Author

Ivy Hung
Data Journalist
Based in Arizona, USA
Ivy is a data journalist based in Arizona, United States. A business school graduate now working her way into tech, she spent her early career in product marketing, project management, and marketing strategy — roles where reading a name the same way you read a brand became second nature.
She joined NamesPop because the name datasets sit at exactly the intersection she cares about: consumer behaviour, cultural identity, and what numbers tell us about decisions families make quietly, one at a time. Her writing leans on SSA and municipal pet registries the way a marketer reads a segmentation report — looking for the audiences hiding inside the aggregate.
Cross-cultural naming is her main beat, with a particular interest in how Hispanic, Asian-American, and bicultural families navigate the tension between heritage and assimilation in the American Southwest.
2,409
Total pieces
140
Articles
1,119
Baby commentary
1,150
Pet commentary
Ivy Hung's contributions
- Baby commentary
Haley
Haley has 159,187 SSA records and peaked in 2000 — one of the defining names of the turn of the millennium, currently ranked 779. It's a name that occupied the center of American…
- Baby commentary
Hugh
Hugh peaked in 1916, ranks #763 today, and carries 83,466 SSA records — a name with serious historical weight that has spent a century drifting down from its peak. The remarkable…
- Baby commentary
Huxley
Huxley peaked in 2020, ranks #743, and has 4,375 SSA bearers. It's an English surname name that arrived in American baby naming through the intellectual vintage revival — parents…
- Baby commentary
Ivey
Ivey is a surname-turned-first-name that carries the green trailing elegance of the ivy plant in a spelling that reads both old-fashioned and fresh at once. Ranked 788 with 4,633…
- Baby commentary
Izan
Izan ranks #713, peaked in 2024, and has just 1,730 SSA bearers: making it one of the genuinely rare names on this list. Its Basque origins set it apart from the Spanish-language…
- Baby commentary
Jaliyah
Jaliyah is a phonetically rich variant of Aaliyah — a name rooted in Arabic meaning exalted or sublime, currently ranked 800 with 11,946 SSA records and a peak in 2011. It's one o…
- Baby commentary
Janelle
Janelle is a French elaboration of Jane — God is gracious, in Hebrew — with an -elle suffix that makes it feel more romantic and less plain than its root. Ranked 776 with 56,537 S…
- Baby commentary
Jasiel
Jasiel peaked in 2024, ranks #787, and has 2,391 SSA records — one of the newest names in this ranking tier, with origins in Spanish-speaking Christian communities and an aestheti…
- Baby commentary
Jemma
Jemma is the Italian-inflected spelling of Gemma, and that single letter swap does more work than it looks. Ranked 758 with 7,685 SSA records and a peak in 2018, Jemma offers the…
- Baby commentary
Jenesis
Jenesis peaked in 2023, holds 5,405 SSA records, and sits at rank 712. It is one of those creative respellings that provokes a strong reaction either way. Parents who choose it te…
- Baby commentary
Jesiah
Jesiah peaked in 2024, ranks #805, and has 4,112 SSA records. It's a biblical name drawn from the Old Testament — a less-familiar cousin of Josiah — with a sound that merges the J…
- Baby commentary
Julie
Julie has 510,948 SSA records — one of the truly massive names in this database — and peaked in 1958, which makes it technically a mid-century name, though its peak year in SSA re…
- Baby commentary
Kaiser
Kaiser peaked in 2022, ranks #799, and has 3,620 SSA records. It means "emperor" — the German word derived directly from the Latin Caesar — and it carries the full weight of that…
- Baby commentary
Karla
Karla has 91,241 SSA records and peaked in 1964. A German name with a long American history, sitting at rank 730. It's past its mid-century peak but maintains steady use, particul…
- Baby commentary
Keilani
Keilani peaked in 2022 and holds 4,918 SSA records. A Hawaiian name at rank 751, still near its peak and gaining. It's one of the newer Hawaiian names finding a national audience,…
- Baby commentary
Kenai
Kenai peaked in 2024, ranks #772, and has just 2,013 SSA records — among the newest and rarest names in this tier. It carries genuine geographic and cultural roots in Alaska, and…
- Baby commentary
Kiana
Kiana peaked in 1996 and holds 26,326 SSA records. A Hawaiian-rooted name that found a broad audience in the 1990s and now sits at rank 721, past its peak but still generating con…
- Baby commentary
Kyree
Kyree peaked in 2017, ranks #802, and has 7,872 SSA records. It's a phonetic spelling of Kyrie — itself from the Greek kyrios meaning "lord" or "master" — adapted into a visual fo…
- Baby commentary
Lennon
Lennon peaked in 2016, ranks #784, and has 7,694 SSA records. It's used for both boys and girls in SSA data, though the boys' side has maintained a slight edge. The name's cultura…
- Baby commentary
Lochlan
Lochlan peaked in 2018, ranks #775, and has 4,413 SSA records. It's the Scottish Gaelic spelling of the name that also appears as Lachlan — a name meaning "land of the lochs" or "…
How we work
Editorial policy →
Topic selection, verification, corrections.
How we gather data
Methodology →
Sources, processing pipeline, limitations.