What were the 50 most common African-American boys names for babies in Georgia?

Jackie Robinson broke baseball’s color barrier.

Martin Luther King, Jr. broke Jim Crow.

No doubt, the list of influential and history-making African-Americans from Georgia is especially lengthy. Buoyed by “The New Great Migration,” Georgia is now home to the third most African-Americans in the nation, trailing only Texas and Florida, even though Georgia is roughly one-third the size of Texas and half the size of Florida.

From hip-hop to the halls of Congress, the African-American population in Georgia is not only significant in numbers but also in its impact on the state’s culture, politics, and identity. Many young African-American couples choose to start a family in Georgia. Where there are young families, of course, there are babies. 

Here were the 50 most popular boy names for African-American babies in Georgia in 2022…

1: Noah
2: Legend
3: Josiah
4: Amir
5: Messiah
6: Elijah
7: Kingston
8: King
9: Zion
10: Kayden
11: Ace
12: Karter
13: Kaiden
14: Aiden
15: Carter
15: Jace
15: Kairo
18: Ashton
19: Micah
20: Jordan
21: Kai
22: Isaiah
22: Malachi
24: Jayce
25: Cairo
25: Jayden
25: Mason
28: Michael
29: Kyrie
30: Jeremiah
31: Christian
32: Jaxon
33: Amari
34: Nolan
35: Bryson
36: Christopher
36: Dallas
38: Ayden
39: Caleb
40: Chase
41: Joshua
41: Nasir
43: Liam
44: Grayson
44: Royal
46: Cameron
47: Khalil
48: Kamari
49: Adonis
50: Asher

2022 baby name trends

  • “Y not” – On the list, there are five different instances where the name is the same phonetically but spelled slightly differently. Three of those were due to a “Y” – Jace/Jayce, Jayden/Jaden, Aiden/Ayden – while the other two were accounted for by a “K” – Cairo/Kairo, Karter/Carter.
  • New on the scene – The following names made the 2022  list in Georgia but not the 2012 list: Legend, Amir, Messiah, King, Kairo, Micah, Kai, Malachi, Cairo, Kyrie, Jaxon, Amari, Nolan, Dallas, Nasir, Liam, Grayson, Royal, Cameron, Khalil, Kamari, Adonis and Asher.
  • Ascending to the throne:King was by far the biggest riser between 2012 and 2022. “King” ascended into the top 10 in 2022 after previously not even being ranked in 2012.

 

Speaking of that 2012 list, here it is…

1: Jayden
2: Jeremiah
3: Elijah
4: Christian
5: Jordan
6: Joshua
7: Aiden
8: Cameron
9: Michael
10: Ayden
11: Christopher
12: Caleb
13: Mason
14: Isaiah
15: Noah
16: Ethan
16: Kayden
18: Tyler
19: Josiah
20: Anthony
20: Brandon
20: Kaiden
23: Ashton
24: Bryson
25: Jaylen
26: Kaleb
27: Malachi
28: Carter
29: Kaden
30: Zion
31: Chase
31: Landon
33: Kingston
34: Tristan
35: Jacob
36: King
37: Dylan
38: Justin
39: Cayden
39: Daniel
39: Matthew
42: David
43: Jaden
44: James
45: Xavier
46: Amir
47: Antonio
48: Brayden
48: Bryce
48: Ryan

Back around Y2K

And, finally, here is 2002…

1: Joshua
2: Jordan
3: Christopher
4: Cameron
5: Michael
6: Justin
7: Jalen
8: Jeremiah
9: Brandon
10: Christian
11: Anthony
12: Elijah
13: Isaiah
14: Xavier
15: Malik
16: Jaden
17: James
18: Antonio
19: Caleb
20: Tyler
21: David
22: Nicholas
23: Jonathan
24: Jaylen
25: Derrick
26: Robert
27: William
28: Daniel
29: Devin
29: Marcus
31: Joseph
32: Eric
33: Kevin
34: John
35: Gregory
36: Timothy
37: Darius
38: Aaron
38: Matthew
40: Charles
40: Jamal
42: Jayden
43: Kameron
44: Jacob
45: Kenneth
46: Gabriel
47: Zion
48: Amari
49: Austin
50: Jaylon

20-year baby name trends

  • Timeless – There were the names that apppeared on both the 2002 and 2022 lists: Jordan (2002: #2, 2022: #20), Christopher (2002: #3, 2022: #36), Cameron (2002: #4, 2022: #46), Michael (2002: #5, 2022: #28), Jeremiah (2002: #8, 2022: #30), Brandon (2002: #9, 2022: #20), Christian (2002: #10, 2022: #31), Anthony (2002: #11, 2022: #20), Elijah (2002: #12, 2022: #6), Isaiah (2002: #13, 2022: #22), Xavier (2002: #14, 2022: #45), Jaden (2002: #16, 2022: #43), James (2002: #17, 2022: #44), Caleb (2002: #19, 2022: #39), Tyler (2002: #20, 2022: #18), David (2002: #21, 2022: #42), Jaylen (2002: #24, 2022: #25), Daniel (2002: #28, 2022: #29), Zion (2002: #47, 2022: #9), Amari (2002: #48, 2022: #33), Joshua (2002: #1, 2022: #41), Jayden (2002: #42, 2022: #25).
  • See ya, Joshua: Joshua went from No. 1 back around Y2K to almost completely outside of the top 50 in 2022.
  • Jordan for the win: Jordan is the only name that appears in the top 20 in both the 2002 list and the 2022 list, but just barely. In fact, roughly 60 percent of the names on the 2002 list didn’t even make the top 50 in 2022.
  • A new generation: Incredibly, out of the top 10 names on the 2022 list, eight of them did not appear at all in 2002, including the top 5 names in 2022 – Noah, Legend, Josiah, Amir and Messiah. The only names in the top 10 in 2022 that were also ranked among the top 50 back in 2002 were Elijah (ranked sixth in 2022 and 12th in 2002) and Zion (ranked ninth in 2022 and 47th in 2002).

EDITOR’S NOTE: All data courtesy of the Georgia Deparment of Public Health and derived from 2022 birth certificates.

IMAGE CREDITS: Headline photo – Chayene Rafaela on Unsplash; body font photo – Exploregeorgia.org