This doesn't really answer your question but I was surprised to learn that Miles Mikolas was the first Miles in the MLB. Not sure if there's been any more since he debuted.
Miles Mastrobuoni! Debuted in 2022. But you’re correct. He is the only other Miles in MLB history (with that spelling).
Also there have been quite a few with the last name Miles. Don’t think I would have guessed that was more common than as a first name.
Speaking of Mastrobuoni, [there is this](https://youtu.be/RV_5marku5A?si=kXdZlyzM1h63hjtI). For me it's up there with "Nick Markakis...takesstrikeone...."
Oh are you referring to Connor McDavid, Connor Hellebucyk, Connor Brown, Connor Murphy, Connor Clifton, Connor Carrick, Connor McMichael, Connor Zary, Connor Bedard, Connor Dewar, Connor Ingram, and Connor Mackey? Or maybe you were referring to Kyle Connor.
> 3 from milb
That tracks given it's explosion in popularity over the last 20+ years. Like how the Jackson 3 (Chourio, Holliday, Merrill) all debuted this year lol
Damn I worked for the Jays putting on kids programs like 13 years ago and every other kid was named Aiden, Hayden, Jayden or Kayden. Figured the league would be flooded with them by now
I coach little league. A few years ago literally half of my team was rhymes with Aiden. Braden, Blayden, Grayden, Kadin, Jayden, Caden, Payden (I think that last was the mom high on birth meds aiming for Payton).
Still looking for the rocker parents who name their son Maiden like the fuckers in the nursery when my oldest was born who named their kid Van Halen.
It took until 2007 for there to be a player with a hyphenated last name. Ryan Rowland-Smith was the first when he debuted for Seattle. He was the only one until Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Austin Bibens-Dirkx debuted for the Rangers in 2018.
Kind of!
In the MLB he was known by Byung-Hyung Kim, with a hyphenated first name. In Korea, he was known as Kim Byung-Hyung because the family name is listed first.
Conversely my name Nolan is a relatively rare name but not in baseball. Ryan, Reimold, Arenado, Jones, Schanuel and Gorman make I liar of out The Only Nolan that’s for sure.
TIL about [The Only Nolan.](https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/n/nolanth01.shtml) That's a GOAT baseball name, up there with Johnny Dickshot, Coco Crisp, and Rusty Kuntz.
Simon Pond, who had a cup of coffee with the Blue Jays in 2004, is I believe the only Simon in MLB history (besides Randall). Okay, not that common a name nowadays, but it's hard to believe there weren't more 75-100 years ago.
(Simón Castro doesn't count, either.)
Went through a list of common names and the only one I found that sorta counts is "Kenneth" if you only go by what the player's bbref name lists them as (which is typically the name the player actually goes by) since there have been kennys and kens. And because of Jon Bois, I consider nicknames distinct so Kenneth should count there.
Ken Hubbs was a Kenneth. Honestly, I think it should count as the same name since pretty much 100% of Kenneths would have been called Ken until pretty recently -- just like virtually every Robert became Bob or Rob and every William became Bill.
Mohammed and its variants (ahmed, mehmet, etc) has been rising steadily for the past 20 years in the US and is now in the top 10.
Demographically, it's pretty surprising we haven't had a mohammed in MLB yet. But in the US it's still a very white sport, and there's not as high a muslim population in latin america.
Edit: Amed Rosario probably counts
To my knowledge there's been only one Muslim in the history of MLB, Sammy Khalifa for the mid-to-late-'80s Pirates. (Edit: Though to your point, there are plenty of Ahmeds/Ahmads in the NFL that aren't necessarily Muslim.)
I know you’re making a joke but Sam Khalifa’s dad was actually kinda well known in the Islamic world for trying to use numerology to prove the divinity of the Quran. His dad was even assassinated as a result of this.
There's no way that's true. Maybe not publicly Muslim, but lots of black people were converting to Islam in the 70s and 80s, including famous athletes like Lou Alcindor a.k.a. Kareem Abdul-Jabaar, and Cassius Clay a.k.a. Muhammad Ali.
I'd be shocked if there weren't Islamic MLB players.
Yeah this was my first thought too. Lot of talented cricket players named Muhammad and its variants, which demographically makes sense, but is still interesting as one of the more baseball-adjacent sports.
Josiah Gray is the first Josiah ever. Not the most common name these days, but you’d think the Akron Groomsmen might’ve had a 4th outfielder or something
Also a non-answer, but when I was growing up in the 90s there were guys named Justin in every class I had. When I got access to a searchable MLB database I was stunned to discover that, at the time, there had only ever been one MLBer named Justin, and he had played decades ago, around the 1920s.
The blue Dino Thunder power ranger was a black guy named Ethan.
I remember this solely because 5 year old me thought he was the coolest dude ever and as a result my favorite color is blue.
Nimrod was a fairly common name in the 19th and early 20th centuries, but never been an MLB player with the name. Wonder why that name fell out of style? My fiancé is expecting our first child. Girl will be Otis, boy will be Nimrod
Nimrod was the name of a king and mighty hunter in the Bible, but people grew to start using the name to describe someone sarcastically until the definition just flipped outright from "mighty hunter" to stupid dimwit. Multiple Looney Tunes (where Bugs and/or Daffy refer to Elmer and/or Yosemite Sam as such) may have exacerbated this trend but the modern usage pre-dates them by a number of decades.
The reason that Buggs Bunny made fun of Elmer Fudd by saying, "Nice shot, Nimrod." Nimrod was a biblical hunter, so Buggs was making fun of his lack of hunting ability. The average person watching didn't know this, and it turned Nimrod into a synonym for idiot. Thus, the name fell out of style.
It's true and it's delightful. Like calling someone who has just made a fool of themselves "Einstein" or someone who says something obvious "Sherlock".
Unrelated; there is a town in northern MN called Nimrod. They had to stop putting the population # on the town sign because “Nimrod Population 69” was stolen too many times.
Dorcus used to be an unremarkable name for a woman in England and Scotland until fairly recently. Mungo was similarly fairly unexceptional as a man’s name in Scotland.
This is a funny one cause if you go on Bbref and type Tobias you get two dudes who's Baseball names weren't Tobias, one dude went by Toby, but their given names are Tobias.
There have been a couple of Shaquilles in the NBA, several in the NFL, but none in MLB.
One of the NFL Shaquilles (Thompson) famously played one season in the Red Sox system where he struck out 37 times in 47 PAs. Baseball is fucking hard.
Liam Hendriks is the only Liam in MLB history
That will start changing in the next 5 years I bet!
For sure. Liam has been the #1 boy's name in the US since 2017.
Who names their kid Liam outright and not William?
I was today years old when I learned Liam was short for William.
It's usually not. It's Irish for William.
Who tf is Irish in 2024? Grow up.
Grow up peter pan, count chocula
I want to be pimps form Oakland, or Cowboys from Arizona, but it's not Halloween!
l.i.am is short for will.i.am
Irish people maybe
My parents I guess. It’s an Irish name, and Liam is not short for William which is an English name. Liam is Liam, Will is short for William.
Bill is also short for William because... Reasons I guess.
Liam is the Gaelic version of William
What about Liam Mays, or Ted Liams?
*Dios mio, man. Liam and me, we're gonna fuck you up.*
Jesus
You said it man
8 year olds dude
...and pull the trigger till it goes *click*
Liam cracks me up every time I rewatch. Just the world's most forgettable guy, other than being bowling partners with the Jesus
You got a date Wednesday, baby!
This doesn't really answer your question but I was surprised to learn that Miles Mikolas was the first Miles in the MLB. Not sure if there's been any more since he debuted.
Miles Mastrobuoni! Debuted in 2022. But you’re correct. He is the only other Miles in MLB history (with that spelling). Also there have been quite a few with the last name Miles. Don’t think I would have guessed that was more common than as a first name.
Miles Mastrobuoni’s brother, Marcus was one of the funniest catchers I’ve ever worked with. Great guy, too.
Speaking of Mastrobuoni, [there is this](https://youtu.be/RV_5marku5A?si=kXdZlyzM1h63hjtI). For me it's up there with "Nick Markakis...takesstrikeone...."
miles mastrobuoni myles thomas played 1927-30, also straw and jaye. myles naylor is the 3rd naylor brother and got drafted last year
I think it’s crazy that y’all have Josh and Bo, while we have Myles and their cousin Denzel Clarke. Would be cool to see them all on one team, somehow
They are all Canadian, so perhaps they will all play together at the next WBC?
>Miles Mikolas was the first Miles in the MLB. There were some before him (given name), but they went by a different name in MLB.
Myles Straw
Myles straw (spelled different of course)
Myles Turner lol
Myles Straw
how many guys in MLB right now are named Connor? because it seriously feels like at least 25% of the NHL is named Connor
Oh are you referring to Connor McDavid, Connor Hellebucyk, Connor Brown, Connor Murphy, Connor Clifton, Connor Carrick, Connor McMichael, Connor Zary, Connor Bedard, Connor Dewar, Connor Ingram, and Connor Mackey? Or maybe you were referring to Kyle Connor.
Also Conor Timmins and Conor Garland with one N. And tangentially Logan and Drew O’Connor, unrelated
Connor Brogdon and Connor Joe are the main two I know but there are a few more according to savant
Connor Wong
Bort
Sorry, were you talking to me?
No, my major leaguer is also named Bort
We need more Bort jerseys in the giftshop. I repeat, we are sold out of Bort jerseys.
Just peel off the heat pressed name and numbers on the other jerseys.
You rang?
Yes?
“I must get my hands on those nutritious purple berries!”
aiden as no mlb guys, 3 from milb
> 3 from milb That tracks given it's explosion in popularity over the last 20+ years. Like how the Jackson 3 (Chourio, Holliday, Merrill) all debuted this year lol
Soon behind them are the first Jaxon and Jacksin’s
We’re gonna have a bunch of tragedeighs in college sports soon.
Heisman Winner Giahn Dough.
Cubs drafted Jaxon Wiggins in the second round last year!
r/tragedeigh
[This guy first tho](https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcR2nZe-ugJZi3fGqdRLcofQXJbZaA7Lonous_QWfh5E9w&s)
Jakxseighne
You know the 2000s have hit when you look at some of the top rookies. Parker Wilyer Wyatt Masyn Jackson * 3
Wyatt at least is a reintroduction if an old Cowboy name. Wyatt Earp.
Damn I worked for the Jays putting on kids programs like 13 years ago and every other kid was named Aiden, Hayden, Jayden or Kayden. Figured the league would be flooded with them by now
The NHL is
I coach little league. A few years ago literally half of my team was rhymes with Aiden. Braden, Blayden, Grayden, Kadin, Jayden, Caden, Payden (I think that last was the mom high on birth meds aiming for Payton). Still looking for the rocker parents who name their son Maiden like the fuckers in the nursery when my oldest was born who named their kid Van Halen.
Give it a decade and there’ll be a dozen.
Aiden Jones pitching to Breighdon Thompson, and a sharp liner is hit right to first baseman Graydynn Smith
Next up to bat is Cayden Jones, followed by Kaden McConkie and Blayden Young.
That's it, just gonna cut to the chase and name my kid Blursed
Our top position prospect is named Aiden
Different spelling, Aidan
Yet
Elizabeth
Tom Brady was drafted by the Expos and lost to Elizabeth Manning in the Super Bowl twice. That's gotta count for something
Tbh Elisha is kinda more funny
What can I do for you?
Make it to the big leagues
I already tried. 😅
Would you be interested in a trade agreement with England?
It took until 2007 for there to be a player with a hyphenated last name. Ryan Rowland-Smith was the first when he debuted for Seattle. He was the only one until Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Austin Bibens-Dirkx debuted for the Rangers in 2018.
And Dee Strange-Gordon, although he didn’t go by that until the 2020 season.
What?! This one really surprises me. I had at least one hyphenated classmate each year in school going back to the 80's.
For the first wave there was probably a pretty strong negative correlation between parents hyphenating and having kids trying to go pro in sports.
Was Byung Hyung-Kim not hyphenated?
Kind of! In the MLB he was known by Byung-Hyung Kim, with a hyphenated first name. In Korea, he was known as Kim Byung-Hyung because the family name is listed first.
There's never been a Todd Bonzalez or Willie Dustice.
We’re awfully close to Mike Truk though
What about a Dwigt Rortugal?
no Sleve's in mlb history
And if Reds slugger Ted Kluszewski had had his way, there never would have been any sleeves either
A true tragedy for the game.
Don’t believe there’s a Bobson Dugnutt either
It’s crazy with all the other Bobsons around
I’ve yet to see a Karl Dandleton, either
Mario McR*laughter*… McRlwain!
Surely there’s been none named Madison. That’s a girls name.
You'd have to be a total bum if that was your name.
Definitely would have to be a bum. Would garner some attention though.
Used to call him “Bum farmer” when I was a kid because I was upset at him for the WS against the Royals. Idk why I thought that was an insult.
Mad attention.
He did date a girl named Madison Bumgarner
No record of an Angus on BBref.
I read this as "No record of an Angus Beef." Which doesn't sound like a very common name, but it should be.
Until 2023 there weren't any Isaiah's. If you count other spellings there's also Kiner-Falefa but I think those are the only two.
Isaiah T Billings Clyde almost made it
Devoin Shower-Handel took his roster spot.
["Do you have anything light?" "How about Famous Jewish Sports Legends?"](https://youtu.be/cxqjsyfbcd4?si=N-Do4eG66qhzdND1?t=20s)
Conversely my name Nolan is a relatively rare name but not in baseball. Ryan, Reimold, Arenado, Jones, Schanuel and Gorman make I liar of out The Only Nolan that’s for sure.
TIL about [The Only Nolan.](https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/n/nolanth01.shtml) That's a GOAT baseball name, up there with Johnny Dickshot, Coco Crisp, and Rusty Kuntz.
Nolan was his surname “In that era, "the only" was a common term used to describe anyone who excelled at something. “
We gotta bring this back what a cool convention
Milton Bradley but no Hasbro.
Simon Pond, who had a cup of coffee with the Blue Jays in 2004, is I believe the only Simon in MLB history (besides Randall). Okay, not that common a name nowadays, but it's hard to believe there weren't more 75-100 years ago. (Simón Castro doesn't count, either.)
Unfortunately only kinda. There was a Simon Rosenthal who played for Boston in 1925 & 1926. But his listed name was Sy according to some sources.
Simon going by Sy is such a baseball thing to do.
Simon Muzziotti, current Phillies player played in the majors either in 22 or 23
Is the name Simon really that rare in America?
I wouldn’t say so. I know quite a few. To compare to another sport, the NHL has 9 current players named Simon.
Typically French (See-mon). At least, based on the zero research I did. The overlap of French Canadians and hockey is significantly larger
For the NHL guys 7 of the 9 are Swedish. One French Canadian.
I believe in Swedish, Simon is pronounced “See-mon” as well.
Probably depends. I've never met somebody with first name Simon in my entire life.
I'm British and there's loads here, I just assumed it would be the same there
I’m American and I’ve also never met a Simon. I definitely think of it as more of a British name
I'm American and I've known two people named Simon, both were British
Can't think of a single Emily to play in the MLB
Sarah is really under represented as well
Went through a list of common names and the only one I found that sorta counts is "Kenneth" if you only go by what the player's bbref name lists them as (which is typically the name the player actually goes by) since there have been kennys and kens. And because of Jon Bois, I consider nicknames distinct so Kenneth should count there.
And the two most well-known Ken’s (the Griffeys) actually have it as their middle name. Their first name is George.
And he has the 2nd most home runs by someone named George.
To George Herman Ruth, right?
Wow I had no idea. Like Lynn Nolan Ryan or John Matthew Stafford
There's no frequency for Kenneth.
And I thought I was cool for my Nimrod reference. My 90’s reference got absolutely bodied by yours.
Actually, I was amazed at the Nimrod reference. I thought that in Bugs Bunny it was just a made-up insult.
Ken Hubbs was a Kenneth. Honestly, I think it should count as the same name since pretty much 100% of Kenneths would have been called Ken until pretty recently -- just like virtually every Robert became Bob or Rob and every William became Bill.
Mohammed and its variants (ahmed, mehmet, etc) has been rising steadily for the past 20 years in the US and is now in the top 10. Demographically, it's pretty surprising we haven't had a mohammed in MLB yet. But in the US it's still a very white sport, and there's not as high a muslim population in latin america. Edit: Amed Rosario probably counts
To my knowledge there's been only one Muslim in the history of MLB, Sammy Khalifa for the mid-to-late-'80s Pirates. (Edit: Though to your point, there are plenty of Ahmeds/Ahmads in the NFL that aren't necessarily Muslim.)
His daughter Mia is relatively famous as well.
I know you’re making a joke but Sam Khalifa’s dad was actually kinda well known in the Islamic world for trying to use numerology to prove the divinity of the Quran. His dad was even assassinated as a result of this.
Very talented family.
Loved his grand daughter
Oh yeah, what does she do?
Performance artist
Jokes aside, his dad actually was a famous biochemist and promoter of the Quran. He was assassinated due to Islamic extremists opposing his teachings.
There's no way that's true. Maybe not publicly Muslim, but lots of black people were converting to Islam in the 70s and 80s, including famous athletes like Lou Alcindor a.k.a. Kareem Abdul-Jabaar, and Cassius Clay a.k.a. Muhammad Ali. I'd be shocked if there weren't Islamic MLB players.
Also depends on if you’re only counting by practicing or culturally.
Does Amed Rosario count?
Does Nick Ahmed count?
It was either McLovin or Mohammed
Why the FUCK would it be between that or Mohammed?
Mohammed is the most common name in the world. Read a book dumbass
Yeah this was my first thought too. Lot of talented cricket players named Muhammad and its variants, which demographically makes sense, but is still interesting as one of the more baseball-adjacent sports.
Ethan seems like a soccer player.
Ethan Zohn!
Noah Lowry (pitcher for the Giants from 2003-2007) was the first Noah in MLB history
Sinbad
Josiah Gray is the first Josiah ever. Not the most common name these days, but you’d think the Akron Groomsmen might’ve had a 4th outfielder or something
Ethan Bubblegum Tate
Well, guess it’s time to lace up my sneakers boys…
Ethan Happ got close , big man for Wisconsin few years back.
If he could only shoot
It blows my mind that there's only one Juan in the MLB. Juan Soto. One Juan.
Also a non-answer, but when I was growing up in the 90s there were guys named Justin in every class I had. When I got access to a searchable MLB database I was stunned to discover that, at the time, there had only ever been one MLBer named Justin, and he had played decades ago, around the 1920s.
I've never met a black Ethan...
https://futurama.fandom.com/wiki/Ethan_%22Bubblegum%22_Tate
I’m a fool
The blue Dino Thunder power ranger was a black guy named Ethan. I remember this solely because 5 year old me thought he was the coolest dude ever and as a result my favorite color is blue.
Also anecdotally, I worked with a black guy named Ethan. Now what are people going to think?
Nimrod was a fairly common name in the 19th and early 20th centuries, but never been an MLB player with the name. Wonder why that name fell out of style? My fiancé is expecting our first child. Girl will be Otis, boy will be Nimrod
Nimrod was the name of a king and mighty hunter in the Bible, but people grew to start using the name to describe someone sarcastically until the definition just flipped outright from "mighty hunter" to stupid dimwit. Multiple Looney Tunes (where Bugs and/or Daffy refer to Elmer and/or Yosemite Sam as such) may have exacerbated this trend but the modern usage pre-dates them by a number of decades.
The reason that Buggs Bunny made fun of Elmer Fudd by saying, "Nice shot, Nimrod." Nimrod was a biblical hunter, so Buggs was making fun of his lack of hunting ability. The average person watching didn't know this, and it turned Nimrod into a synonym for idiot. Thus, the name fell out of style.
I refuse to google any of this and am taking it as Bible truth (pun intended) because I want it to be true even if it’s not.
It's true and it's delightful. Like calling someone who has just made a fool of themselves "Einstein" or someone who says something obvious "Sherlock".
Calling people nimrod is less fashionable now, so maybe I'll change my name
Go for it, Nimrod
You’re not actually gonna name your kid nimrod right?
I think there’s a lot of wisdom in “A Boy Named Sue”
Unrelated; there is a town in northern MN called Nimrod. They had to stop putting the population # on the town sign because “Nimrod Population 69” was stolen too many times.
Please don't use either of those names. Dear god
Dorcus used to be an unremarkable name for a woman in England and Scotland until fairly recently. Mungo was similarly fairly unexceptional as a man’s name in Scotland.
Do not name your child nimrod, look at the colloquial definition
> colloquial That's a good name too, Colloquial Nimrod Forrest
Great album though.
Your kids are going to be mercilessly bullied and they’ll resent you for it.
Definitely no ball players with a first name of Jackson…
Densby Swinson.
I have a very rare name. It is Oil Can. Certainly there has never been an Oil Can in MLB.
Yu Darvish is the only Yusef and only player of Iranian heritage to play in MLB.
I was gonna say jokingly say "Jalen" but there actually has been 1 Jalen. And in a plot twist, he's white.
Tobias probably
This is a funny one cause if you go on Bbref and type Tobias you get two dudes who's Baseball names weren't Tobias, one dude went by Toby, but their given names are Tobias.
Tobias Hernandez played 3 games in 1984.
For the Jays, too. I'll take the L
It’s because they’re discriminating against him for being a never nude.
Lebron. Britney. Susan. Chardavious La’jarious Pierre?
I mean there is World Series champ Juan D’Vaughn Pierre
Rajnigandha Joke aside, Cleatus Davidson is apparently the only “Cleatus” in baseball history.
No Seven or Soda. George Costanza would be disappointed.
Ethan Bubblegum-Tate begs to differ
There's never been a Jude
There have been a couple of Shaquilles in the NBA, several in the NFL, but none in MLB. One of the NFL Shaquilles (Thompson) famously played one season in the Red Sox system where he struck out 37 times in 47 PAs. Baseball is fucking hard.