births; 99.1% male
Felix is a Latin word that means "lucky". It is also a generic name for a cat.
Felix the Cat
18. Maximus
1,637 births; 100% male
19. Jax
1,606 births; 99.1% male
20. Knox
1,570 births; 98.9% male
Xi Jinping must be delighted!