2023 by polls, baby names, world events and search terms

Hope you all had a blessed Christmas! Here we are in the home stretch of 2023, with a leap year and presidential election year coming up – oof, don’t know if I’m ready for that one.

Before we look too far forward, though, here’s a look back at 2023, exploring some of the national and global trends of the year. It’s impossible to sum up a year in 1,000 words, but here’s a little taste. - Gallup made a list of its “most notable findings” of 2023. Among them was how the perception of China as the greatest enemy of the United States continues to be strengthened among the American public. Although China has been perceived as the greatest enemy for the last three years, this year was the first time a majority of respondents chose China (50 percent). The past couple of years it had been 49 and 45 percent. Before that, Russia was chosen in 2019 and North Korea in 2018.

Also, Americans’ trust in mass media reached an all-time low in the last year. Survey participants were given the following prompt: “In general, how much trust and confidence do you have in the mass media – such as newspapers, TV and radio – when it comes to reporting the news fully, accurately and fairly – a great deal, a fair amount, not very much or none at all?” A whopping 39 percent said “none at all,” a huge increase from just 10 years ago when that number was at 22 percent.

This is nothing shocking, but Gallup found that the obesity rate continues to reach new, troubling levels. In 2023, 38.4 percent of U.S. adults were considered obese, a a six-point percentage increase from 2019 when that number was 32.4 percent. That is a climb of more than a percentage point every year.

Americans have also shown a decrease in their level of confidence in higher education. In 2023, only 17 percent of Americans said they had a “great deal” of confidence in higher education, a six-point drop from 2018 when 23 percent said so. Again, not particularly shocking, but it goes with the overall trend of students showing greater interest in technical colleges and learning specific marketable skills, rather than receiving a “well-rounded” liberal education. - According to a BabyCenter analysis of more than 300,000 babies born this year, the top 10 most popular girls’ names were: 1. Olivia, 2. Emma, 3. Amelia, 4. Sophia, 5. Charlotte, 6. Ava, 7. Isabella, 8. Mia, 9. Luna, 10. Evelyn. The top three girls’ names did not change places from last year.

On the boys’ side, Noah overtook Liam as the most popular name. The top 10 names were: 1. Noah, 2. Liam, 3. Oliver, 4. Elijah, 5. Mateo, 6. Lucas, 7. Levi, 8. Leo, 9. Ezra, 10. Luca. - Among the most significant events of 2023, the Council of Foreign Relations listed the following: -- India passed China as the most populous country, with an estimated population of 1.43 billion people. With China’s population shrinking and aging, demographers predict its total number of people will fall by 100 million by mid-century.

-- Sudan is wracked by civil war. By the end of the year, fighting had killed more than 10,000 people and displaced 5.6 million more – close to 15 percent of Sudan’s population.

-- Artifical intelligence (AI) offered both “promise and peril.” After the release of ChatGPT in late 2022, large-language models rapidly improved, with the latest version of ChatGPT reportedly 10 times more advanced than its predecessor. AI also moved closer to achieving artificial general intelligence (AGI), or the representation of generalized human cognitive abilities in software.

-- Ukraine’s counteroffensive gained little ground at a heavy cost. In early November, Ukraine’s top general described the fighting as a “stalemate” and admitted that “there will most likely be no deep and beautiful breakthrough.”

-- Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7. Roughly 1,200 Israelis were killed and some 240 people were taken hostage. Vowing to eradicate Hamas, Israel launched airstrikes against Gaza. The war is ongoing. - Well-known figures who passed away in the past year include the following: -- Tina Turner (May 24), rock singer with a 60-plus year career, who sang hits such as “What’s Love Got to Do With It?”

-- Matthew Perry (Oct. 28), actor best known for his role as Chandler Bing on “Friends.”

-- Rosalynn Carter (Nov. 19), first lady to Jimmy Carter and considered by many to be the most politically active U.S. first lady since Eleanor Roosevelt. - According to Google’s “Year in Search 2023,” the most frequently searched news items were: 1. War in Israel and Gaza, 2. Titanic submarine, 3. Turkey earthquake, 4. Hurricane Hilary and 5. Hurricane Idalia. The most popular people by number of searches for their name were: 1. Damar Hamlin, 2. Jeremy Renner, 3. Andrew Tate, 4. Kylian Mbappe, 5. Travis Kelce.

The most-searched musicians along with the most-searched topics in relation to them were: 1. Shakira (“Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 53”), 2. Jason Aldean ( “Try That in a Small Town”), 3. Joe Jonas (Ring camera footage of ex Sophie Turner).

The top four movies by Google search were: 1. “Barbie,” 2. “Oppenheimer,” 3. “Jawan,” 4. “Sound of Freedom,” 4. “John Wick: Chapter 4.”

As a side note, there’s a lot more data to be explored at trends.google.com. You can see how popular a certain search term is regionally or nationally. If you’ve never gotten the chance to check it out, there are some interesting random tidbits. -As we head into the new year, may you have time to reflect inward on personal accomplishments and areas for growth in the past year as well as hopes, dreams and goals for 2024. After all, as Socrates famously said, “The unexamined life is not worth living.”

Wishing you a happy and healthy 2024.

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