About NameRealm & our sources

NameRealm is a baby name finder for parents who want a name with a real story behind it, not a random string from a generator. Every name page combines two things: what the name means and where it comes from, and how American parents have actually used it since 1880.

Popularity data

All counts, ranks, peak years and charts come from the US Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which list every first name given to at least five babies of one sex in a year, from 1880 to 2024. The SSA does not publish names given to fewer than five babies, to protect privacy, so very rare spellings do not appear. “Per million” figures divide a name's count by all recorded births in that year.

Which names are included

We cover 5,183 names: the 4,000 most-used names across all years, plus every name given to at least 100 US babies in 2024. That keeps long-established classics alongside names that are new but already real.

How meanings are written

Meanings, origins, pronunciations and notes were drafted with the help of an AI language model using standard etymological knowledge, in small batches with instructions to prefer accuracy over flourish and to flag disputed or unknown origins. Names marked as uncertain say so on the page. If you spot a mistake, please treat the name page as a starting point and check a dedicated etymology reference before a final decision.

Culture, meaning and style tags

A name is tagged with a culture when it is traditionally or commonly used there, which can differ from its root language: Isabella is Hebrew at root but belongs to Italian and Spanish naming traditions. Meaning tags (love, light, strength…) are only applied when the root words express that idea.

AI features

The name matchmaker and the meaning lookup for unlisted names use an AI model through Vercel AI Gateway. They run only when you press their button, and their answers are marked as AI-written.